nuts and bolts agatha beins texas woman’s university abeins@twu.edu

Nuts and Bolts

Agatha BeinsTexas Woman’s Universityabeins@twu.edu

Nuts and Bolts

Background Information

I teach “Feminist / Womanist Theories” onlineGraduate-class, required for M.A. students in Women’s Studies

Nuts and Bolts

Background Information

I teach “Feminist / Womanist Theories” onlineGraduate-class, required for M.A. students in Women’s Studies

Main foci of the presentation

Access / EngagementBuilding a Learning Community

Access and Engagemen

t

Design Matters

Course Home Page

Access/Engagement

Course Home PageAgatha’s Feminist / Womanist Theories class

Main Menu: Students should be able to access all parts of the course through this tool bar.

What information do you want to be visible on the home page?

Design Matters

Course Home Page

Organization

Access/Engagement

Course Home Page

Main Menu

Design Matters

Course Home Page

Organization

Consistency / Diversity

Access/Engagement

Deadline Activity

Monday, 11:59 p.m. Discussion prompt

Tuesday, 11:59 p.m.

Two 200-word comments in response to different prompts

Wednesday, 11:59 p.m.

A 200-word minimum summary of the main ideas brought up in the discussion thus far

Thursday, 11:59 p.m.

An additional 200-word comment responding to a third prompt (if possible) and two 75-100 word replies to your peers’ or my comments.

Consistency

Sample schedule for a week’s discussion board comments

Consistency sets up a framework that guides student contributions (a scaffold) and also offers predictability for you as the instructor. However, too much consistency can lead to scripts: students can just “fill in the blanks” without thinking deeply about the content. Too much diversity, however, can lead to confusion— when each week brings different set of activities and due dates it’s difficult to keep track of it all (for students and for the instructor).

Deadline Activity

Monday, 11:59 p.m. Discussion prompt

Tuesday, 11:59 p.m.

Two 200-word comments in response to different prompts

Wednesday, 11:59 p.m.

A 200-word minimum summary of the main ideas brought up in the discussion thus far

Thursday, 11:59 p.m.

An additional 200-word comment responding to a third prompt (if possible) and two 75-100 word replies to your peers’ or my comments.

Consistency Diversity

• Instructor-generated prompt

• Individual student – generated prompt

• Small group – generated prompt

Sample schedule for a week’s discussion board comments

Design Matters

Course Home Page

Organization

Consistency / Diversity

Assignment Completion

Access/Engagement

Week 14 Agenda (April 14 – 21)

Monday, April 14, 11:59 p.m.Google Hangout pre-hangout activity (submit a discussion question via Turnitin)Discussion prompts posted by Agatha Tuesday, April 15, 11:59 p.m.First comment set (two 200-word comments posted to the different threads in the class discussion board)Reading Response (submit to Turnitin) Wednesday, April 16, 11:59 p.m.Discussion summary (class discussion board) (each student acts as “summarizer” once during the semester) Thursday, April 17, 11:59 p.m.Second comment set (one additional 200-word comment and two 50-word responses to your peer’s comments in the class discussion board) Sunday, April 20, 11:59 p.m.Complete the Google Hangout  Monday, April 21, 11:59 p.m.Google Hangout Reflection and Evaluation form, along with your group summary (submit via Turnitin through the in the Google Hangout Activities link in our Bb course menu)

Design Matters

Course Home Page

Organization

Consistency / Diversity

Assignment Completion

Flexibility / Inflexibility

Access/Engagement

Design Matters

Course Home Page

Organization

Consistency / Diversity

Assignment Completion

Flexibility / Inflexibility

Time Commitment

Access/Engagement

Creating a Learning

Community

Student Introductions

Access/Engagement

Student Introductions

• What first impression do you want to create?

• What do you want students to share about themselves?

• What do you want students to learn about each other?

• Public introductions – to the whole class

• Additional information – to the instructor

Student Introductions - Activity

Find an image that reflects some facet of your personality, interests, and/or life experiences but that is not a photo or image of you. Then create a blog entry in which you explain the meaning and/or significance of the image.

InstructionsAdd your introduction – Due Friday, January 17 at 11:59 p.m.

1. Select “Add Entry.”2. Title the entry with the name you prefer to be called.3. Use the icon (image of a tree) at the top of the text box to insert

your image (after selecting this icon, select the box to the right of “Image URL” to browse your computer for images. You can also upload an image via its URL.

4. Below the image, write a paragraph or two explaining the significance of the image.

5. Select “Save and Exit” to save your entry.6. Comment on at least two of your peers' introductions by

Monday, January 21, 11:59 p.m.

Screen shot of a student’s introduction

Student Introductions

Student-Student Interactions

Access/Engagement

Student Introductions

Student-Student Interactions

Modeling Behavior

Access/Engagement

Student Introductions

Student-Student Interactions

Modeling Behavior

Personal Experience / Real World connections

Access/Engagement

Access – Engagement – Creating Community

If students can’t, don’t, or don’t know how to access parts of the course, then they lose possibilities to engage with course content, with you, and with each other. And without engagement, it becomes difficult to build a learning community.