Communicate 2.1.3

As discussed in my last two posts, ongoing communication with stakeholders is vital for student success in an online course.  In addition to Welcome Communication and communication regarding student progress I also do the following:

• After due dates I email those students with missing assignments and copy their parents. This helps stakeholders to know that they have a 0.  I always include when the deadline for submitting the assignment is so parents know how the late policy at Ga Virtual works.
• Prior to due dates, I send an email to all students and parents reminding them of the upcoming deadline and giving them tips on how to approach any challenging assignments that will be due. I also try to remind students to work continuously over the 2 week period rather than waiting until the day/night before the due date.
• When a student shows marked improvement I try to send the student and their parent a quick email just saying that I have noticed how hard he/she has been working and to keep it up - this type of communication can be the most effective in regards to student morale and rapport with students. 

Communication in an online environment is vital because many students find online learning to be challenging and need the lifeline of open communication in order to adjust.  

Here is an example of ongoing communication I might share with stakeholders: https://www.smore.com/gvyc

Communicate 2.1.2

Communication is very important in the online environment.  Below are the different forms of communication needed to be an effective online instructor:

Welcome Email: I use the template provided by Ga Virtual to welcome students and provide vital information for the course.  I usually attach the Ga Virtual provided template to the email and use bullet points in the body of the email to advise stakeholders of the key information.  In the welcome email, the important information includes: completing the Student Orientation Course, creating a Parent Auditor Account, and advising students when their Synchronous Sessions will be held.

Personal Notes vs. Mass Communication: I regularly use mass communication to send emails to students and parents.  I also use DialMyCalls to "phone blast" parents with important information.  Some examples of personal notes are that I like to email students/parents personally if the student fails the first quiz.  If a student fails the first quiz they are likely to feel discouraged and that may show they do not know how to find the important information in the course.  In this case, it is important that students/parents get a personalized email that shows I am monitoring their students progress.

Stakeholders: I always include parents on student emails! Even though students are advised to check their email daily, I still think it is important for parents to remind students of important announcements that have been sent out.  If I send an email regarding a students progress then I include the facilitator so that the student's school is aware of their progress.  Lastly, if a student has violated school policy, or if the student may have issue with school policy, I include online school administration.

School Policies Regarding Communication: I read and adhere to Ga Virtual school policy regarding communication. Two of the most important guidelines are to never include specific student grades and to only communicate with the students parent/guardian.   In addition, documentation is an important aspect of GaVS policy so that all stakeholders can be on the same page regarding when/how students are being communicated with.

Tools for Effective Online Communication: Email is my main form of online communication, but in addition I use News Announcements, Bulletin Boards, and DialMyCalls.

Communicate 2.1.1

The descriptions of each stakeholder (instructor, student, parent, school admin) do correlate to my previous understandings and perceptions.

The instructor can be expanded upon as the additional role of facilitator of student learning.  Instructors must provide students with the resources to access information and be there to help guide them in the right direction when lost.   In addition, it cannot be stated enough that instructors are there to monitor and encourage student progress and contact other stakeholders when the student is not progressing as desired.

The other roles are very well described! One other stakeholder not mentioned is the online school administration who are involved in student communication if needed.  The online school administration is there to help intervene if the instructor needs additional information on policy or how to implement school policy.  Online school administrators can help communicate information to other stakeholders so that all parties are clear on school policy and how instructors are advised to run their courses.

Communicate 1.1.2

When it comes to students, protecting their privacy and rights is important! Teachers can be sure not to violate FERPA by avoiding sending specific grade information in emails, rather teachers can say "your students grade is below a 70%" and then wait to have a phone conversation with parents if they would like more specific information.  Another area to pay attention to, in regards to FERPA, is to ensure when you get an email or phone call regarding a student be sure to check that students records to ensure the person is authorized to share in the personal information of the student.  I have had to tell un-authorized persons that they must contact the students guardian for information and while that may be an awkward conversation, it is best to respect the student's privacy.

In order to avoid copyright violations, I would be sure not to send articles or newsletters to those outside of the network in which I accessed the information.  Copyright does not require that all work be original, just that if you are using a copyrighted material that you have permission!

Communicate 1.1.1

Innovations in technology have caused many changes in the way people communicate daily.  One issue I see with students often is their knowledge of email etiquette and being able to communicate effectively using technology.  Students must know how to give an appropriate greeting in an email and give enough information so that their problem can get solved.  I often find students emails are limited in the amount of information they give and lacking an introduction.  I try to remedy this by modeling good email etiquette for students and responding to them appropriately even when I get an email from them that could have been a text!

Advancements in technology have improved classroom communication tremendously.  I love being able to email students' parents easily and send students messages quickly.  There are also cool apps to help make communication with students even easier.  Remind 101 is a site that allows you to "blast text" students without them having your actual phone number.  Students can also communicate with teachers via Twitter and other social media tools as well!

Navigate 4.1.1

I think the trend that will make the most impact on learning over the next 5 years is Mobile Learning.  At GaVS, students have the option to view the content and take quizzes on their phones/tablets but the quality is not always optimal and students may not feel as though they are getting the best product through their phones.   Through my face-to-face experience, I think there are some challenges with mobile apps keeping logins up to date via the phone/computer.  Students will say they completed something on their phone, but that will not show up in their accounts because they did not do it on the computer.  Students are on their phones all the time, and if they cannot use them to do their fullest capabilities, they may just not do the assignment or watch the video they need to watch.  Therefore, it is important that tech companies focus on this trend to help educators reach all students!

Navigate 3.2.1

Deciding on an LMS can be very challenging for a school system, especially with so many choices out there! After reviewing the different vendors, I think Canvas might be the best option for a secondary face-to-face school.  For an online school, I think Blackboard or D2L (Brightspace) might be the best options because of the content organization.  Because Ga Virtual already has the infrastructure of a development team, Brightspace is a good option.

Navigate 3.1.4

I was exploring the Canvas website and found that there are four main sections of the Course Analytics:
1. Activity allows instructors to see how much each student is participating with the LMS
2. Submissions allows instructors to see if students have done a particular assignment and if they turned it in on time or late.
3. Grades uses a box-and-whisker plot to show the grades in a course
4.  Then there are student analytics for each student in the course that can show each of the above mentioned items.

((Source)

Navigate 3.1.3

As a reminder, I chose Canvas as my Learning Management System to explore.  Canvas has almost all of the tools listed for communication, like an email/inbox/messaging system as well as a Calendar.  In addition, students can participate in Discussions on Canvas.  As far as assessments go, Canvas has all of the listed components: dropbox, quizzes, integrated rubrics, gradebook and user progress. These features are similar to those of BrightSpace.  Canvas has a gradebook, but I could not find a report feature (that may be because I didn't have any students/grades) but there is an option to leave open-ended feedback as well as integrate a rubric, and instructors can weigh different grades differently!

Navigate 3.1.2

I decided to try out using Canvas because my face-to-face school is moving to Canvas soon.  So I created a course called Algebra I and I had a zip file of videos I made for my development project this year.  It was not totally user-friendly to figure out how to upload the content, it took me about 5 minutes to figure it out! Then I had to create a Page and import one of the videos to the page.  I like how you can organize the units by Sections and give students specific instructions, like 'watch this video' then download this worksheet and try these problems.  My media loaded easily and I especially appreciate the option to create media within the LMS!

Here is a link to my Canvas course: https://canvas.instructure.com/courses/1036930

Navigate 3.1.1

The most vital elements of a Learning Management System, in my opinion are:

• Course Content - this is how students learn! It is vital because this is the delivery of the material students are expected to master.
• Course Assessments - being able to integrate this to allow teachers to assess students is vital! Students can take quizzes/tests, upload their own work in their dropbox and participate in discussions with other students.
• Reporting/Analytics - I love this feature because I can see how students are doing as a whole with certain questions and topics.  Effective online teachers should be using analytics regularly to monitor whole class progress and look for areas of weakness in the instruction

Navigate 2.1.4

Lecture Capturing resources are valuable in both the face-to-face and online classroom.  Many times, I have posted a video on a specific problem I have noticed my students struggling with as their News Announcement for the week.  I usually use an app called Explain Everything because I have found it to be the most user-friendly and you can rewind if you make a mistake! I have also used screen capturing tools like Screen-Cast-O-Matic to record how to use an online calculator for students.  As I've said, I have flipped my face-to-face classroom and this has helped to enhance my teaching methods tremendously!

Navigate 2.1.3

Many prominent universities are now offering free open courses, for instance you can learn Multi-Variable Calculus through MIT! While some are offering commercial classrooms, like Johns Hopkins University.  The benefit of the open courses are obviously the cost and access to information for all people.  However, a drawback might be that they are not updated as regularly.  Another issue with open courses is that there is no facilitator for students to be held accountable to.  For a person who wants to continue learning this might be an awesome option, but if you are trying to get course or school credit, this could raise an issue.  Because these sites post all of their assessments with keys, how can schools accurately assess if a student has learned what they should have?  So while open courses are great for continuing learning for one's leisure, they may not be the best option for students attempting to earn credit!

Navigate 2.1.2

I've created many recorded synchronous sessions using Adobe Connect.  I don't find the WhiteBoard tool to be totally user-friendly so I usually use a WhiteBoard app on my iPad and then screen share to show students how to do problems.  Here is a link to one of my recorded sessions:
1/25/16 - Inverse Functions: http://gavirtualschool.adobeconnect.com/p5q0a21z8wd/

Another issue I have run into with Adobe Connect is remembering to press Record - but I guess that is a user error!

Navigate 2.1.1

Synchronous learning is critical to student success in an online learning environment.  Currently, Ga Virtual utilizes Adobe Connect to manage synchronous learning sessions with students.  However, there are many delivery methods available out there.  Blackboard Collaborate and Adobe Connect are fairly similar.  They offer a White Board feature and allow teachers to share documents and pictures with students.  Both have polling features, but Blackboard does require students to download a file to their computers in order to be able to participate in the session.  To me, Google Hangouts is more of a social media tool rather than a learning system because it does not have a whiteboard feature built in. From what I've learned through exploring the sites, Cisco WebEx and GoTo Meeting seem to be similar in that they might be best used for business collaborations rather than student learning.

Navigate 1.1.3

Our Learning Management System, BrightSpace, does many important things for us! Our LMS does the following:

• houses the content for students to access
• allows students to be assessed through quizzes and tests
• gives students the opportunity to participate in discussions
• upload assignments to the dropbox
• email the teacher and ask questions
• and many more..! 

Through researching the difference between a LMS and a LCMS does the same things, but allows the content to be shared and updated easily between courses.  This would be helpful for instructors when they find a mistake in a course because then the mistake could be updated once and fixed for everyone right away! Hopefully, BrightSpace, will find a way to make the content sharing more fluid in the future! 

Navigate 1.1.2

As I have worked with Ga Virtual, it has been nice to explore different roles within the GaVS environment.  I have worked as an instructor, a reviewer and also a developer.  Developing has been the most challenging, but rewarding role I've held.  I like development because I enjoy creating content and thinking about how students will best learn new topics.  However, it can also be challenging because you don't get to "test" it out on students prior to them starting the course and the content being finalized! This insight into development gave me more understanding of the inner workings of Ga Virtual.

Online teachers utilize the SIS to access student information, records and keep track of important communication.  Teachers use the LMS to access the pre-made content, grade student work and facilitate student learning.

Administrators use the SIS to monitor student progress and teacher communication, as well as accessing student information and records.  Administrators also monitor teacher instruction via the LMS by looking at things like News Announcements and management of grading policies.

Facilitators use the SIS to monitor students progress and check in with students at their face-to-face school to help monitor their progress and encourage them to work hard!

The Development Department is built of the SME who writes the content and the development expert who puts it into BrightSpace and makes it look awesome!

All of these people are there to help students succeed and learn!

Navigate 1.1.1

This past school year, in my face-to-face classroom I "flipped" the classroom.  So my students watched videos I made for homework and answered questions embedded (use EdPuzzle.com) and then we spent our entire class period practicing those skills.  The videos I made would be an example of asynchronous learning since students could do them at any time, while our class time might be seen as synchronous learning since we were all together (although not necessarily online!).  It would be very cool to do synchronous sessions rather than recorded videos but I believe that scheduling that would be challenging for me (because I want to go home and relax!) and for my students who are highly committed after school.  I have considered offering some sort of synchronous review session time for students but have not found the right forum to make it work!

The great thing about asynchronous learning is that students are able to access it at their own pace and at their own time.  The awesome thing about synchronous time is that students are able to ask the instructor questions! Ga Virtual offers students a nice blend by giving them a self-paced course but then also offering weekly synchronous sessions!