Which Courses Are/Aren't Pizza-like?

See previous 2 TLT-SWG blog postings!

How can we decide which courses are pizza-like? Which courses should or could be more or less pizza-like? For whom? Under what conditions? 


Consider:

• Differences between recorded and live presentations
• Importance of nuanced responses between audience and leader
• Role of course-related office hours - face-to-face, voice only, text only, etc.
• Potential for student course evaluations to influence mid-course improvements during and after a course
• Need for guided small group work
• Need for individual practice of techniques
• Complexity of important concepts
  
  Below find more excerpts from article:  "Virtual and Artificial, but 58,000 Want Course" By JOHN MARKOFF Published: August 15, 2011; 

DIY Pizza: Open Education Resources (MIT) Precursor to Stanford Free Online Courses?

The MIT OpenCourseWare project does NOT deliver courses. 

[See Part I of this series: Free Online Stanford Courses for Other Colleges]
As one of the first and best known sources of "open education resources," MIT has distinguished quite clearly between course resources and courses: "MIT OpenCourseWare is intended as a publication of MIT course materials, not as an interactive experience with MIT faculty. MIT OpenCourseWare does not offer users the opportunity for direct contact with MIT faculty. It provides the content of - but is not a substitute for - an MIT education." More... Also see: http://ocw.mit.edu

Many resources such as those being offered by MIT and Stanford (and recently, several other institutions)  could be useful to faculty and students at other institutions.  Even for those many  (most?) courses which are important components of an effective undergraduate education and usually NOT susceptible to pizza-like delivery.  Faculty can compare their own curriculum plans and assignments and see how colleagues at MIT and Stanford address various topics.  Students can use these resources for course enrichment and research.  Faculty can recommend these other materials to provide their own students with distinct, respectable, alternative points of view, perhaps stimulating deeper more critical analysis.

Free Online Stanford Courses for Other Colleges' Students? Is a Course a pizza?

Which courses are/aren’t pizza-like? Which can easily be ordered, delivered, and consumed? And which courses cannot?

" Having Stanford courses freely available could both assist and compete with other colleges and universities. A small college might not have the faculty members to offer a particular course, but could supplement its offerings with the Stanford lectures."

Would all small college students like access to Stanford's courses? To Stanford's faculty?  Would all small college administrators and faculty like to provide this kind of access?
Stanford's generosity might work well, but only for pizza-like courses - courses that can easily be ordered, delivered, and consumed.

"A free online course at Stanford University on artificial intelligence ... has attracted more than 58,000 students around the globe — a class nearly four times the size of Stanford’s entire student body.  ...
"The instructors are Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig, two of the world’s best-known artificial intelligence experts.
...The course "...will employ both streaming Internet video and interactive technologies for quizzes and grading,
"In place of office hours, they will use the Google moderator service, software that will allow students to vote on the best questions for the professors to respond to in an online chat and possibly video format. They are considering ways to personalize the exams to minimize cheating.
"The online students will not get Stanford grades or credit, but they will be ranked in comparison to the work of other online students and will receive a 'statement of accomplishment.'

But  recordings, interactive quizzes and automated grading feedback are NOT equivalent alternatives for most Stanford courses. 


More on this and MIT's OpenCourseWare tomorrow....

Below find more excerpts from article:  "Virtual and Artificial, but 58,000 Want Course" By JOHN MARKOFF Published: August 15, 2011;

Sample Refs for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration from C. Desrochers AND FridayLive! 9/9 2pm

Recap/Extension of 4th Annual Online Symposium on Small Mixed Collaborative Groups.

Book includes Desrochers' article listed below

9/9 2pm ET FREE online - 1st FridayLive! of 2011-12: 
Sample refs recommended by Cynthia D. Desrochers (used in her own work with Faculty Learning Communities in Calif. State Univ. system):

• Ortquist-Ahrens, L., & Torosyan, R. (2009). "The role of the facilitator in faculty learning communities: Paving the way for growth, productivity, and collegiality" [downloadable PDF] in Learning Communities Journal, 1 (1), 29-62.

• Desrochers, C. G. (2011). "Faculty learning communities as catalysts for implementing successful small group learning" [downloadable PDF]  in J. L. Cooper & P. Robinson (Eds.), Small group learning in higher education: Research and practice (pp. 130-138). Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press.

Join FridayLive! 1st Session 2011-12 FREE online Sept 9, 2pm ET for Recap and Extension of 4th Annual Online Symposium on Small Mixed Collaborative Groups.

Volunteer [TLT Group Members only] to participate in a "small mixed collaborative group" to continue developing these guidelines and resources in academic 2011-12! Email Rebecca Kurtz: kurtz@tltgroup.org

We believe that working with small groups and focusing on small, realistic steps will lead to more widespread, long-lasting meaningful changes. In fact, in these especially challenging times, small steps may be the ONLY way to keep moving - in the right direction.

The resources listed at the beginning of this posting are samples from Working Draft: "Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration" tlt.gs/SGCguide. Based on the work of the TLT Group's 4th Annual Online Symposium on Frugal Innovation and Collaborative Change: "You are not alone! Small Mixed Group Collaboration" (August, 2011).

• Many more resources...

Resources for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group STUDENT-FACULTY Collaboration

9/9 2pm ET FREE online -

1st FridayLive! of 2011-12: 

Recap/Extension of 4th Annual Online Symposium on Small Mixed Collaborative Groups.

_Engaging Student Voices... Book...

Sample refs from Peter Felten, Katie King, Ben McFadyen, Taylor Binnix of Elon Univ. in Symposium 2011 session 2:

• "Holy ****, you're actually listening to me" Student-Faculty Collaboration to Improve Courses - FridayLive! May 20, 2011
  
• Student-Faculty Partnerships in Course Design Bovill, C., Cook-Sather, A., & Felten, P. (2011). Students as co-creators of teaching approaches, course design and curricula. International Journal for Academic Development, 16, 2.
• Engaging Student Voices in the Study of Teaching and Learning, Carmen Werder (Editor), Megan M. Otis (Editor), Pat Hutchings (Foreword), Mary Taylor Huber (Foreword), Stylus Publishing (October 2009) ISBN-10: 1579224202 ISBN-13: 978-1579224202 - includes Elon chapter

SLIDES from Session 2: Intro/Overview incl. update of Online Survey Results

Join FridayLive! 1st Session 2011-12 FREE online Sept 9, 2pm ET for Recap and Extension of 4th Annual Online Symposium on Small Mixed Collaborative Groups.
 
TLT Group Members are also invited to participate in a "small mixed collaborative group" to continue developing these guidelines and resources in academic 2011-12!  To volunteer for this working group, send email to Rebecca Kurtz:  kurtz@tltgroup.org

We believe that working with small groups and focusing on small, realistic steps will lead to more widespread, long-lasting meaningful changes. In fact, in these especially challenging times, small steps may be the ONLY way to keep moving - in the right direction.

The resources listed at the beginning of this posting samples from Working Draft: "Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration" tlt.gs/SGCguide.  Based on the work of the TLT Group's 4th Annual Online Symposium on Frugal Innovation and Collaborative Change:  "You are not alone!  Small Mixed Group Collaboration" (August, 2011). 

• Many more resources...

Stakeholders - Sample Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration

Stakeholders Participate for Successful Small Mixed Collaborative Groups

• Don't overlook students.
• Consider academic support professionals from all areas of responsibility - library, info tech, bookstore, ...
• Consider range of length of experience, stature among colleagues, etc.

From Sample Guidelines from Working Draft tlt.gs/SGCguide See More:  "Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration:  Working draft from TLTG Annual Online Symposium 2011" tlt.gs/SGCguide

Expectations: Big Educational Visions AND/OR New Techs? - Sample Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration

Are some tasks, issues, themes especially good/bad for small mixed collaborative groups? How important is it to:

• Establish what big idea or vision can be embraced by the institution?
• Focus more on individual and group needs, educational goals;  less on specifics of new technologies?

Be as clear and explicit as possible

• Make sure expectations of all involved are widely known and highly consistent with feasibilities.
• Be clear and explicit about roles within each group - initially, repeatedly.
• Set clear agendas - which can be more or less detailed, explicit

From Sample Guidelines from Working Draft tlt.gs/SGCguide See More:  "Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration:  Working draft from TLTG Annual Online Symposium 2011" tlt.gs/SGCguide

Incentives and Expectations - Sample Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration

Stipends and other tangible incentives are NOT essential for participation in small groups, but can be quite helpful.  

• Any tangible or extrinsic incentives should be planned, scheduled - not random.
• Financial incentives can be important as way of recognizing that people's time is valuable
• Be careful about offering financial incentives for activities that some have already been doing voluntarily without financial compensation
• Making small group participation part of "officially recognized" responsiblities demonstrates respect for the value of participants' time. 

From Sample Guidelines from Working Draft tlt.gs/SGCguide 

Planning, Membership, Communication - Sample Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration

Make participants comfortable and confident.

• Include potential leaders/facilitators and participants at earliest stages of planning - especially those who will be most affected by the results and those who will be essential to achieving those results
• Balance time spent listening to each other and modifying plans with time spent working on scheduled tasks.
• Level of Communication:

• Make it possible for the least expert participant to understand, contribute
• Make it possible for each participant to ask questions, to acknowledge limits to their own knowledge

• "Leave venting at the door" - How ?

• provide explicit time for venting and explain other times NOT for venting
• leader/facilitator models non-venting behavior

From Sample Guidelines from Working Draft tlt.gs/SGCguide See More:  "Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration:  Working draft from TLTG Annual Online Symposium 2011" tlt.gs/SGCguide

Don't Get Stuck! - Sample Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration

Many factors important to the success of small mixed collaborative groups are not immutable characteristics of the group.  
These factors can, quite usefully, be treated as options or decisions.  For example, 

• the identification and role of leader/facilitators, 
• the consistency or flexibility of group structure (meeting frequency, meeting duration, ...)
• the familiarity of participants with the structure and procedures (resist or encourage new patterns?)

From Sample Guidelines from Working Draft tlt.gs/SGCguide See More:  "Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration:  Working draft from TLTG Annual Online Symposium 2011" tlt.gs/SGCguide

Membership Matters - Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration

In establishing membership, in addition to faculty, consider academic support professionals from all areas of responsibility - library, info tech, bookstore, ... 

• Don't overlook students.
• Include those who will be most affected by the results and those who will be essential to achieving those results at earliest stages of planning.

From Sample Guidelines from Working Draft tlt.gs/SGCguide

See More:  "Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration:  Working draft from TLTG Annual Online Symposium 2011" tlt.gs/SGCguide

Size Matters - Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration

Purpose, characteristics and expectations of participants, local culture and politics, etc. are all factors in ideal size of small groups.  From Sample Guidelines from Working Draft tlt.gs/SGCguide

See More:  "Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration:  Working draft from TLTG Annual Online Symposium 2011" tlt.gs/SGCguide

Leadership/Facilitation in Small (3-12) Mixed/Collaborative Groups

Sample Guidelines from Working Draft tlt.gs/SGCguide


Leadership/Facilitation Matters

• "There is always someone who 'naturally' takes leadership in any group... either implicitly or by explicit agreement."  
• So, quite early,  explicitly identify and describe the role of leaders/facilitators... even if the decision is to share leadership/facilitation among all participants equally in a VERY small group!
• Include potential leaders/facilitators at earliest stages of planning.

See More:  "Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration:  Working draft from TLTG Annual Online Symposium 2011" tlt.gs/SGCguide

Guidelines/References for Frugal Innovation thru Small Group Collaboration

Working draft from TLTG Symposium tlt.gs/SGCguide   

These Guidelines & References are based on the work of the TLT Group's 4th Annual Online Symposium on Frugal Innovation and Collaborative Change:  YOU ARE NOT ALONE!   SMALL MIXED GROUP COLLABORATION  (August, 2011).  Registration was free to TLT Group members.  See the homebase Web pages for each of the 3 online sessions:  

Session 1     Session 2     Session 3

TLT Group Members are also invited to participate in a "small mixed collaborative group" to continue developing these resources in academic 2011-12!  

To join this working group, send email to Rebecca Kurtz:

kurtz@tltgroup.org

The Symposium strongly influences the TLT Group's agenda for our weekly FridayLive! online sessions.  Our 2011-12 "season" begins on September 9, 2pm Eastern with a recap and extension of this summer's work on Small Mixed Collaborative Groups.

How can students who participate in a course online not feel disenfranchised

if some other students can participate in the same course face-to-face on campus?

• How can a student on one campus BENEFIT from taking courses in which the lead faculty member is based on a distant campus? Too distant for that student to participate in any face-to-face meetings? 
• How can a few colleges or universities each benefit from collaborating to enable their own enrolled undergraduates to take some of each others' courses? 

In what ways must the arrangements differ for students who participate only or primarily

• online 
• from the same campus as the lead instructor 
• from other campuses? 

Frugal Innovation: Colleges Share Courses?

Politically tolerable? Logistically feasible? Financially viable? Educationally desirable?

Sharing Courses with Other Colleges? Really? Where?

I'm looking for examples where a few colleges or universities each benefit from collaborating to enable their own enrolled undergraduates to take some of each others' courses.  Know of any?   Meanwhile...

Librarians + Faculty + ... Working In Small Groups & Faculty Learning Communities [FLCs]

Tues 1-2PM EDT Frugal Innovation via Small Group Collaboration, TLT Group's 4th Annual Online Symposium   

Free registration for TLT Group Members; Fee for non-members.

Guest Presenters from Miami University of Ohio:  Milton Cox (Founder of Faculty Learning Communities), Eric Resnis, Elizabeth SullivanTuesday, August 9, 2011, 1:00 pm (ET) Please complete pre-session survey!  Your answers to these 3 questions about collaboration at your own institution will help shape the Symposium and improve its recommendations, even if you can't attend the Symposium. Check your institution's status here to confirm your membership through an institutional subscription.

You are not alone! Queries and Strategies for Collaborative Change

Continuing August 11 at 1:00 - 2:00pm EST  with Steve Gilbert, President of the TLT Group, and guests

Students + Faculty + ... in Small Mixed Groups, 
and Mixed Inquiry Collaboration 

Prezi at TLT Group Symposium

  

Prezi books and resources

Jane Harris' Prezi (fluid, multi-dimensional PP) good tool, interesting explanation of informal fac/dev.
  
Jane discussed her own work in faculty support/professional development both as an IT person and as a Teaching Learning Center person at University North Carolina Greensboro. What she called Testing Prezi shows use of a multidimensional version of PowerPoint, although more fluid and flexible.  It worked quite nicely through screen sharing during the session.


Jane explains how "Dr. Rosa" came with a problem -  she was about to teach an online course beginning in three weeks and would have perhaps double the enrollment that she was previously accustomed to.  So Jane needed to help "Dr. Rosa" gain enough confidence to identify and attempt to use at least a few helpful technology possibilities.   Jane used the Prezi to explain the sequence of steps and connections among the people who became involved in this small project.  Jane works informally with both individuals and groups to help them make improvements in teaching, learning.  Her work fosters their own ability to help each other make even more improvements.  You can see how this works as she describes the process.


If you didn't participate in the session, you can see its resources, prepared before, during, and after at the homebase webpage which includes links to a full recording of the entire session as well as a link to the Prezi itself.  


We hope you'll join us this coming week on Tuesday and Thursday one o'clock Eastern for the next two sessions of this year's annual symposium.  If you are a TLT Group member, you can register for free.  Others pay a fee. 

'Faculty have the best job in the world and the right to complain about it.'

- Katie King of Elon U., responding to my question about her busy summer yesterday.  

You can complain... or see book:
Engaging Student Voices
 in the Study of Teaching and Learning

We were talking about her plans for our Symposium session next Thurs Aug 11.  She and some colleagues (probably including a student) from Elon U. will be describing how they have been forming and supporting small mixed group collaboration (faculty, student, et al.) to improve specific undergrad courses... in response to faculty requests.
She will also introduce her new work on mixed inquiry collaborations.  




Join us Aug 9, 11 1-2PM EDT for the TLT Group's 4th Annual Online Symposium  "You are not alone!" Queries and Strategies for Frugal Innovation and Collaborative Change 
[If you missed the first session Aug 3, you can still find a full recording and lots of other info at tlt.gs/1sym2011]
Free registration for TLT Group Members; Fee for non-members.

You are not alone!

More about the Symposium:

Can participate almost fully in Adobe Connect online sessions via iPad! Good/Bad News

"Adobe Connect Mobile for iOS"  works - almost fully.  I've tried it briefly and confirmed what I've been reading.  See refs, Good/Bad News below.  

The TLT Group has used a variety of Web-based "virtual classrooms" for our online synchronous activities (i.e., "webinars," "webcasts," online symposia, etc.) - most recently Adobe Connect, a Flash-based Web software/platform/service that (like several similar systems) supports multiple options for:

• preparing, organizing, and presenting information
• interacting live online
• recording and publishing online presentations, interactions, etc.

As you probably know, Apple's iOS and iPad-related products do not currently support Flash files, so I didn't expect to be able to use our new iPad 2 to participate in Adobe Connect sessions. Yesterday one of our online partcipants asked about iPad options, so today I did a little research and found:

1.  Good News: "Adobe Connect Mobile 1.5 for iOS" is an app available free from the iTunes App store that enables an iPad 2 to login to a live Adobe Connect session with good audio and video, and an interface that strongly resembles the newest version we've been using via other devices.  I've only tested it for a few minutes, but I've also been reading some comments by users that confirm my impressions, which are mostly good.  Seems that participation in the text chat may be limited in some ways. 
2.  Bad News:  Neither this App nor any other I've found enables the iPad 2 to deal effectively with Flash.  One consequence is that I have not found a way of "playing" or viewing the digital recordings (archives) that we usually produce and often publish when we offer live sessions via Adobe Connect.    For an example of one of these archives, try tlt.gs/1sym2011archive ... but not with your iPad!

For more about Adobe Connect Mobile [1.5 for Apple iOS] see:  

Fundamental Questions for Frugl Inovtns: Transform? Preserve?

What do you most want to gain?

Cherish and want not to lose?  See below for more specific Fundamental Questions 

Encourage, Enable, Engage = A Vision Worth Working Toward (VWWT)
A "Vision Worth Working Toward" is more than an expectation and less than a prediction. It must be an inspiring but plausible goal that we can work toward and make visible progress - soon. More...

Information technology can be the excuse and the means to make almost any kinds of change in education and elsewhere. As you consider the following questions, think about the kinds of change that might happen to your students, your colleagues, your institution, and yourself. What should be transformed? What should be preserved?

These Fundamental Questions for Frugal Innovations are sequenced to invite you to begin thinking broadly and then to narrow your focus to specific "low-threshold" improvements in teaching and learning that can begin soon. These improvements should be worthwhile, easy to begin, and easy to share.

Additional, More Specific Fundamental Questions for Frugal Innovation  

Aug 3 Small Collegial Collaborative Groups Help Transitions

Textbooks to Online Info; F2F to Hybrid; LMS to Web Tools; etc.  

We believe that focusing on small, realistic steps will lead to more widespread, long-lasting meaningful changes. In fact, in these especially challenging times, small steps may be the ONLY way to keep moving  - in the right direction.

Join us  Aug 3, 9, 11 1-2PM EDT for the TLT Group's 4th Annual Online Symposium on Frugal Innovation and Collaborative Change 

Queries & Strategies for Frugal Innovation, Collaborative Change via Small Group Collaboration

Free registration for TLT Group Members; Fee for non-members.