Week 3 Interaction Models

Happy weekend everyone,
I hope I did this correctly. I have been trying to figure out what type of online course I would create and am still playing with it. I guess if I could, I would create a history class for the 8th Graders at our school because they would be best equipt at this time to do something all online. I am not sure. I am still going back and forth. My class is set up onlinne but it is all websites with directions for different projects and now a blog. I am not sure it would be the best to set up as an online class because of the restrictions from the district and the software that is available for my students.

Here is my interaction matrix
http://southridgems.org/ourpages/users/Fisher/interactionmatrix.doc

Focus would be an online course for History 8th Grade

Video Presentation- Video Presentation as I see it would be Learner-Content because I see it as a recorded presentation of the material. It could be a lecture or videos that an instructor may want you to view for class. For the class, I would design for History, they could be video clips recorded of me discussing some important information or linked videos from Discovery Streaming that would illustrate what I wanted them to know. The video could be downloaded or streamed for the student to view and use the information in any of the different interactions. The use of the video clips may allow students to comprehend the information that they may have missed during the lecture or readings. The objectives I would expect to see would be comprehension of the material covered as well as the ability to explain your reasoning in other interaction formats.

Lecture (Podcasts or live)- Lecture as I see it online would most likely be a recorded lecture that would be uploaded to the website to be downloaded as a podcast or streamed online as a podcast. One benefit would be that the student could listen to it at their convenience and go back and review information if needed. Another possibility is that the student could listen to a lecture if it is being recorded or played on line. I would also be interested in using something like Skype or Talkshoe and having students log in at a certain time to listen to the lecture given by the instructor. Dr. Baek is playing with this now but the software kept kicking us out but I see a time where this could work. The Learner-Content interaction would be used because it is the student listening to the lecture and responding to it. The objectives for this method would be comprehension of the material covered as well as the ability to explain your reasoning in other interaction formats.

Chat/IM- Chat/Instant Messaging could meet all three areas. The student could be interacting with the content in the discussions that they could be having with the students and instructor. The use of chat/IM can be very useful for the instructor because through the discussions on the chat, the instructor can be checking for comprehension of the students. Instructors could use the chat to correct any errors or misunderstanding of the material. The students can communicate with each other to make sure that they comprehend the material and discuss what has been covered in the class. The chat/IM could be useful for a History class because it can be a great way for different students to discuss the readings/videos and such in class. This can be a tool for the instructor to hold discussions on the different material. The objectives would be for the students to understand the content that is covered and be able to communicate the information to make sure that they have an understanding. The instructor would want to make sure that the students are able to communicate their reasoning and show understanding. This is an opportunity to correct errors and make people accountable for the material.


Discussion Boards- Discussion boards are a lot like blogs except they are more specific. A discussion board can have the student responding to a specific question or area and other students can respond to it. It is both Learner-Content and usually Learner-Learner. It could also be Learner-Instructor but I haven’t seen a good model of it and there are better ways for the instructor to communicate with the students. If I were to use discussion boards for the history class, I would use it as a way to check for specific things such as having the students watch a video or read and respond to a specific questions from them. I would require all students to respond to 2 people’s posts to check to see if they are reading the material and how they feel about what someone else wrote.


Email- Email is Learner-Learner or Learner-Instructor. Learners can use it to communicate ideas or information between each other or a group. Email can be used to check for comprehension of material but for many people it is away to communicate informally between each other. The instructor can use it as a way to privately communicate with students to update their grades or correct any errors or relay information that is useful to specific students. People send emails to groups to relay information about assignments or deadlines as well as any information that the whole group may need. The objective of email is to send information to people that can help them.


Video Conferencing- Video conferencing can be all three different interaction styles. The example I am thinking of ETEC 543 this quarter. You could have students at different buildings, campuses or at home. You have the students link into the class and the instructor delivers a lecture or goes over the material using power points or material off of websites. The students are able to ask the instructor questions and the instructor can respond to them and discuss concepts with the students. The students could interact with each other and discuss the material. The downside is that this would take a lot of bandwith and freeze up the network. You could also set this up so that you could use something like Cisco’s teleconferencing and have different campuses linked up with the instructor at one site covering the material and have the students able to communicate with the instructor. Our district is looking at this model for the more advanced classes that may only have a few students per campus. This would not be needed every day but it would be a great way to help the students that are not available to be at the same site and allow the class to reach more students. This could also be recorded to be available to download or view later. The objectives for video conferencing would be to cover the material that needs to be shared, allow the students to interact with other students and the instructor. The instructor would be able to relay the needed information and check for understanding. There is a level of accountability for the instructor and students to be logged in and ready to contribute.


Blogs- Blogging allows for Interaction with the Learner-Content and Learner-Learner as I have seen it. I would like to see models where the instructor gives input in the blog but I haven’t seen that. I know I did post on the class blog but I found it limited in how I could respond to what was being said. A chat or email would have better communicated what I wanted the student to know without individualizing it for each student and making it available for all of the students to read. For the History class, I would have the student’s blog about the readings, discussions and comment on other student’s blogs if each student had their own blog

Readings- Reading has the interaction of Learner-Content because it has the student reading the text and comprehending what it means. The reading leads to other forms of interactions such as chats, blogging, discussion boards and email. Most of us have taken classes where we are required to read the text and respond to questions in class. The objectives I would expect to see would be comprehension of the material covered as well as the ability to explain your reasoning in other interaction formats. Currently I have students reading technology articles and responding to them on a class blog. If I had the option, I would have them chat with other students to get a discussion going but we do not have that ability now.

Websites with Material- This would be Learner-Content because it would supplement the reading that is covered. The website could have interactive material to help explain the material. It could have videos, podcasts and interactive maps or interactions with different historical people or places. Students may be expected to use these websites and respond to them with the other methods of interaction.

Have a good week,
Chris