The saga of Dr. Jacki Leak, Dept. of

Women’s StudiesSDSU

and the adventures of bringing IT HOME to the “Hip Hop” Generation

I Still Miss My TypewriterI Still Miss My TypewriterBut It’s 2008 . . .But It’s 2008 . . .

Classes: 2@ SDSU & 1@CSUSMEach class meets F2F, once a week,

in a SMART classroomTotal approximately 90-110 students

@SDSUMostly femaleMany Ipod-earbuds, laptopsReturning students (avg1 per class)Reluctant “Tech-newbies” like me

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Encourage early connections and development of trust

Encourage perspective-taking, risk-taking and divergent thinking

Integrate students’ personal experiences with class content

Deconstruct perceptions about womenAccess and evaluate online resources relating to

womenFacilitate student-guided interactions with peers

and with course contentMinimize barriers to full class participation

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BB tools Syllabus AnnouncementsAssignments GradebookEmail Digital DropboxDiscussion board Course InformationSurvey/Test Course Documents

Webquest

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Announcements & Discussion Board Icebreaker: interacting within the first

weekOngoing dialogues throughout semesterAnnounce course-related events &

information-sharing

Survey toolDramatic gestaltAnimated in class discussion

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Course Information and Course Documents became accessible resources for students to use “24/7”

Posted powerpoints facilitated fewer interruptions of lecture & more efficient note-taking, but students still had to be present to fill in the gaps…

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Online course evaluationOn a scale of 1-5,“1” represented “no help” “5” represented “very much help,” Overall average for all questions

was 4.3 (.88)

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How much did the following help your learning?

1. Online instructions and sample assignments 4.13

2. Study guides posted on BB 4.38

3. Powerpoints 4.56

4. Connections to classmates 3.81

5. Resources on BB 4.25

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6. Information given about BB 4.06

7. Individual support as a learner from peer interactions 4.19

How much has this class added to your 8. Critical thinking ability?

4.009. Perspective-taking ability?

4.3110. Skill in using BB?

3.81

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Help students begin to see & understand the perspectives of mature women

Exploring multiple websites, evaluate & synthesize content

Approximately half the students did this as an extra-credit assignment. A few students either didn’t read the instructions or for whatever reason, did not assume the age-appropriate perspective

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Student responses to 38 questions regarding the impact of the Webquest on the following: Ability to do online researchPerspective-taking ability Understanding complex ideasCombining and making sense of information

from multiple websitesUnderstanding relationships between concepts

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1-5 scale “1”means “Not at all helpful” “5” means “Very much help”

Overall results 4.3 (.78)average for all questions

One student commented at the end of the survey, “I never thought about it before, but I know this is going to be about me someday”

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Emergence of an “after the second class” tutorial

Online exam using Blackboard (OY!)Digital Dropbox is an excellent back-

up for student submissions that do not successfully upload into the assignment tool.

I almost forgot to do the final survey!

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Re-label links to websites to better reflect their content

Explore possibility of giving online quizzes

Explore how to make the discussion board less labor intensive…

Do more online surveys earlier in the semester, including first week “about women” statements pre/post

Revise the survey questions to be more content or BB tool specific

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I confess! I like technology I sold the typewriter , abandoned the age of

Aquarius…I used the money to buy a one way ticket to

join our students…

In 21st Century Cyberspace!

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