Tips and tricks that might account for my 95% retention rate!

Kari Frisch

Communication Instructor

Central Lakes College

kfrisch@clcmn.edu

SCHOOL ADDRESS: 501 West College Drive, Brainerd, MN 56401

Condensed Version of PresentationGiven at ITC eLearning Conference

February, 20 2011St. Pete’s Beach, FL

DON’T WORRY…

IT’S STILL NOT GOING TO BE ….

A DEATH BY POWERPOINT PRESENTATION !!!!

THE TEN TIPS I’M GOING TO SHARE:

• Work for me.

• May not all work for you.

• Might not all work for your discipline.

I GET THAT. BUT…

• Hopefully, you’ll still get at least one gem that will work for you and your discipline. Here we go!

•Student-created

• Post one weekly if possible

This helps foster a sense of community.

•*

QUESTIONS FOR CLASSMATES

Week 1: I usually start with two, 2-part questions, listed as “Kari’s week 1 questions”, one set per “forum”:

Question Set #1

Part A) Where do you consider yourself from and why? Part B) What are you going to school to study?

Question Set #2

Part A) How many online classes have you taken before? Part B) If you have had one or more online classes before, what advice might you give someone taking an online class for the very first time? If this is your first online class, what do you think you need to do differently in order to be successful in this online learning environment?

Here are some examples of past questions from students for students.

General questions:

If you could own a non-traditional pet, what would it be?

If you had the chance to do anything in the world what would that one thing be and why?

If you could change any one thing about the way society is today; what would it be and why?

If you could meet any fictional character, who would it be and why?

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three things would you bring with you and why?

Dogs or cats? Which do you prefer and why?

What, if anything, would you do differently with your life if you won the lottery today?

Here are some course specific examples I thought were fun:

Mass Communication Where do you go to get your news and is the internet helping or hurting news media?What movie has had the most impact on your life? Explain your answer.

Intercultural Communication What language would you want to learn to speak fluently and why that one over all others?Choose one country you’d like to visit and one person (living or dead) from that country that you would like to be your tour guide and explain why you chose as you did.If you were visiting the country of your choice, would you rather remain in familiar, "Americanized" resorts or would you prefer to stay/travel with a local from that country? Why?

Interpersonal Communication What is the biggest difference between distant learning and in class learning?How do you feel about talking in front of people you don’t know?

Online Social Networking What is your favorite Facebook game and how often per day, week, or month do you spend on it?What effect do you think texting has had on other forms of communication?

I divide the notes in two parts:

•Top portion: Notes for all Classes

• Bottom portion: Class Specific Notes

This helps develop a sense of immediacy, helps tie weeks’ content together, gets out other important information. Students know I’m in “real time” with them.

Examples of note points:• Words of encouragement

• Reminders about policies

• Tips on LMS (collapsible content)

• Further explanation of difficult chapter concepts

• “Heads up” about unusual assignments or special needs for the future

• School notices that we’ve been asked to pass on (financial aid pickup, college surveys, graduation info, etc.)

• Assignment clarification/directions/examples

I USE A TABLE FORMAT THAT INCLUDES THE FOLLWING:

•Assignment Order (number the items down the first column)

•Check-off/Completion Column

•Assignment Title, Directions, Location, Grading Criteria

•Due Date by Specific Day, Date and Time(Tuesday, February 22 1:00 pm)

•Total Points Possible

•Learning Objectives (so they know why they’re doing it)

This helps keep the students and the course organized.•*

•TUESDAYS at 1:00 pm

• FRIDAYS at 1:00 pm

This gets students into course early and helps prevent total procrastination.

•*

Here’s some other notes about my schedule:

I always release the upcoming week’s work (notes, assignment schedule, and anything with a release date) at 3pm on the Friday prior to the start of the week. This allows students the chance to work on homework (or at least pop in to see what the week will look like) over the weekend.

When asked why 1 pm on Tuesday, I respond that it is the time that works best for me. I like the fact the time is during a time when I’m online and when our staff is around and available to answer question if needed (tech support and D2L support)

The type of work due Tuesday is smaller (point-wise and work-wise) so that it is manageable.

This also allows me time to do a turn-over or a layered assignment for Friday because there’s still enough time between 1 pm Tuesday and 1 pm Friday for a small Part 2 assignment.

•Due dates/times

• Repeat-type assignments

•Class Policies

•Grading

This gets students into a routine and helps class management.

For Example… Classmate Questions (see #1) in the discussion area are

always due Tuesdays Survey of the past week’s learning objectives – always due

Tuesdays Chapter Quizzes are always due on Fridays I try to be consistent in grading (two communication errors

equals a ½ point deduction with one freebie.) Chapter Quizzes are always 30 points No Late Work – No Exception (Again, this is what works

best for me, it might not work for you. My students know up front that this is their “give” in our give-and-take relationship for being able to have open book, untimed tests. There’s also enough points in my class that students are really in control of their own grade, even if they miss a week or two.)

•Assignments

• Learning Styles

• Courses

This help keep students engaged and connected to content.

I have students take Learning Style Assessment and try to hit all learner types. For example…

Playlists (use for survey, and I frequently have students create a playlist based on a theme)

Videos (use as tutorials, quiz them on videos I’ve created, search & report on videos and soon will have them create their own videos)

Word Scrambles

Fill in the missing word in this quote

Interpersonal interview assignments

Photo Assignments

Surveys

•Class concepts

• Course Effectiveness

• Personal Responsibility

This helps keep students and instructor connected to the learning objectives.

Other benefits: Gives me statistical data to use for other assignments Helps keep the class dynamic Helps students connect to information personally Gives me information on whether or not I’m accomplishing

my goals (or how well) Reinforces students accountability (I ask, “Do you feel you

have a foundational understanding of Chapter 5?” and follow it up with “How much of Chapter 5 did you read?” (And yes, I think students are pretty honest)

I’ve used some statistics outside of that class (support why our online class tallies shouldn’t be raised, discuss whether students think they would have cheated if the tests had not been open book—this one is scarily honest)

• One point (only on quizzes and surveys)

• Only to first person who properly reports the error (must include student name, class, quiz/survey title, question number, error and what the error should be)

This promotes real accountability and improves course communication.

•More questions than I otherwise would use

• I still use randomized questions from a larger pool of questions

I’ve found this helps relieve student and instructor stress so we can focus on active learning.

•Reaffirm respectful communication• Use lots of “please” and “thank you”• Kill ‘em with kindness• Encourage I-messages•Answer questions first, then do a “food for thought” or “please re-read this and see if it could be perceived in a way…”

• Promotes class integrity, respect, and win-win communication.

Just a few examples: Tag Galaxy

http://taggalaxy.de/

Playlist.com

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/18980613643

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/21492687371

CollageMaker

http://tinyurl.com/473cmua

Windows and Mirrors Theory

http://tinyurl.com/47cb42g

Music Videos

http://tinyurl.com/4anyyb6

http://tinyurl.com/4jc5r9c blog

Other Resources I like to use

“In Plain English” YouTube Series

Flickr

FreeRice.org

Delicious (Social Bookmarking Site)

Thanks and Good Luck!