Nuts and Bolts Agatha Beins Texas Woman’s University

Nuts and Bolts Background Information I teach “Feminist / Womanist Theories” online Graduate-class, required for M.A. students in Women’s Studies

Nuts and Bolts Background Information I teach “Feminist / Womanist Theories” online Graduate-class, required for M.A. students in Women’s Studies Main foci of the presentation Access / Engagement Building a Learning Community

Access and Engagement

Design Matters Course Home Page Access/Engagement

Course Home Page Agatha’s Feminist / Womanist Theories class Main Menu: Students should be able to access all parts of the course through this tool bar. What information do you want to be visible on the home page?

Design Matters Course Home Page Organization Access/Engagement

Course Home Page Main Menu

Design Matters Course Home Page Organization Consistency / Diversity Access/Engagement

DeadlineActivity Monday, 11:59 p.m.Discussion prompt Tuesday, 11:59 p.m.Two 200-word comments in response to different prompts Wednesday, 11:59 p.m.A 200-word minimum summary of the main ideas brought up in the discussion thus far Thursday, 11:59 p.m.An additional 200- word comment responding to a third prompt (if possible) and two word replies to your peers’ or my comments. Consistency Sample schedule for a week’s discussion board comments Consistency sets up a framework that guides student contributions (a scaffold) and also offers predictability for you as the instructor. However, too much consistency can lead to scripts: students can just “fill in the blanks” without thinking deeply about the content. Too much diversity, however, can lead to confusion— when each week brings different set of activities and due dates it’s difficult to keep track of it all (for students and for the instructor).

DeadlineActivity Monday, 11:59 p.m.Discussion prompt Tuesday, 11:59 p.m.Two 200-word comments in response to different prompts Wednesday, 11:59 p.m.A 200-word minimum summary of the main ideas brought up in the discussion thus far Thursday, 11:59 p.m.An additional 200- word comment responding to a third prompt (if possible) and two word replies to your peers’ or my comments. Consistency Diversity Instructor-generated prompt Individual student – generated prompt Small group – generated prompt Sample schedule for a week’s discussion board comments

Design Matters Course Home Page Organization Consistency / Diversity Assignment Completion Access/Engagement

Week 14 Agenda (April 14 – 21) Monday, April 14, 11:59 p.m. Google Hangout pre-hangout activity (submit a discussion question via Turnitin) Discussion prompts posted by Agatha Tuesday, April 15, 11:59 p.m. First comment set (two 200-word comments posted to the different threads in the class discussion board) Reading Response (submit to Turnitin) Wednesday, April 16, 11:59 p.m. Discussion summary (class discussion board) (each student acts as “summarizer” once during the semester) Thursday, April 17, 11:59 p.m. Second comment set (one additional 200-word comment and two 50-word responses to your peer’s comments in the class discussion board) Sunday, April 20, 11:59 p.m. Complete the Google Hangout Monday, April 21, 11:59 p.m. Google Hangout Reflection and Evaluation form, along with your group summary (submit via Turnitin through the in the Google Hangout Activities link in our Bb course menu)

Design Matters Course Home Page Organization Consistency / Diversity Assignment Completion Flexibility / Inflexibility Access/Engagement

Design Matters Course Home Page Organization Consistency / Diversity Assignment Completion Flexibility / Inflexibility Time Commitment Access/Engagement

Creating a Learning Community

Student Introductions Access/Engagement

Student Introductions What first impression do you want to create? What do you want students to share about themselves? What do you want students to learn about each other? Public introductions – to the whole class Additional information – to the instructor

Student Introductions - Activity Find an image that reflects some facet of your personality, interests, and/or life experiences but that is not a photo or image of you. Then create a blog entry in which you explain the meaning and/or significance of the image. Instructions Add your introduction – Due Friday, January 17 at 11:59 p.m. 1.Select “Add Entry.” 2.Title the entry with the name you prefer to be called. 3.Use the icon (image of a tree) at the top of the text box to insert your image (after selecting this icon, select the box to the right of “Image URL” to browse your computer for images. You can also upload an image via its URL. 4.Below the image, write a paragraph or two explaining the significance of the image. 5.Select “Save and Exit” to save your entry. 6.Comment on at least two of your peers' introductions by Monday, January 21, 11:59 p.m.

Screen shot of a student’s introduction

Student Introductions Student-Student Interactions Access/Engagement

Student Introductions Student-Student Interactions Modeling Behavior Access/Engagement

Student Introductions Student-Student Interactions Modeling Behavior Personal Experience / Real World connections Access/Engagement

Access – Engagement – Creating Community If students can’t, don’t, or don’t know how to access parts of the course, then they lose possibilities to engage with course content, with you, and with each other. And without engagement, it becomes difficult to build a learning community.