Can online students be fully integrated into residential courses via web conferencing? Lessons learned from two pilot courses at Columbia University -- #OLCAccelerate

ABSTRACT: When online students attend on-campus classes via web conferencing, can they be fully integrated into the classroom community? What challenges does offering two modes of attendance introduce, and how might technology and careful course design offer solutions? This session will offer lessons learned from two pilot courses at Columbia University. EXTENDED ABSTRACT: Institutions that offer both residential and online programs can allow residential students to enroll in online courses; the logistics are relatively simple. However, allowing online students to enroll in residential courses, without requiring them to travel to campus, is more complicated. While this can expand student choices regarding course topics, instructors, and scheduling, as well as build connections between online and residential students, enabling online students to attend residential classes via web conferencing creates challenges. In the literature, in addition to the more common phrasing of telepresence or web conferencing to refer to this type of technology-enhanced communication (Tanaka, Nakanishi, & Ishiguro, 2014; Gleason & Greenhow, 2017), this type of course has also been called gxLearning because the classes are geographically extended (Verhaart & Hagen-Hall, 2012; Day & Verhaart, 2015; Day & Verhaart, 2016), hybrid because the classes include a hybrid blend of on-campus and remote students (Henriksen, Mishra, Greenhow, Cain, & Roseth, 2014), and synchromodal because online and residential students share synchronous sessions via different modes of attendance (Cain, Sawaya, & Bell, 2013; Bell, Sawaya, & Cain, 2014; Bell, Cain, Peterson, & Cheng, 2016; Cain & Bell, 2017). During the workshop, the presenters will share their literature review as a resource for participants who would like to learn more about the research in this area. The bulk of the workshop will focus on sharing lessons learned from planning and teaching two Spring 2018 pilot seminar courses at Columbia University in which online social work students joined residential courses via Zoom web conferencing. The presenters will cover challenges and opportunities when planning residential courses that integrate both online and on-campus students, including: - Logistical concerns that must be addressed prior to the start of the semester, such as student messaging, student registration, classroom setup and technology requirements, and instructor selection and training - Considerations for designing activities and classroom materials that fully engage both online and on-campus students, including during small-group breakout activities, group presentations, and whole-class discussions - Techniques for building one cohesive classroom community, rather than two segregated groups of students - Methods for managing the technology in the physical classroom, or when taking online students along on a field trip off campus The session will include the perspectives of the instructors, TAs, and online students involved in the two pilot courses. Interactivity for the session will include informal hand-raise polls to gauge participants’ experiences and interests around the workshop topic, whole-group discussion questions to give the group the chance to share ideas, pair-share discussions to give participants the chance to consider how they might apply the workshop content to their unique work environments, and time for Q&A. By the end of this workshop, participants should be able to: - Describe the benefits, pedagogical challenges, and logistical concerns that accompany a decision about whether to allow online students who do not live near campus to register for residential courses - Discuss ways to design classroom activities and materials that engage online and residential students with the coursework and with each other as one cohesive classroom community - Share their experiences, tips, concerns, and questions around how to plan, manage, and teach this type of course - Describe the existing literature about this type of course modalit

Almost Like Being There: Embodiment, Social Presence, and Engagement Using Telepresence Robots in Blended Courses

As students’ online learning opportunities continue to increase in higher education, students are choosing not to come back to campus in-person for a variety of personal, health, safety, and financial reasons. The growing use of video conferencing technology during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed classes to continue, but students reported a sense of disconnectedness and lack of engagement with their classes. Telepresence robots may be an alternative to video conferencing that can provide learning experiences closer to the in-person experience, which also provides a stronger sense of embodiment, social presence, and engagement in the classroom. This study explored the use of telepresence robots in four undergraduate, humanities, blended learning courses. Sixty-nine students, 43 in-person and 26 remote students, were surveyed using the Telepresence and Engagement Measurement Scale (TEMS) and provided written feedback about their experience. The TEMS measured embodiment, social presence, psychological involvement, and three indicators of engagement: behavioral, affective, and cognitive. Embodiment and social presence were positively correlated as were embodiment and behavioral engagement. There was no significant difference between the two groups’ perceptions of social presence but there was a significant difference between groups’ perceptions of engagement. Qualitative data and effect sizes greater than 0.80 supported the reliability and validity of the TEMS instrument as a measurement instrument for future study of blended learning environments using remote tools such as telepresence robots. Provided that technological issues such as connectivity and audio and video quality are addressed, telepresence robots can be a useful tool to help students feel more embodied and socially present in today’s blended learning classrooms

An Exploration of Online Doctoral Students and the Ways They Cultivate Connections

According to the United States Department of Education, 42.4% of postbaccalaureate students participated in online distance education during Fall of 2019. These numbers increased because of the Covid-19 pandemic of March 2020. The pandemic not only created a severe social and economic disruption, but it also disrupted all levels of education. This study examines exclusively online students enrolled with traditional face-to-face students and faculty. Understanding the impact of the pandemic, faculty and administrators can gain insights into how online learning can be adapted to meet the unique needs of advanced learners. The pandemic has forced many universities to move their programs online, which has significantly impacted doctoral students. These students have had to adapt to new modes of instruction and learning. By studying their experiences, we can better understand the challenges that were online learning presents. Students feel they developed connections in their respective degree programs, and online doctoral students feel isolated and disconnected from their instructors, course content, and classmates (Adedoyin & Soykan, 2020). With online learning, building, and maintaining these connections can be challenging; this study will lend insight into how doctoral students are cultivating relationships in online learning environments. In this qualitative exploratory case study, I explored the perceptions of online doctoral students and their descriptions of how they cultivated connections with their peers, instructors, and instructional content while participating in multiple online postgraduate programs. I drew data from two sources, social media platforms and focus group interviews. Participants described how they cultivated connections, including learner-to-learner, learner-to-instructor, and learner-to-content connections. The findings of purposeful attention, humanizing online learning, and cocurricular engagement showed how they each contributed to students developing relationships with their peers, instructors, and instructional content. The findings of this study have implications for practitioners, including creating engagement hubs for student gatherings, removing barriers through training and support, and developing standardized communication and support measures. Throughout this research, the importance of cultivating connections has been found significant. Establishing relationships is essential if participants were originally in fully online programs or involuntarily placed in online programs

Learner agency in online task-based language learning for spoken interaction

L'objectiu d'aquest estudi és explorar la relació entre el poder de decisió i d'acció de l'alumne (learner agency), els recursos en pantalla (botons de navegació, instruccions escrites per a tasques) i la creació de significat en tasques de comunicació sincrònica mitjançant ordinador (CSMO) orientades a fomentar la interacció oral. El projecte es basa en l'estudi de casos i s'analitzen tres tasques dissenyades per a l'aprenentatge de llengua (intercanvi d'opinions, joc de rols i buits d'informació) en dos conjunts de dades (dotze casos). Es tracta d'unes tasques fetes en una universitat en línia situada a Barcelona i per a les quals es va fer servir un sistema d'audioconferència per a facilitar la interacció oral. Les dades es van recollir al llarg d'un semestre (2015) i es van analitzar juntament amb dades recollides en un estudi previ (2012). L'estudi presenta tres objectius: en primer lloc, entendre com les decisions dels alumnes i les accions deliberades pròpies dels recursos en pantalla modelen els torns de paraula; en segon lloc, entendre com la creació de significat es pot concebre amb una perspectiva multimodal, més enllà de la perspectiva lingüística; en tercer lloc, l'estudi vol ser una contribució a la teoria sobre l'agentivitat en l'aprenentatge de llengües per a fomentar l'agentivitat en les tasques CSMO d'avui dia i del futur, a fi d'aconseguir avançar d'una manera òptima en l'aprenentatge d'una llengua. S'utilitza una sèrie de fonts de dades i de mètodes. Les fonts inclouen enregistraments d'àudio d'interaccions orals entre estudiants, transcripcions, captures de pantalla, documentació de cursos de llengua i informació addicional sobre eines tecnològiques. Les dades s'analitzen per mitjà d'una anàlisi del discurs i de continguts, i d'una anàlisi del discurs mitjançat un ordinador (Herring, 2004). A més, es crea un enfocament específic que combina les perspectives analítiques èmica (alumne) i ètica (investigador), que se serveixen de l'anàlisi conversacional (Sacks, Schegloff i Jefferson, 1974) i de l'anàlisi (inter)accional multimodal (Norris, 2004). Els resultats indiquen que en les tasques es manifesten alguns tipus d'agentivitat. A més, el fet que la comunicació entre els alumnes tingui lloc per mitjà de recursos en pantalla modifica els torns de paraula tant qualitativament com quantitativament. També s'ha pogut identificar la creació de significat per mitjà de diversos instruments més enllà de la llengua (per exemple, somàtic, de text i imatge). L'agentivitat, doncs, es manifesta mitjançant sistemes humans (motor, sensorial i lingüístic) i recursos que formen part del sistema digital. Per tot això, en les tasques CSMO es pot definir l'agentivitat com el «sistema que conté accions enfocades a un o més objectius i que es desenvolupen mitjançant una o diferents eines, una definició que es basa en la noció sociocultural d'"acció enfocada a un objectiu i desenvolupada mitjançant eines" (Zinchenko, 1985). Finalment, es presenten algunes conseqüències a l'hora de dissenyar tasques i es proposen algunes recomanacions per a futures investigacions en CSMO basades en tasques amb una perspectiva multimodal.El presente estudio tiene como objetivo explorar la relación entre el poder de decisión y de acción del alumno (learner agency), los recursos basados en la pantalla (como por ejemplo, botones de navegación, instrucciones de tareas textuales) y la creación de significado en tareas de comunicación sincrónica mediada por ordenador (CSMO), desarrolladas para promover la interacción oral. Utilizando un enfoque de estudio de casos, se analizan tres tareas diseñadas para el aprendizaje de idiomas (intercambio de opinión, juego de roles y falta de información en dos conjuntos de datos (doce casos). Las tareas se llevan a cabo en una universidad en línea en Barcelona mediante una herramienta de audioconferencia para facilitar la interacción oral. Los datos se recopilaron a lo largo de un semestre, en un curso (2015) y se analizaron junto con los datos de un estudio anterior (2012). Los objetivos del estudio eran tres: en primer lugar, comprender cómo las elecciones de los alumnos y las acciones intencionales relacionadas con los recursos basados en la pantalla moldean los turnos conversacionales; en segundo lugar, comprender cómo puede entenderse la creación del significado con una perspectiva multimodal, más allá de lo lingüístico, y, en tercer lugar, contribuir a la teoría de la agentividad en el aprendizaje de idiomas. La finalidad de este último objetivo ha sido ayudar a fomentar la agentividad en las tareas actuales y futuras del CSMO, para poder avanzar de forma óptima en el aprendizaje de idiomas. Se usa una variedad de fuentes de datos y métodos. Las fuentes incluyen grabaciones de audio de interacción oral punto a punto, transcripciones, capturas de pantalla, documentación del curso, e información suplementaria sobre la herramienta tecnológica. Estas fuentes se exploran por medio del análisis de datos, incluido el análisis del contenido y del discurso, así como el análisis del discurso mediado por ordenador (Herring, 2004). Además, se desarrolla un enfoque específico que combina las perspectivas analíticas émica (alumno) y ética (investigador), que se basan en las nociones del análisis conversacional (Sacks, Schegloff y Jefferson, 1974) y el análisis (inter)accional multimodal (Norris, 2004). Los resultados sugieren que los tipos de agentividad se manifiestan en tareas. Además, la mediación de los alumnos con recursos basados en la pantalla moldea los turnos conversacionales tanto cualitativamente, como cuantitativamente. La creación de significado implica múltiples aspectos más allá del habla (por ejemplo, somático, de texto e imagen), lo que implica que puede entenderse que la agentividad se lleva a cabo por medio de sistemas humanos (motor, sensorial y de lenguaje) y de recursos pertenecientes al sistema digital. Por lo tanto, la agentividad en las tareas del CSMO puede describirse como "el sistema con acciones dirigidas a uno o más objetivos desarrolladas mediante una o más herramientas", definición que se basa en la noción sociocultural de "acción dirigida hacia un objetivo y mediada por instrumentos" (Zinchenko, 1985). Se discuten las implicaciones para el diseño de tareas y se describen recomendaciones para futuras investigaciones en CSMO basadas en tareas con una perspectiva multimodal.The present study aims to explore the relationship between learner agency, screen-based resources (such as navigational buttons and textual task instructions) and meaning making in synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) tasks developed to promote spoken interaction. Using a case-study approach, three tasks designed for language learning (opinion sharing, role play and information gap) across two data sets (12 cases in total) are analysed. Tasks are carried out in an online university in Barcelona, where spoken interaction is made possible through an audioconferencing tool. Data was collected over the course of one semester in 2015 and analysed alongside data from a prior study that took place in 2012. The objectives are threefold: to understand how learners' choices and intentional actions pertaining to screen-based resources shape oral turn-taking; to understand how meaning making can be understood from a multimodal perspective, beyond speech; and to contribute to theories on agency in language learning in order to help foster agency in current and future SCMC tasks for optimal language learning gains. A range of data sources and methods are used. Sources include audio recordings of peer-to-peer oral interaction, transcripts, screenshots, course documentation and supplementary information about the technological tool employed. These sources are explored through data analysis, including content and discourse analysis as well as computer-mediated discourse analysis (Herring, 2004). In addition, a specific approach is developed that combines emic (learner) and etic (researcher) analytical perspectives that draw on notions from conversational analysis (Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson, 1974) and multimodal (inter)actional analysis (Norris, 2004). Results suggest that different types of agency emerge during tasks. In addition, learners' mediation with screen-based resources are found to shape their oral turn-taking, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Meaning making involving multiple modes beyond speech (i.e. somatic, text and image) are identified, leading to the implication that agency can be understood as being carried out through human systems (motor, sensory and language) and resources pertaining to the digital system. Agency in SCMC tasks can therefore be described as 'systems with tool(s)-mediated, goal(s)-directed action(s)' which builds on the sociocultural notion of ¿tool-mediated, goal-directed action' (Zinchenko, 1985). Implications for task design are discussed, and recommendations for future research on task-based SCMC from a multimodal perspective are outlined

Go Online!

COVID-19’s impacts revealed that teaching writing online was no longer merely an issue of convenience or economic necessity—it was critical to public health and equity concerns as well. Now higher education faces one of its greatest historical challenges, expanding online offerings to fully engage and support students around the world. Gathering together educators who teach writing at college and graduate levels using creative hybrid, blended, and online/remote/virtual modes, this book should be required reading for all teachers and administrators. The volume features those new to online teaching alongside experienced online writing teachers. Referencing the latest research in online teaching and writing, contributors share stories of crucial successes as well as unforeseen difficulties. Essays address compelling concerns such as engaging diversity and cultural inclusivity, social justice, as well as global learning in online writing courses; radically reshaping graduate seminars for online delivery; flipping classrooms to promote more successful writing instruction; fostering greater community within online writing classrooms; examining the problems and possibilities of Learning Management Systems for teaching writing; sustaining remote writing-centered archival research; avoiding Zoom fatigue in writing classes by using design thinking; utilizing expressive arts in online writing classes; mentoring doctoral students online; constructing meaningful approaches to online peer writing feedback; as well as making access and inclusivity central to online writing course design

Digital Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Culture, Language, Social Issues

Digital collaboration has been established in higher education for many years. But when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, digital learning and virtual mobility became of utmost importance for higher education. In the international project "Digital and International Virtual Academic Cooperation" (DIVA), scholars from Israel, Australia, and Germany focused on intercultural learning and online collaboration. Based on their findings, they show how digital arrangements can be used in higher education, how digital teaching can be theorized, and what potential can be gained for post-pandemic teaching

LMS Problem-Posing Academic Relationships Between Faculty and Students: A Post-Intentional Phenomenological Study of Dialogical Relationships in Asynchronous Online Courses

Drawing on Freire’s Engaged Pedagogy as a theoretical framework, I investigated the manifestation of dialogical relationships between faculty and students in fully asynchronous online courses. Employing a post-intentional phenomenological methodology, I examined how students and faculty held varying expectations for relationships in asynchronous online courses. The findings revealed that while students preferred transactional exchanges, faculty aspired to foster more profound and more enduring relationships with their students. This divergence can be partly attributed to the transactional exchange structure of Learning Management Systems (LMS), which heavily influences how faculty design and deliver courses and how students participate

Space-Time Experience in the Meta-Environment: A Cybersemiotic Analysis

Space-time Experience in the Meta-environment: A Cybersemiotic Analysis Written from the perspective of a reflective technoetic art practitioner, this thesis investigates Human-Computer Interactions in interactive hybrid environments and their influences on mediated consciousness. It argues that practices established during the advent of computer graphic interfaces have limited the interactive potential of such environments. It examines interactive processes among user, information, and interface; proposes a closer look at representational paradigms of space and time; suggests potentially illuminating parallels with complex adaptive systems; and explores their theoretical and practical co-implications. Influenced by Marcel Duchamp’s conceptual-interactive art experiments, Brazil’s syncretic Tropicalismo movement, and Roy Ascott’s technoetic art, this thesis deploys Søren Brier’s Cybersemiotic framework to bridge practice and theory. It presents the interactive hybrid installation Mixing Realities (2009, 2014) as contemporary example, analyzing its physical and digital components, aesthetic and conceptual goals, and reception by various users. This thesis suggests that, as products of the mechanical age, space-time representational paradigms emphasizing embodiment rely on linear visualization and episodic memory, thereby restricting digital information’s potential and preventing more balanced integration among user, information, and interface--a triadic relationship identified as “meta-environment.” This thesis observes that current theoretical frameworks have dissonant understandings of information, communication, process, perception, and meaning, which impedes integration of user-information-interface in a manner that accords them equal weight and acknowledges their mutual influences. The current understanding is that information is either exclusively human perception or computer interface process. Søren Brier’s cybersemiotics integrates phenomenological perceptions and feedback processes, thereby enabling study of the meta-environment with focus on how individual elements influence one another in dynamic triadic relationships. Visual representations of this analysis suggest that each element at some point works as mediator of interactive processes. The possibility of understanding these interactions as dynamic complex adaptive systems creates the potential of expanding how humans interact, perceive space and time, and mediate consciousness

SYNCHRONOUS VIRTUAL K-12 TEACHERS\u27 USE OF MULTIMEDIA PRINCIPLES IN ELECTRONIC SLIDE DESIGN

Hundreds of thousands of K-12 children in the United States are enrolled in online K-12 virtual schools that consistently report poor academic outcomes. There is a need to assess how well instructors in a synchronous online environment present new material to learners in a way that best aligns with how the brain manages and integrates new information into long-term memory. Online K-12 teachers use PowerPoint to design Electronic Slide Presentation (ESP) decks, which are used as their main form of instruction with their students during synchronous classes. The Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML) provides a set of principles which are proven to reduce extraneous cognitive processing, manage essential processing, and foster generative processing for learners. Yet many are concerned that teachers lack the skills and knowledge of best slide deck design practices required to create effective online learning environments. This research examines online K-12 teachers\u27 perceptions and practices related to designing ESP slides that mitigate extraneous cognitive load. This study establishes a base of knowledge previously unknown about online teacher practices to determine if there is a need for teacher education or professional development materials specific to improving synchronous K-12 virtual classroom learning outcomes in the context of ESP design. The purpose of the study was to investigate to what extent virtual K-12 teachers design their lesson slides to reduce cognitive overload for their students. A questionnaire was used to measure perceptions and practices of teachers at a large K-12 academy encompassing three schools in the Midwest state of Ohio. A rubric was then used to evaluate sample ESP decks submitted by teachers to assess adherence to the CTML principles known to reduce extraneous cognitive load. Collected demographic information was analyzed with frequencies, means, and standard deviations. Group differences were examined using t-tests and Analyses of Variance (ANOVA) tests. Associations among variables were examined with correlation and multiple linear regression tests. Results of this research might be used to support teacher education and development programs