The suggestions that follow will help you create effective PowerPoint presentations.

Know your audience. You must be fully aware of what the audience is expecting from your PowerPoint; also, be aware of your audience’s education level—the complexity of your text and visuals must match what the audience will understand.

Create an outline to help you develop your PowerPoint presentation. The outline gives your PowerPoint the structure it requires, allows you to develop a balanced array of visuals, and gives you an initial look at the time required for students to view your PowerPoint slides. Your PowerPoint should not be so long that the audience loses interest, and if you have a set amount of time, you need be sure your PowerPoint fits within that time.

Become familiar with all features of PowerPoint. PowerPoint is a powerful presentation tool with many features that allow you to jazz up your slides, import other slides, add audio and video, change background styles and colors, etc. Spend whatever time it takes to fully familiarize yourself with all that PowerPoint offers; you’ll be able to develop a more professional and engaging PowerPoint presentation—something your audience will appreciate.

Do not become dazzled with the “whistles and bells” of PowerPoint. It is easy to be seduced by the over-the-top features of PowerPoint, such as transition and animation. Yet too much use of these will distract from the primary purpose of your PowerPoint: getting important information to your audience in an easy-to-understand manner. Certainly, some of these fun tools can help make your PowerPoint more engaging and can spotlight especially salient items in your presentation. But be careful that your PowerPoint does not turn into a Disney cartoon, resulting in a presentation that is less than effective. Overall, keep the design simple and basic.

Limit each slide to a few bulleted points. Your audience needs to quickly understand what you are presenting. Many folks load up each slide with far too much text. This defeats the purpose of a PowerPoint presentation. Keep each slide to no more than four bulleted items, with each item a maximum of one line in length. If you need to add more information, you have two options: (1) have some notes (use your outline for this) and simply add the material—by voice—when appropriate; and (2) at the bottom of each blank slide there is a section called “Speaker’s Notes”—you can add in here what you want to say to your audience beyond what they see on a slide (only you can see the Speaker’s Notes).

Use graphics to highlight your information, not overtake it. A visual on a slide won’t take the place of your text—and it shouldn’t—but it can highlight a point you are making and help to engage the audience. Have a nice balance of visuals and colors, and spend some time searching for the spot-on, already-created visual. (There are many sources: online, your own, items you’ve scanned, etc.) You also can create your own graphs and/or charts and use screenshots of items.

Your voice can truly bring a PowerPoint to life. In an online PowerPoint presentation, the audience hears more of your voice than if you were in a room with them. Thus, each clearing of your throat, sip of water, “um” and “uh,” and licking of the lips can often be heard. Speak slowly; be sure to vary your tone (no one enjoys a monotone!); stay enthusiastic and excited about the topic; and use your voice to bring audience attention to important points, closing of a subject, introduction of the next slide, etc.

Always do a slideshow run of your PowerPoint to view it as an audience member. You’ll find one of the drop-down menu items on the top tool bar of PowerPoint is called “Slideshow.” Here you have various choices that allow you to view your PowerPoint as a slideshow. Be sure to do this so you will see what your audience will see and you can quickly pick up on items that might need to be corrected, such as typos, font size, size of or lack of visuals, too much text on a slide, length of time for the PowerPoint, etc. And for each slide, make a note (e.g., #14—correct spacing; #15—OK; etc.). Once completed, make the changes and then run the slideshow again.

Check spelling, grammar, spacing, font size and style, etc. It is crucial that all components of writing be perfect. Be sure that the font size and style are easy to read. Consider line spacing and visual placement.

Always do a trial run with at least one other person. While we will see items that need to be corrected or tweaked, rarely do we see them all. Have one person or more look at it to get their input. You’ll be surprised at how many helpful suggestions you will receive about things you had not considered or just didn’t see. Your audience will benefit from this extra input.

Errol Craig Sull has been teaching online courses for 17 years and has a national reputation in the subject, and in writing about and conducting workshops on distance learning. He is currently putting the finishing touches on two online-teaching books.

Excerpted from Teaching Online With Errol: An Online Educator Must: Creating the Perfect PowerPoint!Online Classroom, 12.4 (2012): 6.

However, I still missed my blackboard where I could walk students through the lesson — step-by-step and in real time. That is until I discovered screencast technology. Suddenly I got my blackboard pointer back and I was able to lecture by pointing to concepts as I went along just like I did with my face-to-face classes. The screen capture technology records and synchronizes whatever I have on my computer screen with my voice narration. It is not hard to learn, just sign up for a free account, watch the tutorials and start recording! The technology I use is called Screencast-o-matic but there are other free products, including Screencast.com and Screenr. There’s also the well-known Camtasia Studio line from TechSmith, which is not free but educational pricing is available.

Here are some tips for creating a good screen capture video:

1. Keep your lesson short. Focus on a single skill that takes about five minutes to teach. For my classes, it’s concepts such as how to write a conclusion paragraph or understanding the different parts of an essay. Examples of my videos are at Yvonne’s Writing channel. Most of my video lessons are five-eight minutes in length. Any longer than that and students have trouble staying focused on the lesson.
2. Talk in a conversational, yet professional manner. Pretend you are talking to a friend or visualize a class in front of you as you talk. In other words, whatever pleasant tone you use in front of your traditional class, make an effort to ensure that tone comes through in your screencast video. Remember, if they can’t see you’re smiling or gesturing, they have to hear it in your voice.
3. Do not worry about making mistakes. You can keep rerecording over and over again until you get it right. Screencast-o-matic has a “redo” button. I usually have to rerecord myself at least two or three times to get it the way I want it.
4. Use diverse materials for your recordings — PowerPoint presentation, pictures, flowcharts, or anything you would have written on a blackboard, citations from books, Excel charts, Microsoft Word documents or even another video. You can have fun in choosing whatever you need to present your lesson.
5. Keep it simple. In some ways, screen capture is like PowerPoint and we’ve been abused by a presentation that used too much animation, zooming transitions, a rainbow of text colors, and the like. Just because the software has a long list of capabilities, doesn’t mean you have to use them all, and certainly not all in the same capture. Sometimes less really is more.
6. Make materials accessible for students with disabilities. For example, you will want to provide a transcript or captioning of your video lecture. When in doubt, ask your institution’s instructional designer for guidance.
7. Create a departmental video library. Reach out to your colleagues to see what video lectures they’ve made. Perhaps you could borrow one and present it as a “guest lecture” for your class. Consider maintaining a video archive of all the different videos that students and faculty could access.

Since I started creating screencast videos, I have received many positive comments from students, such as “I never knew how to write an essay before but after watching your video, I now understand the basics of essay structure. Thanks Professor Ho” “Is there any way you can ask the school librarian to post your videos to the online school library so that I can rewatch the videos to refresh my memory after my vacation?” In addition, the video I created on “How to do a Peer Review” resulted in a tremendous jump in student participation and an eagerness from students to review each other’s papers now that they knew what to look for.

Screencast video has made my online classrooms come alive and has given students the sense that there’s a real person actively teaching them. If it’s something you haven’t tried, I highly recommend learning about screen capture technology as a way of adding more depth to the online environment.

Yvonne Ho is a full-time Associate Professor of English Composition/Literature at American Public University System (APUS).

• Podcasts enable instructors to present content that enables students to work independently, which can free up class time for discussion and synthesis of ideas.
• Podcasts can help the instructor to stay on schedule throughout the semester. The instructor can assign students podcasts to view outside of class and can make students responsible for keeping to the course schedule.
• Podcasts give the students more confidence to participate in class discussions. “The typical lecture model asks a student to participate in a discussion while learning or very shortly after learning new material. Podcasts allow the student time to master fundamental material on his or her own time in a less intimidating environment. The student can play podcasts as often as necessary as he/she works to understand the material,” Morgan says. “Pairing a podcast with an online threaded discussion allows students to discuss the material outside class in a way that is more comfortable, since it allows a certain level of anonymity. Students seem more comfortable asking questions in the threaded discussions than they are in the classroom, and the podcast gives the class a starting point for the online discussion.”

Morgan uses the same podcasts for his face-to-face/hybrid and online courses, pairing them with threaded discussions. “For me as the professor, the only real difference is that the face-to-face/hybrid class requires far less of my participation in the threaded discussions and more of my participation in face-to-face discussions. The online course naturally requires me to engage far more diligently in the online discussions. Based upon participation in the threaded discussions, students in both types of classes find the podcasts equally valuable,” Morgan says.

Morgan suggests using threaded discussions as a starting point for podcasts. “Students are far more comfortable asking questions in the relative anonymity of the online environment. These questions shine light on the fundamentals that students are struggling to master. These questions are precisely where I get my material for my podcasts. The questions help me to focus each podcast on one major topic.

“Threaded discussions streamline the process of creating podcasts. The instructor can create podcasts that address students’ most pressing questions and avoid making podcasts that students do not really need at the moment.”

As for content, Morgan tends to focus his podcasts on fundamentals. “I choose one question for each podcast, and I discuss that question and its answer (solution). Students are usually alone when watching podcasts, so it is best to keep them brief and simple. A podcast with a complicated chain of topics or multiple topics can turn a student away and may not be watched. If a podcast is too long, students might not watch it in one sitting. The connections among ideas may then be lost, or students may not get the point of the podcast.”

Reprinted from Use Podcasts to Address Concepts Students Struggle With Online Classroom, (February 2012): 2.

I see the need for students to understand that the work they do has value-added merit as part of their overall repertoire of academic preparation and social contributions. It has become increasingly clear to me that if students realize they need to validate what they are learning for future use, they are more likely to produce a level of work that looks to future application in the workforce rather than just another required assignment.

For example, when I begin the e-portfolio class, I ask students to compile a list of items they would want to use as samples of actual work accomplishments: community service participation, papers written, projects developed, presentations, poster sessions, conferences attended, professional development, and the like. Once this list is compiled, I instruct them to create an outline indicating how these materials might be organized in an e-portfolio that they could use in a job search. The problem, of course, is that these students would have been better prepared to accumulate their materials had they been aware of this need long before they are enrolled in my e-portfolio class.

In our media-hyped, socially networked, information-at-your-smart-phone-apps world, why have we in higher education not capitalized on this process? Won’t our students need e-portfolios to be globally competitive in the job market? You might disagree, arguing that skills of the brightest and best will be clearly visible during interviews. Yes, but give me someone who can validate his or her technical, communication, and critical-thinking skills with samples of work completed previously and I will give you an individual with a distinct competitive advantage.

Recently, I attended an Oracle workshop at a neighboring university. Oracle is the largest relational database organization in the world. As part of this workshop, the speaker told students that to get a job at Oracle, they must have technical, communication, and critical-thinking skills and those skills needed to be documented in an e-portfolio! I breathed a sigh of self-validation after so many years of striving to inform students to treat this e-portfolio development process as a vital part of their overall educational experience.

E-portfolios can be handled as if they are just another one of those required assignments, without the students ever realizing their potential. Those of us who help our lifelong learners develop e-portfolios must ensure that they understand that an e-portfolio is as close to the “real world” as they will ever realize. Moreover, the content of the e-portfolio has life-changing potential. If a student becomes fully aware that a project he or she is part of or leads will be reviewed by prospective employers as integral to the hiring process, I believe that this knowledge will impact the student learning outcomes tenfold. Our colleges and universities need to recognize the importance of e-portfolio development. They should be created, reviewed, assessed, and revised across a college experience, not just in a capstone course as an afterthought to education.

My e-portfolio students leave the class with the knowledge that they didn’t just do an assignment for me. What they prepared in this class will help them achieve their future dreams. Their e-portfolios validate their past successes and demonstrate how well prepared they are for future employment.

Dr. Ken Scott is an instructor at Trenholm State Tech College.

Reprinted from Using the E-Portfolio to Validate Student Learning, The Teaching Professor, 26.1 (2012): 1.

ECAR has surveyed undergraduate students annually since 2004 about technology in higher education. Key findings from this year’s ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology include:

• Blended-learning environments are the norm; students say that these environments best support how they learn.
• Students want to access academic progress information and course material via their mobile devices, and institutions deliver.
• Technology training and skill development for students is more important than new, more, or “better” technology.
• Students use social networks for interacting with friends more than for academic communication.

The entire ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2012 including recommendations from ECAR based on the findings and a list of participating institutions can be downloaded from the Educause website.

Although the flipped classroom is garnering a lot of attention of late, simply flipping the classroom alone does not increase student success. The instructor must seize the opportunity to guide and interact with the students. Looking at this new definition of homework in a flipped classroom, there are many details to consider.

Flipping doesn’t work when the home lectures (in whatever form they take) are too long or simply replace valuable teaching from the instructor. Lecturing is more effective presented in small chunks and as brief as possible. A good guideline is to keep the videos at or less than 10 minutes. A talking head video, where the camera points at the instructor and the instructor simply talks for 10 minutes does not work well. If possible, it is important to make the video engaging with multi-media (Houston and Lin, 2012). Many use screen capture software such as Jing or Camtasia. Also, Firefox has add-ons that can be used to screen capture and record as well. Many resources make the task of creating a quality, engaging homework lecture quite manageable. It is also worth considering that the lecture does not have to be a lecture at all.

While potentially daunting, planning and preparation can make or break a flipped classroom. The first step is to require students to compile any questions they have after watching the video. If the students have no questions, then some suggest requiring the students to summarize the topic to demonstrate understanding. Ideally, the instructor will sort the questions before class and develop scenarios to address them. The instructor attempts to avoid teaching what students already understand. This is the most difficult part, especially if students do not supply questions. The upside is that collecting questions over time builds a quality library to continue the process in future terms (November, 2012).

Actual class time is spent briefly reviewing content and checking for understanding (Houston and Lin, 2011). The instructor helps the students unpack the content. Students work on problems while the instructor circulates. The instructor can hear and correct misunderstandings on the spot. Students learn how to think and the instructor learns what topics cause confusion for the students (Berrett, 2012). This is one format for a flipped classroom session. In Dr. Eric Mazur’s physics classes at Harvard, he follows the same general principal but he has a very effective system for the students to teach one another their understanding and convince one another of correct answers. Truly any use of the class time that includes application and practice of concepts with more access to the instructor takes advantage of the opportunities that flipping a classroom provides.

What about common concerns regarding the flipped classroom process? A primary concern addresses students with poor or no Internet access outside of class. This is always a concern when the activities outside class rely on technology, but there are ways to accommodate the access to technology deficiency, such as burning the lecture onto a DVD.

The other big concern exists through all stages of education history. What if the student does not do the homework? As long as there has been homework, there have been students who fail to complete homework and simply show up for class unprepared. While this is an understandably valid concern, failure of some to complete homework should not be the reason to dismiss the flipped classroom concept. Instructors can track the knowledge gained from homework or they can adjust class activities for unprepared students if they are in fact unprepared. Some test for understanding through the questions students ask after watching the homework. When students ask questions that can be found in the lecture or prep material, it is clear they did not prepare. Quizzes are used frequently to track understanding of the lecture content and most LMS’s allow you verify (to some degree) that students viewed the lecture (Houston and Lin, 2012).

Trends come and go in education. Flipping a classroom is not a new concept to education. Using video lectures to present lecture content as homework, thus freeing up valuable face-to-face class time is the latest trend born out of a years old method. If the concept is good enough to exist for years and years, updating it for 21st century learning seems, at face value, to be a pretty good idea. It does take a little work, but planning, implementing and revising are all doable tasks and each effort builds a block upon which the next term can be built.

Pamela Kachka, MAEd is an academic trainer and consultant for Pearson eCollege. https://www.facebook.com/eCollegeATC

References:
Alvarez, B. (2011). Flipping the classroom: homework in class, lessons at home. Learning First, Retrieved from http://www.learningfirst.org/flipping-classroom-homework-class-lessons-home

Bergmann, J.; Sams, A. (2008) Remixing chemistry class. Learning and Leading with Technology. 36(4) 24-27.

Berrett, D. (2012). How ‘flipping’ the classroom can improve the traditional lecture. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/How-Flipping-the-Classroom/130857/

Houston, M., & Lin, L. (2012, March). Humanizing the classroom by flipping the homework versus lecture equation. Paper presented at Society for information technology & teacher education international conference (site) 2012, Austin, TX.

Liles, M. (2012, April 10). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/blog/2012/04/10/flip-your-classroom-with-discovery-education/

November, A. (2012). Flipped learning: a response to fie common criticisms. November Learning, Retrieved from http://novemberlearning.com/resources/archive-of-articles/flipped-learning-a-response-to-five-common-criticisms/

White, D. (2011). Literature justification for blended/reverse instruction. Unpublished raw data, Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia.

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A survey of the latest literature indicates that flipping a classroom is not a new idea. It is the way that idea is applied that is gaining so much attention and in most cases, so much praise. Many say that reversing the content delivery and practice is a decades old practice. Consider literature classes where the student reads the novel outside of class. Class time is spent discussing themes and archetypes and rarely the plot of the story. Law schools also traditionally flip when students participate in Socratic seminars and must prepare ahead of time to effectively participate in the seminar and have knowledge to back up their statements (Berrett, 2012). So if it is not something new in education, why is it attracting headlines and discussions?

First a little history on the recent re-emergence of this time tested class technique. It seems that the confluence of enlightenment that led to the current use of the term “flipped classroom” originates in three or four different situations. While high school science teachers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams of Woodland Park, CO are most often credited with coining the phrase flipped classroom in 2007 (White, 2011), there are other schools and programs that essentially developed the same concept around the same time, albeit after.

Dr. Eric Mazur, a physicist at Harvard University, has been using the method for 21 years. He calls it peer instruction (Berrett, 2012). He presented a keynote speech in 2011 at the Building Learning Communities conference in Boston where he demonstrated the technique he uses with his students in class. With the addition of assistive technology to allow for student response and feedback during the peer instruction session, attendees saw how this process works to maximize time with the instructor and focus on higher order thinking skills rather than just taking notes and regurgitating facts.

Some of the characteristics of this latest iteration include engaging the students on a higher level and a smaller ratio of students to instructors while working within the economics of education. As Dr. Mazur said: “Once you engaged the students’ minds, there’s an eagerness to learn, to be right, to master” (Berrett, 2012). According to Bloom (1984), “an average student who receives one-on-one attention is enabled by constant feedback and corrective process, and can jump into the 98th percentile of the student population in academic achievement” (Houston and Lin, 2012). This was stated 24 years ago but most classes are still taught with teacher-centered lectures and only the persistent students seek out one-on-one assistance.

Lecture as a teaching technique is not going away. Economics dictate that class size will not decrease to lower the student-to-instructor ratio. Therefore, lecturing makes economic sense. Flipping and moving the lecture to the homework realm and saving application and one-on-one work for the classroom experience makes the lecture model more productive. Implementing a flipped classroom enables more focused teaching and learning to take place in the classroom.

Effectively flipping a classroom brings many benefits. Flipping uses technology to remove passive, one-way lecturing as the only means of teaching. Thus, the instructor and students can interact within the newly gained instructional time (Houston and Lin, 2012). The increase of teacher-student interaction during class time is what characterizes its success (White, 2012). The classroom time is used to solve problems and apply to other contexts (the application of higher order thinking skills). Flipping the classroom also makes differentiating instruction based on students’ needs easier because everyone does not necessarily need to do the same task in class (Liles, 2012). Simply looking at the perceived and real benefits of flipping as well as the amount of research recently done should be incentive to consider a flip as a great way to reach students and approach mastery of content.

Pamela Kachka, MAEd is an academic trainer and consultant for Pearson eCollege. https://www.facebook.com/eCollegeATC

Continue reading part 2 of this article, posted Oct. 24, 2012 »

References:
Alvarez, B. (2011). Flipping the classroom: homework in class, lessons at home. Learning First, Retrieved from http://www.learningfirst.org/flipping-classroom-homework-class-lessons-home

Bergmann, J.; Sams, A. (2008) Remixing chemistry class. Learning and Leading with Technology. 36(4) 24-27.

Berrett, D. (2012). How ‘flipping’ the classroom can improve the traditional lecture. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/How-Flipping-the-Classroom/130857/

Houston, M., & Lin, L. (2012, March). Humanizing the classroom by flipping the homework versus lecture equation. Paper presented at Society for information technology & teacher education international conference (site) 2012, Austin, TX.

Liles, M. (2012, April 10). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/blog/2012/04/10/flip-your-classroom-with-discovery-education/

November, A. (2012). Flipped learning: a response to fie common criticisms. November Learning, Retrieved from http://novemberlearning.com/resources/archive-of-articles/flipped-learning-a-response-to-five-common-criticisms/

White, D. (2011). Literature justification for blended/reverse instruction. Unpublished raw data, Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia.

QuizShow was created a few years ago for use at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University in Washington, D.C. It’s a game show-like software program that is both easy and fun to use with your students during class. Best of all, QuizShow is free of charge and has no copyright restrictions.

Briefly, QuizShow offers one or two rounds of game play with an optional final question. For each round you can optionally place an image of your choice behind the question “cards” so that a small portion of the background image is revealed after each question. This feature makes it especially suitable to using rebus-like background images.

To learn more about QuizShow, please watch this short video overview.

Here are two key things to note about QuizShow:

1. QuizShow must run in a “Windows XP” operating system environment. The computer you use must run either: (1) “XP Mode” software (which is a free download for Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise operating system versions), (2) Windows XP software, or (3) a Mac computer with Windows XP emulation software. [QuizShow is not compatible with the Windows Vista operating system.]
2. Place QuizShow and all associated game and background graphic files in the same folder. (If you use QuizShow with several courses, it is recommended that you create separate QuizShow folders for each course.)

QuizShow has several built-in features to make it easy to learn and use:

• You can create game files several different ways – using a plain text editor or the built-in game board creator and editor. You have complete flexibility and control over game categories and questions.
• Large display text. Questions, when selected, are large enough for all students to see (even if you’re teaching in an auditorium).
• You can play with or without built-in sound effects.
• While questions have point values, you can play with or without keeping score. (If you choose to keep score, a “Daily Double” feature is available for as many game board questions as you select.)
• Numerous Help options (including HTML and PDF Help files) are available.

To download QuizShow, go to bit.ly/quiz-show. There you will find a ZipFile containing the following files:

• QuizShow.exe (4.8 MB)
  This is the executable game file. It is a standalone file.
• QuizShow_Quick_Start_Guide.pdf (505K)
  This PDF Start Guide is designed to “get you up and going” with QuizShow quickly.
• QuizShow_User_Guide.pdf (735K)
  A complete QuizShow PDF User’s Guide.
• QuizShow_Game_Template.pdf (9K)
  An easy-to-follow format for creating QuizShow game files using a plain text editor (such as Notepad or WordPad). If you create a game file using a non-plain text editor, such as Microsoft Word, you must save it as a plain text file.
• QuizShow slides.pdf (6.3 MB)
  This is a copy of the QuizShow slides used in the accompanying explanatory video.
• Round_1.txt (1K)
  A sample game board for Round 1 play. A sample rebus file (rebus.jpg) is uncovered during game play. The solution to the rebus is: “What are you learning here at school?” (You may wish to edit this graphic and replace the word “school” with your institution’s name or mascot.)
• Round_2.txt (1K)
  A sample game board for Round 2 play. This file will be automatically loaded by QuizShow when you click the “advance triangle” at the bottom right corner of the QuizShow screen when playing with the “Round_1.txt” file. A background photograph of the National Defense University (file: ndu.jpg) is uncovered during game play. A final sample question is included with this game file, for optional use.
• rebus.jpg (140K)
  A sample background file (used as the game background image by the “Round_1.txt” game file).
• ndu.jpg (1.3 MB)
  A sample background file (used as the game background image by the “Round_2.txt” game file).
• help.html (59K)
  Help information, similar to the “QuizShow_User_Guide.pdf” file, that you can read with any web browser software.
• QuizShow_Copyright_Information.doc (1K)
  You can provide this file to the IT Department at your institution – showing that QuizShow may be used without fee or copyright concerns.

Like most activities in the classroom, QuizShow is most effective when used sparingly during a semester or term. It has proven to be especially effective during examination reviews. Have fun with it!

Dr. Ken Alford is an Associate Professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University and chair of the 2012 Teaching Professor Conference.

In a previous article, I explained how to write a script for narrating your slides. Here I will provide a set of tips to prepare for recording narration that sounds good to your students. Some of these tips come from Tom Kuhlmann (www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning) at Articulate, the authoring tool I use most often for recording narrated PowerPoint slides.

Why should you care that your narration sounds good? Let me put it this way: poor-sounding narration makes it harder to listen and makes the narrator sound less professional. So here are some tips that will help you sound professional and clear.

Tip 1: Use a decent microphone
If you are going to be recording narration regularly, you should invest in a decent microphone. Good doesn’t mean expensive. I use the Plantronics DSP USB headset microphone and Kuhlman says he has good luck with this headset microphone as well.

Many experts, including Kuhlmann, suggest using a unidirectional desktop microphone (rather than an omnidirectional desktop microphone). That’s because unidirectional microphones record your narration from one direction only and are less likely to pick up noise coming from other directions (such as the whoosh coming from the vents in the ceiling). A number of people recommend the Samson Go Mic Compact USB Microphone. Also consider using a microphone pop filter to help prevent the popping Ps that are common when recording your voice.

Tip 2: Prepare the environment
Recording studios have special walls that dampen the sound. Most of us aren’t going to set up a real recording studio in our homes or offices, but we should do what we can to produce audio that doesn’t sound like it was recorded inside the mall or near the television with children yelling and the phone ringing.

The place where you record should ideally be quiet and far from the action. It should ideally have a carpeted floor, furniture, and heavy curtains that will dampen the sound. You should avoid a space with bare furniture and uncovered walls. That’s because you’re looking for a place that doesn’t echo. Then you’ll want to reduce as much background noise as possible:

• Shut the door.
• Let those around you know you are recording and need quiet.
• Turn off or cover air vents.
• Close windows and blinds or curtains.
• Unplug office machines and the phone. Put your cell phone in another room.
• Check to see if your chair squeaks when you move. If it does, oil it or get another chair!
• Place the microphone away from your computer (computer fans are noisy) and the microphone cord away from your computer’s power cord.

Believe it or not, most walk-in closets work for recording because clothes dampen the sound! Cubicles are also designed to absorb sound, so they may work well if there isn’t too much going on nearby or in the halls. Or better yet, find a smallish room with a cubicle and a door you can shut. Or pin up quilts, blankets, or egg-crate foam on the walls.

If recording at your desktop computer isn’t going to work because of noise, consider recording into a portable device and going somewhere you can control the noise. You could use your laptop or portable recorders made for this purpose. But doing this means you need to transfer your files from the portable device and then sync the files with your slides (unless they are on the laptop you are using), so this option may be less desirable because of the extra work involved.

Tip 3: Record using the same environment
This may not be intuitive, especially if you are just getting started with recording narration, but you will be doing retakes, sometimes at a different time than when you recorded the original narration. If you record in the same place each time using the exact same setup, you’ll be better able to match the sound of your narration from one recording session to another, and that’ll make it easier to swap in rerecorded narration.

In addition to using the same room and setup for recording, you’ll want to use the same microphone, same recording distance (between you and the microphone), same recording settings, same computer, and so on.

Tip 4: Practice recording
Before you start recording for real, you’ll want to practice and do some test recordings lasting 20 to 30 seconds each. You’ll want to evaluate the test recordings for sound clarity, background noise, and voice level. Try moving the microphone toward you and away from you to find the best recording distance. The best distance for your microphone is typically 6 to 12 inches from your mouth.

Some people find that they get better audio if they stand up while recording. That’s because many people tend to slouch when sitting, and slouching makes you breathe more irregularly and may make your voice less clear.

Some people tend to speak very quickly when recording, and this makes you sound rushed. Because you are aiming for a friendly, conversational tone, you may need to practice with the script in order to slow down and make it sound like you are talking directly to your students.

Patti Shank, PhD, CPT, is a widely recognized information and instructional designer and writer and author who helps others build valuable information and instruction. She can be reached through her website: www.learningpeaks.com.

Excerpted from Online Teaching Fundamentals: Making Online PowerPoint Content Engaging: Preparing for High-Quality Narration. Online Classroom (February 2011): 4,5.

As a faculty member teaching doctoral level students, I readily embraced the iPad for email communications and article retrieval and storage. I convinced myself that the teaching and learning strategies I currently employed were effectively meeting the needs of my students and thus dismissed what the iPad and its numerous applications (apps) could offer. Interestingly, it wasn’t until one of my students explained how he used the MindMeister app for reflecting upon the integration amongst subtopics associated with his research area that I began to truly appreciate the possibilities these new technologies provide.

This student helped me to realize that my use of the iPad and the many apps available was limited only by my willingness to think outside the box and try something new. So each week since then I have explored a new app. I read the information provided about the app by the developers and user reviewers, and then reflect upon and evaluate the possibilities that could emerge from using this app as a teaching and learning tool. Through this self evaluative process, I have begun to assess if and how many apps might be useful as a way to support and enhance my teaching. While not every app has supported or enhanced the active learning environment that I try to create, many have proven to be extremely beneficial as teaching and learning tools, and have helped me to meet the diverse needs of my students.

As I reflect on this journey, I believe that it was not until I acknowledged that I was fearful of the unknown, in this case the iPad and the world of apps, that I able to fully embrace this initiative. For those of you facing this same dilemma or feeling that technology is moving way too fast for you to jump on board, challenge your teaching and learning strategies by framing your fear into mini teaching and learning case studies. Take one class, one lesson, or one assignment and explore how a specific app can be used to enhance the learning environment and engage student active learning options. As you explore these apps and their utilities, write about them as a teaching and learning strategy so that we can all benefit from our colleagues explorations.

Supporting active learning
One of the ways I have used the iPad in class to support an active learning environment in which students engage in critical reflection is by having students use a drawing app such as Drawing World, Whiteboard, or SketchPad to create mind maps of their research topic of interest. This mind map serves as an outline that will direct their literature searches and guide their writing on the topic. The mind map, which is a non-linear approach to learning, seeks to engage the learner in thinking and exploring concepts using visuospatial relationships and pictorial depictions. In mind mapping, these relationships emerge from a central theme via peripheral branches which can be further inter-related.

Frequently students feel uncomfortable in creating these mind maps using colored pens and paper, which has been the traditional mode of development, but prefer to use these iPad drawing tools as a way to express their thoughts. For many students, using apps is perceived as a more age appropriate manner in which to learn. As an educator, providing students the opportunity to choose a method that meets their preferred learning style, whether it be a traditional pen and paper or a technologically advanced drawing app does not matter. What matters is that the underlying tenets associated with the assignment fosters their ability to learn and that I, as an educator, explore the options available to meet the teaching and learning needs of my students.

So be not afraid of change, embrace it and enjoy the possibilities that emerge!

Genevieve Pinto Zipp, PT, EdD, is an associate professor in the Department of Graduate Programs in Health Sciences at Seton Hall University’s School of Health and Medical Sciences.

In my work as the director of faculty development I’ve been observing the ubiquitous and pervasive infusion of technology in education over the past 20 years, but at a seemingly accelerated rate during the past five years with the advent of wireless networks, smart phones, tablets, and increasingly more powerful laptops. I’m sure this trend will not abate or slow, which begs the questions, what are we educators going to do about it?

I work in a college of osteopathic medicine and we run two curricula; a fairly traditional PBL model and a Case Based model. Both consist of small (7 or 8), intact (for each quarter) groups with one facilitator. The major difference between them is that the PBL model does not include traditional lectures and all student work is done around the cases while in the Case Based model students have a more traditional lecture/lab set up. Also, in PBL the cases are unfolded slowly and the students identify their own learning issues while in the Case Based model the instructors identify the case learning issues though authored questions and new cases are used each week. The facilitators in both models have very similar roles and come from all disciplines.

It is my contention that as educational and classroom leaders we have a responsibility to set clear expectations, which is Job One of all good leaders. I’d like to share one practical strategy we used to do just that in terms of communicating our expectations for using technology in the classroom.

First we gathered all our small group facilitators (we use clinicians, basic and social scientists and student fellows) for an hour-long event in which we asked them to work together to do three things: 1) identify the assets of these tools; 2) identify the liabilities of these tools; and 3) establish some reasonable ground rules to maximize the assets and minimize the liabilities. Below is one example of what we came up with after just an hour. It’s been very helpful to a) deal with issues overtly, b) wrestle with how to leverage the assets and liabilities, and c) provide a platform for open discussion. As you read it, I encourage you to think about how you might adapt it to work within the context of your courses.

Statement of the Challenge: Our school and students are rapidly moving away from paper-based products and using computers and other electronic devices to accomplish their work. This growing electronic technology pervasiveness in the small group setting requires us to think critically about its impact on small group work. Therefore, by explicitly stating the primary purposes of the small group-learning format, and outlining the major assets and liabilities/challenges of this emerging development, we have developed some “rules of engagement” for consideration by your group.

Suggested “ground rules” for heading off potential misuses of technology:
1. Discussion is still supreme (as opposed to reading off a screen).
2. Laptop work must be related to the groups tasks (no personal email, chat or other surfing/playing).
3. System should be used for sharing information (send to Blackboard and bring up in class as favorite resources).
4. Scribe should control the technology for the session.
5. Wrap up should include evaluation of how the technology is being used.
6. Group agrees on what they believe is appropriate use.
7. Give immediate feedback if technology is being used inappropriately.
8. Agree that it is not appropriate to look up work that should have been prepared in advance.
9. Purpose of technology is to enhance group effectiveness.
10. Quick look-ups allowed (less than 60 seconds)
11. Single, group-only computer. No individual users.

Note that the identified ground rules are simply suggestions for the group to negotiate. We encourage the facilitators to lead the group in a discussion so the group has ownership. Our experience with this has consistently shown a more cohesive and unified group in terms of use of technology.

We feel this method helped us document some of the issues and moved us from victims to victors by allowing us to proactively begin to capitalize on emerging technologies as they become the new tools of the trade.

Stephen S. Davis, PhD is the director of faculty development at Ohio University, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

I started exploring YouTube and found many different kinds of videos that I could use to supplement my online literature classes. Student feedback has been very positive as they love hearing about the author’s take on why they wrote their latest work. I’ve also found that students are now more interested in literature since it has become more fun and entertaining through the use of multimedia.

Here are ten ways literature instructors can use YouTube in class. However, regardless of the discipline you teach you’ll likely find that YouTube has similarly appropriate resources for you.

1. Poems that are read aloud by the poet.
In one video, Langston Hughes reads aloud his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” Listening to the poet’s voice helps students understand his motivations for writing the poem. While Hughes reads his poem, one can hear in his voice the pain that racism causes. Hearing this pain enables students to understand a more personal dimension of the poem. In the discussion forum, the online teacher can then ask students what they thought about the poet and how listening to the reading changed their understanding of the poem. (Negro Speaks of Rivers)

2. Live performances of Shakespeare’s plays.
YouTube has Shakespeare performances of Othello, Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice as well as other Shakespeare plays. Students can watch different remakes of these Shakespeare plays and compare and contrast which performance they like best. Students can also stage their own renditions of Shakespeare and post their own video. YouTube has many renditions of Hamlet from throughout the 20th century. It is interesting to see how different actors interpret the same lines “To be or not to be.” Each actor has his own way to express these lines and it is fun for students to compare/contrast these performances in an online discussion forum. (Animated Tales of Hamlet)

3. Literary analysis of famous works.
YouTube has literary analysis of many great works such as Robert Frost’s Mending Wall. The teacher can ask students if they agree or disagree with the literary analysis, and why. (Literary Analysis of the Mending Wall by Robert Frost)

4. Rare author interviews and biographies.
In a rare interview, John Steinbeck talks about why he wrote the Grapes of Wrath. YouTube videos enable students to hear and see the author, and better understand the motivations behind their literary works. It is fun to ask students what they learned about these authors from these videos and students can then discuss how listening to these interviews changed their interpretations of the literary piece. (Steinbeck video)

5. Student performances of literary pieces.
Students can compare how other students have re-enacted a play they’re reading in class. Students are encouraged to then recreate their own re-enactments of this play for greater appreciation of the play. It is fun for students to embed these student videos in their discussion forums and to discuss what they like or dislike about the performance.

6. Literary pieces performed in its native tongue.
When teaching Dante’s Inferno, I found a YouTube video of Dante’s Inferno in its original language, Italian. Listening in Italian helps the students get an idea of how the poem sounds in its native language. (La Divina Commedia)

7. Musical selections of many historical literary periods.
If, for example, you’re teaching the Harlem Renaissance, you’ll find many videos featuring the music of the Harlem Renaissance. When students listen to the music, they can try to imagine sitting in a jazz club listening to a band of that period. (Harlem Renaissance)

8. Radio productions of great American plays.
Students can read a play like the Glass Menagerie and then listen to the radio productions and compare/contrast with what they have read. Listening to these old radio productions also helps students understand how older generations entertained themselves before the invention of the television. (World Performance of Glass Menagerie)

9. Full length movies in 10 minute intervals of your favorite literary pieces.
If your students are reading Hamlet, they can watch a full length movie of Hamlet in ten minute intervals on YouTube or they can watch parts of movies. (Hamlet, To be or not to be). You can have students compare/contrast the movie adaptation with the original text.

10. Audio book readings of a literary novel.
YouTube has chapter by chapter readings of your favorite novels such as The Grapes of Wrath. Students can listen to the entire novel in ten minute intervals. Listening to a novel provides another dimension of entertainment and appreciation for the student. (Meet Ray Bradbury)

Yvonne Ho is a full time Associate English Composition/Literature French Professor at American Public University System (APUS)

According to a recent study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith & Zickuhr, 2010) teen and young adult use of social networking sites has exploded since 2006. Yet, most collegiate faculty will choose not to embrace a device that could greatly enhance their teaching prowess and, more importantly, assist the development of their students.

Digital Immigrant professors often believe that Digital Native students’ familiarity with social media software and cutting edge mobile technologies corresponds to a deep and critical use of Twitter, Facebook and blogs in research or coursework applications (Kumar, 2010). This double-edged facet both excites and scares faculty. If students are so familiar with social media, then they could use it to uncover new ways to research material. If students are so much more versed than faculty in the technology, then I, as a teacher, cannot teach them.

There is a solution to this problem. The use of an effective and basic social media tool in the higher education classroom can be a wonderful bridge between the cyber skills of students and the thoughtful lessons provided by professors. The answer is found in creating a blogging assignment.

In my Writing for the Media course, I adopted the creation of a blog as a new assignment. As a Digital Immigrant professor whose early professional and academic careers pre-dated the Internet, I was, at first, skeptical of introducing a technology-based exercise in which I held very little expertise. Deep down I knew that I needed to shelve my fear and learn as much about blogs as I could because it made sense to use web tools as a relational component of instruction. Besides, blogs are particularly well suited for a whole variety of courses. They can be used for writing essays, research, communication studies, visual art galleries, e-Portfolios and other impactful endeavors. And blogs make fantastic end-of-semester presentation forums.

Based upon my experience, I recommend a few essential steps for implementing a blog as a student-generated learning exercise. First, discover as much as you can about the appearance and basic functionality of blogs. You do not need to be an IT expert; however, you do need to have a good idea about how to create and update posts, and the overall maintenance. Second, find a free platform, such as Blogger or WordPress, to house the student blogs. This search will greatly assist the access and naming conditions for project work with very little hassle. Third, create your own site before you ask students to create theirs. Here is where you can get ahead of the curve, maintain an expert practitioner status and promote your confidence. This is my site here: http://massmediazone.blogspot.com/

These simple steps will assist your in learning the new language of blogs and the unique cultural qualities of social media. In time, you will be like every immigrant and learn to love your new land.

References:
Kumar, S. (2010). Teaching history with blogs for student engagement and critical use of digital media. Journal of Applied Computing, Vol. 6, No. 2: 69-76.

Lenhart, A., Purcell, K., Smith, A., and Zickuhr, K. (2010). Social media & mobile internet use among teens and young adults. Pew Internet & American Life Project. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Social-Media-and-Young-Adults.aspx

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, Vol. 9, No. 5: 1-6.

Dr. David McCoy is an Assistant Professor of Journalism and Digital Media at Ashland University.

For all of these reasons and more, today’s student body is a highly diverse group with many different learning challenges, often manifesting in problems with notetaking and listening comprehension. All of this creates what Keith Bain calls an “accessibility imperative.” And although there are many legal obligations that institutions must satisfy with regards to accessibility, Bain says recording and transcribing lectures can improve retention and success for all types of students.

In the recent online seminar Tools and Techniques for Improving Course Accessibility, Bain, the international manager of the Liberated Learning Consortium and an adjunct professor at St. Mary’s University, explained the value of digitizing, captioning, and transcribing course material, why you should do it and how.

At the most basic level, Bain said, an instructor could record a presentation with little more than a good lavalier mic or headset and a digital recorder. A more intermediate approach could include using audio recording software like Audacity, PowerPoint narration, or tools such as mp3DirectCut or Power Sound Editor. If the institution has invested in lecture capture systems such as Camtasia Relay, Mediasite, Tegrity Campus, Echo 360 or Panopto, there are even more options and much less work since the recording and synchronization are all automated.

Once the presentation is digitized, the next step is to transcribe it, Bain said, noting that this is often the most difficult aspect of offering students truly accessible course media. Some of the tools Bain recommends for converting speech to text include Dragon Naturally Speaking, Media Access Generator (MAGpie), CapScribe, and InqScribe.

YouTube also offers a captioning feature that Bain called “promising” and there are a few research prototypes with speech recognition based transcription, including an IBM Research’s Hosted Transcription Service and Synote.

During the seminar Bain also shared results of a case study that measured the performance of students who used multimedia notes (recorded lectures with real-time captioning and transcription) against those who used traditional notes. The students who studied using multimedia notes scored better on quizzes and exams.

“Accessibility is not optional but rather a critical success factor,” he said. “At the very simplest level, record your next lecture. At the minimum you can create an auditory based learning object that will greatly enhance learning opportunities for many of your students. I found that a lot of students will listen to these newly created podcasts.”

Videos are another fun alternative to written assessments, and the latest technologies have made video creation remarkably easy. Video can be shot with a $200 flip camera, which provides very good sound and picture quality if a microphone is used. Even the ubiquitous smart phone provides remarkably good quality.

But production values are not the point, and poor production values can even add a layer of humor and authenticity to the project. The best advice is that if you are not Orson Wells, don’t try to be. Attempting to reach movie studio quality only highlights the differences. Be self-referentially hokey as a way to make the lack of production values itself part of the production.

That said, your students’ videos certainly will need some editing and tools such as Live Movie Maker (Windows) or iMovie (Mac) are free and relatively easy to use. Once your students are done editing and happy with the finished product, they can post it to YouTube for others to view. Vimeo and Screencast.com are other good places to post videos. There is no FERPA rule against students posting their work publically.

A good video assignment is to put students into small groups with instructions to make a video that teaches a key concept related to class. If done well, the video not only demonstrates students’ understanding of the concept, but also serves as a resource that can be used by others. Often you will find that students are proud of what they produced and want to show it to friends, family, and maybe even future employers. When was the last time a student showed a written essay to anyone?

As usual, I welcome your comments, criticisms, and cries of outrage in the comments section of this blog post.

Increasingly more researchers are integrating Web 2.0 technologies with research methods (data driven instruction) as they examine barriers and potential solutions for systemic issues in their individual educational practice. However, while there are a multitude of tools, which tools are appropriate?

Web 2.0 refers to a second generation of web development and design that facilitates communication, secure information sharing, interoperability, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. A central characteristic of Web 2.0 or “Cloud Computing” is the ability of the users to own and exercise control over the data on the web (Page & Ali, 2009). Web 2.0 tools are enabling people from the distant corners of the globe to effectively communicate and construct knowledge, troubleshoot common enigmas, and collaborate in ways that give their previously unheard voice more than a mere echo or some false illusion of truth on the horizon.

Practical examples of researchers integrating Web 2.0 technologies include music educators who combined action research methods and technology to describe the experiences of students and teachers, Welch, Howard, Himonides, and Brereton (2005). Meanwhile, Strong-Wilson (2008) used action research methods to explore how the role of new media technologies and innovative pedagogical approaches in professional development. These teachers were promoting a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and were encouraged to share their thoughts on the adoption and resistance of technology.

Being conscious of the capabilities to cloud-based tools to accelerate and improve inquiry gives researchers new perspectives on how to design projects, capture data, and process the emerging patterns of knowledge. This applies to all genres of research including mixed-methods and experimental designs. Laurillard (2008) cautions practitioners to have an understanding of the educational problem before adopting a specific technology. For example, sharing knowledge, reflecting on one’s own personal development and using technology through an online learning activity management system or blog are all part of the process.

Web 2.0 tools help inquiring minds to examine increasingly complex data and to visualize it in new ways (e.g., Gapminder, Mindmeister, bubbl.us). This provides the individual with enhanced appreciation of what they know and what they are learning. You can have your “head in the clouds” and rest assured that you are on the correct path for positive pedagogical change.

To help you get started, here are 10 free Web 2.0 tools along with a brief explanation of HOW these tools support and enhance research.

Web 2.0 Tool/Link	Functionality
BibMe	·Create fast and easy bibliographies
bubbl.us	·Brainstorming made simple ·Visual data ·Flow charts
CiteULike	· Easily store references you find online · Discover new articles and resources · Automated article recommendations · Share references with your peers · Find out who’s reading what you’re reading · Store and search your PDFs
Confolio	· Store files, links, ideas · Collaborate with others by sharing info · Publish opinions on contributions of others
Connotea	· Save and organize links to your references · Easily share references with colleagues · Access references from any computer
Gapminder	· Interactive, dynamic data visuals · Trend analysis · Statistical analysis
Google Docs	· Co-construction and online creation · Manuscripts, interview transcripts, spreadsheets, presentations, etc
Mendeley	· Sharing, building online research libraries · Collaboration.
Mindmeister	· Mindmaps · Schematic diagrams
Zotero	· Bibliographic plugin for organizing research

References
Laurillard, D. (2008). The teacher as action researcher: Using technology to capture pedagogic form. Studies in Higher Education, 33(2) 139-154.

Page, G. A., & Ali, R. (2009). The power and promise of Web 2.0 tools. In C. Payne (Ed.) Information technology and constructivism in higher education: Progressive learning frameworks. Hershey, PA: IGI.

Strong-Wilson, T. (2008). Changing literacies, changing formations: The role of elicitation in teacher action research with new technologies. Teachers & Teaching. 14(5/6). 447-463.

Welch, G. F., Howard, D. M., Himonides, E., Brereton, J. (2005). Real-time feedback in the singing studio: An innovatory action-research project using new voice technology. Music Education Research. 7(2). 225-249.

G. Andrew “Andy” Page is professor of research and educational technology, consultant and evaluator, and partner with the Dionysius Technologies Group.

Yet we don’t apply this same principle to our students. We expect them to submit their work prior to any outside review as if it were the “final draft.” We then grade our students on that unreviewed work, even though we would never want a journal editor to make a decision on our work based on its early drafts.

It’s time to start applying the same principles to our students that we apply to ourselves. I have my students submit their work to “colleagues” (i.e., other students) for commentary and revision prior to submission for a grade. Not only does it improve the quality of their work (making it easier for me to grade, by the way), but it improves their writing by forcing them to correct their errors. But even more importantly, it gets them into the practice of asking others to review their writing, which they will need to do later in life when they’re in the workplace, serving on civic committees, and involved in other collaborative endeavors.

Shared Editing Software
One of the easiest tools for facilitating document review is Google Docs. Students simply create a free Google account, and then load their documents into the editors, which look and function much like any word processing software, such as Microsoft Word. The value is that the creator can give anyone else rights to view or edit the work.

I have my students give both a “Paper Partner” and me access to their work once the first draft is done. The Paper Partner, a fellow student, is then required to make comments directly onto the document. The commentary should point out simple writing errors, as well as whether the ideas are easy to follow. Once revised the student submits the paper to me for a grade. I want early access so I can ensure that all of the Paper Partners are doing their job (or more accurately, my job, as I have farmed out much of the drudgery of editing to them).

Shared editing is also great for group projects, since students can all enter edits directly to a single document, rather than deal with the version confusion that comes with passing around email attachments. I require my students to keep a running log of their group’s activity on a Google Doc so that everyone in the project is on the same page, and so that I can peek in to make sure that things are moving along.

It’s time to start practicing what we preach by requiring the same peer review from our students as we expect of one another, and replacing the archaic email attachment system with shared document editing to get it done.

As usual, I welcome your comments, criticisms, and cries of outrage in the comments section of this blog.

In this article, we outline some of the benefits we found and share tips for getting started with interactive web conferencing in your classes.

Interactive web conferencing increases accessibility. Because synchronous web-based sessions can be accessed by students anywhere there is an Internet connection, IWC increases the likelihood that students will be able to actively participate in classes despite illness, family obligations, weather or travel that would – in a traditional face-to-face class – result in absences.

Interactive web conferencing increases student-to-student and student-to-teacher interaction. Many online courses rely heavily on asynchronous discussion forums or wikis to promote collaboration and communication between the students and instructor. By adding the IWC component, discussions can again be dynamic and spontaneous, spirited and engaging, because the audio and video components of the interface promote real-time learning and discussion. The format also allows students to work collaboratively on a project even though they are not at the same physical location. As college students struggle to balance home, work and school, this kind of flexibility allows them to more easily accomplish project-based collaborative work.

Interaction is also increased because there is a set time where the class comes together synchronously, which helps eliminate feelings of isolation or lack of interpersonal connections with classmates and the instructor that may occur in a fully asynchronous online course.

Interactive web conferencing promotes active learning. Imagine if your students could comment on a presentation as it happens and remain engaged in the lesson via polls, surveys, or interactive whiteboard sharing.

In essence, web conferencing provides a venue for sustained interactions between students, authentic cooperative learning, and collegial sharing of ideas and project progress.

Interactive web conferencing adds variety: While there is much discussion and debate about learning styles (See references), IWC certainly engages the visual and auditory learner and helps to provide the multisensory interaction that traditionally has been missing from text-based online courses.

The format also allows instructors to record sessions for later viewing by students so they can go back and listen to content that they need further practice with or that may have been confusing. These recorded sessions also help meet the adaptations and modifications for students with disabilities who may need copies of class notes or presentations.

Tips for Success
Perhaps the most critical step required in order to realize the many instructional and learning benefits of interactive web conferencing is preparation — on the part of the faculty, student and institution. We accomplished this at Towson University by developing instructional guides and best practices, providing just-in-time training, and developing a community of faculty users for process improvement.

Do you want to get started with interactive web conferencing? Here are some useful tips to increase success and satisfaction for both students and faculty.

Getting Started

• Practice using IWC prior to meeting with your class.
• Schedule at least one test session with your students to ensure they can access, hear and participate in your meetings.
• Provide “How to Join a Meeting” instructions to your students.
• Post the invitations to your IWC meetings and instructions to a central location like your LMS so that students can easily access this information.
• Practice using IWC for the first time when everyone is in the same place at the same time whenever possible.
• Make sure the learning goals, and not the technology, drive the instruction.

Classroom Management

• Explain what the different icons mean in the IWC interface.
• Establish a protocol for how students should ask to speak or alert the instructor they are finished commenting so that passing the microphone is easier in larger groups.
• Appoint one or two students as presenters also so they can help pass the microphone.
• Change initial settings so that everyone can chat with all attendees and students have ability to do everything (like annotate).
• Use the “yes/no” buttons periodically to keep people on-task and to be sure they still hear you.

Troubleshooting and Technical Support

• Add the technical support number to every invitation to a meeting.
• Allow students to join 15 minutes prior so there is time to verify microphones and speakers are working correctly before beginning.
• Since we often have multiple peripheral devices connected to our computers remind your students to select the microphone and speaker source they intend to use.
• Remind participants to keep background noise and paper shuffling to a minimum and to mute their microphone when they do not need to speak.
• Keep e-mail running in the background and have your phone handy in case students try and contact you when having technical difficulties.
• Always check that students can hear you (and others) well and ask them to alert you if they are having trouble hearing.

Dr. Linda Macaulay is a lecturer in the Department of Educational Technology and Literacy at Towson University. La Tonya Dyer, M.A., M.S., is an Instructional Designer/Trainer for the Center of Advancement Instructional and Technology at Towson University.

References:
Neighmond, Patti. “Think You’re An Auditory Or Visual Learner? Scientists Say It’s Unlikely : Shots – Health Blog : NPR.” NPR. 29 Aug. 2011. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. .

Christensen, Clayton M., Michael B. Horn, and Curtis W. Johnson. Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. Print.

During the recent online seminar Selecting and Using Technologies in Online & Blended Courses, Tony Bates, an elearning and distance education planning and management consultant, offered some insights on what to consider when making technology decisions.

Bates, author of Managing Technology in Higher Education: Strategies for Transforming Teaching and Learning, recommends the SECTIONS model, which examines a variety of factors for determining the most appropriate technology to bring into a classroom. Some of the larger questions you need to ask are, “How will this technology benefit the students? Does it make learning more accessible for the students? Does it increase their flexibility? What kind of students are you reaching—or, more importantly, could you reach who you’re not reaching already—with this technology?,” Bates said.

The SECTIONS decision-making model
Students – What are the demographics of the students in your course? Do they work? Do they live on or near campus? What is their preferred learning style? Are they motivated learners?

Ease of use; portability – There’s nothing more frustrating than technology that doesn’t work like it’s supposed to, so whatever technologies you choose, they must be easy to use, easy to maintain and reliable. Training should be available for anyone who needs it.

Costs – The costs involved could be fixed or variable, and go beyond the actual cost of the product to include instructor time, instructional support, media production, and maintenance.

Teaching – What is your teaching style? Some technologies lend themselves more to didactic or direct teaching; others to student participation. What are the intended learning outcomes? How will students be assessed?

Interaction – What technologies will engage and motivate your students? What technologies will enhance interaction between you and your students, between students, and between the students and the course material?

Organization – Does the institution support the use of learning technologies? Can you and your students get help if you need it? If you try to do something different will you be rewarded or punished?

Novelty – New technologies are a double-edged sword, Bates said. Because they are new, they might attract positive attention and support. However, new technologies also carry more risk because they’re largely untested, and may never reach broad adoption or maturation.

Speed and Security – Security and privacy issues are becoming increasingly important. Is the technology secure or can it be ‘hacked’? Is student information protected? Is the data stored on a secure server and is it backed up in case of an emergency?

“The key is, whatever model you choose, think about the technology choice before designing the course,” said Bates. “Too often instructors get halfway through the course and then start making decisions about the technology when that should have been thought about at the beginning so that it can be properly integrated.”

One of the easiest and most powerful tools is the regular old wiki. Wikis are simply web pages that can be edited by their users. Instead of only carrying content from the administrator, they harness the power of crowdsourcing to create a powerful communal resource.

I use a wiki as the electronic hub of my face-to-face courses. The uses are varied:

Course Information
All course information —syllabus, course schedule, assignments, handouts, etc. —is posted on the wiki. This means that students can check in to get information at any time without the multiple login steps of an LMS. I also find it much easier to update content on the wiki than the LMS. Plus, students considering taking the course can check out the syllabus before registering. It is beyond me why most colleges still only provide a name and short generic description of their courses to guide students’ decisions. Why not at least require instructors to put their syllabi into an online database?

Resource Repository
I like saving current articles that relate to course content. For instance, I am constantly running across advances in genetics that fit perfectly into my medical ethics course. I put links to these articles into my wiki. Importantly, I encourage students to do the same so that they feel a part of a knowledge community that is exploring the topics together.

One interesting section of the wiki is called “Just for Fun.” This is a place for students to load links to funny stories or videos related to course content. You would be surprised how much is out there.

Student Projects
One of the biggest mistakes we make in education is keeping the good work our students do hidden from the public. While professors are supposed to make public their research to advance understanding in their field, student work is only seen by the instructor and the student. Why not make the best work public? Not only does this encourage students to do better work, but also makes that work a resource for future students. Other students can benefit from the work, and it can serve as a model of what the instructor wants from students.

I put my students into small groups and assign each the project of developing a learning module on a topic covered in class. The resulting module is posted to the wiki along with the other class content. That module needs to have learning content, such as a voice-over PowerPoint or VoiceThread, as well as an assessment module, like an online quiz, and recommended resources.

Consider a simple wiki as an easy way to dip your toes into the online waters.

As always, I welcome your comments, criticisms, and cries of outrage on the blog. In particular, I’d like to hear your suggestions on other uses of a wiki in the classroom.

Resources
PB Works – Formerly PB Wiki, this is an easy to learn and fairly powerful free wiki system. They recently upgraded the capabilities in interesting ways, which I haven’t even begun to explore yet.

Glogster – Fun platform that makes a wiki into a kind of online mosaic.

NU Medical Ethics – My own very simple wiki—you can do better.

Wikis in Plain English – Still the best introduction to wikis from the good people at Common Craft.