tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10727233.post112475404039643550..comments2023-10-17T05:09:09.069-05:00Comments on <center>Lanny on Learning</center>: First Steps with Learning TechnologyLanny Arvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597426421997599777noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10727233.post-1125454521717397452005-08-30T21:15:00.000-05:002005-08-30T21:15:00.000-05:00Orla, thank you. How do your students know you ar...Orla, thank you. How do your students know you are looking at that data (or are they sufficiently trusting of you when you say you do that at the beginning of the course)?Lanny Arvanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05597426421997599777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10727233.post-1124890946202505592005-08-24T08:42:00.000-05:002005-08-24T08:42:00.000-05:00The students expressed an interest in face to face...The students expressed an interest in face to face office hours with the TAs, so we provided that. They were hardly used. <BR/><BR/>I think the causality definitely has to run from teaching issue to technology intervention and not vice versa. But perhaps some low cost "phantom" interventions, like a discussion board that gets few posts, does have some value in creating the impression that the student need is being accommodated. <BR/><BR/>One other point is that the students may segment - some like to IM with their peers for help, others really would prefer to get assistance from the instructor or the instructor's assistants. Then you have to ask how much intervention the instructor should provide given that only a minority of the students will benefit.Lanny Arvanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05597426421997599777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10727233.post-1124835623374442352005-08-23T17:20:00.000-05:002005-08-23T17:20:00.000-05:00When I got feedback from the students a certain pr...When I got feedback from the students a certain proportion of them did indeed say that their needs were being met through other channels. I'm wondering about whether to repeat this with any courses this coming year, and if so if we should do anything differently. Face-to-face sessions are very awkward logistically here, but it might be worth the effort. <BR/><BR/>One thing that was slightly interesting is that a huge number said that they liked the fact that the discussion boards were there even if they didn't use them, so it might have contributed to the students' experiences anyway!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10727233.post-1124829983337728612005-08-23T15:46:00.000-05:002005-08-23T15:46:00.000-05:00Juliette - When I did this big time about 5 years ...Juliette - <BR/><BR/>When I did this big time about 5 years ago, the two things we did were to have TAs online during the evening so tht the students knew they would get fairly quick response from one of them and we did a face to face training session which made sure the students knew where in the program to go to access this. <BR/><BR/>It may be that your students have other means (for example, instant messaging with some of their classmates) that they are more comfortable with. <BR/><BR/>There may also be some issues with the language of the communication. (I wrote about that in today's post.) <BR/><BR/>For this type of approach to work the students have to perceive a need and that the discussion board satisfies the need. <BR/><BR/>If something else is satisfying the need, I see no reason to use discussion boards. If the need is not being satisfied perhaps the instructor and whatever support the instructor has can put in some effort to show the value of using the discussion board.<BR/><BR/>I hope that helps.Lanny Arvanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05597426421997599777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10727233.post-1124787163992582012005-08-23T03:52:00.000-05:002005-08-23T03:52:00.000-05:00We tried the first of these approaches - providing...We tried the first of these approaches - providing discussion boards as a place to seek and provide help - for some of our engineering and physics courses this last year. But we found the usage from students was low. <BR/><BR/>I was wondering if you had any ideas about how to present the concept to students to encourage them to use the discussion boards more?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com