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INCREASING INTERACTION IN
ONLINE COURSESReva Narasimhan
Kean University, NJ
Overview
Context Overview of online course setup Challenges of teaching math online Meeting spaces Tools for interaction Questions
Context Institution : Kean University – regional
university; students have modest math preparation
Online courses : Math for Liberal Arts and Introductory Statistics
Students are used to doing problems from text; articulating math concepts is not easy for students
Screening students
Students are told before registration about the nature of the course
They must be approved by me before registration
Most students who are self acknowledged “math-phobes” email me back to say they do not wish to register for online sections
The Evolving Online Course Early stages: static online textbook;
formulaic homework problems; a CMS that was essentially a bulletin board
Each week :Read textDo online homework problem setEmail prof with any questions
And then…
Add video clips Interactive Applets Discussion forums
Hurdles in the past
In the distant technological past (about 5 years ago):Real time video technology not so readily
availableStudents had limited broadband access
Asynchronous delivery
Difficult to see students’ progress except with online homework and emails from students
Many students tend not to make use of all resources available; only work on items that are graded
Screenshots
Screenshot – Videos
Challenges
Facilitating conceptual understanding online
Lack of facial cues in online learning Math problem solving and online
homework tend to be isolating
Tools for interaction: Facebook group page
Online Meeting Spaces
Elluminate, vyew.com, WizIQ Real time discussion Can become “death by PowerPoint” Interaction is key
Tools for Interaction: Backchannelling
Use the text window in an online meeting space to participate
Very successful – simultaneous participation; peer help
Tools for interaction: Polls Allow you to quickly ascertain whether
students are following along Also successful – kept students focused
on material and they liked the participation
Tools for Interaction: explore applets
During online meetings, post link and ask students to explore online applets and demos; then ask them to post their observations
Or have a poll reviewing the concepts/ideas you expected them to become aware of
Be a participant
Attend webinars of different typesSit through a prerecorded webinarParticipate in a real time webinar with some
interaction
Even a modest amount of interaction seems to make a difference in how one interacts with the material
WizIQ Advantages
free allows for many participants without
upgradingrecordings can be made;has screen shareNo downloads required
Disadvantagessometimes the audio gets dropped interface could be a bit smoother
Vyew.com
Advantages: fast and user friendly; useful for online meeting with seminar students or thesis students
Disadvantages : no recording; limits the number of participants; screen share is iffy
CourseSites by Blackboard Complete CMS Live Classroom by blackboard Content currently available only from
McGraw Hill
Questions
Effective use of social media such as Facebook and Google Plus for online courses?
Incorporating active learning strategies within the homework
Limitations of Online Delivery Classroom collaboration lacking In class activities difficult to incorporate Talking in to a headset is not nearly as
much fun as an in-person lecture!
