Monday, May 24, 2010

Facebook Groups, what a disappointment

It's about time I owned up to something that hasn't worked in my classes.  A couple of weeks ago participation in my hybrid English 102 section started flagging, and so we spent some time in class discussing ways that we might re-energize ourselves.  One idea that came out of it was the creation of a Facebook Group page dedicated to the course. We're all addicted to Facebook, so I thought, why not?


That weekend I created a Group page, my first-ever experience in doing so.  It wasn't complicated: I just added a photo, built a couple of initial posts, and then sent out invitations to my students using their TCC email addresses.  I set the group as "private by invitation only" so the world didn't have to spy on us.


My goals were to have a forum outside of Angel that members of the class could interact, ask me questions, and be reminded (okay, nagged) towards completing upcoming assignments.  I didn't want to make anything available in Facebook that wasn't also available in Angel.  In other words, I didn't want to require anyone to participate in the Facebook experiment.


Hilarity ensued.  I immediately had two members of the class submit a request to join.  By the end of the weekend, another member of the class had somehow added himself to the group without my allowing it.  And I received several more emails saying folks were trying to join, but didn't know how to request a membership.


In class the next week, we happened to be in the computer lab for other reasons, so I spent a few minutes trying to figure it all out together.  It was true--some users simply didn't have the option on the group page, if they found it, to request a membership.  (The link that was included in the email invitations I sent everyone simply sent them to Facebook's home page, not the group page.)  Others couldn't find the group page at all, even using the exact wording I had created it under.  The ones who had successfully joined then didn't see the group status updates in their live feed, nor could they go back to the group page.  It was just gone.


I can't find a lot of other specific posts out in the world about how Facebook group pages are working for other groups, though I do see a lot of generalized angst and frustration that indicate our experience is not isolated.  Any feedback from others attempting to use the groups?


In the meantime, I'm taking another tack, and have just created a Page for "Alexis the TCC English Teacher."  You all are welcome to become fans!  This option may not allow for as much single-class interaction as I was hoping for, but at this point, if people can simply see the updates in their feeds, I'll be content.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

UDL & Google Docs

Universal Design for Learning has been on my mind a lot these days.  Of course, I'm participating in a cohort of UDL experimenters this week, led by the fearless Candyce Rennegarbe, and it helped that I joined a panel discussion at the conference last week on the same subject.  (Last-minute stand in for an ill colleague.  That was ideal...didn't have time to worry about it!)

Universal Design is literally changing the way I look at the world.  Of course, it started as a general design concept: make the world more accessible for people who need special accommodations, and everyone benefits.  Classic examples include curb cuts in sidewalks and automatic door openers.  Who hasn't bumped one of those with a hip when her hands were too full to grasp the doorknob?

UDL adds the same components to course design, my new favorite thing.  Make it easier for those with difficulties to learn, and suddenly it's easier for everyone to learn.  As the great UDL website CAST.org puts it, "UDL helps identify and remove barriers from teaching methods and curriculum materials...."  It's that "remove barriers" portion that's particularly intriguing to me recently.


Ever since I first started teaching online, one of the significant problems I've faced with a small handful of students in every class is document file compatibility.  The school I was working for at the time required all students to buy Microsoft Word and use it; there were invariably those who were trying to avoid shelling out the major dough for that by using the programs that came with their computer.  It's hard to fault a college student for not having a lot of spare change lying around.


Having one standard format has grown more important to me, the more I swap files back and forth with students.  The community colleges have no Word-ownership requirement, but the net effect is still the same.  If a student sends me a Works file, I can't open it.  Likewise with some of Mac's cooler processing software, like Pages.


It goes the other way, too.  Though I know there are a lot of conversion programs out there, I always feel guilty requiring people to take an extra step (or several) in viewing documents I've posted in online classrooms.


My default way of skirting that recently has been simply to remove the document element, and post content directly into Angel, TCC's platform.  This works fine for text.   Some content simply needs to be in Powerpoint, though, and then I'm back to square one.


Many of you are already screaming the answer at me, I know.  But I've finally stumbled upon it myself, and it works beautifully: Google Documents

With Google Docs, everything's stored "in the cloud," and accessible from any computer.  Files can be published to be shared openly.  I'm in the process now of converting all of my class presentations to be available in both formats: Powerpoint and Google Docs' Presentation tool.  That way people can download it if they want, or view it online anytime.  

One huge barrier removed.  My next phase of implementation will be to convince as many of my students to use it as I can.  I've already laid the groundwork in English 101, encouraging my group projects to be submitted that way.  Yay for easy, simple interactivity, especially ones that don't take up tons of space on my harddrive. 

  (screenshot from my current Angel English 102 classroom)

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Pacific Northwest Assessment, Teaching & Learning Conference

Returned Friday afternoon from three days in Vancouver, WA, sharing space and thoughts with community and technical college professionals from all over Washington and Oregon.  Had many, many, MANY new ideas, which I'm going to continue to mull over here in the coming days.  But to start, a fun one...thanks, Monica, for documenting our wonderful Thai dinner Thursday night!