Poznan Conference Work Area
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Paper title:Working Collaboratively Over the Internet in Course Design
Abstract
The authors discuss a design/redesign process of an on-line class, "Multimedia Image Production", hosted by Appalachian State University, USA. The class will be taught by an instructor in Poland to students in the USA and to potentially other students around the world. The instructors outline how they have created a collaborative work space in order to make the design process smooth and efficient.
The paper presents the colaborative development of an on-line course between three individuals who for the most part are 5000 km apart, as well as 6 hours in time. Collaboration in a face-to-face environment is at times difficult for many social, as well as psychological reasons. Working in a virtual international collaborative environment raises other issues as well: time, language, habbits of mind, culture, and the boundaries of the medium itself.
This project in international collaboration resulted in providing a vision for future possibilities. As the access to and power of the Internet increases, future international and as well as regional collaborations become possible, removing the chains of time and geography.
1. Context of the online graduate program
This paper discusses the collaborative efforts of three educators to redesign the "look and feel", as well as update the content of an online graduate course entitled "Multimedia Image Production". The course is part of a Master of Arts degree in Media Education with a concentration in "New Media and Global Education", at Appalachian State University in the United States. The students and faculty in the program come from diverse interests and backgrounds. The program of study in New Media and Global Education provides a online, international teaching and learning environment. The language for the program is English.
The online graduate program in New Media and Global Education" leads the student to a Master of Arts in Educational Media. The structure of the program of study guides the student through a series of classes in digital media production, instructional theory, and media theory. The student's program of study is built upon the framework of "collaborative learning communities" and a "student centered" curriculum. Faculty in the program demonstrate a global perspective, bring expertise and experience to the learning environment, where space bound, face-to-face traditonal classes could not easily accomplish such a diversity of ideas and perspective. Faculty in the program are located in Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Australia. Graduate students primarily are from North Carolina in the United States, and at times, a few from other parts of North America and Europe. Currently the cost factor for students outside of North Carolina limit the possibilities for broader geographic representation. Currently, the New Media concentration is the only completely online educational program at Appalachian State University. The program was designed and developed by Dr. Roberto Muffoletto, a faculty member in Educational Technology. The multimedia class will be taught in 2006 by Dr. Pawel Topol, a faculty member in Educational Technology at Adam Mickiewicz University.
2. Purpose of our redesign of the class
Collaboration between Topol and Muffoletto began in 1998 as a result of the efforts of Professors Dylak and Muffoletto. At that time Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU) and Appalachian State University (ASU) were involved with the exchange of scholars in various areas of education and technology. The partnership provided opportunities for projects with public schools in Koscian (Pl.) and Boone (USA), and evently to the development of the online master degree at ASU. Another project emerged that built upon cross-cultural exchanges between students in teacher education at both universities. The project called for teams comprised of students from both universities to work collaboratively over the Internet to develop an Internet delivered project. Spring 2006 hosted the second occurance of the multicultural exchange project between both universities. Over the last 8-10 years the collaboration between Professors Dylak, Muffoletto and Topol have provided opportunities for other faculty and their students to develop and experience different cultural perspectives and habbits of mind.
Collaborating on Change
Drs. Roberto Muffoletto and Pawel Topol, with further assistance with Ben Goliwas, a graduate assistant in educational media, collaborated on the redesign of the multimedia class. Because Professor Topol resided in Poznan, Poland and Professor Muffoletto and Ben Goliwas resided in North Carolina, the team need to employ a number of communication and production tools to work efficently over the four (4) months of the project. The multimedia class was scheduled to be delivered in the early weeks of May, 2006.
The collaborative model used for the redesign of the multimedia class used a number of communication and information tools (to be discussed later in this paper) to enhance the efforts of the team. The model called for collaborative work spaces as well as a number of conferences between the team members. A face-to-face visit between Topol and Goliwas in Poznan allowed members of the team to work together in real time and a shared physical space.
The Multimedia Class
The purpose of the multimedia class is to provide the student with foundational expereiences in integrating text, image, audio, and video into the web page designs. The course follows an introductory course in web page design and development where the student is required to develop the skills, confidence, and vision needed for basic web development. The multmedia class is the second digital media production class taken by the student. Neither courses are programming classes, but utilize the production capibilities of exisiting web editing applications. The online class was first offered in the spring of 2001 and has not had a major modification since then. The class was first designed by Professor Muffoletto in the early years of the program. As part of the collaborative international structure of the graduate program, Dr. Topol agreed to join the reedesign efforts and to teach the class in the summer of 2006 from Poland.
The class interface (website, learning environment, electronic tools, etc.) had not changed or upgraded for a few years. Over that time the skills and knowledge students bring to the graduate program have increased. All students own their own computer, almost all have broadband connections to the Internet (DSL, Cable), and most have used various applications as part of the professional work. To meet the needs of these students the two instructors decided to update some of the course elements, but mainly its look and feel. It was generally felt that the course content and its delivery was solid and met the objectives of the course and the needs of the student. In the collaborative model, the role of Mr. Benjamin Goliwas (ASU) was to assist us with the redesign and to develop new tools using mysql, php, and other programming tools. Mr. Goliwas was employed as a graduate assistant in the New Media program and thus had the time to work on the design and development of the class environment.
Over the last 13 years the internet has evolved from a pure text based environment to a multimedia one. Web sites now utilize graphics, color, sound, video, and interactive tools that just a few short years ago were either not available to the common developer or required a skilled programmer. Users, and learners, who now enter into a web based environment expect and should receive experiences that take into account the nature of the user and the information to be displayed. At the same time, the site needs to be designed to meet the needs of instruction and the curriculum.
The basic core content of the class was not changed in the redesign process. The team decided that only the "presentation" needed to be considered with some curriculum updates based upon advances in digital internet tools.
The basic content of the course covers research on various aspects of multimedia, single and multiple image presentation, text-image relationships, audio and video integration, and a final project. The course assumes a skill development format with a final project which invites the student to construct a web site demonstrating the skills and perceptions learned in the class. The class requires miminum knowledge of coding while building an experiencial base with DreamWeaver, a web editor.
The current architecture of the class arranges the skills and knowledges into a module format. Each module addresses a skill and a reflective perception, building up the previous module's experiece. Students are required to build a home page for the class which provides links to each module. It is important to note that even though the basic content did not change, the redesign addressed only the "user interface" and the tools the students would use in their studies.
3. Tools we used
First it is important to mention that the design process would not work well without a functional collaborative space for the three of us. All the content was hosted by ASU server, to which we have FTP access. We used e-mail for text exchange and Skype, voice over the Internet, for audio chats, as well and audio/video conferencing. Because of the time difference, Poznan is 6 hours ahead of Boone, we had to meet (virtual meetings) at times when the team was available. this usually meant that Topol would meet with Muffoletto and Goliwas after 9 PM and from home. the American members would login to the discussion meetings from various locations. At one point Muffoletto was in Berlin and Topol and Geliwas were in Poznan. The fact that we all had broadband access to the Internet at both the university and in our homes, enhanced our availability to communicate and work as a team. It is helpful to note that while we were in audio chat we would all be looking at the same web pages as a focus of our exchanges. We were also able to send "text data and files" over Skype's instant messenger when needed. The working environment demanded that we work in a real-time environment, exchanging insights and ideas, while we were in different points in the world. Our exchanges had to remain fluid and interactive as we deliberated the question at hand.
Different electronic tools were used for the class itself and its development. Actually, the tool issue should be discussed in three categories: the class design, tools for the learner and tools for the teacher. The content of the class preserved in its most part, as it was mentioned above, so mainly its graphic representation was redesigned. The class site gained a new visual shape. All the pages were developed in html and php, as in the previous edition. CCS stylesheets were added for easier page management for future design considerations. The navigation page layout was designed with Adobe Photoshop. This advanced graphics tool is also capable of some functions for www production. Ben Goliwas did most of the programming and graphic design. He updated the “old” html files into their present look. The “new” class design uses MySQL as a mamangement tool. The data entry form allows students to add the address (URL) of their class website. Other students as well as the instructor could then search for a student's site by course and semester. This tool elimianted the time needed for the instructor to add each student's URL to the class list, as well as "typo" errors in the process. It was decided that with some modification the databse tool could be used for other classes as well, thus serving multipule purposes.
The class site contains some instructional materials for the student: tutorials, assignment examples and other graphics, audio and/or video supporting documents. The AV tutorials were created with Quick Time. Examples for student tasks were created with the same tools the students would work with along the course.
Let us pass to the student tools. The students publish pages for class modules demonstrating the skills they have learned. Graphics, audio and video production requires specialized software. In order to minimize potential cost, we decided on freeware and shareware applications. The students are informed which applications are required for which module or assignment. All the students use the same application for the same assignment. Why such a strictness, one would ask? The answer lies in one of the main characteristics of the class – create a functional learning environment and student learning community. The students exchange experiences, collaborate within specific tasks, ask for assistance in critical moments, etc. One feels more comfortable and functions more efficiently in such a collaborative environment when the community use the same learning tools. Also, support materials for each module could be constructed around one application, problems and challenges could be addressed more easily in this manner.
The platform is another issue. Multimedia, as many other on-line courses offered by ASU, welcomes students from and outside of the US. Therefore, both the class content and computer software require compatibility with the two systems, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS. The class pages contain links to appropriate software to be used, so that the students can download the applications according to the operating systems they use. The table below presents the student tools and platforms:
- this is from your table****
Activity Windows tool Mac tool Comment www browsing IE, Mozilla Mozilla or other browsers possible html production Mozilla Mozilla web page development graphics production the Gimp the Gimp raster graphics with layers
learning environment listserv, Wiki CMS collaborative space for information exchange
The last item in the table requires a comment. We wanted to support the class site with a tool that would form an open environment for the students and the instructor to publish questions, release news and notifications, ask questions, etc. Listserv is a solution – it is used now and was used in the previous edition of the class – but has its limitations. It serves well for text distribution. We needed a web-based, free-access service where both the teacher and students could modify its content and form. Open source applications, e.g. Content Management Systems (CMS) seemed to be a perfect solution. We tried Xoops first but gave it up soon because it was not very intuitive and user friendly for potential students. Then we experimented on Joomla. We found its interface more appropriate, but still, site management within Joomla seemed a little too sophisticated for our students - with their limited computer skill and experience. We finally decided on Wiki. This system is very intuitive and easy to use. There are several Wiki CMS systems available on the web. MediaWiki was finally our choice. The main idea of a Wiki system is a collection of articles. They can be grouped, expanded in the form of a tree, commented on and linked (Wiki allows both internal and external links). All users of a Wiki system can add or modify its content. We found MediaWiki a good solution for a collaborative environment we wanted to create. The system is being developed now. It will contain the following elements:
· threaded discussions on pre-defined topics,
· threaded discussions on new topics to come during the course,
· FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) for the class,
· FAQ’s for the applications used along the course,
· “link space” where the students will add links to useful or informative pages related to multimedia and image production, and finally
· blog or “electronic diary” – where the students can put their hot notes and comments to read among themselves.
Tools for the teacher are largely the same as mentioned above. When teaching the course the instructor refers to the following: (1) the class site and specific pages while discussing new material; (2) is up to date with the graphics, audio, video and html software that is recommended for the class; and (3) uses both listserve and Wiki environments for information exchange and collaboration. It is worth mentioning, however, that a good and fast system (broadband) of on-line communication is necessary on different levels in the class: student-teacher, teacher-student and student-student. We presume that all the class members will have their Skype accounts and will use Skype for chat and talk. E-mail usage will be used for basic text exchanges. Voice to voice communication provided by the Skype application provides a richer and more enhanced communication environment that text. The course uses all forms of communication to provide a rich learning environment for the student.
A major design element can not be overlooked -- The learning community. The class is designed around the use of various communication tools to build on a learning community model. In a learning community each student is responsible for adding to the experience of other students (as well as the instructor). Through the use of email, listserves, audio chat sessions, and instant messenging, students and instructors may be in "real time" interactions, working on learning challenges and critiques of assignments. The next level we wish to explore is VNC software where the instructor is able to view a studnet's computer monitor and help them solve a problem with a specific proceedure. If necessay the instructor could take control of the student's computer and demonstrate the proceedure.
It is important to stress, as in the class, we have designed in a learning community format into our work as a team. In working in this manner, we ourselves have addressed the challenges we give our students.
4. What we learned about working together
Working in a collaborative environment offers many possibilities and challenges. We spent the first few meetings trying to understand how each worked and how we would work together. Working out schedules, understanding how we talk about the same ideas in different ways, and two of us not working in our first language, offered chanalleges to all of us as we worked through this collaborative project. Being responsible to each other at times when everyone was extreamly busy was another element of the process.
Throughout this project we had (3 of us) to balance our own habits of working and ideas of what the look and feel of this Internet class should be. It has proved again that distance can be no obstacle, due to technology, of course. We both work in technology and we use ICT practically every day. Good communication between us was essential: between the instructors and the graduate assistant.
We developed the collaborative process by using various communication tools. First we used Skype for discussions between all three of us. Second we employed a Wiki to share thoughts. Email and Instant Messaging provided a means to leave text messages for the team, and lastly we used file transfer to exchange files and Internet pages to share and view our suggestions and progress.
A sample session may go as follows: we may meet in Skype and talk about what our goals were for that session, we would then bring up the web pages we were discussing and generated ideas for different looks and function. Ben, the graduate assistant, would offer ideas on how we could be more efficient by using a database or php coding for particular events. Both Pawel and Roberto would discuss the content and its presntation. After a one to two sessions, with each member working in their own local, the team moved forward on its mission.
What may be of most interest in this process was the problem-solving and creative energy that emerged from the collaboration process. As we discussed various elements of the redesign, new ideas and directions would emerge. Discussions on how these ideas would effect the direction of the course and the experience of the students always grounded our disccusions. In the end, the product produced reflected strong exchanges, our personalities and expertise, and lastly our humor. Humor did play a role in our colaboration. Without the power of the Internet communication tools, a collaboration like this one would never have developed and blossomed.
Here are some sample screenshots to illustrate the old design with the new look and feel.
