IAFS

Martin's Online Communities Promote Better In-Class Discussions in International Affairs Courses

Anonymous — Tue, 24 May 2016 21:11:05 +0000

Martin's Online Communities Promote Better In-Class Discussions in International Affairs Courses Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/24/2016 - 15:11

Contributed by albyantoniazzi at Flickr Creative Commons.

Dr. Jessica Martin wants to hear what her students think. Martin, CU �鶹ӰԺ Instructor of International Affairs, creates class Tumblr and Facebook pages for her students to build community and discuss current events relating to their courses--whether post-Cold War politics, the September 11 attacks, or the Arab Spring. Students' posts and comments on these online spaces contribute to their participation grades, and Martin has found that these online forums encourage more students to participate in class. "I notice, by the middle of the semester that more students are talking...It's helped to create a better dynamic," Martin says. She may ask a student to speak in class about their latest post to the class Facebook Group or Tumblr Page. "Where did you find that article?" Martin may ask a student in class; or, "What does this article tell us about the news event?"

Students appreciated Martin's effective class discussions and nominated her for an ASSETT Teaching with Technology Award in the Spring of 2013. One student wrote about Martin's Post-Cold War World course:

Dr. Jessica Martin is an amazing professor with an incredible talent to lead thoughtful engagement and discussion with little more than provoking and skillful questioning...her online discussion through Tumblr was unique and fun to use. This was my first class that used Tumblr as a medium for sharing and discussion outside the classroom. We were encouraged to post pictures, articles, journals etc. to our class Tumblr page in order to share ideas and information about the Arab Spring to our classmates and professor. While we received participation credit for our posts, the Tumblr page was a fun outlet to communicate on and introduced me to new sources and stories that I wouldn't have found without it. Dr. Martin was always trying to find ways to engage her students and her Tumblr page was a smart and creative way to encourage participation and learning.

Not only have the online forums engaged students, but they also serve as effective avenues for building critical thinking skills. Martin challenges students to search online to find evidence for their arguments, and then take a step further to examine the articles that they find for the writers' perspectives and opinions. "We try to have students find different arguments in the information they find...We really want to get as many perspectives as possible," she says, and, ultimately, "I hope they get better at analyzing information," she says. Martin says that her 9/11 class's Facebook group page serves as an extensive archive of media about that topic that seniors can refer back to when finding evidence for their final research papers.

Martin has encountered a few challenges with using these online forums for class discussion. Sometimes, students hesitate to create Tumblr accounts if they are not already registered at Tumblr. Also, since students' Tumblr usernames often differ from their real names, she must keep track of which aliases belong to which students in order to give students proper credit for their participation in online discussion. When it comes to the class Facebook pages, Martin tells students that she only views the students' participation on the class Facebook Group page--she does not Friend students, or visit their Facebook profiles.

Martin has found that online communities build connections among students. She has seen students make new friendships, sometimes just beginning with a post to the class Facebook page. "It's a good way for students to get know each other," she says. The communities formed during the semester seem to last long after the classes end.

Martin considers trying, "... a class blog where students could post," for future classes. Most importantly, when using social media in class, "Students had fun with it!" she says.

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Video Conferencing Connects Students from CU, Ireland and Australia

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Video Conferencing Connects Students from CU, Ireland and Australia Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/12/2010 - 00:00

Students from Ireland and Australia can now interact in a classroom with students from CU �鶹ӰԺ. What is so intriguing about this you ask? It is the fact that these students are living in different spheres of the world while still interacting “face to face” with one another in the classroom. To accomplish this, Dr. Michael Grant, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Studies at the University of Colorado at �鶹ӰԺ, is using technology that supports the interaction between the U.S and international students. Dr Grant explained, “As corporations, education, NGO’s, etc. are becoming more and more global and international, we want our students to think globally as well.”

What is the Internationalism Program?

Michael Grant received the prestigious ACE award for his innovative use of technology for his Internationalism program. Through this program, students from different parts of the world meet by video conferencing using the technology of Internet video conferencing. He said, “There are fancy cameras where we can see them and they can see us.” At the moment, the University of Colorado at �鶹ӰԺ, the University of Wollongong, in Australia and the Dublin City University in Ireland are involved with this program. A part of the program also requires its’ students to spend a semester or two in either one of these three different countries. Classes under this program are scheduled to work with the time differences in the three countries. For instance, 6 p.m. classes on Tuesday in �鶹ӰԺ will be 10 a.m. classes on Wednesday in Wollongong.

What classes are in this program?

Classes like Bioethical Dilemmas, Global Climate Change and special topics in science are applying this program to their courses. Students from different countries are encouraged to think critically and share their diverse perspectives on ethical issues. Currently, the students from CU and Dublin are sharing contrasting opinions on genetic screening and related ethical issues.

How can students benefit from this program?

This course is designed to generate interaction amongst the students. Dr Grant explained, “One of the fundamental ideas is for students from these three different regions of the world to give very different perspectives.” Though conversations tend to be a little bit different than normal classroom conversations, students are really very enthusiastic about it. Dr Grant adds, “Students find it very interesting and challenging and sometimes surprising how people from other countries have such different perspectives.”

What are the program's challenges?

The Internationalism program is currently affiliated with programs in three different countries. In the future, it might try to affiliate with Asian counties. Some of the examples of the chosen countries are Singapore, Shanghai and India. However, one of the challenges it faces in affiliating with these countries is the absence of compatible languages. Grant said, “One of the challenges of affiliating with such countries is to be sure we have a compatible language because we want to be able to communicate at a fairly high and nuanced level.”

Future Goals

The University of Wollongong in Australia has already graduated two students with an International Bachelor’s degree. Over the next few months, Dr. Grant hopes to get in place this new bachelor’s degree program where CU students can earn an International Bachelors degree as well. Also, he hopes for the students to think more globally. He said, “We want students to be aware and think in a much more expansive fashion than just thinking within the Unites States.”

Dr Grant further explained, “What we do here affects people over there and what they do there affects us.” By pointing out the fact that we are globally interconnected, he also sheds light on the important role of different perspectives in an educational institution. In order to nurture and give room for different perspectives to flourish, Dr. Grant’s Internationalism program is a stepping stone towards more progressive and innovative learning.

Written by: Manaslu Bista, CU ‘11, ASSETT Reporter

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Suite of Tools Transforms Intercultural Communication Class

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Suite of Tools Transforms Intercultural Communication Class Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 04/08/2010 - 00:00

How likely are you to hear “Alright students, take out your cell phones, we are going to mClk now!”? Chances are unlikely in most college classrooms. But, in Dr. Melinda Cain’s IAFS 4500 Intercultural Communication class, this is a common request. In her classes, Dr. Cain hopes to provide foundations to students in global health practices and inequalities. She also hopes for the students to focus in-depth on intercultural communication with diverse cultural populations within the United States. In order to do so, Dr. Cain, along with Mr. Dave Underwood, Academic Media Services, ATLAS and Rebecca Woulfe, developer of the mClk system, use mClk, iVisit and Vimeo as tools for innovative learning in her classroom. Students in Dr. Cain’s class are encouraged to explore the use these three tools to assist them in class participation and for their final project—a video illustrating best-practices in intercultural communication in a health care. Dr. Cain explained, “These tools will provide the integration of technology and interaction between people which will provide a very unique learning experience for students.”

What are mClk, iVisit and Vimeo?

According to Dr. Cain, mClk is a classroom response tool that gives the students the opportunity to use their cell phones. The teacher posts questions and the students respond to those questions using their cell phones. The responses are then tallied in charts or just listed on the classroom projector. Dr. Cain said, “It is advantageous to use the cell phones, because mClk uses text messaging. Students and instructors can go beyond simple multiple choice questions and incorporate considerably more lengthy responses.”

The iVisit system is a web conferencing tool that lets the students interact with health professionals through the web. Students can choose either their computer or their cell phones to interact in the conference.

Finally, Vimeo is a more educational and professional form of YouTube. It can be used to distribute the final product and for sharing clips during the production cycle. The students’ final product will be posted on Vimeo for broader distribution.

Using another aspect of technology, multi-media, Dr. Cain is also using People Productions, a video production house in �鶹ӰԺ. They will provide video editing, production, and filming expertise in order to provide students with a professional environment for creating the final project.

The nature of Dr. Cain’s class requires that students present a final project which consists of video and PowerPoint presentations. The product is directed towards improving intercultural communication between volunteers and diverse cultural groups in a US hospital setting. The “clients” for this semester are St. Anthony’s Hosptial and National Jewish Hospital. With the help of these three tools and Peoples Productions’ assistance, Dr. Cain hopes that students will produce a superior final project that will help orient volunteers towards more successful interaction with their multicultural patients and families. She adds, “The challenge is going to be capturing the final project information in a very short video, 15-20 minutes, as well as delivering follow up information in their PowerPoint presentations.”

What do the students have to say?

Ryan Fouss, a current student from Dr Cain’s class stated, “I truly believe that with this project we are working for global health. It not only adds “reason” to the class but it also creates a situation where we as students have to work together to accomplish a project. This is a great learning experience that we will be able to use in our professional careers.”

Another former student from her class, Maxwell Barrett stated, “The addition of the technology aspect only added to the final outcome of the project. It was definitely an added incentive to have “reason” for pushing the project to a new level. The technological aspect to the project also gave students a modern way of looking at health. With growing populations and health concerns around the world, cutting edge technology is the only way to progress health care systems around the world. This project and the technology grant are ways in which students can learn the value of technology in education and health care systems.”

How do these tools contribute towards enhancing communication?

Dr. Cain believes that the cell phone is, in many cases, a powerful computer that is available in the pocket of every student. She said, “The mClk tool enables students to express and share comments and opinions easily through their phones. When interviewing and working with health care professionals and discussing the role culture plays in their health-related communication, the mobile aspect makes it much more convenient for all involved. With video web conferencing, facial expressions and body language become a part of the conversation.” In addition, Ms. Woulfe points to the fact that because the cell phone device can be used anywhere within the United States, anyone from anywhere can participate in the discussion. This offers larger and wider grounds for communication.

Future Goals

Dr. Cain, Mr. Underwood and Ms. Woulfe see a day when cell phones are used for two way communication through video conferencing. Dr. Cain adds, “Two-way communication between faculty and students is one such possibility as well as social networking applications and more robust tools for creating documents, data, and presentations.”

Dr. Cain, Mr. Underwood and Ms. Woulfe are certainly trying to offer revolutionary and progressive ways of teaching and learning. Through the use of computers and cell phones, normally discouraged in a lecture room, they see the potential of technology and what it has to offer if it is used wisely and thoughtfully. Dr. Cain said, “Technology is a tool and it is how you use it that makes it effective or not. It really is up to the professors to create a learning experience that engages various learning styles.” Dr. Cain surely seems to live by her principles by incorporating these innovative learning tools in her classes.

Dr Cain recently received an ASSETT development Award. This award allowed Dr Cain to incorporate three of these educational tools into her classroom.

Written By: Manaslu Bista, CU ’11, ASSETT Reporter

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