1. A Potpourri of Tested “Innovations” —
Enriching Classroom Communities
• Drs. Jelia Domingo & Eileen O’Connor
2. Virtual Environment Implementation
• Pros
• Once in place, students can go
on at will according to their own
schedule.
• All desk top computers have
sufficient memory to support the
platform.
• Cons
• It requires students to prepare in
advance and many do not.
• Platform will not work on
iPhones, iPads, or tablets
• This technology is unsupported
by the college.
3. New: Virtual Collaboration
• Organized students into groups
• Gave them latitude to meet at their own convenience
• Required them to assign roles – documentation of ideas, recording
attendance via screen shots
• Those without roles for sessions were to respond to other groups’
postings.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9. Benefits of Virtual Collaboration
• Students process information
more differently than in the
exclusive asynchronous
environment. (Social learning
theory in action.)
• Encourages accountability
between students instead of just
to instructor
• Higher level of engagement
• Development of stronger
interpersonal relationships.
10. Ongoing virtual work
• Since 2007, Eileen has been
bringing students into
virtual environments for:
• Meetings and discussions
• Presentations for speakers
(dean; teachers-in-
classrooms; special speakers
– assistive technologies)
• Joint collaboration and
project development
Since 2013, she has taught
courses on virtual
development
• The follow slides simply
illustrate ways that virtual
environments can be
customized to create
instructor level expressions
of the environment they
want to create
11. Selected publications on virtual environments
• O’Connor, E. A. & Domingo, J. A Practical Guide, with Theoretical Underpinnings, for Creating Effective Virtual Reality Learning
Environments. in print by the Journal of Educational Technology Systems.
• O’Connor, E.A. (2015-2016). Open Source Meets Virtual Reality – An Instructor’s Journey Unearths New Opportunities for Learning,
Community and Academia. Journal of Educational Technology Systems. 44(2), 153-170. (link thru ESC library databases)
• O’Connor, E. A. (2012). Developing effective online collaborative science projects by using course scaffolding, a virtual world, and web
2.0 technologies. In Proceeding of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2012 (pp. 728-735).
Chesapeake, VA: AACE. (link thru ESC library databases)
• O’Connor, E. (2011). Practical considerations when using virtual spaces for learning and collaboration, with minimal setup and support. In
H. H. Yang, & S. C. Yuen (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Practices and Outcomes in Virtual Worlds and Environment. Hershey PA: IGI
Global.
• O'Connor, E. (2011). Migrating Towards K12 in Virtual Spaces: Second Life Lessons Learned as Higher Education Meets Middle School
Students. In Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2011 (pp. 2192-2198).
Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
• O’Connor, E.A. (June 2010) Using Second Life (a virtual reality) in Language Instruction: Practical Advice on Getting Started; published
with the proceedings of the 4th International Scientific and Methodological Conference on "Information and Communication
Technologies in Foreign Language Teaching”
• O'Connor, E. A. (2009). Instructional and Design Elements that Support Effective Use of Virtual Worlds: What Graduate Student Work
Reveals about Second Life. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 38(2), 213-234.
• O’Connor, E. A. and Sakshaug, L. (2009) Preparing for Second Life: Two Teacher Educators Reflect on Their Initial Foray into Virtual
Teaching and Learning, Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 37(3), pp. 259-272.
• O'Connor, E. (2008). Becoming a Virtual Instructor: How Can Higher Education Faculty Prepare for Second Life?. In G. Richards (Ed.),
Proceedings of World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2008 (pp. 1144-1149).
Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
25. Teleconferencing – the Tanberg
Has been used for
- statewide residencies
- orientations
- a course meeting
Pros
Everyone can see each other to a degree
Information does not meet to be repeated
Con
Still very impersonal
Tech issues
Space issues
26. Integrate peer reviews – have students issue
badges
• Peer Reviews — postings for
the entire class (private
review)
• Students vote for informal
badges
• Results (published) found the
effectiveness of the
interaction and the “caring”
the came out of it
• O’Connor, E.A. & McQuigge, A. (2013-2014). Exploring badging for
peer review, extended learning and evaluation, and reflective/critical
feedback within an online graduate course. Journal of Educational
Technology Systems, 42(2), 87-105. (link thru ESC library databases)
28. Sharing lessons and discussion perspectives
via video
• Video Challenges — student sharing YouTube’s
• Increases familiarity and knowledge of others;
• Demonstration of lesson done by students
• Useful in almost any type of interaction or discussion
• Easily done – and for free – with Screencast-o-matic