Multimodal Approaches to IT Projects, with Blogosphere as the Starting Point

1. Multimodal Approaches to IT Projects, with Blogosphere as the Starting Point Trish Marback Leigh Graves Wolf Preetha Kannan EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional Conference March 22, 2005

2. Oakland Community College • largest community college in the state of Michigan • 14th largest community college in the nation • annual enrollment of 74,000 degree seeking and non-degree seeking students

3. 2002 – 2007 Strategic Master Plan • Increase the use of technologies with a specific focus on the instructional program • Faculty will be increasingly competent in the use of various technologies to advance the rate and depth of student learning; student learning outcomes will be improved as students become increasingly competent in the use of technology to gain access to information and advance their own knowledge development

4. Academic Technology @ OCC • New department as of June 2004 • Director of Academic Technologies • Manager of Online Learning Technologies • 5 Instructional Technologists • Database Analyst and Snapshot Specialist

6. Blogging 101

7. Theoretical Framework Complexity and Ill-structured domains Erving Goffman Non-linearity and hypertext

8. Multimodal project based collaboration • An ill-structured knowledge domain is one in which each case or example of knowledge application typically involves the simultaneous interactive involvement of multiple, wide-application conceptual structures, each of which is individually complex Spiro, R.J. & Jehng, J. (1990). Cognitive flexibility and hypertext: Theory and technology for the non-linear and multidimensional traversal of complex subject matter. D. Nix & R. Spiro (eds.), Cognition, Education, and Multimedia. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

9. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life – Erving Goffman • 3 main players… • the actor • the audience • outsiders Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City, N.Y.,: Doubleday.

10. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life – Erving Goffman • Three regions in which actions take place • front region (front stage) • back region (backstage) • ‘the outside’ (not front or backstage)

11. Non-linearity • Although narrologists have almost always emphasized the essential linearity of narrative, critics have recently begun to find it non-linear Landow, George P. Hypertext 2.0: The Convergence of Contemporary Critical Theory and Technology. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1997.  

12. Analysis of the blog just the facts…

13. Distribution of Post Content

14. Teamwork

15. Pedagogy

16. URL

17. Posts and Comments by Category

21. A few definitions Multimodal: having multiple or many modes or instances Mode: a manner, way, or method of doing or acting; a given condition of functioning; a status. Collaboration: has at its heart a desire to solve a problem, create, or discover something within a set of constraints. (Schrage)

22. Affordances/constraints in practice from the management P.O.V. Need: create a group interaction structure that supports persistent productive intensity and creativity Constraint: typical life-cycle of decision-making groups Challenge: transcend both the definition and life-cycle the literature suggests might be common to our type of work Bales and Strodtbeck, “Phases in Group Problem-Solving.” Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 46 (1951): 485-95.

23. Our five team emphases CMS implementation, support, research Campus-based faculty support for teaching and learning with technology College-wide projects Training (partnership with PDTC) Retaining an IT and team identity

24. Our projects: type range Programming-partnership Vision/orientation/focus Publishing Usable objects for faculty and students Information design, information artifact development Technology management

25. Our projects: structure, hierarchy No solo projects Each team has a leader and at least two helpers Cross-team communication essential (to address defined project gaps and overlaps, avoid duplication of effort) Team reports published to blog Director acts as de facto member on request All work lateral, all deliverables team deliverables Accountability at the peer/social level

26. Our projects: a list Portfolio templates Web design Emphasis on teaching Desktop image for ADA and TLTC’s Blog/wiki/emerging tech/open source dev lab Marketing CMS skins

27. Our projects: a list TLTC inventory Institute book project Online student start-up packet Assistive technology expertise/training Bb 6.2 migration Project-based course redesign

28. Six lessons learned (or, how to do it better than we did)

29. Multimodal Precept #1 Successful creative, flexible exploration and use of a single mode/medium depends absolutely on strong adoption of that mode/medium as your group’s primary, preferred mode.

30. Multimodal Precept #2 Engage without dominating.

31. Multimodal Precept #3 Some on your team will resist your choice/adoption.

32. Multimodal Precept #4 Resistance to your mode/tool of choice will make long-term commitment stronger, not weaker.

33. Multimodal Precept #5 Remain flexible in the way you as leader think about and employ the dominant mode/tool.

34. Multimodal Precept #6 Stroke your engaged internal team leaders. Privately.

35. The blog from the team member P.O.V Adoption curve Affordances and Constraints Data Analysis Success & Failure Summary

36. Blog experience, factor of adaptability? • Informal survey suggests that prior blog experience was a factor of adaptability • Early adopters in the team were experienced bloggers • Experience translated into higher number of posts and faster response times.

37. SurveyRanking Communication Tools

38. Constraints in practice(in no specific order) • Blogger technical glitches • Time Stamps on comments • Inability to share documents • Inability to receive notifications • Direction of flow • Misunderstanding messages

39. Constraints in practice • Sense of disconnect • Archival nature • Non-threaded nature of discussion • No acknowledgement of posts

40. Non-linearity • Communication points arise at different levels and on different topics • Non-linear in terms of its structure, content and design • Spontaneous conversations • Postings were not ‘closed’ or locked after a certain point in time • Chronological display – too linear?

41. Non-linearity • Not moderated, not based on hierarchy • A direct ‘reporting to’ relationship is not required in this form of communication • Interruptions from unintended audience

42. Concept of blog linearity Blogs are closely connected to the rhythm of daily lives. The postings are structured not by importance, topic or sensationalism, but by time. This way we get a journal which - while it's submitting to the strict linearity of time, it also submits to the non-linearity of how things happen. Mortensen, Torill, 2002 http://blogonblog.blogspot.com/2002_11_01_blogonblog_archive.html#84914978

43. Factors for Acceptance • Formalize thoughts • Brainstorming tool • Documenting ideas/online reporting/status tool • Easy access • Push button publishing • Asynchronous mode • Egalitarian Ethic

44. Unsuccessful ventures... • Creation of ‘sub-blogs’ for smaller teams or project groups • Marketing and Web team blogs • Was actively in use for 2 months, with posts mainly from the project leader • End result – Preferred to meet f-2-f and did not pursue sub-blog

45. User P.O.V. Summing up • Constraints were mostly software limitations • Dominant communication tool in practice was not majority tool of choice • Team adapted over time • Success and failure • Formal and informal communication styles

46. Questions?

47. Email us … pamarbac@oaklandcc.edu lgwolf@oaklandcc.edu pxkannan@oaklandcc.edu