Happy Birthday, Twitter!

I'll be the first to admit that I struggled with Twitter. I am a person that picks picks picks apart a technology until I feel that I understand, if not it's buttons and icons and features and hidden tools, then at least - at the very least - it's purpose. What is affordance? How will it help us learn, think, connect, serve, become, undertand, share, create, facilitate? What does it DO?

Twitter was released three years ago today as a 140 character (or less) micro-blogging site. At least that's what others said. Twitter simply said "Tell us what you're doing right now." So, people shared Zen-like bits of minutia. This threw off my hunt for meaning. Micro-blogging would be sharing your ideas, positions, passions in 140 characters or less. It's not having your readers stroll through endless posts on what you're watching, eating, seeing out the window. And yet, that's how people were using Twitter. Because Twitter asked "What are you doing?"

Now, people stay in touch - with friends, colleagues, heroes, wonderful characters, minor celebrities - at the most intimate of details regarding what they eat and do. In 140 characters or less. Maybe it creates community in the old, lost neighborhood sense regarding knowing people on the level of the mundane.

Still, the people who claimed it was a micro-blogging venue are correct, too. Depending who you follow, you find rich posts, deep linking, breaking news. If you're one of the 'need to be plugged in' addicts, Twitter is a killer app. News by the second. Follow enough newsy tweets and your head spins faster than watching CNN ticker feeds while eating and reading the newspaper.

So I still don't know what Twitter's singular affordance might be, but using it to create streaming information across a 'mutual following' community is a great way to gather and share the fleeting, even though atemporal, moment. I think we may find multiple shared thought uses, for academic courses and community, if we think deeply over time. Meanwhile, let me know if you need ideas on how you might use Twitter to reach students, prospective studens, faculty ...or worse. (I'm thinking hashtags and search.twitter.com ?)

Happy birthday, Twitter. Wish I could invite all my lovely Twitter friends to your virtual birthday party!

Blackboard and Assessment Redux

I'm guessing that readers interested in more diverse topics than Blackboard testing options will begin to wonder why I fixate on this topic when so very much is to be explored in the new, digital landscape of e-learning. I often wonder the same, but I go where the questions gather. ASU recently implemented the Respondus LockDown Browser for Blackboard and questions are pouring into my mail and phone. Informal summary on usage: "Huh?"

RLB is not intuitive. It's a pain for instructors, first as they figure it out on their side, and then explaining RLB to their students. Plus, no one in the UTO is supporting instruction anymore AND the software is based on fear and distrust of cheating/ sharing/ copying. This is never a good starting point for a conversation with our digital natives. Thanks to Google and Apple, learners expect the technology to work and they believe the Internet is the left (and more reliable) side of their brain. They do not understand, like, or agree with ASU use of RLB. But RLB is a good tool in the right usage. Remind students that it's not about them, but the other guy. (The cheater who hands out answers at the frat party and throws off the curve). Thus, a bit of a difficulty with startup and understanding affordance shouldn't stop us from using it. Let's all simmer down and give it a try. So this post, hopefully the last one on BB tools for awhile, is a quick "RLB made easy."

Here's the skinny on the instructor side:

• It must be enabled for the course first. (Control Panel/Manage tools/Building Block tool Availability/check RLB)
• It must also be enabled for each deployed exam (Control Panel/Respondus LockDown Browser under the Course Tools menu)

Then, for the poor, suffering student, each must be able to:

• Find the ASU site that has the LDB installer for our BB
• Install on computer (Windows and Mac10.3.9 only)
• Exit all Internet applications
• Run RLB, login to BB, take the test, close out RLB

A lot of technical potholes to ensure academic integrity, but there it is. Here's the official, but difficult to find, word from ASU's University Technology Office.

Tinkering, Teaching, Mentoring

Those who know me can easily trace my understanding of learning and meaningful knowledge creation to the works of John Seely Brown. Knowing as being, knowing as doing, and learning as the act of becoming expert in that space where your interest and passion resides.


JSB taught me, from a distance and after a lifetime of my own face-forward education, about the social and public nature of learning and about the value of creativity, innovation and criticism/critique in learning from others and with others. I won't even start on his influence on my dissertation related to shared and distributed knowledge. We stand on the shoulders of giants. What I love most about JSB is that he's one of the USA's most innovative technology creators (previously Chief Scientist of Xerox Corporation and the director of its Palo Alto Research Center), and his focus is never about the technology. My kind of expert! Here's his latest exploration. An interesting thought piece on the value of tinkering and the public and community approach to learning and doing and being and becoming for the next generation of knowledge leaders. If you haven't heard JSB before, you're in for a treat.

I so love the bling of bright, shiny e-objects

Everyone has an addiction, attraction, can't-do-without object. Chocolate, TV, sailing, cheeseburgers, new movies, old books. Pick your poison, name the habit that compels you. I'll go first and confess that mine is software, especially new ones in the social media variety. It is such an exciting time to be curious about the capabilities and mind-boggling affordances of new applications of the Web and more specifically, Web 2.0 tools. 

If you haven't surfed out much deeper than FaceBook, you're missing the wave.  My favorite wonder tools include screen capture with Jing  and I can't live without Google Scholar (help, I've fallen here in academic, peer reviewed resources and I can't get up!). Indeed, I am attracted like moth to a flame to most things Google. While I'm on the topic  a few horrid  Googly exceptions include the failed ASU-backed virtual world Lively (was not!) and the anti-Wikipedia pothole called Knol (I won't even link to it. Don't go there. Go to Wikipedia, and make what we collectively know better, more, stronger.)

Yes, I love bright shiny objects of the Web. I could list 100 that collectively keep me up burning midnight electricity, but why list mine when Jane Hart does such a great job of listing, describing, and more importantly ranking based on the votes of people just like me. Well, not exactly like me. Jane's crowd is much more diverse so Google Scholar comes in at #42 this last year. Take a look at the list, and if you're not familiar with anything in the top 50, you're missing out on learning, finding, sharing, organizing, and shaping knowledge. Start exploring and I promise, you'll soon find the tool that's just the right fit for a need you've had forever. Plus, it will keep you away from the chocolate, TV and other distractions on your list.

Jane's List of 100 learning tools, one more time.

Digital Writing Support Tools

Major Resources Found on this Post:

• ASU Library resources for online/digital scholarship


• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) tools


• RefWorks at ASU


• Rubistar: Creating and sharing rubrics


• Rutger's: Plagiarism made simple (and fun)


• Creating a BlackBoard assignment (visual)

Tools to help students
One aspect of technology where higher education has worked collaboratively and created a strong community of practice is in the area of student writing.

Software, sites and shared ideas are available to all student seeking to improve their writing and to the instructor that is looking for materials to help with specific aspects of student work.


Beginning locally, the ASU Library has a site with resources for online students. Their tutorials section has an extensive set of short, easy to understand guides into beginning a research paper or project.
Starting earlier in the process, the Purdue Online Writing Lab offers an open set of resources for instructors and students. Instructors wishing to help a student with a particular problem (outlines, brainstorming, the meaning of a paragraph, grammar, academic writing, APA...) will find help, language and examples on the OWL site.
An important part of scholarly work is being able to synthesize readings and research, and instructors can incorporate the use of RefWorks by reviewing a student's annotated citations before allowing them to begin writing. You will find the RefShare Web function of RefWorks an excellent way of sharing resources. Colleen has a public example online, and Yale Medical School has a nice tutorial on uses of RefShare.

Techniques in online pedagogy
For faculty teaching online or in reduced seat time (hybrid) formats, a number of best practices can be considered in creating a learner-supportive environment:

• set clear standards and expectation.


• A rubric sets objective standards that allow the learner to critique their work before submission. Rubistar provides free tools and support for creating effective rubrics, as well as providing a site for sharing by assignment category. Here's one for a persuasive essay.


• Provide an overview set of resources on scholarly writing, plagiarism, and standards for the discipline before assigning writing projects. Students often don't associate certain writing practices with "plagiarism". Rutgers University has an excellent, informal, light-hearted review of plagiarism and what it means to be an intellectually honest college student.


• Consider making writing more public via posting writing assignments in the Blackboard discussion board so that students can see other posts, comments, critiques.


• Posting work in a public Blog e-portfolio also assists in helping the student to take more ownership of the work and in having them see themselves as public writers.


• Provide a framework for student critique and revision. GoogleDocs at MyASU might be a great tool for both collaborative writing and peer review assignments.


• Be very specific in addressing the student's weakest writing point. OWL is a very good site for breaking these down and offering aids to improve that issue.

One simple practice for Instructors...
If you're still using the Blackboard Drop Box, stop! Create a BB assignment. It allows you to assign comments in the gradebook, where students focus much more of their attention than red markings on a paper. Tom Angelo (Classroom Assessment Techniques) often reminds us that red marks on paper aren't as effective as summarizing improvement needs. All your hard work can be lost if you don't reach the student where they are.

Not every student can be a great writer, but every student can be taught to be a better, clearer, more scholarly writer.

Screen Capture Tool - with Audio

Many instructors want to use new social tools and media, but worry that their students will struggle with accounts, features, understanding and options when faced with learning a new technology. Now, there's Jing, a free screen capture tool that allows you to shape and capture either a simple PNG screen shot, or an animated audio narration saved in SWF format. Very simple, straightforward and fast to produce visual examples and step-by-step instructions.

Jing Pro ($14.95 a year) allows you to capture as MPG4 and to upload straight to YouTube. It also strips all Jing branding from your material. Free can't be beat, and Jing Pro is worth the very small cost if you'll be doing a lot of documentation and want to make the most of it. Uploading to YouTube is helpful, as you will need to determine where to store your images and video if producing SWF videos with the freeware version. I put them up on my Website, but it is a few more steps. See my quick, easy video on sharing RefWorks folders.

Another BlackBoard Post: Assessment

The main reason so many learning designers embrace the new social media options out on the Web is they work well. They're easy to use, intuitive, collaborative, engaging...all the things we would want from e-learning tools. All the things we don't have in our current course management tools.

Anyone familiar with BlackBoard (and most of the other CMS/LMS still out there) deeply knows the love/hate emotions felt in daily use. Klunky, slow, hard to customize, with deep engagement tools hidden under ugly default skins and too-many-clicks. OK, let's accept that and move on, talking only about affordance and value. And today, let's talk about assessment. 
Online testing is an option that can change the way our students look at testing. But only if the instructor is open to that shift. BlackBoard provides the options for:
- allowing multiple attempts
- choosing to record the highest, last, first, or average score from attempts
- provide feedback on each wrong answer
- randomize questions
- and more.
The instructor has so many options now on creating not just simple assessments, but 'mastery learning experiences' for the student. By letting the student take the test multiple times, we're encouraging them to rethink material they didn't understand, and creating a support environment (rather than judgement)for their learning.

Sadly, many instructors miss the opportunity to make assessment part of the learning because creating tests in BlackBoard is NOT intuitive. So let's walk through a few simple, semi-hidden choices.

Tests are created in test manager within the Control Panel. BlackBoard has a decent help file on options and actions here (under Assessment).

Less Basic: You can also create a large pool of possible questions, used across tests or courses, and import them into your test. Pool questions have no point value on creation and are assigned points when added to your test.

Before creating the questions, do take a look at the 15+ types of questions that Blackboard supports (described under assessment home page). All questions are self-grading, except the essay question. For this question, students will receive a message after submission that their exam needs grading.

Details:
You've created a test. It's ready to go. Go where? Ah, that was never clear, was it? We deploy a test in a very different way than we created the test.

Deploying a test:
Pick the area where the students will go to take the test. You can put an announcement up that test is available, but you still need to choose where. You can link from the announcement, but link to where? Many instructors create a folder in Course Documents, Assignments or even off the root navigation menu. Wherever you decide, go to that area, and in Edit View, click on Test.

From this view, a list of your undeployed tests will appear, and choose the one you wish to deploy. You now make choices from all the deployment options by clicking on Modify Test Options. This is where you choose from Multiple attempts, amount of time allowed, dates/times available, randomizing questions (not different questions, just order of questions), etc. Go down the page, and answer each question/click box according to your choices.

Some practical advice on deployment:
- Don't choose 'Force Completion'. It often causes the test to freeze on a student, doesn't allow them back in, etc. Setting time allowed will provide similar control, without the bugs.
- Setting Presentation Mode for questions "One at a Time" makes it VERY hard for students to pace themselves. Do consider this in selecting. Submit, and the test will be available in the area designated, for the times you've chosen.

More options: Only in the latest version has BlackBoard allowed instructors to set grade for highest/lowest/first/average attempt. Earlier, only the last attempt was stored. To allow students to earn their highest score (thus encouraging them to try again, instead of 'holding' at 9 out of 10), you have to go yet another place.
Open the grade center, go to the column for the deployed test. IF you set test for multiple attempts allowed, a new option will appear under Column Information. This is a pull-down box for "Score attempts using". Here is the hidden set of choices for allowing highest/average/first attempt. Hidden, but valuable teaching tool.

Grading/Viewing: In the gradebook, a pencil mark will appear for each learner/completed submission. Rest your cursor on the exclamation mark, and a 'grade details' option appears. Click on that. Another page appears, which allows you to 'View Attempt'. If you have an essay question to grade, or want to give feedback to the student, this is where you would do that.

Close your books: One other option available at ASU is the Respondus LockDown Browser. For instructors asking for a way to ensure that students don't go to the Web or other resources to look up answers during the exam, here's a way to 'lock' them into the test window until they've submitted. This also prevents them from copying/pasting the test and sharing with another student. Enable this from the Control Panel on any deployed test.

So many choices. So many options to design an exam that:
- helps the student learn
- makes it easy for you to grade
- makes it easy for you to give feedback (auto and personal)
- ensures that tests aren't copied or shared

Let me know if you have questions, ideas or comments on use of online tests for even better learning and teaching!