Shannon+Mathews,+CRT

Course information
SOC 3304:01: Social Gerontology Course instructor: Shannon Mathews, Ph.D. Semester and year: Fall 2010

Context

 * This course explores social constructs that influence identity formation, opportunity structures, social policies, and adaptive resources along a continuum of care for the elderly, through a life course perspective. It explores diversity in the social and historical contexts, while providing insight into the impacts of gender, race, and social class. It revisits issues students are exposed to in the introductory course in greater depth. It has been a challenge in the course to get students to fully participate in class discussion, group projects and reflectively asses their understanding of course material.
 * The course was originally designed to be a lecture course; however, my goal is for the course to incorporate a balance of lecture and seminar. My teaching style reflects an understanding that students need to readily understand concepts and apply issues to real world experiences. As a result, I try to readily provide numerous examples based on real world illustration or experiences, I try to help students apply information to their own lives and to provide many opportunities for comprehension and application of key ideas.
 * The majority of students in the course are Gerontology Program majors or minors. Students generally take the course as juniors and several usually have some work experience in settings servicing older adults.
 * The course was redesigned with the intention to use VoiceThread, Prezi.com, Google Docs, Wikis and Webs.com. These technologies were incorporate to improve class dicussion, the quality of student presentations, collaboration in group projects and to enhance the development of a course digital portfolio.

Processes
Reflection of Technology used in SOC 3304: Social Gerontology. ** First two weeks: ** The first two weeks were used to introduce students to technologies that were going to be implemented throughout the semester. During the review of the syllabus we discussed the different technological approaches that would be used and a brief rationale was provided for the incorporation of each. This allowed me to survey students’ attitudes to the technology proposed and helped to assess who have prior exposure to each technology. The first 10 minutes or so of class was given to showing the students how to access technologies to be used in the course. This seemed to be beneficial as most students had not used most of the technological tools incorporated in the course.

** The second two weeks: ** I asked students to create free gmail accounts. These were to used as a secondary email accounts. This was done in preparation of the first GoogleDocs assignment. Students were shown how to access GoogleDocs and the accompanying Wiki to be used (via Blackboard) for group discussion/exchange of ideas. There were some initial problems with students accessing GoogleDocs through the email forwarded invitation links. I spoke with Dr. Galvis to confirm whether a gmail account was necessary and he indicated that a “working email” was required. I resubmitted invitation emails to students so that groups could access their documents; however students still seems to have difficulty. Some students gained access via their WSSU account, others through their gmail account and a couple of students did not link the Wiki discussion blog activity with the participation in the document. One of four groups seems to have a relatively easy and successful experience. As a result, in anticipation of a later second GoogleDocs assignment I reviewed access instructions with students, discussed the positive aspects of the experience and improved guidelines for the second assignment.

** The third two weeks. ** Conducted a //test run// of the VoiceThread technology. I wasn’t sure if the link would work posted into Blackboard as part of a learning unit. As a result, I posted a “test” slide pre-lecture review of material. The link posted correctly but the settings did not allow students to access material without logging onto VoiceThread.com directly. After changing the settings and reposting the material students were able to access the information, comment and prepare for lecture. This preliminary exposure allowed both students and I to feel more comfortable with the technology prior to a graded assignment using it. This was a good exercise and learning experience for both students and me. Elected to remove Picasa as a new technology for the purpose of a collage assignment. Students were not familiar with the website and I did not feel confident in my own familiarity with the site. Therefore, this was not used as a new technology as proposed for this course. ** The fourth two weeks ** Student were prepared for the second GoogleDocs assignment. This time the technology seemed to work much better. Students understood how to use the accompanying Wiki session and seemed to access the technology without any problems. Students were given a bit longer to complete this assignment so time may have factored into the better use of the technology. Also, having had previous exposure clearly was a benefit the second time around. Elected to remove Flickr as a new technology for the purpose of a collage assignment. Students were not familiar with the website and I did not feel confident in my own familiarity with the site. Therefore, this was not used as a new technology as proposed for this course. ** The fifth two weeks ** Students were exposed to VoiceThread pre-lecture material twice. The repeated use allowed for better performance in the use of the technology. It also fostered more improved use of the comments feature. Students more readily participated in class discussion and readily applied course material. ** The sixth two weeks ** Students were introduced to Webs.com for the purpose of creating course related ePortfolios as a final assessment in the course. The technology was easy to access; however, even after reviewing the tutorial and going over the site material in class students had difficulty using the site. This technology was not readily user friendly and required a lot of effort and time to use. While digital portfolios will be continued as a part of the class, this technological tool will not likely to be used.

Products

 * __OVERVIEW of Course Redesign__**



Sample of VoiceThread pre-lecture materials used to facilitate class discussion. The material was posted one class period before it was used in class. Students posted comments and then were asked in class to discuss their individual comments and to apply material to information covered in the text. media type="custom" key="7807583" Sample GoogleDoc Product: Group Yellow - consisting of four collaborating students.

Sample Prezi.com presentation of course material- used to create a more engaging delivery of some materials and as an illustrative example of the technology. media type="custom" key="7807627"

Lessons learned
The use of new technologies should incorporate a plan for students to be exposed to the technologies introduced more than once and/or across multiple assignments. Students need to have the opportunity to learn or understand the technology. Also, instructors must set aside time to "play" with new technologies and to review tutorial materials across the semester. This will better equip them to address students questions, concerns or problems. I would additionally suggest that a "plan B" be formulate in the event a new technology is no longer working or have site related errors.

Future actions
I will likely maintain the use of the technologies introduce as they seem to have resulted in positive outcomes. I would suggest to others the use of digital tools to enhance group projects or activities. Web technologies provide a level of flexibilty that allows all students, regardless of varied schedules, to have an opportunity to fully participate. It is equally important to attend annual CETL training workshops to stay informed about new technologies that may facilitate a better learning environment.