Tara Hagins

1. Tara Hagins ECOMP 6201: Teaching Online, An Introduction for K12 Educators June – August, 2010 Scenario-based Portfolio

2. Table of Contents • Introduction • Wordle • Learning Support Agreement • SORT Assessment • Parent Guide • Medieval Personality • Acceptable Use Policy • Theories of Online Learning • Universal Design for Learning • Platform Ad • Online Assessment • The Scenario & The Voice • Effective Collaborators Rubric • Tool Kit • Contribute and Skype • Learner Interactions • Course Reflection Click on any assignment to visit that page.

3. Introduction • Table of Contents My vision of an online teaching scenario begins with a hybrid course for 5th and 6th graders. This course will be a supplemental introduction to online learning using Blackboard to prepare students for courses they can take in middle and high school. The students will all be attending my elementary school and we will be using the school computer lab. The class will be limited to 10 students per quarter, as they are all beginning online learners.

4. Wordle My icebreaker introduction to the course will be aWordle assignment. I will walk them through the steps using my SmartBoard so that they can follow along. One benefit of having a hybrid course is that we can print our Wordles and have them posted on the bulletin board as a constant visual to help link us together. • http://www.wordle.net • http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_157dpbsg9c5. • Table of Contents

5. SORT Describe your current educational setting.  Are you a practitioner or pre-service teacher?  What is your current teaching assignment or major field of study? What is your interest in teaching online? This is my 4th year teaching – can you say “Yay, tenure!” :0 I teach Literacy Interventions, so I take the kids who have trouble reading and try to help them out. Sadly, a lot of the kids I see can read, they just hate to read.  So, my crusade is to change that. My district has an excellent literacy program and I am hoping to help expand it. I am the president of the local International Reading Association Reading Council, and I will be moving to the state board in the next year or so. Through these groups I can also help people gain a love of reading. My interest in online teaching is newly born. As an elementary teacher, I am not sure where I will fit in. I am hoping to become involved in the newly created Montana Digital Academy,  Right now it is only for high school students, but the goal is to offer K-12 eventually. That should be interesting! Compare and contrast any two of the assessments described in the article, discussing which features you feel would be most relevant to your present or future students. I chose Cascadia Community College as my first assessment because I was impressed with the fact that it is tied into the Washington Online Virtual Campus. It offers 7 different modules to prepare students for online learning. I really liked the “Week Zero” tutorial that is offered to introduce students to Blackboard prior to the start of their classes.  It also has a nifty little “Learn to Learn” online tutorial that teaches basic internet navigation. Again, very helpful for newbies. I also really liked the San Antonio College Model, except for the time factor. It requires 3 readiness modules that take 1-3 hours each to complete. However, they do seem to be very in-depth and include Basic Computer Skills and Web-based Library Skills, along with Online Course Readiness Module. It also provides a module for instructors on online teaching. I would probably incorporate each of these tutorials into my online classes, but I would try to cut them down significantly. I don’t see many students actually completely carrying out 9 hours worth of tutorials prior to the beginning of their classes. Share the results of your SORT assessment.  What are your strengths and weaknesses in terms of being prepared for online learning?  Be sure to include any areas in which you feel you may need assistance or advice. According to the SORT assessment, I am ready for online learning. That’s good since I’m in the middle of it and have been taking online classes clear back to my undergrad years! My students will continue their introduction to online learning with a survey created by me so I can understand where they are starting at as online learners. The survey will be based on the SORT assessment, but will be aimed more at the hybrid/elementary audience. This will allow me to scaffold the students at their level, and will also give me options for peer tutoring. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7X3Y28W http://www.yourcallla.org/SORT/sort/html/tool.html • Table of Contents

6. Medieval Personality • In teaching elementary students, I would not use the medieval personalities assessment. It asks questions about the importance of physical relationships, and contains a lot of queries that 5th/6th graders would not understand. Instead, I prefer to do a learning profile based on multiple intelligences. • Multiple Intelligences Survey: http://literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html Benevolent Ruler This sounds like me, even though the only thing I rule is my little classroom - so far!I am an idealist, I don't understand why people don't just do what is right, so I can be a bit naive that way. I think that I am "exceptionally perceptive about the woes and needs of humankind" and that I do "often have the understanding and skill to readily conceive and implement the solutions to your perceptions." That would explain why I fit so well as a Literacy Specialist. I come up with ideas that others sometimes fail to envision and they usually work. This is where my "creative persuasiveness and charisma" come in. ;) As for the negative side, *sigh* unlike Christina I'm afraid I CAN be "deviously manipulative," especially when it is for something that I feel strongly about. Oh yeah, I am completely "unrealistically sentimental, scattered and impulsive" too! • Table of Contents

7. Theories of Online Learning The information I gained in the theories section of our course would be used to create activities that fit in with the Constructivist and Cognitive learning theories. Behaviorist activities may appear occasionally, but are not my preferred teaching style. Constructivist/Cognitive will fit in well with my preference for Multiple Intelligences and the ARCS models of learning. • Theory and Practice of Online Learning: http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/pdf/TPOL_chp01.pdf • Information Literacy: Learning How to Learn: http://www.ri.net/RITTI_Fellows/Barton/infolit.html Activity 1: Students work in collaborative groups to create a Thinking Map or other conceptual model of the properties and classification of minerals using a graphical wiki program such as Kerika.Constructivist and Cognitive. This activity would be classified as Constructivist as shown by Implications #1 active processing, #3 collaborative and cooperative learning, and #7 interactive learning.  This activity would also be classified as Cognitive due to Implication for Learning #9: “When learning online, learners should be given the opportunity to reflect on what they are learning, collaborate with other learners, and check their progress.”  Also, Cognitive Implication #3 comes to mind: “Learners will also be able to use the strengths of other learners, and to learn from others. When assigning learners for group work, membership should be based on the expertise level and learning style of individual group members, so that individual team members can benefit from one another's strengths.” Activity 2: Students participate in a virtual dissection simulation called Froguts. Constructivist and Cognitive This activity would be classified as Constructivist as shown by Implications #1 active processing, #2 constructing knowledge and #4 self-guided discovery. A case could also be made that this activity incorporates Cognitive Implications #8 motivated learning and #10 simulation of real life application. Activity 3: Students take a Blackboard online quiz after reading a story on African cultures. Behaviorist This activity would be classified as Behaviorist, per Implication for Learning #2,  “Learners must be tested to determine whether or not they have achieved the learning outcome. Online testing or other forms of testing and assessment should be integrated into the learning sequence to check the learner's achievement level and to provide appropriate feedback.” Activity 4: Students work with a partner to create a PowerPoint presentation on the steps in calculating a discount shown in percentage and computing the sales tax.  Constructivist and Cognitive This activity would incorporate Constructivist Implications #1 active processing, #2 interaction with other students, #3 collaborative and cooperative learning, #6, meaningful application and #7 interactive learning.  It would also include Cognitive implications #3 playing to each student’s strength, #7 varied presentation options,  #9 collaboration and reflection and #10 transfer of learning via the PP presentation. It could also incorporate Cognitive Implication #1, if students were taught to create a proper PowerPoint taking into account color, graphics, animations, audio, text types, etc. They would need to avoid “non-essential sensations.” • Table of Contents

8. Platform Ad For the class that I am planning, I would use this assignment as a tool for the students to explain what their platform is and how it works. The assignment would focus on them explaining Blackboard to their parents. This would come at the end of the quarter, and could possibly be the final project. • Table of Contents

9. The Scenario and The Voice The most difficult portionof teaching an online class for me is going to be building relationships with students without the benefit of face-to-face contact. I fully believe that the student-instructor relationship is of vital importance.I expect my students to work to my high standards, but I also want them to enjoy the interaction and the learning opportunity. I am going to have to be very cognizant of my responses to students, particularly because of the young age of my learners. You have a great start on your assignment, (student). What a worthwhile experience! Your writing so far has triggered questions in my mind that I think might help you round out your answers and reach our objective of three paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting details. I am so excited to hear more! :-D  In one paragraph describe the experience.  One Thanksgiving, my family and I decided to help out at the Salvation Army by helping to cook and serve dinner. We worked hard to help these people. Some of them were very nice to us and some seemed to be embarrassed because they were there. What did you do while you were helping? Tell me about the place and the people you met. How did you know they were embarrassed?  In another paragraph explain why that experience is worth sharing with others. Even though I missed my mother’s home cooked meal that day, I still feel good because we helped. How did your work make a difference in someone else’s life? How did you know you were doing a good thing? What did you see, do or hear that let you know you were helping?  In the third paragraph describe how much information you would need to include to make sure your audience understands and appreciates the significance of your actions. The information I included to ensure that the audience understands and appreciates the significance of my actions is to tell them that we worked hard and gave up Thanksgiving Dinner at our house. If you were trying to convince someone that they should give up their turkey, potatoes and football to serve dinner at the Salvation Army, how would you do that? What feelings did you have as you watched the people move through the line, as you watched them eat dinner, and as you cleaned up when it was done?   As a class, what else would you like to know about (student’s) experience?  Have any of you ever done something similar?  Can you remember how it made you feel?  Was there any one thing that struck you as you were volunteering; something that sticks in your memory? Like Victor, I probably would have done part of this as a personal reply to the student.  I like the method of inserting comments into a student's work for guidance, rather than highlighting like I did above.  So the reproduction with inserts of the written piece would not have necessarily been posted for all to see, but the first and last paragraphs would have.I think in this instance I took on the role of Conceptual Facilitator.  I attempted to "focus specifically on elements of participants postings and identify conceptual areas that need attention."  I tried to elicit some student guidance on this, and if the highlighted section were sent specifically to the author I think they may have come up with some of the same suggestions.As for tone, I used nurturing (hey, I teach little kids!) along with a curious and informal manner.  I would have to ask specific questions of my students, as they need a little more scaffolding than an average student. • Table of Contents

10. Tool Kit The Accessibility Tool Kit for students with disabilities will be an invaluable resource for me as I enter the world of online teaching. All of my students will benefit from the use of these tools; a disability is not required. These options will allow me to support learners across the spectrums of abilities and learning styles. Also, the collaborative experience through PBworks and Skype will allow me to teach students to easily work together in an online environment. http://pbworks.com/ http://onlinecollaborativetools.pbworks.com/ Professional Networking Collaboration Tools Tool Features: A professional networking tool works in much the same way as a social networking tool such as Facebook. However, professional networking is just that: professional.  These are sites that allow people from around the world to connect in order to learn from each other, promote their businesses and create a network of resources that can help them stay connected, informed and competitive.  Professional networks are also valuable tools for job hunting. Where Tool Can Be Found: Tool:  ASCD EDge Tool Link:  http://ascdedge.ascd.org/ Cost:  Free    Description:  ASCD used to be known as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.  Now know just as ASCD, it “is an educational leadership organization dedicated to advancing best practices and policies for the success of each learner.”  To this end, ASCD has created a professional networking tool specifically for educators.  This site allows members to connect with colleagues and to share video, audio, blogs, lesson plans and converse in real time.   Tool:  Linkedin Tool Link:  http://www.linkedin.com/ Cost:  Free - $2000/year Description:  The mission of Linkedin is to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. This tool provides valuable access to trusted resources around the globe.  Users can also use Linkedin to promote themselves to others for the purpose of job searching. Tool:  Viadeo Tool Link:  http://www.viadeo.com/en/connexion/ Cost:  Free/Pay for upgrade    Description:  At 30 million members, Viadeo is the second-largest professional networking site in the world.  It adds approximately 1 million users per month.  Viadeo is mainly active in China and Europe, but it did serve over 4 million users in North America as of 2009. Sources: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE59C22M20091013?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64H2IA20100518 Tool:  XING Tool Link:  http://www.xing.com/ Cost:  $4.95/month/Upgrades cost more Description:  XING proclaims itself to be the link between the “wants” and the “haves.”  Professionals who have a need can use XING to connect with people who can fill those needs.  XING allows you to present your “Interactive Online Business Card” that lists what you have to offer, what you are looking for, what your interests are, your professional background and your educational background.  XING also provides an address book that allows members to connect quickly without using email addresses, appointment books and a job search area. • Table of Contents

11. Learner Interactions In an elementary school classroom, I believe there is no relationship more important than the student-teacher interaction. I believe this is often the case with all levels of learners, but in college the student can overcome a poor relationship if he has the desire to know the subject matter. Very few elementary students have the maturity and capacity to succeed without the positive interactions with the teacher. My main focus in teaching an Intro to Online Learning is to guide them into the online world of communication. Not all teachers or students will have to skills needed to build a relationship with their online collaborators. I hope to teach my students how they can promote those interactions, if need be. I want them to be able to advocate for themselves. Learner Interactions in Online Collaborative Learning Environments Toward a Theory of Online Learning As described in Module 6, how would you prioritize the three types of interaction --student-teacher interaction, student-student interaction, and student-content interaction? Explain your rationale. In my own classroom, I have had to go back and do something that I believe was lacking. Please, be patient - I'll have to explain what I learned the first year I was in literacy...The kids I teach (the struggling readers) have been told their whole school careers that they are not good readers. They know they're not good at it, they'll tell you that and they'll also tell you they hate reading. They don't like coming to literacy, in fact, they hate it. They try to get out of it, they don't participate and they don't care. All they do in Literacy is more of what they do in the classroom. For some of these kids, this is 5 years in the making.That was my first year. Pretty grim.Second year, I decided that was enough of that baloney (see, I'm using the G-rated word). The first thing I did with my kids at the beginning of the year was sit them down and talk to them. We spent a week just talking. What don't they like about books, why do they think it's hard to read, was there ever a book/author they did like, what are they good at, what do they like to do, what do they think I can do to help them, and for heaven's sake, who ever told them they weren't good at reading? I took away the stupid curriculum (shhh) that hadn't worked after being pounded into their heads year after year and I built a relationship with these kids. We had fun. We took their interests and we played with them. We read about them, we talked about them, we googled them, we wrote about them. I never once told a kid in my class "That book that you want to read is too hard, go pick an easier one." I let them choose what they wanted to read and when they showed interest in any book, we ran with it.At the end of the year, my kids who were way below grade level on all their communication arts testing at the beginning of the year were at the top of their class. So no one is ever going to convince me that student-teacher interaction isn't the most important thing in a classroom. If those kids love you, trust you, know that you care and know that you believe in them (whatever their age), they are going to want to be with you and learn from you.I had a professor in my undergrad that I will never forget. The one quote from college that has stuck with me is this: "If you don't love your job, get the h*** out. You're not doing yourself or your students any good if you don't love it."I do have to admit that the student-student interaction played a huge roll in our success this year as well. Once we became a community and everyone felt safe, they played off each other like crazy. I couldn't believe the rich conversations and activities that grew from me just sitting back and listening and watching. I'd interject every once in awhile if I wanted to steer things in a certain direction, but the power over their own learning and growth that they gained was amazing. They really seized on the fact that their opinions were valued, and they grew more self-confident as the year progressed.Student-content interaction has come last for me. There is always going to be something each child cares nothing about, but they still have to learn it. I firmly believe that if you have successful learning relationships with the teacher and other students, the groundwork is there for success with the content. • Table of Contents

12. Learning Support Agreement This assignment allowed me to really think about what my role is as an online instructor. It also allowed me the opportunity to consider what, exactly, my students can and should accomplish on their own, and what support they will need from their parents. For 11 and 12 year-olds, parental support will be incredibly important, so the LSA, Acceptable Use Policy and Parent’s Guide will definitely be required documents for success. • Full Learning Support Agreement • Table of Contents

13. Parent Guide The role of the parent in their child’s education is paramount in elementary school. The importance is multiplied a hundred times in an online environment. Most parents want only the best for their children, and they want them to be successful. But when you consider the fast-paced, always-changing world of technology, many parents don’t know how to help their child. That is where this Parent Guide will help immensely. • Full Parent Guide • Table of Contents

14. Acceptable Use Policy Along with a parent’s desire to see their child succeed, comes an understandable ignorance as to what is and is not acceptable technology usage in an educational setting. For any student to be successful, they need to know and understand what is required of them prior to a situation arising in which they need to put that knowledge to use. Once unacceptable behavior occurs, it is too late. We need to state our expectations clearly before starting any lesson. Online learning is no different. • Full Acceptable Use Policy • Table of Contents

15. Universal Design for Learning I think the main thing I am taking from this assignment is that I have so much more to learn. With our advances there is something new every day, and one of those new technologies may be the one that helps my kid make his life better. It’s my job to find what will help and get it to the ones who need it. No one likes a class that feels like a “one-size-fits-all” prison. Each student is unique, and they each need something different to help them achieve success. This assignment made me pause and think a lot more about what my students need when I plan a lesson. I have always prided myself on being an easy-going teacher, but there are a lot of things I just didn’t consider in the day-to-day routine of teaching. It wasn’t that I didn’t care; it was just that I didn’t realize the things I could do to help my kids be successful. I had never considered the fact that sticky notes and highlighters could be considered assistive tools in a classroom. I enjoy having a relaxed classroom, one in which my students are free to move around, to spread out, to stand if they prefer it, to have a fidget if they need one. But there is so much more I can do to help. In order to provide multiple means of representation, I can offer various formats of information, such as websites, books and podcasts. Multiple means of expression can be accomplished in much the same way: students can present information in written format, PowerPoint, podcast, movies, slide shows, music, art, etc. All of these formats can help with learner engagement also. There is nothing worse than sitting in a chair all day listening to Charlie Brown’s teacher… “Wahwahwahwahwah…” • Table of Contents

16. Online Assessment 21st Century testing comes with 21st Century cheating, if we are still using the 19th Century model of assessing. One major understanding that I am taking from this class is that there are far better ways to assess student knowledge than the old, dreaded multiple-choice, true-false, essay answer test. One of the highlights of teaching online is the plethora of activities that can be produced in an effort to both learn and demonstrate that learning. Project-based assessment is much more meaningful, productive and ultimately useful to the learner than a “drill and kill” format of assessment. • http://turnitin.com/static/index.html Wow – what an interesting lesson in how to cheat online. I had never even thought of sending a corrupted file or changing my time/date. I guess I’d better catch up with what all the cool kids know if I’m going to be teaching online! I have to say I agree with Lea Ann, though. I’m not sure cheating is any more prevalent than it ever was. I think there is just a different way to do it now so we need to find different ways to overcome the temptation for our students to cheat.  For that I like the idea of the project or portfolio-based assessments. Like all learning, if we make it interesting and the students can see the rationale behind it I think they will be willing to put together their own portfolios and they will be proud of their work. I know that as much as I complained and moaned and groaned about my e-portfolio that my undergrad required, I was so proud of it when I was done that I couldn’t wait to present it in an interview. It was a great way to look back and see how far I’d come. Research has proven again and again that regurgitating answers is not a valid way of assessing learning, so why are we still presenting tests in which students can look up answers online in the middle of a test? I really appreciated Baker’s statement in her PowerPoint: “Behavior called ‘cheating’ in school (is) considered desirable in (the) working world.” We can’t teach 21st Century skills if we’re stuck with 19th Century assessment practices. • Table of Contents

17. Effective CollaboratorsRubric I really like the use of an Effective Collaborators Rubric for group projects. My students generally dislike this type of assignment, because there is always one person who does not contribute. This rubric prevents that. Everyone knows from the beginning what the expectations are. More importantly, they know that they will be graded by their group, also. My students are aware that when they fill out a rubric for themselves, we will have a meeting if the rubric differs too much from what I have seen. Sometimes they can convince me to change my score, but I don’t think they are going to want to try to convince their team. It provides another layer of incentive. • Table of Contents

18. Contribute and Skype Adobe Contribute Download InstructionsGo to   https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=contribute Click on “Download Now”Click on “Create an Adobe Account.“ You are a student when it asks the type of user. Choose the C: drive on your computer from the drop down menu. Click on “Install.” It will take some time to download. This is a 30 day trial. It will expire, so don’t download it early!  Skype Downloading Instructions:Go to http:www.skype.comClick on “Get Skype Now”Download will start automatically. When you are asked, click “Save.” Choose the C: drive on your computer from the drop down menu.Click on “Run” Click on “Install.” It will take some time to download.When the sign-in box appears, click on “Don’t Have a Skype Account?” Set up your User Name and Password Email me with your User Name at tara_hagins@gfps.k12.mt.usRun the tests for speakers, microphone, and webcam. If you don’t have these, it is OK, we can also chat using Skype. Call me! My Skype name is Teach_2_Read. This is a step that parents will have to help with, since the user agreement are considered a contract and my students are not legal adults. Also, I would not use Contribute with my young students, but I would have them download and install Adobe Reader. This, along with Skype, will introduce both parents and students to the idea that useful, valid software applications can be found and easily installed. I actually included Reader, Flash Player and Quick Time Player as required preparation in my Learner Support Agreement as a parental duty. • To open .pdf files you’ll need Adobe Reader. • Download and install Flash Player for video formats. • QuickTime Player for Macintosh OR QuickTime Player for Windows • Table of Contents

19. Course Reflection Describe any experiences in this course that were personally meaningful. The most meaningful experience I had in this course was the Learner Interactions assignment. It really made me think about what I have taken from my journey with Lesley. There have been classes that I’ve excelled in and learned so much that I can’t wait to get started this fall, and there have been classes where I was just marking time until it ended. When I started thinking about the differences in the classes, it came down to the instructors. When I had an instructor that was enthusiastic and accessible, I found my own zeal for the subject. When I had an instructor that didn’t seem to care and couldn’t be bothered to respond to assignments or questions, I quickly lost interest. I know which type of instructor I want to be. I know which type of instructor my students deserve. How will you use the experiences in this course to shape your online teaching practices? I am much more aware of just how many different components go into an online course. It’s hard enough to prepare a quality lesson for a traditional class. There is a whole extra set of requirements that go along with presenting a powerful, meaningful online course. I am really happy with the group projects, even though I usually prefer to work on my own. I understand that some students prefer collaboration, and I appreciated the scaffolding and teamwork that was in evidence during these assignments. They gave me an insight into a style of activity that I would have struggled with when planning my own classes. How does participation in this course help you with your professional goals? This course has helped me in my professional goals of staying educated on technology and expanding my knowledge, skills and abilities. With the advent of the Montana Academy and it’s ultimate goal of providing online learning for K-12 students, new opportunities will arise for me in the near future. I am a firm believer that everyone is a reader. I want to be able to reach those students who may just need a different format. There is no law that says you have to have a book in your hands to be literate. I want my district to begin recognizing that fact, and this may just help me demonstrate it. What suggestions do you have for improving this course? I think it is because it is an accelerated course, but I had trouble absorbing and assimilating everything that we learned. I know I’m always told that if I take one thing away from a seminar or conference that it is a success, but everything here was so valuable that I stress over forgetting any of it. If I had one suggestion, it would probably be to forgo software like Contribute, which we only get for 30 days, and let us experiment more with an app like PBworks. As a newbie to the program, I feel that I have barely scratched the surface of its potential. With the new school year starting, I am afraid I will forget about it before I have the chance to learn how to use it properly. • Table of Contents