Engaging Learners with Layers of Technology in an Educational Community

1. An Educational Community in the Classroom:Using Layers of Technology and an Integrated Team Approachto Engage Learners in and out of the Classroom Tim Pychyl, Flavia Renon & Chris Motz Carleton University Ontario Library Association Superconference Saturday, February 4, 2006 Toronto, Ontario

2. Purpose and Process • Describe the evolution of the course to a rich community with “layers of people and technology” • Provide a framework for you to think about the implementation of this approach • Move from our experiences to your own implementation plans

3. About Us & our context Course Context Second year survey course in Personality Psychology with 120 in-class students and approx 300 students registered to watch a cable broadcast of the lectures

4. Student expectations

5. Student expectations Anonymous Feedback: • I feel more eager to participate in the class knowing that a ton of effort has been put into the organization of this course even though I am only in the CUTV section. Seeing all the efforts of "team personality" makes me want to put in the effort. Anonymous Feedback: • The concern of your team for the class is apparent always. Even though I have never attended a class lecture, I find myself saying "We talked about...in class today. Usually I would say "the instructor talked about..." It is very important to me to feel part of the class, and I do.

6. Where does the Library fit into the whole scheme of things?

7. VISION OF THE POSSIBLE(library component) Some IL learning objectives: • Facilitate access to the needed information (the class assignment) effectively and efficiently • Assist students in understanding the value of different information sources (popular vs academic) The assignment in PSYC2600

8. Worksheet break & Questions • It’s time to focus on what your vision of the possible might be and your overall learning objectives for the term ahead.

9. GOALS & PRACTICAL CHALLENGES(library component) • How can I reach as many students as possible? • How can I go beyond a simple search and retrieve exercise (BI vs IL)? • How can I cater to student’s different learning styles? • How can I provide just in time learning support?

10. Solutions for the practical Answer to these questions • Provide various contact options • Focus on process rather than skills • Use different media to enhance learning for a variety of learning styles • Make learning support resources available 24/7 (i.e. make yourself virtually available 24/7)

11. Some barriers… IL was a goal of the assignment, but not a focus of the course content (Chris) Time to learn about the technology being used in the course (Flavia) Where will we find the time to plan this and coordinate the assignment? (Tim) Can I give up control enough to make this a real partnership? (Tim) Some facilitating factors… Existing web site & streaming capabilities, & a librarian who could take control of part of this learning (Chris) The WebCt course webpage provided an infrastructure that facilitated access to various learning resources (Flavia) Barriers and Facilitating factors

12. Worksheet break & Questions • Identify barriers and facilitating factors on your own campus

13. SOLUTIONS FOR THE PRACTICAL(library component) Professor/Instructor Librarian Video technician Web technician Private-sector partner PASS facilitator Peer Mentors Teaching Assistant “Layers” of People - a team approach

14. Technology • Video stream of in class presentation outlining the Library research process • Video stream tutorial explaining how to do this assignment (simulated discussion) • Power Point tutorials on WebCT • E-mails using screen captures (Snag It) Layers of Technology (some examples)

15. The WebCT web site for Introduction to the Study of Personality

16. Psyc 2600

17. Worksheet break & Questions • Technical needs and possible solutions to your own barriers?

18. The Research Assignment Our plan for the pedagogical The goals of this assignment are to: • learn how to research the social-scientific literature related to a topic in personality as presented in the popular press, • link the research discussed in the popular literature to the topics and domains of knowledge in the text, • summarize the background and activities of the research psychologist who generated the knowledge claims that were presented in the popular press, and • locate a published journal article (an academic article) by this author that relates to the topic from the popular press.

19. 1. Finding an article in the popular press 7. Conducting a web-based search for biographical information about the psychology researcher 8. Searching for a journal article Note: copy of complete research assignment is available in handout

20. The bigger picture… • taught students information literacy skills • gave students insight into the academic culture This assignment:

21. Research Assignment on WebCT

23. Archived video streaming of lecture 3a

24. Lecture 3a – Library Presentation

25. Insert slide screencapture of multiple streaming segments

26. Emphasis is on PROCESS rather than just on SKILLS

27. Worksheet break & Questions • Sketch out issues related to your own planning

28. Understanding the social Some examples: Mature students: face to face meetings Distance students: reliant on technology Students had preferences when it came to selecting learning support options:

29. Student questions I would like to set up an appointment with you to discuss getting an article for the assignment. I am not an avid newspaper reader. I do recall you saying something during your presentation of being able to access newspaper articles on-line and actually being able to narrow down the search for those that are relevant to personality. Although I am taking in a lot of new information lately and I could have misunderstood. My computer skills are quite lacking, actually they quite suck... Thank you,  Sandra.

30. Understanding the socialother possible future scenarios(library component) • Collecting statistics WebCT MSN messaging • More active participation in discussion groups • Reviewing e-mail, course evaluation sheets,… for student feedback/comments Getting to know your community of users

31. Insight into practical unanticipated problems

32. Student response Hello Flavia, I'm a student in psych 2600 and I need some help in regards to the research assignment. I have found an article from pop culture about a psychologist that I think will fit in nicely with this course, but I could not find anything written by him in PsycInfo. Could you help me. Thank you, Ashlee

33. Student questions… Hello FlaviaI am doing my research assignment for Dr. Pychyl's Psych 2600 class.  I have completed all of the steps, and right now I am trying to access the article from a peer reviewed journal. I have been trying to access the online article from home, but I cant seem to get it to come up over the internet, through the library website.  It seems other articles are available to read online, so I am not sure if I am just doing something wrong!  If you could email me back and let me know how to go about finding this article. Thanks a lot, Victoria

34. Possible future solutions to the practical(library component) • Podcasting • msn messaging • WebCT has a “chat room” – you can prearrange times where you will be available (in order to control the amount of time you spend in a chat room) • Camtasia Studio Screen Recorder or other video streaming software with screen capture and voice over narration capability

35. Key issues for implementation(library component) • Embrace technology • Seek out partnerships/become part of a learning community • Quite often we are already surrounded by these partners • Use IL standards as a framework • Constantly seek feedback/refine your approach

36. Strive to enhance student participation and engagement in the classroom through principles of good practices supported by the judicious use of technology and a team approach In Other words…

37. Vision of the possible A summary This course design: • Encouraged faculty-student contact • Encouraged cooperation among students • Encouraged active learning • Gave prompt feedback • Emphasized time on task • Communicated high expectations • Respected diverse talents and ways of learning Seven Principles of Good Practice According to Chickering and Gamson (1987)

38. Where can we learn more…(library component) • Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/informationliteracycompetency.htm • National Forum on Information Literacy http://www.infolit.org/related_sites/ • Enhancing the classroom experience with learning technology teams http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eqm0334.pdf

39. Where to find us… Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl tpychyl@ccs.carleton.ca Chris Motz cpmotz@connect.carleton.ca Flavia Renon flavia_renon@carleton.ca

40. One last word on… Advice for those new to video media

41. Some tips/lessons learned from teaching an ITV course • Get advice/sit in on a videoconference • Carefully design your Power Point presentation by factoring in: • area for video (bottom right side of screen) • font size/color • Regularly look at the camera to engage home audience • Ensure proper positioning of microphone • Try not to pace/move around too much • Give students time to ponder questions • Summarize/paraphrase questions posed by students before answering • Pause, smile, relax and enjoy

42. More lessons learned… • closely evaluate/revisit your teaching style • share with colleagues samples of your teaching technique (the good/the bad/the ugly) Use your video appearance to: