Computer-Mediated Communication Online Education and CMC

Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication Huge interest and growth in last 5 years -And is it just me or is everyone always so happy with ‘online learning’? 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication The interest in online learning and different “models” of teaching and learning using CMC technologies has also ignited many debates… Online vs f2f effectiveness Inclusion (financial haves and have nots; cross-societal differences) Others? 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication As with so many other big areas in IT and new uses of CMC (but especially so when there are real-world outcomes at stake), we sometimes see the same kinds of “hard left” vs. “hard right” discussions. -We do better work as scientists when we acknowledge that humans use technologies in new and different ways, and there is no “one” path forward. We shape the technologies, and they too can shape us. 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication Trend: Online Education as Long-Term Strategy for Institutions (Babson Survey Research Group) So, any proof that online education is actually a big deal? Yes. 2015 Survey of Online Learning (academic officers at higher education institutions) 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication Growth of Online Learning and Opinions on Learning Outcomes (Babson 2015 Report) Learning Outcomes in Online Education Compared to Face-to-Face -clear growth in MOOC offerings -some more subtle changes in opinions about learning outcomes for online education vs. f2f 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Online Education Delivery “Models” Example: Educause Categorization 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication Ad Hoc Online Learning Not based on institutional policy or strategy; exploratory, based on individual faculty members’ belief that online tools can lead to learning outcomes. 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Hybrid Courses and the “Flipped” Classroom Blended/hybrid courses combine online and face-to-face classes in a structured manner. “Flipped” classroom refers to online lecture/preparation material, followed by f2f application of material 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication Fully Online Programs Online degree programs from online-only organizations. One of the key innovations in this model is the ‘master course’ designed by experts/faculty, and then taught by numerous section-leaders. 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication School-as-a-Service Partnering between an existing university or institution and an external company for online content, curriculum, and/or student services. 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) Entire courses are scaled to enable (potentially) unlimited numbers of students. All lectures, assignments, materials are handled through online tools and services (including automated tools, e.g. for grading) 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication Using CMC tools for collaboration with real world outcomes Sherblom (2010) “Can Computer-Mediated Communication Really Facilitate Learning?” Media Richness Actively engage the medium—Select the medium carefully, explain its purpose in the course, and train students in its use. Recognize that communicators must use different communication strategies in each CMC medium. For example, the interpersonal uncertainty reduction strategies available to participants differ in asynchronous bulletin boards, interactive text messaging, and synchronous virtual realities. Social Presence Provide students explicit instruction and model the communication skills they will need for effective interaction through the medium. Even today's young adults, so-called digital natives, struggle with the use of technology for educational purposes unless they receive adequate instruction and support.  Social Information Processing CMC group participants need to explicitly take turns as speakers and listeners, acknowledge having read messages, offer responses about what they are thinking and doing, ask direct questions, provide explicit answers, repeat key words to reference a discussion topic, and respond to a person by name.  This is from a report that was put out by the National Communication Association. These are about the *potential promise* of online education using CMC technologies. 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication Using CMC tools for collaboration with real world outcomes Sherblom (2010) “Can Computer-Mediated Communication Really Facilitate Learning?” Social Identity An active instructor and supportive CMC classroom culture can foster the communication of positive social identities, reducing the influence of power, gender, and social status differences, and facilitating thoughtful, inclusive deliberation and discussion. In such a classroom culture introverted and disempowered students can come to feel more at ease than they might in a face-to-face classroom. Hyperpersonal Relationships Anonymity can help reduce student communication apprehension. The asynchronous communication lag allows them time to compose their thoughts. The networked nature of CMC encourages active individual engagement in course materials, participation in discussions, and collaborative learning. The hyperpersonal experience of communicating in a virtual world can provide a sense of spatial closeness and comfort while facilitating a re-assessment of roles and learning responsibilities. Recall: hyperpersonal effect: in limited cues environments (e.g., a text-based threaded conversation among those who don’t already know one another, we can have affordances of the medium that allow us to present ourselves carefully; we also read a lot into other peoples’ behavior, and this creates a loop) 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication Example: ISchool MIDS Program (fully online degree, flipped classroom design 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Synchronous Class Sessions 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication What kinds of CMC tools were most useful for some of our own MIDS (online data science) students? What were some of the limitations of CMC tools in the online classroom experience? 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Assessing Online Learning Outcomes -thoughts on Reich? -what started as “access” is now often about “efficiency” -A lot of this also reminds us to ask a key question: what are the main goals of MOOCs again? 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication CMC intrinsically involves taking experiences which may once have been ill-defined and ephemeral, and turning them into data which can be easily stored, studied, and mined. We saw this in an education setting before in the Won et al. reading on head tracking in a virtual classroom. And we saw a darker view of it in the Wired article on Magic Leap, which puts forth the notion that "every virtual world is potentially a total surveillance state“…An obvious hope behind MOOCs is that they can make education more widely available (a breadth issue), but I'm equally enthused by the idea that given enough data, we will find new ways of teaching that are more effective than anything we've tried (or at least been able to codify) in the past -- where each student meets their potential (a depth issue). – James McCauley Having taken CS 188, the introductory artificial intelligence course here that is on edX…Many of the things I noticed while taking the course and took away were points that Reich makes. Given the format of the MOOC, it was quite efficient at teaching how calculations were made. However…there wasn't much room to make you understand the theory in depth. When it came to the midterms and we had to apply the concepts, I felt largely unprepared even though I had aced the homework questions and projects. Education is a difficult area to improve based on data because there isn't a solid formula that ensures that a student learns to his/her max potential. – Allison Yee 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication Peer assessment as a way to leverage affordances of CMC in large-scale learning online https://group5hah.wordpress.com/ 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication Breakdown of Students Enrolled in Online HCI courses (Kulkarni et al. 2015) This is part of the “promise”: reaching those who otherwise need to work for self, family, or who otherwise cannot relocate. 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Peer and Self Assessment in Massive Online Classes Key takeaway points from these studies and experiments? Under what conditions might peer assessment/feedback seem to work best (or worst)? -grading agreement between staff and students? -do students improve in peer rating? http://marketingland.com/ 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication

Peer and Self Assessment in Massive Online Classes Changing role of teachers? Changing role of students? Changing definition of ‘the classroom’? *note that 42% of students said that seeing other students’ work as a big benefit of assessment. https://www.caldwell.edu/news/april-fools-2015 9/10/2018 Cheshire & King— Computer-Mediated Communication