Virtual Learning Environments

How does your project leverage and create a richer learning experience for your specific target population?

Our project, Global TextBook, allows students to engage in documented discussions where their responses, questions and answers can be calculated and well-planned. The online nature of the discussion forums and potentials for chat room interactions also allow for students who may be shy in face-to-face environments the chances to say what’s on their mind. The amalgamation of RSS feeds and video/photo posting in one space allows students a wide range of access to sources to supplement their textual reading material.

The typical targets of Global Potential are lower income and underprivileged urban youths who typically wouldn’t be exposed to critical analysis of sensitive topics; they would typically only see the perspective of their local community. The Ning platform offers a compelling multifaceted forum that is engaging, yet not limited by many of the usual barriers to entry that students from lower income households tend to face. Ning is not dependent upon a speedy internet connection or advanced computer hardware. Its windows are easily formatted when one needs to print and it is not blocked by many of the filters used on public internet access computers. Our Ning community will also allow students to break their geographic limitations and form a new community whose purpose is to critically discuss differing historical texts. This elaborates on the idea that students are encouraged to think more critically about historical issues.

Ning allows students the chance to see two sides of an argument, giving students an opportunity to create a new perspective for themselves for the situation they are discussing. It also gives them skills that they can transfer to other parts of their lives. Additionally, the format that is being used allows students to learn debating skills.

Screenshot of Discussion Forum

Given that Ning is fairly easy and accessible, it also allows a high level of personal customization both at student and moderator level and easily facilitates connection and networking with like-minded individuals and communities. In addition, given the increasing interest in NING, customized skins and applications specifically designed for NING are becoming more and more prevalent, thus making the student, teacher and classroom experience ever more personalized and focused.

Screenshot of Profile page

Given that virtual learning environments are becoming increasingly cultivated into educational experiences, Ning is an excellent choice for segueing into this form of technological learning. Because it is simple and direct, it provides the student a solid understanding of how to interact in a VLE, as well as how to contribute on an equal level as his/her classmates. As mentioned before, the opportunity to be more “vocal” in an online educational forum will allow for more students to better express themselves and share one another’s knowledge and viewpoints, decreasing the shyness factor that can be brought out in a typical classroom setting. It also gives more freedom to question the subject matter and inspire a deeper level of critical thinking; one that is tougher to reach learning out of a textbook.

Briefly summarize your project objective, obstacles, modifications/solutions, describe project progress to-date, and include relevant processes/screenshots/links.

The Group:

Each member of our team worked diligently to contribute to the various parts of our Ning social site, Global Textbook. While each person has their own skills, we all did our part to pull together a solidly constructed virtual learning environment that students can benefit from and contribute to.

As a group we worked on the organization of the main page. We also agreed on what tools we should provide to our community. This includes the Photos, Videos, Forums, Links, and a reference page. We also agreed that we would create a Global Textbook user manual using a separate wiki space. We met weekly to revise our Ning site and brainstorm ideas on how to make it better.

Screenshot of Chat page, where we held some of our weekly meetings

Each member played his or her part in bringing the project together and we were not hampered by ‘wannabe superstar egos’.  As such, workloads were apportioned evenly and according to individual talents and schedule; and thus each member was able to shine in his or her own way. We worked efficiently and without ‘pomp and circumstance’; keeping true to Katzenbach & Smith definition of a successful team. We simply remained throughout… a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and [a common] approach for which they hold themselves accountable. [1]

Individual Tasks:

Although each of us went to considerable lengths to make this project the best it could be in a short few weeks, we will briefly summarize below what each member completed throughout the duration of the Ning site and the supplementary Wiki page.

Katharine’s main duties were to set up the interface for the Global Textbook site, where she chose “Social Sunny” as the theme (silhouetted conversing figures) which best demonstrated the purpose of the site. She also edited the colors to be similar to Global Potential, and added some initial features to the main page, while doing some html coding for the Links tab for easy navigation. She also wrote instructions for six of the tabs, which can be found on the Wiki page.

Kelly’s main responsibility was setting up RSS feeds to the Ning site. Google News had a decent sampling of the current news from each region (Haiti and D.R.), which she chose to feed into the main page of Global Textbook. She also contributed to rearranging the page, initiated the Wiki, and wrote about starting a discussion, while also giving a tour of the main page.

Henry set up two forums for Global Textbook and wrote the instructions and rules for posting on them. The first forum is Lessons, for administrators only, and the second forum is Open for all members to start discussions on their own topics. The restricted Lessons forum would allow Global Potential to use the site for its educational purposes, while a less restricted open forum would provide students and other members a place to share their ideas and views in order to build a better sense of community. Henry also contributed to the Photos section to provide a sample of how it could be used by instructors, as well as to include supplemental images. He also wrote Wiki entries for Photos and Videos, and contributed to the “How to post to the forum” section. These entries explain how the sections are meant to be used for educational purposes, and how to post in them.

Vicki worked on researching different videos, articles, and relative information about Haiti and the Domincan Republic to provide a solid base of information for Global Textbook’s main page and additional tabs. She included a Reference Texts tab (with the help of Katharine) to add a bibliography of relevant texts and information written about these countries. There are a few videos that better visualize the relationship between Haiti and the Dominican Republic that are posted to the Video tab and take the user straight to the video’s host page. She also included links in the Links tab to both nations’ United States Embassies home pages. She also included a map of the island of Hispaniola in the Photo tab to add to the visual element of the learning experience in Global Textbook.

Helen was responsible for getting the site off the ground, which she did by initiating the Google Groups forum and creating the Ning network name and ID project, where Global Textbook could get underway. She also contributed to setting up RSS feeds on the Ning site, which are linked below. She added a list of NGO/UN and other links, easily located in the Links tab. She also wrote the four sub-sections under “Your Members” for the Wiki.

Screenshot of Videos page

Concluding thoughts:

There are always obstacles to working with a group on a project that is done completely through virtual methods, but we are all confident with the outcome of the Ning site and are proud to have created this educational platform in a rather limited time frame. There was a clear lack of direction and misunderstanding of the project in the first few weeks of the course. Once we received clarification from Salman that our goal was to construt the skeletal frame work for Global Potential, and not to actually create and implement lessons, we were able to pick up momentum and pull things together. Every time we met, we found new ways to improve our site. Another issue was the general simplicity of Ning itself. In the end, the simplicity of Global Textbook actually compliments the goal of the project, emphasizing the analysis of text rather than toying with new online networking trends.

One issue with the site is the overall appearance. We have gone with a neutral style using a default image provided by Ning. Though this works and stays with our simplistic nature, it can still seem mundane. Global Potential may want to find a design student to create a more unique logo for the community.

This was no small feat. When things run smoothly, it’s often easy to overlook the unspoken work that each of us put in to making room for the other, and for each of us to pull their own weight. This level of maturity is rare and yet is a key element in the ultimate success or failure of a project such as this. Consequently, we feel that we should congratulate ourselves on the efficient flowing work environment that we created and acknowledge the accomplishment of this.

1] ‘The Wisdom of Teams’ J. Katzenbacj & Smith [1993], p.45

From Highsmith Ch.5 Adaptive Software Development

a. http://globalvoicesonline.org/-/world/americas/dominican-republic/

b. http://globalvoicesonline.org/-/world/americas/haiti/

Visit our Ning site here: http://globaltextbook.ning.com/

Moodle: First Impressions

Moodle has a nicely structured platform and has my vote over Blackboard.  In the Film Studies demo, I appreciated the emphasis on lesson sequence and the capacity to break each lesson/class into a separate page.  The use of modules- particularly, quizzes and surveys -also helped to streamline the discussion process.  [Note: I appreciate the freedom blogs give everyone to expound on their views and arguments, but having a limit imposed on initiating forum threads can go a long way towards focusing the class when dozens or more are participating.  The Moodle discussion topic we are currently having is a perfect example –four or five of us have started separate threads on the same topic.]  Additionally, the ability to customize language settings is also critical as the New School and others try to push beyond the American-centric classroom.  Finally, like Nag, I agree that Moodle’s ability to suit industry and government as much as academia is imperative.  In my own work environment, my boss consistently pushes our in-house online strategy team to attend digital tech and social media conferences; it would be nice if we could participate in post-conference classes with the speakers (many who are already in academia).

All these benefits aside, Moodle’s aesthetic experience proved a huge drawback.  Personally, I would rather log into an LMS with Ning-like aesthetics, profile markers, homepage videos, etc.  Hopefully, a Moodle redesign is under consideration?   Even if a redesign is not in the cards, Moodle does seem to have an impressive list of registered sites.  I noticed two well-known U.S. high schools – Culver Academy and Brooklyn Tech – are using Moodle as well as the 1st infantry division to train new troops. My old high school in New Jersey is reportedly running on StudyWiz Spark (see demo).  I’m not sure if anyone else used StudyWiz or another LMS at their respective high schools – it is a new venture for my own.  We didn’t have cell phones let alone school email accounts when I was student (10 years ago).
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To answer Katharine’s question (below) about Moodle: I would argue that if students are not appreciating the benefits of Moodle it is because Moodle like the LMSes mentioned above do not target students where they already are (i.e. established social networks like Facebook, MySpace, Ning, Twitter).  As we wrap up our analysis for the semester, I am concerned that we are creating too many platforms that compete for students’ attention.  We need to start integrating the LMS or VLE model into existing platforms so that we can give students interactions that are meaningful, personal and consistent with their daily behavior as digital natives.  As noted on its website, StudyWiz prides itself on being able to seamlessly integrate with the iPod.  My response:  so what?  iPod interoperability is old news when teens today are using all-in-one iPhones that provide seamless access to not only their favorite music but Facebook, YouTube, Tweetdeck, etc.
In his analysis, Siemens argues that the “management” aspect of LMS’ creates a problem: “The underlying assumption is that if we just expose students to the content, learning will happen.”  He goes on to write that “our real-life manner of learning is at odds with the design and implementations of most LMS’” and that “most LMS platforms are attempting to shape the future of learning to fit into the structure of their systems, even though most learning today is informal and connectionist in nature.”
Informal and connectionist are key.
A few weeks ago WIRED ran a feature on the Great Wall of Facebook (I just reposted it on del.icio.us and Twitter).  The article largely addresses Google’s approach to information sourcing and the competing vision of Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg.  Per Wired: “Zuckerberg envisions a more personalized, humanized Web, where our network of friends, colleagues, peers, and family is our primary source of information, just as it is offline. In Zuckerberg’s vision, users will query this “social graph” to find a doctor, the best camera, or someone to hire—rather than tapping the cold mathematics of a Google search. It is a complete rethinking of how we navigate the online world, one that places Facebook right at the center.”

I’m not a huge fan of Zuckerberg (Andreesen and Bianchini’s Ning has more dynamic potential), but I believe he has the right vision- and one that can be adapted for educational purposes.  When I was in high school, most of the facts and theories I learned in the classroom didn’t take on meaning until later in the day:  during conversations with peers or dinner table chatter with my siblings and parents.  I think the same goes for today’s high school students only they now have virtual social networks for feedback and analysis at their disposal.  Facebook would do its “student” members well if it launched classroom networks (much like a Ning network) where teachers could customize modules (like Moodle) and updates on assignments, readings, quizzes, etc. appeared in profile newsfeeds or sidebars.  From there, students could share materials with friends in their broader networks – and “learning” could actually go viral.

I’m being idealistic, and I can already hear the legions screaming that they don’t want to friend teachers on Facebook.  But I refuse to buy the argument that integrating a VLE into Facebook, Ning or any other social network would dumb down learning for students.  Privacy settings are available.  And if anything, such interoperability would elevate the debate and dialogue currently taking place among digital natives on those platforms.

For Project #1: Integrating Curricula From Regions of Conflict, I don’t thing we’ve posted mutch on the class blog. Helen has started a Google group for us where we’ve been communicating about how to go about the project. We also met online last week in Second Life and Henry posted our minutes in our Google Group. As a result of the meeting we collected questions through our Google Group to ask Frank and Salman. Josephine was able to answer some of our questions and the rest I asked Frank and Salman via a Seesmic video.

Josephine contributed that our project is:

• completely created in Ning
• for high school students
• going to have text provided by Global Potential
• going to be structured as a self-paced lesson plan

The questions that remained for Frank and Salman:

• Are we to use the Global Potential Ning network? If not, what should we name the network?
• Are the Dominican Republic and Haiti just an example of conflictd regions or are we to focus on these regions specifically?
• Should we go about obtaining contacts from the Dominican Republic and Haiti? If so, how should we do this?
• How are we to obtain the text to be used in the Ning network? What would be a good source for supplemental materials?
• If this is to be a structured, self-paced lesson plan, what topics would you like us to cover and in what order?
• Should we post the information for each topic in a forum where students have an opportunity to respond and discuss or is there another way we should structure this?
• What types of rich media would you like us to include?