December 08 2006

E-Coaching Tip 30: For Your List -- "Course Wrapping" Reminders plus Fun Personal Learning Action During Break

How is your Last Week List coming along? Did you find the image of clearing your "psychic ram" in your brain by getting those actions clearly stated in a list useful? (Allen, 2002)? We hope so!

Here are just two quick end-of-course reminders plus details on how to easily complete a very useful personal learning experience. (Note -- it also includes a hint for what you might want to put on your Christmas list!)

1. Plan -- and Do -- the Ending of the Course Experience

In e-coaching tip #9 one of the suggestions was to take a few minutes to envision the last event of the course, so that you and the students get the feeling of successful completion of a course. This "wrap-up" event is a bit like the ribbon on a package, a finishing touch. It is where we say good-bye for now. It is a way of "Finishing with Flair."

So, if you have already done the planning for this Wrap Event, all you have to do is to do it this week! And of course, then you have the final grading to do. (For more about the social, cognitive and content aspects of this wrap, you can go back to tip #9.)

2. Reflect on the course -- Capture your good ideas and Identify One for Change

Just as you have asked your students to reflect on what they have learned in a course, this is now a good time to reflect, pause and think about what worked really well with your students this fall and what you would like to reflect on how you might change. Write down at least two of your great "fermenting" ideas and choose one to explore further.

Looking Ahead --HorizonWimba: A Personal Learning Experience that is Easy and Very Rewarding!

As you already know, Duquesne has a new "Live Classroom " tool -- also called "Horizon-Wimba" available to all online faculty. This web tool is readily visible in the course template. All you have to do to make it "available" is to complete two hours of training -- training that you can do from wherever you are at the time you schedule.

Free demos are available 24/7 at www.horizonwimba.com/demos. Pre-recorded demos range from as short as 1 minute to 3 minutes; a participant -- live -- demo is generally about 30 minutes and another more advanced seminar -- the presenter seminar is about an hour. These demos are all available and can be schedule from the url above.

I personally like to participate in live seminars when I am getting accustomed to a new tool, and these are available 5-6 times a week generally. If none of the available times work, you can schedule a private demo. You can even schedule a private demo with you and your TA if you would like.

As with any new tool, it does take a little time to develop habits that are automatic and comfortable, but this is a tool that is well worth your time! So, sometime during the break time, participate in some of these sessions with the online experts at Horizon-Wimba!

Oh, and the possible item for your Christmas list -- make certain that you have a microphone and speaker on your laptop/desk computer. You may want to check what you already have built in to your system, but headphones of some type are required -- otherwise echoes and feedback occur. Now you may ask, "Why, again, is this worth my time?" Read on:

What is a Live Classroom Good For? What can I do with it?

Here are a few things that you -- and your students -- can do with "Live Classroom." These are teaching and learning strategies that faculty have tested with HorizonWimba and once they have started using them, wonder how they got along without them.

• Hold a real time question and answer session about a difficult topic or with an expert who is only available for an hour or so. This type of event can be done with any size group, even large groups.
• Have students present their end-of-course projects. This tool allows for real time text chat as well as real time audio discussion. (Each participant can also add a picture to their profile.)
• Groups of students who are working on team projects can meet in their small groups and you can "float" into the rooms.
• Office hours or small group meetings with student teams. One Duquesne faculty member, Janet Zellman, uses Horizon-Wimba to review writing paper projects with a group of three. She has the students submit the papers to her ahead of time so that she can review them, and then she and two or three students who are writing papers on a similar topic, meet and review their work, critiquing and often editing in real time.
• Group discussion -- such as we normally do in a face-to-face group. I just recently participated in a small committee (7 folks across the US) meeting. The tool let me take the other committee members on a "webtour," demonstrating strategies that other professional organizations use.

Good Uses for First-Time Uses of the Tool

The first time folks participate in a "live classroom" is a little awkward, but after one or two experiences, it begins to feel quite natural to folks. So, here are a few examples of good practice sessions where you keep expectations low with a focus on learning the tool.

• Hold an open office hour and specifically schedule at least 2-3 students to "drop in" and talk with you -- perhaps about their project.
• Schedule a chat session with the class as a whole, and let everyone practice saying hello and getting acquainted. Even making this the time that everyone figures out how to post their picture! (Note -- this tool also supports video, but you can decide when you want to start this, if ever!) A colleague who works with students across the globe says that is always the middle of the night when she is working with her students in Korea, and "no way" is she going to use video!
• Open up the tool for small group meetings and assign students the responsibility of learning the tool -- then the students can teach you! If you have a TA, this is a good strategy as well!

Here is the url again to get you started! http://www.horizonwimba.com/demos/

Best Wishes for a Joyous and Blessed Holiday

Teaching is a very intensive and often emotional experience. So take time to breathe deeply, enjoy the change of pace over the holidays. I like to think that the work we all do in teaching and learning -- in developing insights and wisdom about the world and people -- is close to God's heart. Let us take time to be joyful and respectful at this time.

"See" you all in the Spring -- Coming Topics!

• Ideas and strategies for using the Wimba Voice tools
• Concept Mapping for instruction and assessment
• Peer to peer strategies
• Podcasting with Wimba Voice tools
• Special requests

Notes and References

judith@designingforlearning.org
Revised February 11, 2010
Copyright Judith V. Boettcher, 1997-2010