Navigate: Describe Roles and Functions in Online Learning Environments 1.2.1

1.2.1 Describe Roles and Functions in Online Learning Environments

The online learning environment is comprised of several interactive roles structured to interact for the purpose of facilitating an efficient learning experience.  These role are grouped into two main sub sets based on software or app design:  SIS (Student Information System) and LMS (Learning Management System).  The quality of interaction within and between these two systems drives the learning process.

LMS-  The Learning Management System is first reviewed and structured by the LMS Administrators, who work to ensure a strong, yet flexible technical foundation to the system.  Next, Instructional Administration  determine what courses need to be taught based on both the demand from the students and the expectations set forth by local, state, and national agencies- often using information and data gathered via various needs assessments.  The LMS is then populated by the various Course Developers, who, in many cases, are also the instructors.  In time, the teachers are assigned to the courses and students are admitted to their classes while their parents or guardians, if applicable, are granted observational access- if appropriate.  

SIS-  The Student Information System is a powerful software tool that is adapted to each organization's particular needs.  In this part of the online learning environment, the Administrators function more like the administration at a brick and mortar school- by monitoring the learning environment and communicating with facilitators and teachers. the Facilitators in the SIS can be the same personnel as the Instructional Administrators in the LMS- as they perform similar functions by approving courses (and the pay for the courses), selecting and evaluating the personnel, and keeping an eye on the final grades and state assessment results. The Teachers work with the list of students they have been assigned and deliver the course materials in the most accessible way possible.  Teachers communicate regularly with students and are responsible for managing their final grades. 

Students  are who drive both LMS and SIS. Their needs to learn and society's need for educated professionals or skilled workers are balanced within the online learning environment through the skills and talents of the professionals who work within the digital structure.   It will be of great interest to see the development of online learning environments as students who grew up within them begin to take the leading roles within them!

Navigate: Delineation Between Synchronous and Asynchronous Content Delivery 1.1.1

1.1.1 Delineation Between Synchronous and Asynchronous Content Delivery

Amazingly, there are more similarities in the types of content delivery than dissimilarities.  Perhaps this is due to the unique ability of people skilled in the use of digital technology to convert synchronous delivery to asynchronous delivery.  For example, one teacher in my school regularly records her lectures to her first class in order to play them to her subsequent classes in order to maintain consistency in the message.  The ten-minute lectures cover a small amount of material in great detail, and she is able to upload them to her website for students to review.  By doing this, she is able to use 10 minutes in class for the subsequent classes to work individually with students who need such attention.

Via digital technologies, a video conference or a lecture can become a vodcast that is available as an archived artifact.  I have recorded students participating in a google doc Venn Diagram activity.  The event for the 4 people involved, was synchronous.  For the classes of students who watched the screencast that I made, it was asynchronous.

Who knew that digital technologies would be so useful in linking people and purposes despite the inability to gather at the same time?

Participate: Digital Health 4.1.3

4.1.3 Digital Health

After gaining 15 pounds since the beginning of my graduate school online program, I realized that the long hours spent at my computer was having several detrimental effects on me.

1. My eyes were beginning to suffer from symptoms similar with "snow blindness".
2. My weight gain put me over the line with regards to BMI.
3. My inactivity was causing my feet to go numb.
4. My memory and focus began to degrade.
5. My heart started to have some stress-related problems.
6. My family/friends complained of my inattentiveness.
7. My back, neck, wrists, and head often suffered dull aches.
8. My productivity dropped as I experienced constant fatigue.
9. My outlook on life shifted toward the negative.
10. My online time increased as my productivity dropped.

Beginning in the summer, I started taking steps to address each of the problems, with varying degrees of success:

1. My eyes were beginning to suffer from symptoms similar with "snow blindness".

I purchased a pair of GammaRay glasses to wear while working on "white space" whil on the computer. White space is pretty much anything like word processing, reading digital books, or even working on this blog.  Here is a link to them: http://www.amazon.com/GR003-C1-Ergonomic-Protection-Resistant-53-16-140/dp/B00BQ7KBV4
The glasses helped, but I wish I had purchased some with a small amount of magnification!

2. My weight gain put me over the line with regards to BMI.
I stopped eating any gluten products and lost 10 pounds over 3 weeks.  I also increased my amount of exercise, which I will detail in the next "step."

3. My inactivity was causing my feet to go numb.
My son, who is an exercise physiology major, installed an app called, "Walking mate", that tracks my every step throughout the day.  My goal is 10,000 steps per day.  I meet my goal at least 3 days each week.
Walking Mate APP Google Play Store

I use a timer, and every hour I get up, go down 1 flight of stairs, drink 6 ounces of water, go down another flight of stairs, stretch, use the restroom, and climb back up two flights of stairs.  This takes 5 minutes- but it has helped me to meet my step goal and my water intake goal.  I end up back at the top floor- less breathless now than when I started this two weeks ago- and am ready to move forward on whatever task I am about.

4. My memory and focus began to degrade.
Vitamin supplements like Fish oil, CoQ10 and Ginko Biloba and SAM-E were suggested by my health practitioner, and I have added them to my daily regimen.  Increasing water intake has also helped.  Many teachers develop poor hydration habits due to the fact that restroom breaks are often 3 - 4 hours apart, and drinking water only causes more stress on the bladder.

5. My heart started to have some stress-related problems.
A mild heart attack in October made me reassess everything about my lifestyle, and I dropped some of my tutoring jobs as well as one of the clubs that I was helping to run.

6. My family/friends complained of my inattentiveness.
I beg them forgiveness and try to schedule time on the weekend, even if it is just a couple of hours.  I try to get active time together- that way I can work on my health issues while catching up in conversation.

7. My back, neck, wrists, and head often suffered dull aches.
I bought a wrist pad for the computer, an inversion chair, a back roller, and a massage chair!

8. My productivity dropped as I experienced constant fatigue.
I go to bed by 10 on weekdays and about 11 on weekends. Exercise and a healthier diet has been helping.  The snow days helped me to get well from a virus that lasted over 10 days.

9. My outlook on life shifted toward the negative.
My prayer group actively prays for me. I listen to motivational messages when I drive to work and when I drive home every day.  Prayer and meditation, on a regular basis, help to keep me centered and focused. Every time I start to think that I can't do it all, I remind myself to "just keep swimming" or to focus on positive thoughts and keep working.

10. My online time increased as my productivity dropped.
A vicious cycle has started, and the first 9 steps are fully implemented in my life to reverse this cycle.  It is helping.  I am glad to be taking some steps to get my health back!

Advice:
1. Plan time to work and time to rest and time to play.
2. Tell friends and relatives ahead of time when you take on a big life change such as a graduate program.
3. You will need to disconnect some.
4. Drop unecessary activities ahead of time- you will need twice as much time as you think you do, so make room is your schedule.
5. Start during the breaks between semesters- a head start means everything when you have technology snafus and other issues to contend with during class.
6. Exercise every hour during your seat-time.  (Do not skip this step!)
7. Drink every hour.
8. Eat healthy foods, and do not spend your recreation time online with Facebook or other social media-  you need a break from the sitting position.
9. Stretch often and remember to breathe.
10. Recreate by being active- try to combine social time with physical activities.

Best of luck to you!

Participate: Digital Safety and Security 4.1.2

4.1.2 Digital Safety and Security 

Digital safety is of the utmost importance as students could suffer from far reaching negative affects not limited to identity theft and cyber bullying.  Teachers must always remind students of cybersafety practices every time computers are used.  Here is a short reminder that can be used for one (or more) classes:

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=9412977&height=267&width=200

Here are some valuable digital resources to help ensure safety and security:
https://www.diigo.com/list/apeachyteach/Website+Evaluation+and+Safety/305gcdpxs

Participate: Digital Resources and Netiquette 3.1.2

3.1.2 Digital Resources and Netiquette

Sometimes it takes just a few helpful steps to be aware of and practice, "Netiquette:" Check out how to be "Respectful, Honorable and Responsible" online:  http://karisalomon.edu.glogster.com/netiquette-basics

Participate: Access to the Digital Community 3.1.1

3.1.1 Access to the Digital Community

Student access to digital learning can be stifled by not only the ability to access the world wide web using a computer or other device, it can be a discouraging experience for students without some basic knowledge of how to navigate the internet and use applications that are readily available- once online.

Currently, "free" access to the internet is available at libraries, coffee shops, restaurants, and internet cafe's. This access is provided as a service to customers who would normally be purchasing food and/or beverages from the establishment- or, in the case of the library, paid for by tax dollars.  All other access is costly, or is affiliated with a school or business that pays for the access.

In 2013, Mark Zuckerberg collaborated with several international partner businesses, such as Samsung, Ericcson, MediaTek, Nokia, Qualcomm, Opera Software, and of course, Facebook to back an initiative to make the world wide web accessible to all people in all nations.  This is a monumental undertaking, but will result in open access to education, business opportunities, social connections, religious activities, and medical assistance to people all over the world.  Although there are other initiatives, this one is the biggest and has the most powerful backers- who, one would assume, look to gain profit by selling their devices to billions of new customers, albeit at a much lower cost.

Another impediment to accessibility is the lack of understanding of technology and the internet by millions of people in the U.S. alone.  Brick and mortar schools, libraries, and other institutions need to expand the understanding of web 2.0 not only to their students, but to the families of those students.  Community schools and after school sessions could literally liberate hundreds of parents and students at each school location.

While many locations offer a class or two, what is really needed is for each location to offer series of classes in a rotation such that parents can start at any time to learn the basics.  Also- schools could allow after-hours use of their technology to families who don't have access.  This could be done with volunteers as a community service throughout the school year.

Participate: Collecting Digital Resources 2.1.1

2.1.1 Collecting Digital Resources

http://stemtosteam.blogspot.com/

Unfortunately, there are many negative repercussions for those who access the world wide web without a sufficient level of digital literacy.  Every day millions of Americans access the internet uneducated and unaware of the many pitfalls that could await them.  This is where some valuable lessons in Digital Citizenship  and Digital Literacy would be extremely valuable.
For several hours today, I have explored the world wide web in search of useful websites and tools that can be used to educate students in order to help them become digitally literate and savvy. It was a roundabout journey through pages and pages of websites- some were promising at first, and then failed miserable or turned into a “for profit venture”, complete with signup and annual subscription rates.  The ones I will discuss are free- with only advertising to support them, so feel free to “notice” or click on an add or two. Below is a link to my diigo account where the best of these resources are posted:
 https://www.diigo.com/list/apeachyteach/Website+Evaluation+and+Safety/305gcdpxs
As I locate more resources, the information on the link will be updated as well, so check back.  Meanwhile, enjoy the “jewels” that I have found on my journey! Together, we will explore some of the best of the sites and their features. 
Probably the most comprehensive resource for teaching digital literacy was the CommonSenseMedia page: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/scope-and-sequence
Here is a short video that shows some of the topics and the organized layout of the page:

All of their lessons were downloadable and free.  The lessons are also organized by topic and age appropriateness.  Some of them included excellent videos of how the class could be taught, as in the case with http://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/lesson-in-action-private-today-public-tomorrow .  This is from their professional development section. 

Here is a screen shot from their professional development page:

One of the best finds of the day was an article by Edudemic.com titled, “How To Tackle Digital Citizenship During the First 5 days of School.”  This website advocates a 5 day process that makes quite a bit of sense to me.  Here’s the gist of it, plus 2 days that I’ve added with resources to support the discussion: http://www.edudemic.com/first-five-days-of-digital-citizenship-at-your-school/

Day 1- DO it Yourself- Create an “Acceptable Use Policy WITH your students- Give them a voice (Ownership)

Day 2- Discuss “Online Privacy”

Day 3- Discuss Personal Identity- and what that means as far as their personal brand and reputation

Day 4- Digital communication

Day 5- Digital Etiquette

Day 6- Digital Information- Evaluate it

Day 7- Digital footprint- tread lightly!

Or course, this would have to be implemented on a school-wide basis to have the greatest impact. 

Every lesson aimed at making children more Digitally Literate and better Digital Citizens helps to protect them.  Teaching internet users to be exemplary Digital Citizens isn’t the responsibility of “somebody”, it is the responsibility of “everybody”.

Participate: Imagining the "IDEAL" digital Learning Community Quest: Second Life TOOL MOOC Forum 1.1.3

1.1.3 IDEAL digital Learning Community Quest: Second Life

http://stemtosteam.blogspot.com/

When imagining an ideal digital learning community, I can’t help but recall some of my former experiences with learning in an immersive digital environment called Second Life.  In my imaginings, the screen is partitioned into 4 sectors:  the main sector for the immediate coursework or immersive experience, and the other three sectors for accessing resources/taking tests, creating content, and interaction with collaborators.  This ideal digital learning community would be extremely low cost, housed in the cloud, and would require very little hardware muscle on the part of the user or participant.

 By teaching and learning in an immersive environment, learners are able to gain information and experience in a way that is comparable or perhaps better than that gained via podcasts, presentations, blogs, or videos.  This experience becomes personal- as does the learning.  All a student would need to gain access is a device that is capable of streaming online content and sending email.  This would take care of all the interactivity demands of participating in this type of DLC.  The technology base would be adapted to compensate for all levels of connectivity.

As described quite succinctly in the article by InformationWeek on Feb 5^th, 2014, Second Life has many issues that worked against its widespread acceptance and use.  Cost and connectivity were two categories of those issues.  The biggest issue to me as a K-12 educator is the safety of my students on such a learning platform.  Digital Citizenship needs to be stressed on any online community.  For further reading, here is a link to InformationWeek article on New Virtual world: http://www.informationweek.com/software/social/second-life-founder-pursues-second-chance/d/d-id/1113670   You may be interested in the first few comments posted on 2/4 and the first comment on 2/5. (These are what I have read at the time of this blog posting.)

There is no substitute for a real life experience such as traveling to volcanoes to study them, but virtual immersion has the potential to fill the gap.  Many applications for immersive technologies are utilized in the US military, medicine, and with commercial aircraft developers.  How wonderful would it be for a K-12 or College or Graduate student to benefit from such an immersive experience.  (There are entire universities located on Second Life.)

Although impossible to replicate the immersive experience via video- here are a few clips from YouTube that show the reader how Second Life works:  (I have included the time required for your convenience)

Breaking the Barriers of Online Education (5 minutes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElBXqt9N6l0

Learning in Second Life Part 1: Breaking the Second Life Learning Curve (4 minutes) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88Dn0STScWk

Title: Social Learning Theoryin Second Life part 1 (10 minutes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PAo_TEBeMM

I, for one, am hoping that the Second Chance for Second Life will result in many accessibility improvements and safety features so that K-12 education may fully benefit.

Participate: Joining a reputable DLC- Digital Learning Community- TOOL MOOC Forum Heading 1.1.2

1.1.2       Join a reputable DLC- Digital Learning Community

Perhaps the best way to find a a DLC is through word of mouth.  Last summer, at the DEN (Discovery Educator Network) workshop in North Fulton County, a good friend of mine, and fellow "classroom flipper", suggested that I attend EdCamp Atlanta with her.  Upon reflection, it was the same friend who invited me to join her at the DEN workshop!

Once you join one DLC, you will have the opportunity within that DLC to learn about and explore other DLC's.  I now belong to EDMODO and at least 3 DLC groups within that community as well as EdCamp Atlanta, Discovery Educator's Network, Flipped Learning Network, as well as the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association), which has a phenomenal catalogue of free resources for members as well as non members.  (NSTA also has an active listserve where community members request and receive support in a variety of teaching areas, according to major subject taught.  I follow the Earth Science, Chemistry, and Physical Science listservs to stay current on new developments and to be able to share my resources with new teachers. Advice: start somewhere and keep looking until you feel that you are well connected and not overly cluttered.  

EDMODO.com has been surprisingly resourceful to me as a teacher in search of innovative uses for technology and digital learning in the classroom.  Through them, I became aware of (and now use) the following resources: educanon.com (annotate youtube videos and ask questions of your students during the video), read.activelylearn.com (teachers can select web-based articles for students to read and insert questions that are based on the common core for reading/writing that students must answer before proceeding- the piece de la resistance is that students who complete the article can see each other's answers.), and  mind-mapping programs such as bubble.us that students can use to graphically organize their thoughts. What I like most about EDMODO is that I am able to monitor and teach my students to practice good digital citizenship as I teach them Earth Science content.  It is a win-win situation, and I highly recommend this DLC.  Others like it are available, for example, Schoology.com.  I chose EDMODO.com for the interactive features and the ability of students to work collaboratively, after demonstrating exemplary digital citizenship.  If a student is not exemplary in their online communication, I "put them in time out" by removing them from the group for a couple of days.  I then send them an email with the evidence pasted in it and explain their consequences.  This works.  Students don't want to miss out on what is going on!

A new DLC that I have joined is KhanAcademy.org.  This is a tremendous resource and is extremely well organized.  I signed up as a teacher and have spend several hours exploring the contents, reviewing lessons, evaluating comments left by users, and taking some of the assessments.  So far, this has been a great experience.  I would like to hear from other teachers about the effectiveness of using this as a classroom resource by registering your students.  (Do they get direct mail from KhanAcademy or its affilates?)

The challenge of getting students to join a DLC can be met in several ways, but the three methods that I have used seem to be most effective for my students.

First- Post an assignment for them to complete or an article for them to read and interpret by leaving comments. This technique captured 98% of my students.  The other 2%  (total of 4) needed time at school to complete these tasks due to connectivity issues at home or overbooked extracurricular schedules.

Second- Post exemplary student work for commentary by their peers and relate some of your posts to topics that your students love (This year it is a tie between Sherlock and Doctor Who). (Lol- got you, too!) Remember to always get permission via email before posting student work.  The sharing of exemplary work and references to trends they follow not only engages student interest, but it promotes higher achievement across all levels of mastery.

Third- Form small online groups within your classes and let them use google docs or the DLC (if service is available) to collaborate on projects.  Post the finished project on the DLC for critical review and commentary by peers.  (One example of how I have done this is by screen-casting 4 students working on the same Venn Diagram.  From beginning to end, it took 45 minutes, and the end product was worthy of "study guide status".  The activity was engaging and showed other students how to work collaboratively on a google document.)

The bottom line is this:  Start somewhere.  Get excited about the DLC, your excitement and engagement will transfer to your students.  Try EDMODO or other online community that you can use to model and monitor digital citizenship with your students.

Participate: Digital Citizenship in 3 easy steps: TOOL MOOC Forum 1.1.1

1.1.1     Digital Citizenship

Information abounds on the topic of digital citizenship and there are many avenues and side streets to consider.  One of the best resources that I have found that not only simplifies the meaning of digital citizenship is:  http://digitalcitizenship.net/Home_Page.html.   The author, Mike Ribble, employs the art of keeping it simple with the skill of defining digital citizenship in the following, streamlined way: "Digital Citizenship is the norms of appropriate, responsible technology use."

The current concept of Digital Citizenship seems to have three overarching themes: Respect, Educate, and Protect.

The "Respect" theme brings to importance the imperative that the technology use practices self respect as well respect for others.  This includes the use of proper etiquette (such as not using all caps), making the use of technology universally accessible, and obeying the law (no intellectual theft, plagiarism, illegal downloads, creating viruses, etc.) A user practicing exemplary digital citizenship skills uses proper etiquette at all times, contributes towards making the internet and digital tools accessible to everyone, and follows all laws that govern internet and digital technology use.

The "Educate" theme shows the importance of teaching discretion in choosing ways to communicate, making sure that students are literate in the use of digital media, and how to be effective consumers using the internet. A user practicing exemplary digital citizenship communicates using the most appropriate tool, takes steps to ensure that they and their students are literate in the use of digital media, and actively practices discretion and good judgement as an online consumer.

Finally, the "Protect" theme ushers in the awareness and importance of protecting the right of all people to access the internet, the importance of developing habits that ensure personal safety online, and the awareness of potential problems to health and welfare such as the unhealthy development of digital addictions. A user practicing exemplary digital citizenship protects the rights of all people to use access and use the internet, takes steps to ensure the safety of all users by practicing and teaching safe conduct habits, and is watchful for signs of the development of unhealthy side effects of technology use.

For teacher and students alike, K.I.S.S., (Keep It Simple Sweetheart), is a well received philosophy.  In our current technology enriched milieu, definitions and distinctions can become overwhelming.  Mike uses an acronym, "R.E.P.", which stands for Respect, Educate, Protect, to organize the main branches of the digital citizenship tree in a way that is easy for teachers to present.  His method is to teach on one rung of each section before moving to the second rung.  For instance R-1, E-1, P-1 then R-2, E-2, P-2...  This is a system of organization that is very familiar to teachers, which will result in easier adoption and more widespread understanding of "Digital Citizenship".  An enhanced excerpt:

Respect yourself/Respect others
R1-etiquette
R2-access
R3-law

Educate yourself/Connect with others
E1-communication
E2-Literacy
E3-commerce

Protect yourself/Protect others
P1-rights and responsibilities
P2-Safety/Security
P3-Health and Welfare

So, to follow his strategy, the first lessons would include etiquette, and communication, followed by rights and responsibilities.

For Mike's complete description of the 9 Themes of Digital Citizenship, please go to his website here: http://digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html

Why is it important to keep it simple?  If we don't keep it simple, "it" will be lost, ignored, or misunderstood.  When a teacher is responsible for the behavior of 30 or more students in a computer lab and must also ensure that equipment stays safe and students apply the standards of digital citizenship, he or she can be easily overwhelmed.  Note the damaged monitor in the photo below:

This happened on accident in one classroom in the blink of an eye!  Of course, the instructor was on the other side of the classroom at the time of the incident helping another student with accessibility issues. Thankfully, this was the only damage that happened during the unit of study.  Other damages could have been worse, for instance, a student could have unknowingly given out their personal information or accessed pornographic content while the teacher wasn't looking.

In short, teach Digital Citizenship.  Keep it simple, sweetheart.  Take a gander at Mike Ribble's page: http://digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html