K EEPING S TUDENTS E NGAGED IN AN O NLINE C OURSE Sandy Jones
Los Medanos College Computer Science Dept.
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INTRODUCTIONS One week prior to the start of class, e-mail
students instructions on how to login to the class. Create an
Introductions forum and invite students to share a little
information about themselves (worth 5 pts.) As the Instructor share
something about yourself (be creative & funny). Examples could
be: Homework is posted Monday and due by 11pm. Saturday evening.
Membership has its rewards to receive the maximum point value for
work completed on time.
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C OFFEE H OUSE Post a forum for students to chat amongst
themselves. Let them know you will be monitoring it and ground
rules include: No profanity Positive responses only Allow students
to create study groups Keep it clean or post will be subject to
deletion
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SET THE STAGE Typically in my syllabus, everything is spelled
out and there are no surprises. By the end of class, students will
be writing college level papers. You may consider: Weekly
assessments (5 or 10 questions) Case Projects & Hands-On
Projects posted in the DB Mandatory check in- (worth 2 pts.)
Participation in weekly chat (CCC Confer or I/M) Research Paper
Field Trip
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PREPARE STUDENTS TO SUCCEED Offering weekly assessments will
reinforce the information students learned during the week.
Techniques include: 5-10 true/false questions 5-10 multiple choice
questions 5-10 fill in the blank questions or a short answer essay
By the time the mid-term rolls around, serious students would have
grasped key concepts and will ace the midterm and final.
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C ASE P ROJECTS Have students explore the possibilities in
completing weekly case projects, post their findings in the DB and
respond to two students using positive feedback (worth 10 pts.)
Examples include scenarios you create for just about any courses
such as: Computer Ethics Computer Forensics Computer Investigations
and Analysis Help Desk Customer Technical Support Introduction to
Computers Managing Your Finances
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H ANDS -O N P ROJECTS Provide weekly Hands-On Projects to
bridge information together. Examples may be: How many anti-static
bags does it take for your cell phone not to ring? List brand of
phone and post your findings in the DB ( Introduction to Computer
Forensics). Practice opening/closing and resolving hardware or
software issues. Instructor will post various scenarios and
students will download complimentary Help Desk software to practice
with. Post findings in the DB and respond to two students ( Help
Desk course). Create projects in Office 2010 and have students
showcase their work by attaching projects in the DB and having
classmates critique work using positive feedback. ( Introduction to
Computers ).
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STUDENTS CAN BUILD A RESUME Have students create a resume in
the beginning of the semester. Submit in the Digital Dropbox. Add
new skills to the resume as students acquire them at work or in the
classroom especially if they have enrolled in short-term 9-week
courses. ( A+, networking courses etc.) By the end of the semester,
some students would have enhanced their resume by 25% or more. Some
textbooks such as Computer Forensics & Investigations require a
resume as part of a Hands-On lab activity.
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SAMPLE RESUME Name Address City, State Zip Phone # E-mail
address Objective: I am seeking a position as Education: Los
Medanos College, Pittsburg, CA January 2012- present Experience:
Most recent employer first References List 3
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BOOST THEIR VOCABULARY. Action verbs such as:
managedimplementedlaunchedconsolidated
improvedrevitalizedproducedsupervised
expandedaccomplishedachieveddemonstrated
createdcoordinatednegotiatedsolved
developedexpeditedpromotedstrengthened
launchedadministeredevaluatedmaximized
producedestablishedredirectedspearheaded
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BOOST THEIR VOCABULARY II. Action adjectives & adverbs to
wow readers: provensubstantial majorsignificant
efficientlycost-effective successfullyrapidly
prominentcomprehensively innovate*dynamic
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STUDENTS CAN SHARPEN SKILLS BY Utilizing reference books to
enhance vocabulary & write effectively. (dictionaries,
thesaurus) Reading online technology news, magazines and e-books.
Practice spelling entire words out when e-mailing instead of using
acronyms (omg, lol, bff, etc.) Identifying problems, gathering
information, develop possible solutions, evaluate results.
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T EACHING T OOLS I: Assign group PowerPoint projects to promote
teambuilding skills. (design & develop the ideal Help Desk or a
new Emerging Technology) Offer enrichment projects throughout the
semester. Dont consider this as extra credit. Students can create
tables in Word, charts/graphs in Excel or an Access database
relating to the topic of the week. They must present their findings
to classmates in the Discussion Board.
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T EACHING T OOLS II: Here are suggestions for Office 2010:
Using the online templates, create your college graduation
announcement from a four-year college. Customize your own flyers
for a bbq, create a certificate for a loved one and design your own
business cards. Utilize a loan amortization schedule to purchase
your dream car (money is no object, 20 wheels & Bose stereo).
Obtain the American Dream of home ownership by utilizing the
mortgage amortization schedule to see how your monthly payments
will be.
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G RADUATION A NNOUNCEMENT
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PAYMENTS ON MY DREAM CAR
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NEED A GARAGE TO PARK THE CAR IN
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P ERSONAL P ORTFOLIO...
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VIDEO & ARTICLE PICKS Topics may include educating students
on the many facets of Google:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/inside-the-mind-of-google/ With high
tech crime on the rise, here is what is going on using an Ipad and
electronic pickpockets:
http://www.wreg.com/videobeta/8ba6f8fc-90a2-4711-90ea-
1884ec348310/News/Electronic-Pickpocket
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E NRICHMENT A SSIGNMENTS : Suggest field trips which classmates
can carpool together. Students compose a 2 page paper (MLA style),
scan and e-mail ticket stub to instructor. Cool places include:
Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA High-Tech Forensics Lab,
Palo Alto, CA Intel Museum, Santa Clara, CA
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RESEARCH PAPER Assign a 7 page research paper (cover sheet,
report and works cited page) on a computer related topic. Use APA
or MLA format. Use online database to locate sources such as: Your
college eBook Collection Academic Search Premiere- over 4,500
journals for computer science, engineering, physics, chemistry,
medical sciences and much more. Newspaper Source Plus- 1,570
full-text newspapers & 583,000 television and radio news
transcripts, videos and podcasts. CQ Researcher explores a single
hot issues in the news in depth each week. Topics include science
& technology, health, education and environmental issues.
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SIMPLIFY YOUR GRADING Check with your department if they
utilize TurnitIn.com which Instructors can check papers for
plagiarism. Students will e-mail a copy of the report to the
instructor and it will be uploaded to this website. The database
will provide a originality report for each submission. This
includes word count and similarity index by sources such as
internet publications.
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Q UESTIONS /C OMMENTS ? Feel free to contact me: Sandy Jones
[email protected]
