If you take a look around most college campuses these days you see students communicating on several types of mobile devices. These students are referred to as Generation Y or the Millennial Generation. This group is generally known for its use and familiarity with communications, media and digital technologies. (Generation Y, 2006) Today’s students do not wait to receive information – they want it instantly and feel they are entitled to receiving it instantly because they grew up with the latest, greatest technologies always close at hand.

Statistics show that by December of 2011 one in two Americans will have a Smartphone. (Entner, 2010) This along with the market saturation of cell phones and mobile devices in this “must have” society justifies our need to incorporate these technologies in education. Companies such as Apple have huge media events when they are launching a new product. The anticipation and desire to have these items is immeasurable. Apple is so successful with its launches that people will pre-order the latest “must have” devices.

It’s 10 pm, do you know where your students are?
Instructors need to pay attention to the needs of their students. They need to be aware that students are not stationary beings who study in their dorm rooms at night. Faculty need to consider that their students may be at the movies, or out to dinner, and decide to check their online course for assignments, announcements, or an e-mailed response to one of their questions from their instructor.

In addition, it is important for educators to recognize that today’s students not only prefer the Internet over a traditional “bricks and mortar” library – but are adept at accessing the information they want on their mobile devices. I use the term “devices” intentionally because they are not only using one device at a time. There are occasions where they might be using their laptop, Smartphone, iPad, and iPod at the same time and for different reasons.

We need to remember that learning can take place in various shapes, sizes, and forms. Therefore, we need to think outside the box and learn to develop new ways to deliver our course content and to communicate with our students. Be open to new ideas and technologies — do not become stagnant in your approach to teaching and learning!

If you are not comfortable with the new technologies, ask for help. Partner with a colleague that is tech savvy and one that knows how to use all the gadgets and social networks. Jump outside your comfort zone and explore the possibilities of mobile learning and discover new ways to communicate with your students. Have fun and be creative – your students will appreciate the effort.

Eileen Narozny is an instructional designer at the University of Central Florida.

References
MLearning. (2009, July). Retrieved May 10, 2010, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLearning

Generation Y. (2006, September). Retrieved May 10, 2010, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Y

Entner, R. (2010, March 26). nielsenwire. Retrieved May 28, 2010, from nielsenwire: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/smartphones-to-overtake-feature-phones-in-u-s-by-2011/

Sometimes content delivered in a traditional classroom setting can fall flat in an online course where your students don’t get to benefit of your voice inflections, gestures, etc. If you have material that you like to deliver face-to-face, but are concerned about presenting it in the online arena you can be creative when you include the material in your course and be assured that the content is delivered in a manner that you are comfortable with.

1. You can have your professional video team at your institution create videos for each segment of your lecture that is needed. This can be very time consuming and must be well planned. Each segment should be scripted in advance and must be kept to a minimum of five minutes. Each video must be interesting and must captivate the students’ attention. After a student views your first few videos he will decide if the content is worth his time or not. If not, he will stop viewing the video segments and all the time you put into this endeavor was for nothing.
2. Create a series of podcasts for each of your lectures. Podcasts are downloadable and students can listen to them on their mobile devices. Podcasts also need some planning, but are a little more flexible because you can record them in your office from your computer.
3. Desktop video can also be used to capture your lectures. Keep in mind that the quality will not be as good as if your video team recorded your segments. But if you create them from your desktop you again have the freedom from scheduling the time to record. You have to decide which is more important – time constraints, or quality of the video.

You can see that there is a pattern here and it is pretty easy to follow. So if you have guest lectures, demonstrations, places or things you want students to see or experience, you can include them in a number of different ways. Keep in mind that your students will only be interested in your course if they are interested in the delivery mode for the content. Keep it simple, but interesting!

Eileen Narozny is an instructional designer at the University of Central Florida.

The first step in allowing your students to get to know you is to include an instructor introduction in your course. This can be done in a couple of different ways:

1. Have your video team create a video introduction to include in the course. You need to be prepared and write and practice your script beforehand. When writing your introduction be careful to write it with a feeling that you want to convey in the course. If you are formal, write and deliver your script in a formal manner. On the other hand, if you are informal, write and deliver your script in an informal manner.
2. If you are not comfortable in front of a camera or if you do not have a video team available to you, you can simply include a written introduction in the beginning module of your course. Same rules apply – write like you would say it in person!

It is not only your persona that needs to shine through in an online course, but also the personas of your students. It is beneficial to have them write a brief introduction about themselves. You can also do this in a few different ways:

1. Create an introduction assignment the first week of class. Ask students specific questions that will guide them through the assignment and you will get the information you feel is important to the course. The information you gather may be important later on in the course if you want to divide the class up into groups for special projects.
2. Start an online discussion with those same questions that can be shared with all the students in the class. Through a threaded discussion the students get to know each other and they can ask their own questions to help build their online relationships.
3. Have each student create their own blog and let them post their thoughts based on the questions you ask. This blog site, whether it is built in or outside of the course, can be utilized for other writing assignments throughout the course.

Including these types of activities early on helps set the tone in the course and fosters better discussions and collaboration throughout the term.

Part 2 of this article will be available online tomorrow.

Eileen Narozny is an instructional designer at the University of Central Florida.

• How is teaching online different from teaching face-to-face?
• What are the characteristics of the online learner?
• When will learning occur?

When answering these questions and creating the content for online courses we have to consider that our student population does not always fit the footprint of the typical college student.

Online courses reach an increasingly broad range of students — from across town to across different time zones and into remote areas. While some may mirror the typical college student, we also have to consider that our online course also may include students who work part-time to pay for college, professionals who work full time and have children, stay at-home-moms, single parents, retirees, and of course those who are striving to find their niche in the business world and want to continue their education.

Shy students and those that suffer from test anxiety and need extended time when taking a test are also drawn to online learning. Building discussion board assignments into your online course allows shy students to share their thoughts and ideas from within their own comfort zone, and participate more fully than they would ever do in a traditional face-to-face class. Meanwhile, students with test anxiety like to have the ability to pace themselves and look over their test before submitting it. They are also more comfortable taking the tests from their “safe haven” which can vary from their dorm room, home office, or the local coffee shop.

Keeping in mind the similarities and differences within this exploding and potentially diverse student population, we must consider a multitude of things that can occur during the semester long course:

• Learning will take place at different times of the day.
• Learning will not always be for long periods of time and may be chunked throughout the day and “squeezed” into the daily routine.
• Mobile learning via smart phones, laptops, and netbooks are an important factor to consider.
• Computer skills will vary from novice to expert.
• Online search skills will vary from novice to expert.
• Internet connections will vary from dial-up to high speed.

Some students who register for an online course expect a fully synchronous learning environment. Be open when designing your online course and experiment with different avenues to deliver your content — synchronously and asynchronously. If your course needs to have a synchronous learning component think about the following:

• What needs to be learned at the same time?
• Do you need to be involved in the delivery of the information?
• Is it peer-to-peer learning, instructor – student, or something else?
• How can you meet the needs of both the instructor and learner?
• What delivery method can you use?

• Wikis, blogs and journals

• Chat rooms

• Webcasts and podcasts

• Threaded discussions

As you can see, we all have to think about a lot of different scenarios when designing and delivering our course content online. If you are new to online teaching, take the time to poll your students from time-to-time to better gauge how both you and your students are doing. Be open to their suggestions and ideas – their feedback can help you become an innovator in online teaching!

Eileen Narozny is an instructional designer at the University of Central Florida.