Communicate 2.1.1 – Identify Stakeholders Quest

Do the descriptions correlate to your perception?

Yes, the descriptions do correlate to my perception of the roles of each stakeholder listed. 

How can they be expanded upon or described further?

The Instructor is responsible for providing timely and useful feedback to students, and for communicating continuously with the student and parents throughout the learning process. Communication is of the utmost importance in an online course as most contacts are written and tone, emotions and facial expressions cannot be seen. The lack of visual cues means the written words must be precise and to the point.

The student is responsible for asking questions when clarification is needed, and completing assignments on time. An online environment can free a student to ask questions when they would not do so in a face-to-face class. A shy student may become more open to asking questions online provided the online environment is friendly. Being able to ask questions for clarification can lead to timely assignment completion.

Parents are responsible for monitoring progress and communicating any problems with the teacher. Learning online is not the same as learning in a classroom. Parents need to know involvement is critical to the success of their child. The parents will need to closely monitor their child's progress, encourage the child to ask questions of the teacher, and provide them with sufficient quiet time so they can reflect on the content and assignments.

The Local School Administration is responsible for providing the learning platform, communicating with teachers, students, and parents. 

Are there other stakeholders within an online environment not considered above?
Yes, I think the other students/participants in the course should be considered. Each student has a responsibility to the other students in the course to share their knowledge, to learn from each other, and to support all others.
If the school is public, taxpayers are indirect stakeholders. Although they are not within the online environment, they certainly have a stake in the success of the students. The community as a whole has a stake in the success of students in that veterinarians, accountants, nurses, hotel managers, politicians, and many more are needed in the community. 

Communicate 1.1.2 – Laws of Communication Quest

by PugnoM

http://www.copyright.com/learn/media-download/copyright-basics/

• How can one refrain from violating FERPA guidelines in online communication?

When student information is requested by parents, make sure to either provide the information in person, snail mail it (NOT email), or speak with the person who needs the information over the phone. Share information ONLY with the legal parent or guardian. 

• What methods could be employed to verify that copyright is not being violated?

Copyright laws must be addressed with students at every opportunity. Teachers must model how copyright laws are followed. At the beginning of a course, basic copyright laws and the policies of the company one is teaching the course for should be taught. Copyright needs to be part of the instructions/rubric for each assignment.

Teach students the four factors of when a use may be considered fair use: 1) the purpose and character of use of the copyrighted work, 3) the nature of the copyrighted work, 3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, and 4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. According to Electronic Frontier Foundation, "Fair use allows people other than the copyright owner to copy part or, in some circumstances, all of a copyrighted work, even where the copyright holder has not given permission or objects." Fair use might allow using a work for education, news reporting, scholarly research, commentary or parody.

Teach students about Creative Commons (CC) licensing, usually used for sharing educational materials of all types. There are 6 types of free licensing that differ in how the material can be used. All 6 help creators retain copyright of their work while allowing the sharing of the material. "Creative Commons licenses require licensees to get permission to do any of the things with a work that the law reserves exclusively to a licensor and that the license does not expressly allow. Licensees must credit the licensor, keep copyright notices intact on all copies of the work, and link to the license from copies of the work."

• Does copyright require that all work, images, words, and graphics must be original?

The United States Copyright Office says "...Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S.Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works." This applies to music, performances, literary work, dramatic works, pantomimes, pictures, sculptures, images, videos or any other audiovisual work. Ownership of a copyright can be transferred to another person. This makes the requirement of originality null for the secondary owner (the work must be original to the first owner of the copyright). 

Sources

"Keep the Internet Creative, Free and Open." Creative Commons. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2016.

Taulbee, Dennis, Marie Lasseter, Burns Newsome, Ahrash Bissell, Lila Bailey, Phil Moss, Myk Garn, Alan Grant, and Bruce Chaloux. "An Expectation of Sharing: Guidelines for Effective Policies to Respect, Protect and Increase the Use O Digital Educational Resources." Southern Regional Education Board. N.p., Mar. 2010. Web. 23 Jan. 2016. <http://publications.sreb.org/2010/10T02_Guidelines_Eff_Pol.pdf>.

"Teaching Copyright." Teaching Copyright. Electronic Frontier Foundation, n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2016. <https://www.teachingcopyright.org/handout/fair-use-faq>.

USA. Library of Congress. U.S. Copyright Office. Copyright Basics. Washington, DC: United States Copyright Office, 2012. Print. Circular 1.

Communicate 1.1.1. Definitions of Communication

• How have your individual communication skills changed as with the innovations in technology?

My individual communications skills have changed. I have had no choice in the matter! Sharing my ideas and listening to ideas of others is extremely important in the classroom. Students ideas of listening have changed, students attention spans have changed. The way we all think has changed. Social interaction, not just learning in the classroom has changed. There are layers of communicating, listening to a teacher tell a story, actual face-to-face meaningful conversations, occasional phone conversations, a message to a friend in social media, a short text. Social media lead people to feel they are not alone when they are in reality are sitting in their home without any other person there. A tweet, or checking in on Facebook and the person feels they are connected to others. But what about emotional attachment to the person, not the technology? Do they really know the other person, how they are feeling about life in general, do they really care? Are they making a cursory connection, or are they really friends who know one another well and know what each other needs? By cursory I mean an acquaintance, someone who is not known deeply, someone who is recognizable. Where are the personal, emotional connections? Where is the deep social interaction? Do they know how to be kind and considerate of one another in person? I am seeing this in my classroom every day. Students are disconnected emotionally, but connected technologically. They are constantly texting even when they are together. The students text during class, whether the teachers see them or not, whether they should be paying attention to the topic of the class or not. I recently saw a student texting in my class and asked her to first, place her phone up on the sink (I am in a science lab) upside down and then to go call her parent to tell them what she had been doing rather than paying attention to the lesson. She called her father. The response of the parent was to ask his child to text him the moment she got her phone back (I had never taken it). There was no concern about the reason for the call, to point out the student was not paying attention, it was all about the loss of her "connection." It didn't matter who she was texting, nor why, nor that I was attempting to point out the student's focus was not on the lesson where I felt it should be. The student wanted to connect with someone and the parent wanted to make sure their child was able to make connections at will. My point was entirely missed. I was seen as the mean teacher taking away and punishing the student's connectivity, not as the teacher trying to focus the student on the content of the lesson. 

• How have advancements in technology altered classroom communication? Will these change further?

Yes, advancements in technology have altered classroom communication. Sometimes the advancements are for the better, and sometimes for the worse. Better is the ability to find any just about any information one wishes to know. Worse is the distraction of just about any information there is. I think as students disconnect from their peers and others, their face-to-face social skills will continue to change while they believe their connectivity is increasing through texting, gaming, social media, etc. 

Navigate 4.1.1 – Trend Impact Quest

By Kippelboy (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Student-driven personalized learning, adaptive learning, big data, whatever term is used it means using student data to suggest further learning to the student. A type of adaptive standardized testing system is already being used where the answers a student provides to questions determines the level of the next questions. Personalized learning works on basically the same premise.

Gamification and augmented reality are growing slowly, but I think this area will become one of the biggest trends over the next few years. Gamification is a different way of teaching, not simply adding games as lessons but a whole all-in strategy. Augmented reality is a step up from high definition. As stated in Gamification Co.'s article, "Gamification is the process of using game thinking and game mechanics to solve problems and engage users. The key takeaway here is that this is a process. You take something that is not normally a game, and make it so (nerd reference intended.)"
I saw examples of augmented reality at ISTE in San Antonio, TX, 2013. It was a book with augmentation. One had to use a scanner/camera on a phone or tablet to scan specific pages of the book, then more information is shown on the device. The books were not available in the US at the time, I purchased one online from in the UK. There have been many advances in this field since I first saw it used. For example, the photo above is showing augmented reality in an art museum. The user points the tablet at a painting and further information is then displayed on the tablet. This type of augmented reality was not available in 2013, but it is useful today!

Sources

"Gamification vs. Game Based Learning in Education - Gamification Co." Gamification Co. N.p., 13 Jan. 2012. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

Spencer, Ruby. "Top 10 ELearning Trends For 2015 - ELearning Industry."ELearning Industry RSS. N.p., 12 Jan. 2016. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

Spencer, Ruby. "The 4 Hottest ELearning Trends For 2016 - ELearning Industry." ELearning Industry RSS. N.p., 12 Jan. 2016. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

Weiss, Chris. "Where the LMS Is Heading." ELearning 247 Blog. N.p., 06 Oct. 2015. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

Navigate 3.2.1 – Tools for Deciding on an LMS Quest

According to Talented Learning, Extended Enterprise News, Research & Consulting, LMS platforms are broadening and becoming more specific to user needs. There are now 4 areas of users, academic, continuing ed., corporate and association LMSs. "All four groups share some functionality but contain special functionality and experience not required in the other areas."

Talented Learning

Blackboard, Brightspace (formerly D2L), Canvas, and Moodle are still widely used in both higher education and K-12 organizations. For business,  eLogic Learning, Expertus, and Cornerstone are leading LMS platforms for 2015. For Associations, Blue Sky Broadcast, Classroom 24/7, and WebCourseworks are among the top platforms.

created by Charlotte Thornton  on easel.ly.com

from: http://www.tagoras.com/selecting-lms-infographic/

Resources:

"2016 LMS Market Trends, Observations and Predictions - Talented Learning." Talented Learning. N.p., 12 Jan. 2016. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

"7 Steps in Selecting a Learning Management System (LMS) Infographic." Tagoras RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

Navigate 3.1.4 – LMS Reporting Quest

Photo by Violet Blue
https://www.flickr.com/photos/violetblue/331392404/

Grade reporting in Schoology is similar to Powerschool in that one is able to set up final grade, semesters, quarters, assignments, and comments can be made on each. Grades can be exported in an XLS/CSV file. There is an option to provide weighted grades or percentages. Individual grade reports, an entire class, or the whole grade book can be printed.

There are different levels of analytics available in Schoology. The student and teacher level includes when the student last logged in, how much time has been spent in the course and the total number of posts. Further student information on individual students is found by clicking on the student name, test and quiz data, discussions activity, times of each access, the number of submissions or posts for each item.More information is available by clicking on the item such as the date the item was accessed, the dates the item profile was opened and closed, and the total time spent on a specific item is contained in the analytics. This information is useful throughout the course for individual students, and to the teacher when reflecting on the effectiveness of teaching strategies. This is the most valuable information available for student performance and short-term planning. The course level information can be used to evaluate content when teaching a course more than once or twice.

Course level analytics show the running count of hits the course receives each day. The number of times the course is entered, how many times a discussion is opened, the number of comments and replies made is all counted and stored. A pie graph is available with monthly information on the number of hits in each category. When redesigning a course, this information is helpful in deciding which areas are effective.

Navigate 3.1.3 Tools within the LMS Quest

Which tools would be most valuable in the online classroom? Which would be of least value?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/breatheindigital/4527144772

Communication

Email is a necessary tool for private communications between the teacher and an individual without all learnings seeing the message. A student might need to ask a question that does not apply to everyone in the course, or the teacher might need to address an issue with a specific student.

Notification System displays or sends a message when specific items are updated in the course such as an announcement, or a discussion post. Teachers use this feature to alert them of student activities in the course. This is a nice feature but is not always necessary.

Discussion forums are one of the most valuable features in an online classroom. The interaction amongst learners provides a far richer experience in learning than when a learner goes through the content and then writes about their learning.

Instant Messaging synchronous communication, nice but not necessary. Email can be used instead if this feature is more costly.

Blogs/journals are used for learner reflections to solidify learning.

Social Profiles necessary for all participants in the course. It is far too easy for a person to discount another students' remarks when that student is unknown. A profile helps with getting to know where information is coming from. The teacher should also have a full profile sharing their background so the students/parents are comfortable with the guidance and knowledge the student will be receiving.

Calendar used to organize assignment timelines and other events.

Alert Systems are more than notifications, they are automatically sent based upon specific criteria such as a student not logging into the course for x number of days, or reminders for upcoming assessments.

Assessment

Dropbox a place for students to upload their completed assignments allowing all work to be stored inside the course. Google Drive or "Dropbox" could be used, but the work would not be in the course.
Discussions allow the teacher to extend the understanding of students, or to clarify any misconceptions. Formative assessments are generally made in discussion forums.

Quizzing/Testing features are used for pre and post assessments in an online course. Within many LMSs, the quiz or test can be set to automtically provide grades, and/or feedback to the student.

Self Assessments/Surveys are used by students as a way to check understanding prior to a formal assessment.

Integrated rubrics allow consistency and shows the student exactly what they should be learning and exactly what will be assessed. Integration is nice, but is another feature that is not necessary as rubrics can be added to the content of the course.

Gradebook shows student progress and some LMSs show feedback in the gradebook.

User/Class progressAssessment and the LMS shows login information, data, and usage patterns of students

Evaluation

Reports some LMSs allow the teacher to download progress reports.
Comments/Feedback are/is necessary to student success.
Rubrics are necessary for student success and should be used before, during and after an assignment.
Data Import some LMSs allow items to be imported into the gradebook.
Weight vs. Percentage options of weight or percentage are provided in most LMSs.

In my opinion, the necessary and most valuable tools of an LMS are: email, discussion forums, social profiles, a dropbox, and a gradebook with a comment/feedback feature. I also feel it is important to keep a record of everything within the course.