Syllabus 2004 San Francisco1 Personal Information Technologies Stuart J. Glogoff, Adjunct Professor School of Information Resources and Library Science, University of Arizona Instructional Models for Using Weblogs In E-Learning: A Case Study From a Virtual and Hybrid Course

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco 2 Presentation Overview Blogging at the University of Arizona Blogging and instructional techniques for e-learning Virtual experience (Glogoff) Hybrid experience (Betts)

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4 Instructional Techniques for E-learning Ruth Colvin-Clark and Richard E. Mayer identified three instructional techniques for e-learning in their 2003 book e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning 1. Receptive: information acquisition 2. Directive: response strengthening 3. Guided Discovery: knowledge construction

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco 5 IRLS613 Decision Making for Information Professionals Goal: students develop an understanding of technology in order to make informed decisions related to the purchase or use of information systems Taught virtually summer 2003 (and again this summer) ~ thirty students dispersed across the North America Students also used a course management system, chat room, threaded discussion forum, Web, online surveys

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco 6 Technology News Blog Students made direct observations re: what they learned about technology Provided summaries of articles along with links to the full articles, and posted whatever seemed relevant to their discipline or personal interests Instructor and students provided feedback via the comments feature

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco 7 IRLS613 Intended for postings that could be helpful to students about using the course's different systems and resources Evolved into a blog where students posted entries about topics of interest to them An example of a virtual community in practice? Changed from my initial purpose -- came from the students

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco 8 Survey Results -- Question 1 The Web logs in this course were the first Web logs I have ever used. True 20 (95.24%) False 1 (4.76%)

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco 9 Survey Results -- Question 2 The Technology News Web log was a good way for me to learn more about technology. True 19 (90.48%) False 2 (9.52%)

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco 10 Survey Results -- Question 3 I would like to continue using the Technology News Web log. True 16 (76.19%) False 5 (23.81%)

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco 11 Survey Results -- Question 4 Since the course started, I joined at least one other Web log. True 6 (28.57%) False 15 (71.43%)

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco 12 Survey Results -- Question 5 I plan to join at least one Web log in the next 6 months. True 14 (70.00%) False 6 (30.00%)

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco 13 Survey Results – Open Comment What I liked most about using the Web logs were...  Learning more about what was going on in the technology industry.  I liked reading about things I never even knew existed. I enjoyed doing the research to find things to post about. I didn't like that comments to the posts were few and far between. None of my posts were ever commented on, which was a little disappointing.  It was new and interesting and cutting edge. I didn't know of them before this course.  The sense of community directed to a specific topic.

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco 14 My Observations Student participation was far below what I had anticipated or expected I was disappointed compared to previous hybrid experience; too many lurked

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco 15 My Observations Community takes much longer to form in online teaching than in face-to-face context. In online it is much easier to be exclusive and allow non-participants to lurk at the edges without active community involvement. Terry Anderson A Second Look at Learning Sciences, classrooms, and Technology: Issues of Implementation: Making It Work in the Real World Learner-Centered Theory and Practice in Distance Education: Cases From Higher Education edited by Thomas M. Duffy and Jamie R. Kirkley, 2004

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco Course Again virtual ~ thirty students Initial course survey revealed that most students have not used a blog. Several who were in a different class last fall semester were asked to keep a blog about their class experience by the professor. Only one reported using it to any extent. Others commented that they may have used it once but had no comments or were “too busy” to use it Each given a blog and each course module has blog assignments and required to comment on other blogs

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco Course Receptive: information acquisition Go to InfoWorld's Special Report: Disruptive Technologies from January Read a number of the articles in this report and on your blog write about a way you might employ a technology at a library that provides a new service that has a "disruptive impact."

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco Course Directive: response strengthening Blog assignment: If you have taken the Myers-Briggs in the past year or two, write about the results. I want you to reflect (and write) about how your personal styles has an impact on how you learn, process information, and interact with your professors and fellow students in an online environment. If you've not taken the Myers-Briggs or an equivalent, or if you just don't have the results handy, you can take the HUMANMETRICs Jung Typology Test. My comment to one entry: The assignment includes this statement "reflect (and write) about how your personal styles has an impact on how you learn, process information, and interact with your professors and fellow students in an online environment.“ Please revisit this post and address the assignment. If you want to see an example of what I expect, read what [student name] posted.

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco Course Guided Discovery: knowledge construction Blog assignment: Place yourself in a library or other organization where you play a major role in creating, managing and delivering information. Discuss the different types of content that your organization has been developing over the past five years and how you would bring order to it.

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco Course I am maintaining a blog called IRLS613 where I post answers to student questions, clarifications of teaching points, or information that I find relevant to the course Students are reading entries and commenting Have set ground rules for the blogs – e.g., blogs are not for personal use; I reserve the right to edit or delete any entries that are not written in a professional and courteous manner

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco 21 Closing Comments A key reason why blogs are so popular is that they enable people who have no Web publishing experience to publish to the Web Relatively easy technology: eighth graders in Alaska took to it quickly Affords students the opportunity to have their own place in virtual space Requiring students to read other students’ entries and make meaningful comments promotes peer review

Syllabus 2004 San Francisco 22 Course & Contact Information thales.ltc.arizona.edu/irls613