Project Update: Autumn Semester

GE PROJECT UPDATE BANNER

The midpoint of the autumn semester is nearing, and Ohio State’s online general education initiative has rolled out its first term of offerings. As undergraduates study through various platforms, instructional designers provide quick updates on how things have unfolded.

Course: Statistics 1450

Update by Kevin Kula

Approximately six weeks into the term, instructor Jonathan Baker and teaching assistant Timothy Book are in full swing for Statistics 1450.  In total, they are serving 52 online students this autumn term.  The team has done a great job inserting update videos into the weekly course structure.  These overviews have helped students stay up-to-date and on track for course assignments.  Among faculty members in the department, Statistics has embraced this process by engaging in biweekly discussions on online teaching and learning tools

Jonathan and his staff have been committed to producing high quality, engaging videos throughout the course.  With the help of the great Arts and Sciences tech, Jonathan’s team produced more than 120 videos as lectures, weekly overviews, and demonstrations for their students.  We have used ODEE’s Mediasite tool to host these videos for easy insertion and management into the Carmen course.

Course: Statistics 1350

Update by Kevin Kula

We are excited to have Statistics 1350 as the new addition to Ohio State’s GE Online initiatives.  On the docket to ‘go live’ Spring Semester, we have a dynamic team assembled to achieve our goals in a 3-month turnaround time.  Currently we are working on refining the course syllabus and creating a video production schedule to utilize Arts and Science’s Hagerty 142 studio facilities.  We look forward to seeing how this course develops in the upcoming months.

Course: English 1110

Update by Tara Koger

Four instructors are now teaching online sections of English 1110 at OSU through the use of instructional videos and the Writer’s Exchange platform. The course was crafted as a group effort throughout the spring and summer with the leadership of program administration, headed by Edgar Singleton. The approach involved conceiving the syllabus and course structure, building the Carmen shell, and then copying the structure into each instructor’s individual course site. From there, instructors have created their own video content, hold virtual office hours, and dictate the theme and timing of the courses. Overall, the course is progressing as expected. Instructors cite few issues. At the end of the semester, there will be a focus panel to collect feedback on the experience from students.

Course: Biology 1102

Update by Cory Tressler

Biology 1102 is running without disruption , and students are currently working on their group projects. One aspect of online learning that has come to the forefront during this semester for is that instructors must provide extremely explicit instructions for students for every activity and assignment. During a face-to-face setting an instructor can demonstrate and reiterate instructions for upcoming activities or assignments repeatedly each week or day that they meet in class. In an online setting, instructors must provide clear written and/or video instructions and continually repost and refer to these instructions and ask students to post questions if they are unclear about any aspects of the course. Students, especially those who have never taken an online course, could miss crucial directions, instructions, or expectations if they are not clearly stated and easy to locate.

Course:  History 2201

Update by Mike Kaylor

History 2201 got off to a great start for Autumn Semester 2014.  To help students orient themselves to this course and the expected assignments associated with the course, Professor Gregory decided to use a “scavenger hunt” approach.  The first assignment the students completed was the “scavenger hunt” where they searched through course materials in order to locate needed information and practice navigation, thus ensuring that students participating in this online course have the necessary skill set to be a good online student.  General feedback for the course has been positive and Professor Gregory is hoping to take advantage of MediaSite analytics to help guide the next iteration of this course and it’s instructional video content.

Course: Communication 1100

Update by Mike Kaylor

The online version of Communication 1100 was at full enrollment for the start of Autumn Semester 2014!  Professor Ewoldsen has implemented a mix of video lectures, movie clips and television commercials to help reinforce the topic for each weeks lecture.  This approach provides the online students with a diverse means of consuming their instructional content in unique ways.  While it is a challenge to manage, Professor Ewoldsen chose to use the Carmen Discussion feature to engage with his student with weekly posts.  General feedback for the course has been positive and Professor Ewoldsen is hoping to take advantage of MediaSite analytics to help guide the next iteration of this course and it’s instructional video content.

Course: Mathematics 1152

Course update by Doug Dangler

Math 1152 is well underway, with videos continuing to be produced and posted by the math 1152 team of Carolyn Johns and Elizabeth Miller. The videos serve a dual purpose as online class material and publicly available online reference materials for those not currently in the course. The courses are being transcribed by ZooDigital with generally positive feedback, barring some usage errors. At the moment, ASCTech is not actively involved in the course, as Elizabeth has indicated that they can handle the current workload.

Course:  Psychology 1100

Update by Allen S. Coleman

The Psychology 1100, which had been taught online successfully for sometime, received additional support, consultation and recommendations for modification (e.g., the use of the ODEE-designed Carmen Template and use of MediaSite to deliver video content) from the ASCTech and ODEE teams working alongside them, but it was already in great shape. Much of the ongoing success of the entire project is due to the leadership and direction of Dr. Melissa Beers, the Program Director, and  taught by one of her many talented and student-focused instructors, Ryan Hansen. Hansen, a very technically astute media producer himself, does the bulk of his own video production work in his home studio, employing a number of  resources, including his own green-screen. Psychology was so far ahead of the curve that Beers, in collaboration with Mike Kaylor of ASCTech, was able move forward with the pilot-phase of online testing for Psych 1100. This pilot is using ExamSoft (an online testing software), 50 ASCTech iPads and the newly minted, ASC Testing Center located in 060 Denney Hall. Beers has already successfully completed the first round of exams in two days serving 400 students with the new method in the new space. The next phase of our work together will focus on exploring the Analytics features of MediaSite to see what the data can tell us about student use of the course video material. We are looking forward to delving into the analytics together and to tackling the remaining exams using ExamSoft in the new ASC Testing Center.

 

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