The 5 personal relationship levels any ID needs to develop

I have to confess that when I started working as an instructional designer (by pure coincidence), I thought my job basically involved making HTML pages, making objects using Javascript, and maybe some graphic design. Somebody else would pass the content over to me and I would just insert that content into the pages. In fact, there was a time when I thought most of my work will take place in my cubicle, in front of my two huge computer screens, just moving to get coffee, going to a team meeting, or having the casual conversation about work with my colleagues.

But instructional design requires the ability to work with and for others. Building relationships in the workplace, and outside of it, is as important as the basic course design needed to develop the courses. In my experience, I have found that there are four levels of relationship that an instructional designer needs to cultivate and grow:

1. With your supervisors
2. With your colleagues
3. With support teams
4. With outside vendors
5. With your customers

Here is how I break it down, please realize that this is not a model for all environments. The corporate world is more complex than the university setting (where I operate).

1. Your relationship with your supervisors
   I don’t mean to be a suck-up, you will have to disagree with them when you believe you are right. Do not bend over backwards to please your bosses, it will not serve both sides in the end. You also have to respect the position they are in, after all, they are there for some reason. You have to consider their vision of the section or team, the direction they want to take, it is their job to trace the way to go, it is your job to support those goals and do what you can to achieve them, even if you do not agree with them. But you have to voice your concerns if things are not working the way it was planned, this way, your boss can rectify the direction before it is too late.
2. Your relationship with your colleagues
   They are not your drinking buddies, but you may have a beer with them from time to time. You will be with them in the trenches, at this level your relationships become a little less formal because you will be spending most of the time with them, so the casual sharing of personal information is more common, which allows for a more comfortable interaction. It is important to be a team member, ready to help when any of your colleagues asks for it but able to decline when you have other priorities, do not drop everything you are doing to help a colleague, unless your boss asks you, or if you certainly do not have any looming deadlines (that is rarely the case), or if the project involves the whole team for delivery. Clashes of character and lack of affinity will sometimes be unavoidable, nevertheless you should keep things at the professional level, do not let your emotions cloud your judgement, do not let your aversion to a co-worker influence your opinion about an issue at work. This a fertile area where I could add other issues related to how you handle your work relationships (and personal) with your colleagues, for the sake of space, I will deal with this on a later post.
3. Your relationship with your support teams
   They are not your lackeys, do not demean those around you that provide a service or a support role to your team. Do not look down on them because you have the big college degree and they do not. Treat them with respect, respect the work they do. Ask as you would ask a colleague for help, they are an essential part of the organization as well. In some cases, some of these relationships will develop beyond the workplace. Show genuine interest in who they are, what they do in the organization, observe how they do their daily work, you might learn something new.
4. Your relationship with outside vendors
   This includes instructors, since many times they are hired to deliver content. This is one of the most demanding relationships in your circle. They will be the professionals you will be in touch the most. You have to keep up with production, your schedule, and with demands from your supervisors and the organization. Sometimes, this is the area where projects get delayed, the subject-matter expert (SME) would not cooperate with you or they will not work at your same speed. This is a very tricky situation because you are not their boss, certainly they are not your boss, your are the liaison, the glue that keeps the course production in schedule and on budget. You need to know your SMEs well, how they work, their styles, how they respond to your requests, and so on. There are also outside vendors. Unless you are the guy that makes the decision to purchase a product for the organization, they will bug you that much. But you need to have their number and information handy when you need it for technical or product support.
5. Your relationship with your customers
   Your customers are the population that will be learning in your courses. In many cases, when debugging is needed, the buck stops with you. Many organizations have student support and your intervention might not be needed. But you have to be ready to deal with students that do reach your help desk. You need to have the course and organization policies regarding refunding, assessments, deadlines, and accessibility.

I created this classification from my own experiences dealing with relationships in my workplace, as an instructional designer in a university setting. In the corporate world, things might be a little different. If you can help me reshaping this classification for a more general workplace (both academic and corporate), or if you have a different idea, please let me know. I am always looking for new learning experiences regarding my relationships to others around me.

My comments on Week 2 Films 1 and 2.

To say the least, these two commercials show a very rosy future. It is clear that they are trying to convey the message that the technologies they are promoting will be present in every aspect of our lives: from when we rise in the morning, to when we go to sleep. Who is to say that in the distant future, portrayed in those two films, everybody in the world will have access to that kind of technology, when right now we are not able to feed the whole population on this planet?

The way education, at the basic level, is shown in the film suggests that the classrooms of the future will require every student to possess a computer or digital device. I just don’t want to spend time listing the failed attempts at achieving this that many school districts have embarked on, the recent fiasco in Los Angeles County is the latest one reported.

It seems to me that the classes in both films are heavily using media and interactivity, and this seems to suggest that this is the best way to teach something like building a bridge. I think that is not defensible because there are other methods that are as efficient as using multimedia and computer programs. Another suggestion is that the use of cool gadgets in the classrooms will enhance education, which is also not true.

In overall, I believe this two cases show an example of a utopian vision of the future. But I was left with the impression that these kids and their families belong to a privileged class. This is another issue that education is currently undergoing, just like in other parts of the economy, a dismal gap between people who can pay for college and those who cannot afford it. I would like to read research related to the effects of economic status on e-learning, especially attitudes toward the use of it.

One thing that is not depicted in these films is the interaction between the students. It is well documented that students communicate to each other using social media but the film failed to show how that is going to evolve when those technologies presented actually exist.

An example of dystopian story about technology...

When I watched the movie "Pi" some years ago, I was impressed by the use of the camera looking at the actor while he was moving (accomplished by a camera strapped to the actor), which is commonly used nowadays but at that time was really innovative. I do recommend the movie but it is not for the faint of heart because of its dim and gloomy nature.

Even though many people think that what is changing the world is technology, many really mean the hardware behind that technology. But what actually drives these machines is not the hardware but the software (algorithms) that makes them do stuff. I have always thought that the revolution in technology did come from hardware improvements but the creation of more powerful algorithms is what has actually sealed the deal. And this movie talks more about the numbers behind the hardware than the hardware itself. This movie was made well before all that wave of web 2.0 came around, so there is little reference to the internet and more emphasis on the power of computers and algorithms. I consider this a good example of dystopia brought about by technology.

My comments on Film 4: "New Media"

This second film, although very well made, falls short on a new message. I know the visuals are impressive but to me, the message is difficult to see. The role of technology is not clear, since this really looks more like an invasion of machines more than the influence of technology in our lives. But the similarity to the other film "Bendito Machine III" lies on how a higher entity takes over our lives and environment through the use of gadgets, which most of the times, do more harm than good to us.

The final sequence left me wondering if the actor is the controller of those machines or if the machines are controlling him? I couldn't figure that out.

My comments on Film 3: "Thursday"

I admire those films where the title is something hidden in the movie that you have to find out later. In this case, this film has the title hidden well into the middle of the film, and at first sight there is no clue on why the movie is called "Thursday". By the way, it would be really cool to have a restaurant that is far up the atmosphere!

I think the film presents many issues with technology that are widely known, such as how we have become so dependable on it that when we loose power at work, everything comes to a halt (it is true, not only that, if I loose the internet connection, I just cannot move forward), or how we get so absorbed by technology that our entertainment, our communications, and our activities revolve around technological gadgets such as cell phones (smart phones?), tablets, and so on. This film does not have any dialogue either, but I don't believe the film could have gone without it, I think this a conscious decision from the filmmaker and not the nature of the film (like in Inbox). The original idea in the film is how we get so involved in the life in a big city that we forget that nature is still trying to thrive in those environments, the birds story line is real and true in many cities. What is not true is the fact that the city is presented as a barren, devoid-of-life, place. In fact, there is a whole movement right now on making big cities more green by placing more green areas around.

I am not sure what the question about gains and losses means. I will try my best. I see many gains in the sens that technology has made our life so much easier in many aspects. The fact that I can sen this post to be viewed by potentially many other humans is remarkable, and a positive gain. The loss is that I cannot have all of them in front of me to tell them all this I am typing here, which is depicted in the film with the couple having to communicate by text messages because they are so busy with their lives. Another loss in the film is the fact that nature is so hidden in the city that is hard to see or notice until a bird smashes on your window, just like in the film. The enormous gain is the awareness that comes out one we realize that life is actually thriving around us, despite our best efforts to transform the environment to our needs.

I think the agent in this film is the bird because it is taking the role of nature in the film. The fact that this bird has thrive in the urban environment and has transformed its environment (by building a nest inside an antenna's plate, using wires to build the nest for lack of tree twigs) makes it the main role in the movie. I watched the whole thing waiting for the next sequence where the bird would show up. I think another message in the movie is the fact that life moves on despite our best efforts to manipulate it into complying to our wishes.

My comments on Film 2: "Inbox"

This is a very funny short film, I love those kinds of short films. I am a fan of short films, as a matter of fact. It is remarkable how this film was made for that length of time with no dialogue whatsoever. The visuals are very explicit and you are never at a loss of what is going on in each sequence.

Having said that, I simply cannot decide which side to take. It is a utopian account because the message seems to be very positive, I mean, this is a happy ending, the guy gets the girl at the end, right? Yes, but the fact that because there is no dialogue at all makes me also consider this a dytopian account. Verbal communication between us humans is one of the most important and beautiful aspects of evolution. The fact that we can say many hurtful and beautiful things with our voice makes us unique in this planet. I believe that technology has changed that a lot with the advent of e-mail, chat rooms, Twitter, Facebook, emoticons, and so on, where you can say many things (or type, rather) in the message but there is no emotion attached to it, no body language either. In my experience, this has led to many misunderstandings when I text or IM because the intended text message sometimes does not contain the full meaning from the sender, has anybody else experience that too?

In order to convey a message to another human being, we also need the body language, which this film uses plenty to convey messages, and that is a good thing, which makes the film utopian to my eye. In most of the film, this message is being conveyed from the film to the viewer, it is only at the end that the characters experience this exchange. That also makes the film a little dystopian. It is implied in the film that two people can fall in love by just exchanging messages (but that does happen every day in dating sites), and that full communication can be achieved by use of text and characters. That has changed human communication in a profound way.

My comment on Film 1: "Bendito Machine III"

This is a very interesting take on the "dystopia" of technology. I believe the film is trying to convince us that if we use technology without thinking about the consequences of its use, we will end up depending on it completely. Especially if we do not take steps into understanding the purpose of these technologies in our lives. The suggestion of the influence of technology in our society and our environment is evident in the film, as we see that sequence when the technology starts harming the characters and then attacking their environment.

But the suggestion that there is a "higher" entity that produces this technology is not sounding to me at all. I believe that those who develop these gadgets and applications are genuinely trying to make our lives better, and they figure that the consequences of the new technology will take care of itself. The sad truth is that no one can predict what the future. Every action we take has consequences, many of them unintended. The same applies to them.

But we do have a choice on embracing these new things or not, just like the characters in the film did. Since they were able to dispose of old technology, they could, at any point, decide on throwing away these gadgets whenever they please but they chose not to. We also have a choice and proof of this is the large number of new things that have been invented during history, which are now in the pantheon of rejected technology, not only old technology is disposed of, new technology that would not appeal to the masses gets thrown out too.

What I also find odd in the film is the impersonal reference to the new gadgets in fashion. It is clear that any technology is useless unless there is a human face behind it. By itself, technology will not harm us, they need a human being to start the process, which is what I find odd because in the film all those references to the tv and the internet seem to imply that the diabolical technology acts by itself, which is not true.

My adventure in the Coursera EDMOOC

Here is my first course post. I really want to complete this MOOC this time around. Hope life doesn't get in the way. Hello to all fellow Courserians! Greetings from Gainesville, FL.

Is there room for yet another LMS?

I just recently heard that a new venture sprung up with a new offer for a LMS (NACR). I had the impression that there were already many LMS systems in the market, so I did a small Google search and, as many of you probably know, I got lots of hits. There are many options available out there, each one having a different application but in essence they all have the same tools and functions. Which brings me to this question: is there room in the market for yet another LMS?

A LMS is a very important piece of any online education program. Without it, it would be difficult to manage an educational system consisting of hundreds of online courses, if not thousands. Then tracking student progress becomes more difficult, there are also issues on dealing with assessments, and so on. Nobody doubts the need of a LMS in an educational program.

I certainly don’t want to be in the shoes of that poor manager who has been tasked with selecting the right LMS for the company to host their training or educational program. I would think it is very difficult to find the right choice with so many options available, so I wouldn’t like that kind of job. But somebody has to do it.

You can argue that those already out there are different in certain ways. They differentiate themselves somehow. This could be based on the technology they use, the market segment they are catering, or the education level they are targeting, and a long etc. At the end of the day, they all do the same thing: administer the how, when, what, and where to deliver course content, resources, assessments, activities, interactions, learning, validation, evaluation, etc. to the user. They also have to be able to deliver data on student activity, otherwise you have a LMS that operates like a CMS (content management system).

So, where is the market saturation? Apparently we have not reached that point yet. Many of the solutions out there cater to some segment of the market. There are still big players out there that claim to be able to solve anybody’s problem (which I doubt). LMS are evolving towards something resembling cloud systems, with other tools like adaptive learning, date gathering, and heavy use of multimedia. I think we are in that elimination process when some old solutions will go extinct (unless they evolve with the times) or out of favor, and new solutions are coming into the market to take their place. So yes, apparently there is still room for new innovations.

Suggested Reflections (week 3)

1. In your blog share some of your reflections of what you have learned this week.
   One of the things I have learned this week relates to team building in online settings. It is a tricky situation when you have to put together teams of students who have not met before in a on-site course. But to do it in an online class, it is even more difficult. My take on this is that, even though many instructors practice this, the students have to figure out themselves how to pair up, the instructor only needs to create the right environment. Maybe the instructor leaves breadcrumbs that students could follow. One way I envision doing this is by first start the course with a simple discussion introduction or a simple poll that could give details about what the students are interested about in the course. Then I would set up forums for them to come and start discussing topics that interest them. The first post would come from me and then I will let them know I am paying attention to their conversation so that they know I am present and interested in what they have to say. I will post encouraging comments to them so that they can keep discussing possible projects together.
2. In particular, reflect on your experiences of two different facilitation styles or strategies for promoting critical thinking. What are the implications for the facilitation of online courses?
   In my experience in the classroom and the online environment the use of case studies and questions with not a definite answer can be effective as promoters of meaningful thinking. The case studies I have designed included images and in some cases, video. Then I would ask questions about how they use the data provided to come up with a solution that they can justify and defend. For the open-ended questions I would clarify that there is no right or wrong answer but their thinking process will be evaluated. In all these cases, I would establish in the guidelines that the best way to approach their response is by providing external resources they used for their research (I think there needs to be a clarification that I don’t expect them to complete the activities in one sit). These activities can be implemented in the classroom in a faster manner because the students and the instructor are in one place and the communication includes body language, voice tones, verbal cues, etc. In the online environment this is not possible, so the guidelines have to be designed carefully so that no loose ends will create confusion and discouragement on the students. The instructor has to make sure that the students feel that he/she is present in the forums, from time to time by making comments or by asking questions to the students. The students need to know that the instructor cares about their work and values their ideas express in the discussions.

Activity Reflection (week 3)

Please post a reflection that addresses what you did this week, why you did what you did, and what you would do differently in the future. Your reflection will be framed by three broad questions: What? So what? What now?

1. What?
   1. Briefly describe what you did.
      This week’s subject on making learners connect to each other has made me consider the application of audio and web 2.0 technologies like Voicethread, to discussion forums. If we establish rules for making posts of this type, I believe it can work. There is little research on this area yet, but I think the evidence is building up on the usefulness of these technologies in online teaching.
2. So what?
   1. Describe why you did what you did. What are your feelings about what you did?
      I got curious after Dr. Farmakis presentation when I asked if she had used audio for discussion forums, then came a series of posts in the chat from some other attendees that leaned on the drawbacks of using the technology in the discussion setting. It got me curious because I thought that maybe this is just some kind of resistance to the use of new technology or maybe there is indeed no foundation on the usefulness of this system in online learning. So, I think I have found a problem I liked to explore possible solutions to, that has really excited me.
   2. How will this help you?
      The use of web 2.0 technologies for online learning is developing fast and I want to be a part of this inquiry. This new task is going to help hone my research skills in education research, which requires different methods than the ones I have used in engineering.
   3. What did you learn from the experience?
      That I should not be afraid of using new technologies for creating engaging and interactive activities in the discussion sections of my course. I also learned that there is still little research on the use of these technologies in online learning, maybe this research is being conducted now, but there a few papers out there already published. This is a fertile area for research, which I am hoping to conduct at some point later in my career.
3. What now?
   1. What changes did you make?
      I will start making some activities that include the use of presentation tools such as Voicethread. One way we can implement this is by letting the students use a different identity if they choose to. They can also choose the using of the audio system only, we will have to create netiquette rules so that the postings do not get confusing to other students.
   2. What will you do differently in the future?
      I think I will start considering using web 2.0 tools, even though there is not enough research to support the effectiveness of many of these tools. Since I am interested in doing research later on, I think I might be able to find a topic here. I guess the big questions is whether discussion forums gain anything from implementing audio threads, here at UF there is no guidelines on how students use the tool, I think this time I will spend some effort on creating these guides to help students create a truly engaging community through voice and text.
   3. What do you still have to learn?
      I think I need to work on the guidelines and instructions for conducting audio postings for discussion forums. This is basically uncharted territory for me but I am excited about this possibility. In addition, there are other web 2.0 tools that I think can be used for online learning. I am especially interested in finding a good use of that app called Vine, maybe it could work for creative activities related to the arts and social sciences. The roadblock here is that this App is not integrating on any LMS so far, but I think this is going to change soon.

Discussion Questions (week 3)

1. How does teamwork in an online class change the course dynamics?
   The dynamics change because now the learning objectives become a common goal for the group as opposed to individually achieving the same goals. There is the added advantage that a group will pool the strengths of each individual member to make a more cohesive group, one individual would not have all the strengths that a group has. Plus the collaboration between individuals create a stronger bond that can last for a long time beyond the duration of the course.
2. How do you prepare, help and facilitate learners to work in teams in an online course?
   What I have use in the past is an activity that the students complete at the beginning of the course. This can be in the form of answering some questions in the discussion forum or filling out a survey. The idea here is to collect data on why the students are taking the course, their motivation, which subjects they are interested in learning more, and maybe their backgrounds. Based on this, I created forums with subjects collected from this activity and the I invited students to join whichever they wanted. At this point I laid the rules for the forum and them let them work together on a project of their choosing. I would monitor the discussions to make sure they were making progress on their projects and would ask questions when necessary. I will try to use this same approach in my new course, but I will also add the progress presentation so that I can have a better idea of what they are doing.
3. How do you move the community through the phases of learner engagement and evolving expectations?
   The first two weeks of the class are very crucial because this is the time when the student will decide that the class is worth the effort. How can we engage the student during this time? I think I can design a few activities such as posts answering questions about the material or questions from other students, or from the me, the instructor, that I would ask the students from time to time. Thus, it is very important that the activities in the beginning of the course are designed around interesting questions about the material and subjects being exposed in the lessons. One very useful tool is designing case scenarios where they can apply what they just learned. During this activities I expect the students will ask questions about the scenarios, which will add to the discussion. I think we can also add questions about some of the resources provided in the lesson, which hopefully will bring more questions from the students. At some point after the second week, it would be important to ask the students to start discussion sessions among them, I could be also monitor these sessions making sure they stay on topic.
4. How do you use prompts to move discussion through the cognitive phases, of Triggering event > Exploration > Synthesis > Resolution?
   I think I would like my students to post initially what they are interested in the class, if I identify some that may not have a clear idea of what they would like to post, I will initiate the forum by explaining some of the key parts from the class structure. Then, for those who actually expressed an interest in some subject, I would provide another post with some key explanations and resources they could use to start exploring. Then I would start posting questions oriented towards applications of those subjects mentioned in the first postings and I will monitor the following week to assess the response from the students. I will try to keep the conversation towards the research they are doing at this point, I will post questions related to their findings to assess if they are actually doing research. Then in the following week I will post questions where they can apply what they have learned from the research process, case scenarios, examples, applications will help the students apply their new knowledge. Finally, I will ask them to propose new applications where they think their new knowledge would apply.
5. How would you facilitate and guide students who are “lost or off track” to help them reach the stated course objectives and outcomes?
   The first thing I would do is arrange a one-on-one session with each student, either by webinar or by phone. I will ask them if they are aware that they have fallen behind the course, and then I will listen to the reasons they have fallen behind. Depending on the reasons for this, I will help them create a plan to move forward, they can start drafting a plan that suits them to catch up with the course. If they are not motivated by the course, I will ask them what was the reason that made them sign up in the first place, if they are finding the course not what they were expecting, I will write down their reasons and take note for future improvements, and then maybe leaving the course would be a better option for them. It might be that they are finding the material difficult to assimilate. In this case, I will develop supplemental material that will help them understand the material in the course.
6. Discussion Forums
   1. What were the characteristics of online discussion posts that you thought were of exceptionally high quality?
      I think I can point out first to the characteristics around the format and layout areas. The best posts I have seen contain no grammatical errors (I wish I was that good), and you can tell that the author spent a deal of time going over different versions of the post until the right one finally came out (another thing I wish I could do better), also the post is easy to read because the author made sure the sentences were short and the paragraphs contain a few lines only. Regarding the layout, in the best posts there is always the issue being presented in the first lines, then come the supporting arguments and finally a way of conclusion showing why the author was either agreeing or disagreeing with the first post. Then finally, the best posts have the best content (references, supporting material like videos, links or images). The most important characteristic of them all is that the you can tell the author is not just vomiting words to fill out space, and I think anybody can tell a post with this issue, you can follow the author’s line of thought and understand instantly his/her position on the issue at hand.
   2. How would you create a discussion to elicit deep meaningful learning?
      The best way one can create such discussion (and I have seen it being used here) is to create a series of questions from the lesson content that the students may have not considered before. For example, we could look at a different point of view on the subject, other than the one presented in the material. Or we could pose a question in which we ask the students to think about a case in which the presented material would apply. Another type of question is to use a case that seems to contradict what was presented as the general case, we can ask what is wrong with the case and if it in fact derails all what was exposed in the lesson. My favorite one is when we can ask a question about what would happen if a rule, law, principle did not exist and how that would affect the presented cases or examples in the lessons.
   3. What criteria would you use in a rubric for assessing a discussion?
      I think the first one would be a minimum number of words, then I would add in the rubric an item for “were all the questions answered?”, if the post is related to an opinion I would add a criterion for the side of the issue they were on, especially if it was clear which side they were abrogating. Another criterion I would add is related to follow up to initial post so that a conversation is happening. Of course, another rubric would pertain to their attendance, if they just post once in awhile they should not be getting a grade for it.
7. Live Interaction
   1. What are the benefits and limitations of emerging types of synchronous online learning?
      I think the best advantage of synchronous activities is that the instructor has close contact with the students, and if the instructor is willing to grant the microphone to the students, it add human touch to hear their voices. The students also get to know the instructor because he/she can make sure to use icebreaking introductions to ease the students in the session. The instructor also gets to present supplemental material not included in the lessons posted online. If the instructor also has a webcam, the students have the opportunity to meet the instructor in person, the same goes to the students who have a webcam. The limitations on the use of synchronous tools seem to fall on the technology side. If the student has bad internet connection, the experience can be frustrating. On the same topic, students that are not technology savvy will have difficulty using the technological tools used in synchronous learning. Another disadvantage of synchronous tools is that students may not have enough time to digest the material being conveyed, and collaboration from the will be limited because they have not had time to analyze the content.
   2. How can asynchronous and synchronous e-learning complement each other in learning online?
      In many cases it is related to how fast a response time the student needs while working on a class activity. Most of the lessons and content are posted for the student to review at their own pace, but then if they have questions or clarification in a particular subject, then the synchronous session will provide the opportunity to ask questions to the instructor. On the other hand, the student can send emails to the instructor, the instructor may decide that the answer will require a live explanation, in this case it makes sense to have a synchronous session to review the questions. In collaborative projects, the students may decide to use the discussion forum to keep updated on the progress, or they may decide to use a live session to have a more dynamic interaction. It seems to me that most of the activities in an online course can be made asynchronous one way or another, but the synchronous version may be adequate in some circumstances when the activity requires immediate feedback.

Sensemaking Artifact week 2

This week my sensemaking artifact is a video presentation about connecting with my students and what tools I would use to start connecting with them. I hope you enjoy it, please leave any feedback on my blog.

Essential question (week 3)

Essential question: If vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change how can you teach your students to be more creative using the Internet?

I was struggling a little bit understanding the question. The reason being that I was taking on it on the technology side, that is, how can my students use the technology out there on the internet to come up with creative and innovative solutions? Then I realized that the point of the question is not to break fears that many of us have on fully using the technology that the internet offers. I think the point lays in the definition of vulnerability: to put yourself out there completely and honestly, with no regard for the judgement and criticism that your work will surely garner. A great way to help my students putting themselves out there and at the same time, help them generate creative and innovative solutions is by inviting them to create a blog where they can express their ideas and bounce around possible solutions and scenarios with others. The discussion forums I will create for the students to manage on their own while they work on their projects, will include directions on how to set up a blog and I will add that all of the participants interact with those blogs by visiting them and comment on the posts from the author. My hope is that some of them will eventually use the blog as a creative tool later on, on a permanent basis. I will also invite them to create a profile in systems similar to LinkedIn (professional associations) because this exposes you to others that can take a look at your work and provide feedback. Creating projects that can later be shared with others online is a great creative process, at least is working for me so far.

Discussion Questions (Week 2)

1. What tools/techniques/strategies/approaches are you considering to connect with your learners? How will your choices impact student engagement, intellectual development, and develop personal connections?
   I am planning on using BigBlueButton for live interactions, since I will probably be running my course using a WordPress site, I will use the Disqus system for discussion forums. We will also exchange communication using e-mail. I will probably try to arrange a phone conversation with each student at some point during the course run. One of the things I want to implement is the class project. I am planning on asking the students to post, on a special forum I will create, on what is that excites them about this field of online teaching. Then I will probably try to get groups together with common ideas and preferences by introducing each student so that they can form groups or work alone, if preferred. I will arrange their work forum and let them work together without my constant monitoring, I will ask them to present me what they are doing in a live session later on. I will post once a week questions related to the material they will be reviewing for the week, but I will not be asking them to cover many topics since I am more interested in them spending time in their projects.
2. Rapport is not something developed by announcement. Rapport is developed by actions—the results from things you do. How can you actively apply the following 5 factors to build rapport with your online students?
   1. Respect. Teachers and students must show respect for each other, for the learning process, and for the institution where it is occurring.
   2. Approachability. Students have to feel comfortable coming to faculty and faculty must be willing to speak with students, during office hours, via email, on campus.
   3. Open communication. Faculty must be honest. There needs to be consistency between what faculty say and what they do.
   4. Caring. Faculty must care about students; they must see and respond to them as individuals. They also need to care about learning and show that they want students to learn the material.
   5. Positive attitude. Faculty should have a sense of humor and be open to points of view other than their own.
   I am very curious about this rapport concept. What I have seen in the university setting is that students look up at these old professors because they are experts in their field, it seems to me that is the only respect they have earned from the students. In many cases, classes are so large that it is almost impossible the teacher will ever be able to see all the students one by one, and he has to rely on teaching assistants to run the course. This happens in the online setting as well. So, the students get to know the TAs (teaching assistants) most of the time and relate to them more than to the instructor, some may even never set foot on the instructor’s office. On the other hand, when classes are small (usually at higher level courses) the instructor does get to know the students, talk to them in an informal manner, conduct classes in a more participatory way. I think at this level the student is mature enough to understand why they respect their instructor in this class, they feel they can approach the instructor at any time, there is usually open discussions that lead to great interaction, and the students get to understand that their teacher actually cares that they leave the class knowing something else. I think the first action I will take when online course opens is to conduct a live session where the students can participate and ask questions about the course and about me. I will present for 15 minutes on my background, why I am teaching the course, why the subject fascinates me, why I expect from each students in the form of class participation, this first interaction will help to show the students information on how to contact me during the day. I will make it clear they can call me when I am in the office, or e-mail me at any time. I will make the point that I am interested in knowing each student and I will make an effort to memorize their names so I can address them by their first name. I will make the case that no question is unimportant and that they need to speak up when they have not understood something from the material or the instructions to the class. I will make it clear at that point and during the semester that I will following the progress of each student to pick up any problems when I see that they are lagging in the course. I tend to be something like the devil’s advocate in many situations, always trying to account for extreme possibilities, which usually tend to be negative. I am changing that for my online class, I will carefully craft my responses to students so as to not sound negative or gloomy on my assessment on their work, or when they present to me their current progress in their projects.
3. Describe the challenges you have building rapport with online learners. Describe how you build rapport between yourself and your online students? Does it work? How do you know?
   I think my personality and the way I usually communicate might present a challenge to me but I am working on changing that for a more adequate style for the online environment. I am learning to be less judgmental when reading posting from students, I am always trying to read between the lines, maybe there is nothing there. I think the best way to build that rapport is by showing them that I respect their opinion and their ideas, I would express this in replies to their posts, after carefully reading their post I will try to ask some questions that will help me understand what they are trying to accomplish, but if it clear to me, I will praise their work, thank them for their effort and let them know I am looking forward to more postings from them. The best way to know if this is working is by monitoring the forums and see if the students respond to my comments, my questions, if the amount and depth of their posts is increasing and so on. I think I have to establish some kind of protocol to determine the success of my approach.
4. Surprisingly, it’s often not the energy, the appearance, or the mannerisms of the teacher that make us want to listen and engage, it’s rather whether or not we felt connected. How do you invite learners to connect with you in a shared mental space in ways that stimulates them to learn?
   I think the best time to achieve this is during the introduction process when the course is starting. I have to reach to each student to understand what they are expecting from this course and me. I would like to address all their questions at the beginning, talk informally about what they expect from this course and from me, and reassure them that I am here to help them in any way possible. This is also the time when I would set the ground rules for discussion participation. I want to create an introductory video about myself and why I think this a great course to take. Again, showing past experiences and interesting cases would create at least some amount of curiosity in them, which hopefully will compel them to start working on the course activities and materials.

Activity Reflection (week 2)

What?
I created one case study scenario for my online course. This case has questions aimed at gauging how much the student has learned the material related to connecting assessments to learning objectives. I am planning on having a whole lesson on how to build assessments and activities. We presented a model for learning objectives and assessments related to those objectives (supposedly) and we ask the students if the assessment actually supports the objectives and if not, what would they change? This case is from courses we have run here at UF, later on new improvements to the assessments were added based on reviews on the objectives, so they are real cases.

So what?

1. Describe why you did what you did. What are your feelings about what you did?
   The best way I can describe it is by explaining that I got the idea from a couple of papers that studied online courses in the health sciences area. They definitely showed that case studies as activity materials were more effective than textbook exercises in supporting learning. I feel that this approach is very effective because you can model these case studies in a way like what Dan Pink showed with the candle problem: something that would encourage creativity and non-conventional solutions.
2. How will this help you?
   This is going to help me design more activities that I can use in my discussion forums. I think meaningful questions that invite the student to conduct research, analyze the findings, and finally coming up with a new solution are more effective activities in this online course than any multiple choice assessment I could come up with.
3. What did you learn from the experience?
   I learned from this activity that the best way to help students learn in the online environment is to provide the tools for them to go and create something freely, that I can trust that they will come up with something that is going to amaze me.

What now?
I will continue developing more case studies and then will dive into creating questions as discussion topics. I think the best way I can start this whole process is by developing this “rapport” this lesson talks about. If I cannot gain the trust and respect from my students through this type of communication, I really doubt I will succeed in the classroom if we were in a face-to-face setting.

1. What changes did you make?
   One of the first things I will be changing in these activities is the way I will be giving feedback to the students. I tend to be critical and a bit negative when giving feedback. Now I understand that sometimes I will have to just thank them for the presentation on their projects and then give some feedback that asks meaningful questions about the project, but I will not suggest that they go another route that I believe would be more convenient. It is certainly important to let the student know that you respect the work they are developing.
2. What will you do differently in the future?
   I will start by creating introductory material where they can see examples from previous classes (I will have to borrow that from somewhere during the first run of the course), they get to know who I am and what I have done as an online instructors. I think it is very important to lay out what is expected of them and how to conduct themselves in the forums, I want the students to understand that respect to one another is crucial to their success in the course.
3. What do you still have to learn?
   I think I need to work more on my discussion questions, I want the students to analyze and respond to the class questions, but the actual mechanism to accomplish that is something I am still working on.

Essential question week 2

In the context of the online setting it is very important to find the “motivator” (like in that show “Wipeout”) that is going to set in motion the creativity and effort from the learners. That is why I believe that projects are very important in online classes. I also believe that working in groups or alone has to be an option. One important step the instructor has to complete is creating a setting around the course that empowers the students. The student needs to know at every time that they are in control of the project and that the instructor is in the sidelines ready to help but does intervene or interject, even if they know that the students are taking a difficult approach. In Daniel Pink’s video the premise of workers or anybody for that matter, achieving the level of motivation that leads to creative breakthroughs is apparently achieved by creating the right conditions described by those three steps of autonomy, mastery, and purpose. I believe that one approach would be to start asking the students in an introductory presentation what makes them work to the late hour, what excites them, what compels them to do something beyond of what is expected from them. Then, after careful review of the answers, the instructor could facilitate the introduction of students with similar ideas, and maybe group them for a group project. The instructor could set up a discussion forum for each group so that they could come up with a project that would test their creative powers, and encourage them to follow their own ideas. I think that letting them know the project will carry a grade would cause the project to derail, since that could cause the students to believe that they just have to do enough to earn the grade to pass the course. As an encouragement I would present to them past examples of what it can be achieved by working this way, and that they can take this beyond the course setting, to their workplace, for example. As an instructor, I would have to pay attention all the time to their progress by checking on the discussion forums and probably weekly reports that they can send me. I could also arrange live meetings to hear from their project too, the point is then to keep in touch with the groups and students working alone every week.

Sensemaking artifact (week 1)

This week my sensemaking artifact is a video presentation about MOOCs and what I would change about them. I hope you enjoy it, please leave any feedback on my blog.

Discussion Questions (week 1)

1. How do you want to teach online?
   I believe a combination of both models is what I want to apply to my online course. I want to convey information and also design activities and materials that will help them use this knowledge to learn to do something. For example, I will add content in the lectures on how to create effective lecture videos for online setting, the theory and research behind the recommended practices, but I also want them to go ahead and develop a demo applying what they just learned. During the whole lesson, I will schedule live interactions where they can ask questions, I will elaborate more on some of the topics covered on the lessons, I will give also feedback on the demos they will be posting on the course site. In my case, I will be creating the content for a new online course, I will not be converting material from face-to-face setting to online, which means I am very open to new things and new technologies to achieve the learning goals.
2. What ‘mix’ of face-to-face and online learning will be best for your course, and why your “mix” is best.
   My course is completely online, there will be no face-to-face contact, unless live webinar sessions count as that. I believe this course has to be online because it is directed towards professionals that are probably already working and have families. The convenience of an asynchronous course that can be taken online has many benefits to this particular audience. I will have many technology tools and human resources to create the content and applications for this course. I consider myself a good instructor in the classroom setting and now I want to prove myself that I can do the same thing in e-learning.
3. Why do you need to focus just as much on student activities, what they need to do, as on creating original content for your courses? Describe the activities do you plan to focus on.
   Because we want the students not only to memorize material, so that they can face a final assessment but we also want them to learn how to do something. I believe that any subject can be adequately converted into an online course, the bottom line being what resources I am willing to put up in order to develop that course. When I am developing the content I have to see how I can create an activity that will make good use of the information being presented. The student activities are going to reinforce the knowledge they just reviewed in the lesson, and it has to be done immediately after the material in the lesson has been covered. I am planning on creating short multiple choice questions when there is material that requires to be learned by the student, such as concepts, rules, laws, processes, etc. Then, during the lecture material, I will add more multiple choice questions that will test what the student learned during the lecture. This will help the student assess how well they acquire the new information.
4. Describe how you create a strong structure for you online course, so students are clear about what they are expected to do, when it has to be done. How do you ensure that students have adequate online activities? Describe the trade-offs you have to make between content and activities if the student workload is to be kept to manageable proportions?
   The first thing I would like to develop is some kind of syllabus that contains the rules of the game: policies, how to get help, and most important, the course structure. In my case, I like to develop courses that follow a rigid structure because I believe that in the online learning environment, since there is hardly any instant human contact, it is necessary to guide the students at any point in the course. I am planning on creating a course with ten lessons that will follow the next template: definition of lesson objectives, reading assignments, some kind of short lecture (audio or video), and activities. Until they are able to complete these activities then they should be able to move on to the next lesson. Since my course is oriented on how to develop online content, I am planning on creating activities that are more hands-on (around learning how to do something as opposed to did you memorize it?). I will set up the LMS system so that they cannot move to the next lesson until they submit their assignments and complete their activities. Before we launch the program we will use testing students that will provide feedback on the effectiveness of the activities laid out in the lessons, and I will adjust accordingly. Again, the activities will be centered around learning how to do something, there will be also questions that will invite critical thinking and analysis. This is supposed to be a short course (40 h max), which means we cannot introduce content that is not going to support learning. We will introduce meaningful resources that the students can use later on, but they will not be required to cover that material. Our lectures will be short (max 15 min), and most of the time the students will be working on their activities and assignments, there is reading but we will keep it at a minimum to cover important definitions, rules, suggestions, but we will no assign reading of whole book chapters.

Suggested Reflections (week 1)

In week 1 I learned the steps on how to build an online course, some of them I have been doing for quite some time (although I did not know I was doing it that way). The first step is very important and one I did nor consider before. Do we really need to develop an online course? The teaching philosophies is a good point I have not thought about before. In some subjects the objectivistic approach is required (chemistry, for example) but other courses can be conducted using the individual development approach (I can think of a writing course, for example). But I think I am sold on the idea of combining both, the benefits are obvious. In my work setting we actually start at step 2 where we are deciding what kind of online course we want. This is the part where we decide the kind of content we need in the course. It is very important to determine this because then we have to look back and figure out if the resources to develop that kind of content are available. The final step is one of the parts I am trying to get involved with because evaluation and improvement are nowadays being driven by decisions based on data. Analysis of data from student activity and data collected from their own input has become a valuable tool to make decisions on the course offering, improvements, things that require change or plain eliminate other that did not work. I believe education will be driven by big data in the future as well.

This is a very different MOOC. It has allowed me to express my thoughts and what I have learned through the use of my own blog. This is a tools that I have helped set up before, but have not actually used extensively as an educational tool. Now I can see the potential in future course developments I happen to be involved in later on. I think this is one of the things I like best about this course.

Activity Reflection (Week 1)

This week I came back from a conference with the determination of completing this MOOC. I have been trolling around Coursera and Udacity, signing on for very interesting MOOCs that I never complete. But this MOOC is different. This one is actually giving me the freedom of developing content for what I hope to be my own online course on how to create content for online learning. Working on my posts has given me the opportunity to reflect on many topics related to online teaching, which I haven't done in quite a while. So, as soon as I came back to the office on Monday, I started working on my assignments for the past two weeks, and covering the material for both weeks as well. I have not been just skimming or going through the material with no analysis whatsoever. In fact, I have done quite the opposite. The content offered in this course actually has offered new ideas that I have not considered before.

This week I created my first artifact about blogs. In the materials for week 0 this topic was amply covered by both the instructor and the invited speakers in the webinars for that week. Even though most of the content related to blogging was directed towards developing a full blog system, I actually just skirted my artifact around the use of blogs for educational purposes. I have no intention in becoming a professional blogger, but the application of technology in developing this tool fascinates me. I also like to develop content for blogs which will serve as assignments or activities for an online course. The part of creating blogging activities that can be linked to a learning outcomes has a great appeal to me because it demands the use of my analytical and critical thinking skills in order to create an activity that both fulfills the learning outcome and conduces to learning.

Before I only consider blogging as another way to create a discussion forum, in fact, I was against the use of blogs a few months ago when we were developing a new project because the amount of work the instructor would face since it was required to produce a grade from the posts. But now I understand that blogging is a more personal issue that actually helps in developing critical and analytical thinking skills. A discussion forums is for very short responses on topics the instructor would like the students to weigh in.

One aspect of the whole blogging tool that I need to discover is how to use media to enhance the activity. I would like to encourage my students to not only develop a blog post, but support the post with media that they produce or that the could curate from other sources (for educational purposes). Does media actually help the blog post in conveying the information to the student, and what is required from them? Is media distracting in a blog post? Do I need to place restrictions on the type and quantity of media that students can use? These and other questions, that I think would like to ponder for a while, make blogging an attractive tool for education.

Sensemaking artifact Week 0

Blogging as an educational tool is a new concept that has circulated the internet for some time. It is being used by colleges, universities, and educational organizations as another tool that aids and supports learning. It is true that blogging started as a communication medium for the masses. Now everybody can put forth their thoughts at any time and place, and millions of people will have access to that content. Unlike live interaction over the internet (webinars, chat, etc.) this can be used as an asynchronous interactive tools, since communication does not happen immediately, the receiver of the message will not read it until later on. There is also a period of time while the message is being elaborated. This is a very important and crucial step in the whole process. This is the part where the blogger lays out the ideas that will be sent, reworks the structure of the message and finally makes sure that the message is clear and free of typos and errors. One can tell when a blog message was made on the fly, with no final review whatsoever. While the blogger thinks about on how to structure the message, critical thinking and analysis is happening, and learning is happening. The blogger will consult other resources and do research before or while elaborating the blog content. All these activities are done by students in a classroom setting when they are asked to work on a project. Blogging can also be conducted individually or in groups, just like classroom projects.

So, nowadays the question is not if you can blog, it is why are you not? The technology is here to do it for free (although it was not the case some time ago), the second question is how can I make my blog visible to others? Social media is an answer but word of mouth still works, networking is the most effective way of growing your audience these days. It is no secret that a successful blog is not the one with more content, but the one with meaningful and valuable content. Building a reputable blog still takes time and effort, blogging is a work of its own. The most important part of building a blog still involves some cosmetics; I also believe that making the navigation in a blog easier is as valuable as the content it contains. I cannot tell you how many times I have left a blog because the internal navigation is so confusing, I get frustrated and quit.

Image source: www.gabrielweinberg.com

But blogs started as a way to communicate your own ideas. How about we use it to prod ideas out of people who would not use blogs regularly? I am guessing somebody actually had that idea at some college or university when pondering what tools to use to make student interaction easier. A blog requires analysis and critical thinking, if done properly. If you ask the right questions to students, or suggest the best way to express an idea, then blogging becomes a powerful learning experience. Many students on their own will not be able to come up with the ideas themselves, they are not used to employing the tool. That is why the involvement of the instructor is very important in this setting. In a MOOC that can be a nightmare because the enrollments in these types of online courses are in the thousands. But in many cases the use of supporting staff ameliorates the problem, but even in this setting instructor involvement is very important.

Image Source: blogs.worldbank.org

Most interesting of all is when blogging is utilized as an educational device in hard sciences and mathematics. I am currently actively involved in utilizing blogging for learning activities in engineering, physics, mathematics, and chemistry online classes. I believe that learning can be facilitated if the student is allowed to express concepts in these subjects through the use of blogging tools. By expressing their ideas on a particular subject, critical thinking is allowed to happen, and the instructor can assess what the students actually understand from the subject. The hardest part though, is creating the right questions and subjects to discuss in a blog. Yes and no questions do not help the process; you need to create prompts that can be expanded in a blog after some analysis from the student.

I believe the future of blogging lies ahead in educational settings, but there is still room to amplify its use for communication of ideas over the internet. Blogging is not a tool that everybody can use with no previous knowledge or practice. Students enrolled in online classes will learn how to use this tool and will gain a skill that can use in their future workplace. More instructors will start using this tool to communicate with students and gage their understanding of the subject being taught. They need to be more involved in the process to fully take advantage of this device that supports learning in the online environment.

Essential Question to answer (Week 0)

Question: Creativity comes through the interaction of different disciplinary ways of seeing things. How can you help your online students to be more creative?

I think one of the first things I would do is to ask them to describe a situation in which they believed they were being creative. Asking questions as to what kind of environment they were in, what resources they had at hand, what mood they were in, if they were alone or in a group. Then I would ask them for another example in which they were faced with a problem that required a creative solution, but they failed to come up with something novel. Again, I would ask what state of mind they were in when that happened, if they were alone, in a group, outdoors, indoors, etc. I think by comparing both situations they will understand the ideal situation they have to be in that will foster creativity.

What I have learned this week (week 0)

I think the most important thing I have learned this week is that a blog can be a powerful educational tool. Collaboration among peers through blogs is a medium to share ideas, thoughts, insights, and pass on information that can help our personal growth. I have also learned that building a community in an online class is dependent on the instructor's ability and will to participate at all times in the process. The instructor needs to be engaged, which in turn will make students engage.

I will participate by attending as many webinars as I can, share my thoughts through the blog, and participate in discussions with other learners. I will try to complete the assigned materials on time every week.

Best teacher and worst teacher (week 0)

I guess I will have to talk about my graduate work experience. My best teacher in graduate school was on a class called colloidal science. My worst teacher in the same setting was my instructor on a class called Separation processes in chemical engineering.

I think the most memorable moments in that colloidal science class was the fact that the class was conducted in a very informal matter. By informal I mean that the subject of the day was mostly presented by the instructor but he will devote the rest of the class asking us questions about the material and how to apply what we just learned. The course did have a structure and we were handed out a syllabus at the beginning of the semester. He always started the class with a picture or video that would convey the subject of the day. This facilitated the learning process because we saw a real world application of what we learned today.

Based on this, I have elaborated a list for four DOs:

1. Use external resources that help students understand the subject being exposed,
2. Ask questions to students, call on them and ask for their opinion so that you can assess how much they know,
3. Conduct the class in a way that students feel relaxed in your class,
4. Prepare a final project that requires student collaboration and encourages discussion.

What I think are four DON'Ts

1. Be too rigid in class just because you have a Ph.D. and you look down on your students,
2. You talk must of the time, make students participate,
3. Present only text material with no media that helps understand concepts,
4. Rely too much on an assistant to keep in touch with students.

I am planning on using these two lists when I design online courses by developing material that is engaging by adding activities where the students are asked to comment on something or make an analysis on the subject being presented. I also plan on treating students as colleagues and not as pupils, conveying that respect during the live interactions planned for these courses. Even though it is difficult to create that "human touch" in an online environment, something that is easy to accomplish in a classroom, I will set up discussion forums, chat sessions, and live video sessions that include personalized messages so that the student would not feel as another number in the enrollment.

About myself (Week 0)

My name is Julio Castro and I am an instructional designer at the University of Florida. I learned about this course from one of those alerts that I have set up in Google Alerts. I am ready to start developing an online class on how to teach online, and I want to see how this one has been set up. Although this is not the approach I will be using in my course, I found the method very interesting. It also happens to be that I have never taken an online class (I am a Gen X guy, all my formation happened in the classroom), and I thought this one would be the one I would choose to be the first one.

To me, the most important issue in teaching online is how to create engaging content that can keep the students interested in your course. I think another issue is the technology we want to use in our courses. How much is too much? Creating games is still expensive and time consuming, but there must other ways to design games that teach something and would not require that much money and time. Another issue I find fascinating, the fact the nowadays anybody can publish an online course. The technology is already here and it can be done cheaply and fast. I think online or e-learning will eventually go through the same process that books and music (and movies) went through: the self-publishing movement.

I think I can contribute from my experience designing online courses. But I also need to take the next step to becoming and online teacher or instructor. I love developing content for online courses, I have done that in the past when I taught courses at UF in a classroom setting. I also have a technology background since I have used web programming and computer programming for a long time. I am also trained in the use of development tools (software) extensively used in instructional design.

I think I would like to develop strong relationships with others in this course, learn more about them and maybe continue the chat and sharing of information beyond this class, maybe through other social media tools. I see this community morphing into a collaborative group in the future.

I don't consider this fear but mostly a lack of grit on my side. I am intended on overcoming this by catching up with the class and keeping up by taking small steps everyday to complete the activities and attend the live or recorded sessions when I can't attend. The feedback from others once my content is out there is what is going to be a challenge to me since I will not have the chance of meeting my fellow classmates personally, but I plan on following on any feedback received, make an analysis and identify the merits to the suggestions provided.

My presentation at the FDLA Annual Conference 2013

I am again at the office and I have decided to share with you what I learned at this conference. I found great interest on the subject I presented. I was dreading the moment when I was finally going to face my public because to tell you the truth, I though I was going to preach to the room walls. I saw some presentations that had only one person present, that was not a good sign. The attrition rate was high in this conference. A lot of people showed up the first day but by the third day there were only a handful of people around, but the last presentations did have great attendance (even though there were a few around only). I was ecstatic that people were genuinely interested in what I have to say. I received lost of questions and I even received a couple of requests for my information for later contact. If you have the interest of seeing the slides from my presentation, please send me a message through this blog.

Join me at the FDLA Annual Conference in Orlando

FDLA Conference Presentation

Come join me at the FDLA Conference in Orlando from September 11 - 13 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in 4955 Kyngs Heath Road Kissimmee, FL 34746.
I will be presenting on Friday September 13 at 11:00 AM the talk titled "How to build your own online course on a budget". I am attaching the abstract below, see you there!

Abstract

Many professionals, who are experts in a particular subject, are looking for ways to develop and sell online courses. When exploring options on how to actually design and produce the course, one can find many choices that have a wide range of quality and price. In many cases the course does not justify a large investment in content production (like high definition videos, games, activities that require computer or web programming) or hiring freelancers to produce the material (there is a wide range of prices on instructional designers for hire). There are currently online tools that professionals can use to develop adequate content for online settings. This is just the first part of the process. The final step is selecting a LMS (learning management system) that will host the course. This is needed because in many cases the course has to grant a certificate at the end, the instructor runs the course synchronously, a gradebook is required, assignments need to be delivered, and assessments are offered during the course, and other required activities for the course. Here too, many options can be found out there. One option, which requires an investment of less than $500.00, is using a site run by a CMS (content management system) , which can be converted into a LMS by using available tools that most of time are downloaded for free. In this presentation we will show how to use a WordPress™ site (a CMS) as a LMS by using plugins and other tools available for free or at a low cost.

My blog for the "How to teach online" MOOC

My stab at Second Life

My work using WordPress

UF TREEO Hurricane and Tornado Assessment Course

Advanced Outdoor Water Conservation Online Course

Course showcase: DMT

A little bit more about my background...

and an exciting project coming soon!

Slide Rule course

Please, check out the Slide Rule online course I designed with Dr. Alex Green.

Is being an engineer a roadblock to becoming an instructional designer?

I am a mechanical engineer by training, I hold both a B.S. and a M.S. in mechanical engineering, and I am a Ph.D. candidate in chemical engineering. Well, you might think that I am working on something related to engineering, but actually I strayed a little far from the engineering field. I am an instructional designer for the major university at the state of Florida. How did I end up here? We will have to sit down with a cup of coffee and have a long chat about that story, but I can tell you that it was completely fortuitous. Now that I have these two years of experience and more than twenty online courses designed and completed from scratch for semester-long classes, I can tell you that I could not have had better luck in finding this job. See, my training kicks in every time I am confronted with the task of creating an online class, triggered in part by the type of content we have to put out there for an online class. I am a problem solver, and not much of an art person, so my first course designs were very functional but not much aesthetic, or pleasing to the eye, if you will. They got the job done, but later on, I had to learn the online course also require some eye-candy, it is part of the engagement experience that the learners have to go through. But I also learned that too much candy also destroys the purpose of the online course, and it becomes more a website than an online class. It was after some time that I started to understand the subjective parts of designing an online class, and the theory behind them. I have educated myself with the latest publications and textbooks on instructional design out there so that I can apply that knowledge to my own projects. But every time I come across a new project, the engineer in me kicks in and I start seeing the technological problems and challenges I will face and how I plan to tackle them, I don’t worry too much about the instructional part until later on, when I see that my concept actually will not be effective in an online environment, then I worry about the candy at the end. Now, this process might seem messy and rough to many designers out there but I wonder if any has ever bumped into a converted ID that had an engineering training before jumping into this field, and heard them describe a similar case. On the other hand, after looking at resumes and experience sheets of many established professionals in the field, it is clear that having a background in education or specifically in instructional design is more desirable than the experience of doing the job and learning while doing it, as proven by the hundreds of job descriptions and requirements I have scanned in the past three months, and of course, the dozen or so interviews I have been able to land recently. Now the question I want to throw out there: Is my background in engineering putting me at a disadvantage in the ID field? I would love to hear opinions and comments.

A successful MOOC may require a great development team

I believe the above is true. I have had the experience of being close to where MOOCs are being developed for Coursera. It requires a team to complete such a course, it requires a team to run the course, and it requires a good team to begin with. This team is interdisciplinary, and its members do not usually have the same background. It is usual that the instructor is a faculty member to the university, and there is a group of instructional designers, graphic designers, video producers, computer programmers, and many others (including teaching assistants that help the instructor) that help him during the course design and production, and afterwards, when the course opens. It would be burdensome if one person is in charge of running the MOOC course (unless that is his/her only job), that person needs the help and the support to deal with the multiple challenges that come up during the duration of the course. If the instructor has experience in the online environment, then the rest of the team will have no problem designing the course since the instructor understands what is needed in order to accommodate the content into the MOOC platform. But in some cases, the instructor has not had the experience of teaching an online course. This can be a difficult and tricky situation. The instructional designers know what works in the online environment and what doesn’t. Instructors could feel that their experience and long-held views on teaching are not being considered during the design process, and egos can be hurt during those planning and follow-up sessions, which won’t help the course design process at all. The instructor has a vision on how the course should look like, and the instructional designers need to accommodate this vision in the process. Instructional designers and instructors need to understand each other situations and give respect to each other experiences and accomplishments. Each side complements the other when designing the course, and if the team learns how to work effectively together the process will be a smooth one. One important attribute of the team is the ability to communicate ideas. It is important that each member speaks the same language during the process, this is especially so when the course is reviewed for the last time before the release date. If there is a disconnect in communication between the instructor (or instructors) and the instructional design team, then the course will not fulfill the instructor’s vision, or worse, the final product will not work at all when released. It is very important that every team member is updated on any changes to the course (even last minute changes). This is especially true for the instructor, who has to approve the final design. I believe that the source of trouble, in most of the MOOC courses that have experienced major setbacks (which have been widely discussed on the Internet), can be traced to problems within a dysfunctional team that failed to communicate to each other, or which had members that did not acclimate to the work dynamic of the team (either intentionally or due to a clash of characters), and as we know, those courses suffered the consequences (along with the corresponding MOOC entity) of having a design team whose member could not work together for the common cause.

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What Proctoring Model Do MOOCs Need?

When you talk about proctoring services in online classes, you either conduct it yourself or hire somebody else to do it for you. You could also design your tests so that cheating is reduced to a minimum, but that constrains you to the types of testing you can perform on students. With the recent approval of MOOC courses by the ACE, the gates are opening for a flood of more courses that are going to offer some kind of credit. In order to support that accreditation, some kind of mechanism has to be implemented to make sure the credits are earned under controlled conditions. MOOC courses usually would not use a proctoring service for assessment of students. The event mentioned above will change that.
But the question is then, how to evaluate a large number of students? As of now, very few students complete the course to the end, that is, a very small percentage will receive the MOOC certification, but even in this case the number of students surpasses the number of students in your regular college level online class, these cases can be easily handled by proctoring services because they can accommodate such population. If it is true that MOOC courses can be used as credit for college level courses then a way has to be found to accommodate a proctoring service for thousands of students. Of course, this is an area of opportunity to companies offering these services and I am sure they are positioning themselves to do this, but I am not sure if they are prepared to give this service to MOOCs. See, the proctoring service relies a lot on doing everything online and remotely. So, if you have a less than reliable internet connection that allows you to take a MOOC course, it is not going to cut it when it comes to proctoring. The situation here is that a lot of people taking these MOOCs are not in the US, and many times they are not even in developed countries. There is also the language barrier. If you are not a native English speaker, or if you don't have the college level of English required, you will have problems using the proctoring service since there is a point when the student will meet the proctor during testing.

I think the solution is around the corner because there are established services that provide testing for university admission tests (think GRE and TOEFL) all over the world. The model in this case follows partnerships with local companies that serve as local testing centers. So, it would make sense that proctoring services will try to find partners in those countries where the service is demanded, and special cases will have to be handled accordingly. Will it be cost-effective? I don't know, but the sheer number of students might make it a profitable business at the end. I don't think a proctoring service can do it by itself because the technology has not been equated all around the globe to operate every aspect of the service online, that is, testing centers might be needed anyways. This will give MOOC credits the respect they need in order to be accepted by other entities.

Why you shouldn't tear MOOCs apart because one of them had a glitch...

I recently came across this article about that MOOC course that was running in Coursera and was pulled out due to technical problems. I promised myself that I would not join those crowds that are calling for the failure of the MOOC movement or those who claim that this is still a work in progress and so on. I will not get carried away by all the discourse that has already started regarding this issue. I have been closely following the development of the MOOC courses offered by my university in Coursera. I know these courses are taking a lot of resources and time to develop, and I know that the team in charge of this project has made sure they have delivered a high quality product because the university’s name is on the line. After knowing these facts, I feel puzzled from the reaction that this piece of news has produced. I am sure Georgia Tech spent time and resources in the development process as well, and I am confident that the team made sure they delivered a quality product. Now don’t get me wrong, I know they made a mistake but I don’t think it was due to negligence or carelessness. I think they just didn’t comprehend what type of beast a MOOC really is, which is different to a regular online course they offer at their university. They had a plan, that in their minds, was going to work but it had unintended consequences when put in place. It can be argued that there should have been more postproduction reviews by both parties, GT and Coursera, but Coursera has not much saying on how the courses are developed and their assistance is limited to how to integrate the designed courses in their interface. In reality, few people really know what it takes to develop a MOOC course and they assume it shouldn’t take that much effort or time, but it actually does, on both counts. Many people are benefiting with the MOOC model but I don’t think many of them stop to think about the amount of effort and work put into these courses to really appreciate them. They only know it is free, that a prestigious university is behind the course ergo it should be a high quality course and I am going to complain if they don’t deliver that. I have seen courses developed by those so-called e-learning experts out there and let me tell you, they charge an arm and a leg and they only deliver half of that, but you don’t see people complaining about those courses on the internet. If this problem was due to lack of experience then I think what they did was the honest thing to do, pull off the course, reassess and re-deliver and I am pretty sure they are going to turn around that corner and come back with a better product, I just hope that those enrolled in the course that complained all over the internet will re-enroll in the course and then comment on how they in fact had a better experience this time around.

The skills you need to develop in order to take on a MOOC course

A MOOC course is a hybrid between an asynchronous (self-paced) and a synchronous course. The course must be completed in a number of weeks. At the same time, you can basically go at your own pace during these weeks, but that can be a dangerous path to follow. So, how can you avoid being left behind during the course? Many would say time management. That is true, but there are also some other skills you also need to master.

1. Prioritize tasks: a MOOC course has lots of information to digest, don’t fool yourself into believing that the first thing you do is watch the lecture videos. The first day the MOOC opens (or the first day you log in) read the syllabus and familiarize yourself with the course pages, the course navigation and where all that important information is in the course pages. Then you can watch the videos, some course have notes to download, if you can, download the notes and print them out. This will help you in taking notes when you watch the lectures. DO NOT attempt to take the quizzes just yet or start working in the assignments unless the instructor tells you to do so. If you are able to see the quiz questions and assignment descriptions beforehand you may do so, but I really doubt you will know what they are talking about at this stage.
2. Distribute the work: this is where that time management skill comes in handy. The course usually has a series of lecture videos to watch during the week, distribute the time to watch these videos during the week. After watching a video, do not attempt to do something else. Believe me, you have done plenty. You may take a break for a few minutes or a couple of hours but don’t try to attempt another task immediately. Also, dedicate time to work in the assignments and quizzes at different times when you watch lectures. You need to spend some time in the discussion forums as well, plan this at a different time from other tasks, if during you assignment work you have questions, make a note of them and then try to resolve them during your discussion forum time.
3. Spend time offline: this is especially true for reading assignments, if you try to do your reading while you are online, you will be tempted to watch cat videos, check your Facebook page, your tweeter feed, etc. Work on your assignments offline too.
4. Play well with others: participate in those discussion forums and give a hand to your fellow student, this will be beneficial to you in the long run. Also, think about the questions or answers you want to post. I suggest you write first on a blank document in your favorite text processor, then you just copy and paste it in the discussion forum box.
5. Don’t chew more than you can swallow: unless you are a full time student and you don’t have to work for a living, don’t take more than one course at the same time. One is plenty enough, especially if your days are filled with other responsibilities.

I hope these list helps you in your taking on a MOOC course. Happy MOOC-ing!