Eastern Ontario Symposium on Educational Technology

Professors in the palm of you hand: Using pod casts for teaching and learning

Can we make classroom learning truly portable? Can we learn about research outside of the formal journal article? 

In what is believed to be a world’s first, Professor Robert Burk’s Introductory Chemistry course is available as video pod cast: students download lectures from Apple’s iTunes store to play on their computer or to place on their iPods, cell phones or Sony PSP. Learners registered both in the course and around the world have embraced this method of distributing and sharing lectures and classroom activities.

With a similar focus on innovation from the research perspective, Professor Timothy Pychyl has adopted pod casts as a way of disseminating information about research. Using the more ubiquitous format of the audio pod cast, Pychyl has created iProcrastinate Podcasts as a feature of his research Web site, procrastionation.ca, allowing anyone who is researching the topic to access less technical discussions of the latest research and issues.

We will showcase the pod cast development process, and we will share feedback from pod cast subscribers. Recommendations and tips/techniques will be provided to allow participants to easily develop and release their own pod casts. Participants will leave the session understanding how they might incorporate pod casts to improve communication with learners. 

EOSET SESSIONS – Tuesday Feb 21st

CARLETON UNIVERSITY

Conservative Changes, Cool Results: A story of WebCT, technology and better communication in a language course

Nandini Sarma is a professor of French at Carleton University and teaches French as a second language and translation courses, She has taught on CUTV for many years and has a special interest in distance education and in examining the use of technologies to enhance her students’ learning experience both inside and outside the traditional classroom.

The setting: mediocre student performance in a large course offered in-class and as a televised distance course on reading French for academic purposes.  The key issue was that students were disconnected from the course. On the faculty end, there were scheduling and staffing issues for testing and grading, large numbers of students to address, communication issues and overall frustration when so many students were receiving 60% and below.

The experiment: two years ago, in order to provide students with more opportunities to practice what they were learning and to encourage them to keep up with the material on a regular basis, some simple resources were used for communicating in a more regular way with the student population. A concerted effort was made to adapt tools including WEBCT and other devices like video streaming and a tablet pc to improve student outcomes.

In this presentation, addressed to a general postsecondary audience including those who are considering integrating technology, I will share the reasons for my choice of tools, and my experiences while working to enhance student learning using technology. I will present student reaction to these additions to the course, and will also comment on some interesting findings regarding student results.

IM Adventures with Little Sidewalk Surfer Girl and Murph the H2O Ski God: Virtual(ly) Office Hours

Ron Saunders is a faculty member in the Department of Law and in the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Carleton University, Ottawa.  His teaching and research interests include criminal law reform, hate crimes, and organized crime.  He has taught for the last several years on CUTV at the second year level, and this past fall introduced the use of online office hours in his course.

With fewer faculty and students physically on campus at any one time, the utility of regular office hours has become problematic in many units. While one may regret the deleterious effects of such absences on the collegial and intellectual life of a campus, IM presents an appealing opportunity not only to (partially) address the increasing gaps in faculty–student contact, but in some instances to enhance the experience for faculty and student alike.  As a relative newcomer to IM and virtual office hours, I am generally enthusiastic about the experience, but it is obvious that certain challenges present themselves.  Some of the issues that will be addressed include the effective use of online time, the types of questions and problems that can be successfully addressed using IM, comparisons to alternative modes of contact, institutional support, and technological factors.  The goal is, in particular, to raise and discuss ideas as to how to make virtual office hours more accessible, effective and attractive to both students and faculty members and, in general, to further the dialogue among the users (both current and potential) and the administrators so that through sharing experiences and ideas the use of such devices can enhance the overall student experience.

Utility of Online Asynchronous Tutorial Discussion Groups in Large Undergraduate Courses

Dr. Tim Patterson is a Professor of Geology at Carleton University. He has a B.Sc. (Biology) and a B.A. (Geology) from Dalhousie and a Ph.D. (Geology) from UCLA. He joined Carleton University in 1988 and was promoted to Full Professor in 1999.

He is Canadian leader of UNESCO-IGCP Project 495 "Quaternary Land-Ocean interactions". He uses sediments, microfossils and geochemistry to study evidence of past and present climate change in lake and oceanic sediments. He was an early adopter of utilizing technology in the classroom including such initiatives as the internationally acclaimed Hooper Virtual Paleontological Museum.

For nearly a decade Tim Patterson has utilized various forms of an online tutorial discussion forum in an undergraduate course that he teaches on climate change.  During this time the course has evolved from a boutique offering with only a handful of students to a televised course on CUTV with nearly 500 students, many of which live in distant communities.  The science of climate change is vast and rapidly evolving making it impossible to cover all aspects of interest in a 13-week semester.  The online tutorial was developed to 1) permit students to discuss not only topics covered in class but to share ideas, opinions and supplementary resources, which appear almost daily in both the scientific literature and popular media; and 2) foster communication between instructors, teaching assistants and the students.  This second factor has become of crucial importance in the last few years as the class grew in size, and particularly as it began to be broadcast on television. Watching a lecture on television with no interaction with either the instructor or peers can be a dry experience.  Participation in the online tutorial permits students taking the course at a distance, or who are too shy to speak up in class (particularly when a television camera immediately pans to anyone who raises their hand) permits a level of engagement that would be otherwise impossible.  

This presentation is targeted at instructors of any size class who might be interested in introducing an online tutorial newsgroup. By the end of the session participants will be able to determine whether online asynchronous tutorial discussion groups are a viable option in their undergraduate courses. A short Power Point presentation will be made followed by a discussion session with participants.

WebCT Online Discussions: Making the Large Class Feel Small

Martha Roberts holds her PhD in Cognitive Psychology and has been at Carleton as a postdoctoral fellow and instructor for almost 3 years. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in University Teaching Development with Carleton’s Educational Development Centre and a Contract Instructor with the Department of Psychology.  Martha has been conducting research and giving workshops in TA and Faculty Development for over six years and has an active research program in this field. She also continues to be active in the department of Psychology conducting research and teaching.   Outside of work Martha enjoys participating in various sporting activities and has a particular passion for tuning cars and racing.

Maintaining manageable and open communication with your students is particularly challenging in large classes. It is easy for students to get lost in the shuffle and feel that they are “just a face in a crowd.” Encouraging participation in class discussions is an important objective that will enrich students’ experience and engage them in course materials. But how can you have large class discussions without creating chaos, or seeming to favour the one or two students who are brave enough to speak up?  WebCT online discussion forum is an interesting solution that allows you to add the discussion element back into your large classes. Through an interactive workshop, this session will compare and contrast WebCT discussions using an open-to-the-class forum with private, student-led, small group discussions.  Join us and find out how small group discussions through WebCT have created strong learning communities within a large Introductory Psychology course and given every student a voice in class discussions.

Application of audio recording and on-line technology in advanced oral language skills

Christiane Thérien is a French as a Second Language (FSL) Instructor in the Department of French in Carleton University. She is the author of 2 FSL textbooks used at the university level. Her research involves integration of language and cultural components in the field of language learning and teaching. 

This 40 minute presentation will demonstrate how a university language course can be constructed using recorded documents and on-line oral interaction techniques. This approach uses audio documents produced by students and posted on Web CT to stimulate the learners’ involvement in the language learning process. The presentation will include a brief description of the curriculum of the course « Techniques avancées d’expression orale », the learning strategies involved, and the rational for using on-line networking assignments. Examples of oral works produced and recorded by students and then posted on Web CT will be examined. Oral comments on the recordings (also posted on-line by the professor) will be discussed and the motivational impact of this method will be examined. Finally the pros and cons of this approach as experienced in the course will be discussed.

Using an Online Magazine to Support Language Learning

Mike Barker is the CALL Development Coordinator for the Intensive ESL department at Carleton University.  An ESL/EFL instructor with a Masters in Applied Language Studies (Carleton), Mike has also taught junior high school as well as college math and computer studies. He has been teaching ESL/EFL since 1996 and is a member of CALICO and TESL Ontario.

With a basic web design program, a little HTML knowledge and some motivated students an online magazine can be a fun and effective tool to support language learning.  Of interest to instructors of all languages at all levels, this presentation will showcase the Carleton University Intensive ESL ezine (www.esli.ca/ezine); an online magazine written, recorded and otherwise created by students in the Carleton University English as a Second Language program.

Samples of written text, student art work and photographs as well as movies and audio clips will demonstrate the diversity of this medium and its capacity to foster both language development and target language use outside the classroom.

In addition to examining some of the tools used to create the Ezine, practical issues such as web-hosting, multilingual fonts and student permission forms will also be discussed.

The format of the session will be primarily a presentation, however, a brief question and answer period and discussion will follow.

Interactive and Adaptive Online Learning in the Sciences

The Internet offers phenomenal opportunities for interactive learning. However, many subjects such as Mathematics rely heavily on "non-textual" knowledge such as formulas and graphs. In trying to create an interactive online learning environment for mathematical based sciences this presents both challenges and opportunities. In this presentation we will introduce two new technologies to make online mathematics more interactive and outline our experiences in using these technologies in an online component of a traditional course.

The first technology is a communication tool that extends the concept of a chatroom or whiteboard to include capabilities for mathematical and symbolic content. It loads into a standard Web browser with no installation, and assists users to input and communicate in real-time the symbolic content, such as formulas, that is often an impediment to communication in other technologies such as e-mail or instant messaging.
The second technology is a web-based adaptive learning environment. It leverages the algorithmic nature of mathematical formulas to create template based exercises. From a single template the software can generate a virtually unlimited number of different exercises. In addition, with the aid of a computer algebra system the software can assess free-form answers for correctness. The goal of this technology is to allow instructors to create exercises that automatically adapt to a student's particular level and skills.

Using an interactive web site to build student e-portfolios

Participants in this workshop will go online to access an interactive portfolio building web site to learn about the process of building a student e-portfolio. Two types of student portfolios will be presented: A teacher education portfolio and a biology portfolio. Advantages and limitations of the site will be identified and successful ways of introducing the site to students will be described. Participants will build their own e-portfolio entries related to the use of technology in teaching.

Instant Message Reference Service: At Bracken and the World

Matthew Thomas is a Public Services Librarian at Queen’s University’s Bracken Health Sciences Library supporting Bracken’s new Instant Messaging Reference service, maintaining a variety of web resources, assisting with the Online Room Booking System, and serving on the Virtual Reference Working Group.  His areas of interests and expertise are the theory and future of reference service, library education and instruction, philosophy (particularly epistemology and ethics), and web design and development.  His previous position was as the supervisor for the “Cyber Center” at New York’s Queens Borough Public Library, which involved being QuestionPoint administrator for email and chat reference services.

Interested in the possibility of using Instant Messaging (IM) to make yourself more available to your students (and other customers)?  Perhaps you’re already using IM and would like to see how it’s being done somewhere else?  Or maybe you’re just curious about how this technology works.  Bracken Health Science Library at Queen’s University just started using IM (using AOL’s AIM, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Trillian and all our librarians) and would like to share the experience of setting it up, learning a new technology, and experiencing those first few questions.  This PowerPoint presentation is for librarians, faculty, and staff interested in instant messaging in a university setting.  Questions, comments, and new ideas welcome.

The transition from didactic to active learning: technology as a facilitating tool

M.D. (Toronto, 1986), MSc (Queen's 1990), FRCSC (pediatric orthopaedics, 1992). Currently completing M.Ed. (Queen's). Major interest in undergraduate medical education, particularly the sustainable use of technology to drive an active learning agenda. Pediatric Orthopaedic surgeon and Assistant Professor (Surgery) at Queen's since 1994. First year Musculoskeletal Course Director (since 2001) and Director, Phase III (clerkship phase, since 2004).

Recipient 2005 John Provan Award for Undergraduate Surgical Education from CUSEC (Canadian Undergraduate Surgical Committee), 2005 Queen's Faculty of Health Sciences Education award and 2004 Queen's Faculty of Health Sciences Pross award for innovation in Educational technology.

Despite a gradual acceptance of the advantages of problem-based learning in the medical education community, some institutions have struggled with the implementation of this Faculty-intensive educational technique. Over the past two years, the Queen's University Medical School has piloted changes to the Musculoskeletal course, a core component of the first year curriculum. These have involved the deconstruction of a significant proportion of the didactic content and the development of a blended e-learning course. Students are guided through the course material by a series of web-based independent-study modules. These are integrated with face-to-face classroom sessions designed using a team-based learning educational strategy as described by Michaelson and Fink. While initial implementation resulted in some negative student feedback, early faculty observations noted a much higher level of student preparation prior to class and a deeper grasp of concepts at an early stage. The second year of implementation has met with improved student feedback and greater student engagement with the process. This session will outline the journey of transition and will identify obstacles and solutions encountered along the way.

Multimedia Stimulates Classroom Learning by Connecting Students and Teachers

Daniel Lefebvre has extensive experience in education, research and business. He has taught over a dozen courses in biology and biotechnology at introductory to advanced levels. His research and industry experience includes Biotechnology at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Ottawa, and R & D in the biotechnology company Performance Plants Inc., which he founded.   Daniel holds a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Ottawa, an M.Sc. in Botany from U.B.C. and a Ph.D. in Cell Biology from Oxford University. He is presently the Director of the Bioremediation Research Group, and the Course Coordinator of the large introductory biology course at Queen’s University.

The impersonal professor at the front of the lecture theatre has an uphill battle to connect with students.  Engaging students in a conventional lecture forum can be particularly difficult in this age when young people are use to rapid fire multimedia effects in TV programs and movies.  Not surprisingly, a solution to this dilemma is to incorporate some of these effects directly into lectures.  Several of these have been put to good use as ‘learning objects’ in my courses.  Interjecting animations, video and audio clips have helped to connect learning to relevant current events (news, expert opinions), place theories into social context (photographs, music), and clearly demonstrate processes (animations).  These multimedia effects can be relatively easily incorporated into lectures on virtually any subject.  How this is done will be discussed.  Some effort must be made to find the best examples and ensure that their use is appropriately timed, but it is well worth the effort.  Results of student surveys performed in large and small class formats clearly indicate that using these techniques provides connections between students and professors that would otherwise be unattainable.

Collaborative Online Knowledge Construction via Web-Based Application Sharing

Geoff Roulet has been using information technology in his teaching since 1980 when six Commodore PET computers arrived in his mathematics classroom.  Since that time he has participated in formal and informal online teaching and learning as a graduate student and professor of education, and as a designer of online learning environments.  Geoff’s research involves the study of collaborative knowledge construction within networked computer environments, locally in single classrooms and over distance via the Web.

Past iterations of my online courses have involved students constructing concept maps and sharing JPG images of these. We were able to discuss the features of these maps, but could not interact with then directly. This year, with the addition of Elluminate Live! software, the class, while online, is able to interact directly with the maps developed by individual students and to also collaboratively construct a collective map. This individual presentation (20 minute) will demonstrate how the software supports application sharing over the Web and how this feature has been used to increase interaction between students in an online Masters of Education course. Collaborative concept mapping will be demonstrated as an example to show how in general any individual computer based activity could be turned into an online collective class task and generate effective communication between (and with) our students.

Getting the message across: the challenge with regards to sexual harassment

As an Instructional Designer at the Centre for e-Learning, Anne Patry has designed, helped develop and evaluated a significant number of online courses, tools and resources over the past four years. She has also coordinated and been lead in many online educational projects. Anne has also been a professor of communications at the Cégep de Limoilou, in Quebec city and a journalist in the Ottawa-Gatineau region.

Diane Roller is the Sexual Harassment Officer at the University of Ottawa and has been in that role since 1990.   Her responsibilities are: dealing with complaints and developing educational programs and activities to heighten the University community’s awareness of sexual harassment and its prevention.   From1996 to 1997, she was editor of the Canadian Association Against Sexual Harassment in Higher Education (CAASHHE)’s newletter and, in 1998 and 1999, she was the Association’s vice-president and president.

How do you speak to students regarding an issue that does not appear relevant to most of them and is not perceived as part of their educational experience?  The University of Ottawa’s responsibility to provide a safe and healthy environment free of sexual harassment translates into making its members aware of what sexual harassment is, how to prevent it and what recourses are available if it occurs. Getting the message across is a challenge when addressing a population whose priorities are typically aimed at a degree and career.

In order to address this challenge, the Sexual Harassment Office and the Centre for e-Learning have developed a multimedia bilingual online program which provides a dynamic interactive experience for users.  Students and staff (and visitors) can access the site anonymously where they learn how to recognize, respond to and prevent sexual harassment.   In order to attract and keep the user’s interest and to facilitate the learning experience, narration is used to accompany visual images (flash) and examples, cases studies, interactive exercises, pre and post tests, final mastery test are included.  The tests serve as built-in measures for assessing whether learning takes place. Results of a pedagogical evaluation by a group of students conducted in early February will be presented.