Blog update

I've been putting in extra hours at work this past week, but it actually relates to this course and the OTL program. Stanford University offered us a chance to pilot a group of online courses that are actually intended for independent use by K-12 GATE students, but wants to see if they could be used by general ed students as well in a guided, computer lab setting. It's good material, and I'm cautiously optimistic (always good to have high expectations!) that I can pull it off. It has been a lot of work to set it up, though, and to plan out a computer lab period for each class that combines the OTL course with a fun reward activity at the end (the old carrot-and-stick approach) for staying on task and putting in reasonable effort. The online course itself is an individualized course with no group or social component, but I have some ideas on how I might be able to work that into the mix.

Week 4

In past classes, both here in the OTL program and in the Ed Tech program, I've felt like I was a bit too controlling in group situations. I have a stubborn personality, and despite chronic distractions usually manage to have a clear vision of what I want to accomplish. This has caused me to wind up in an "Oh, I'll just do it myself!" mode in groupwork situations. Which worked out well, for the most part, in terms of getting a good grade, but definitely wasn't the best example of optimal groupwork dynamics. So this time I'm trying to take a step back and just do my part, without being controlling. Now I find myself a bit too distant, perhaps. Balance is hard!

The individual project has proven interesting in the early stages, but time is now growing short and I still have a lot of research to do. Looking at how mobile technology can have a prominent place in OTL feels cutting edge, and is something that I sense I will need to know about in the future. I feel slightly handicapped because I haven't been a big mobile guy myself (mostly because of lack of funds with which to afford the technology), but I've kept up on the developments via articles and observation and such, so this has not proven to be a big handicap.

Topic?

I'm interested in exploring the best ways to build social capital online using multimedia tools. Can video, voice, etc. add to the experience and bring in things that completely text-based arenas connot?

Multimedia 2

I'm also in the Educational Technology M.S. program at CSU East Bay. Quite a few of those classes operate in a hybrid format: some weeks we meet on campus in a traditional room, but for others we meet online or do online activities. I haven't been completely happy with these classes because the best methods for implementation seem like they are still being worked out, but they have made for some interesting class experiences.

We have done a few sessions on Second Life, which could be fun but there might have been too much tech overhead involved; most students hadn't used it before, so they had to set up avatars and learn basic navigation skills, etc., which drew their attention away from actually meeting and discussing class business in that virtual world. It might be an interesting way for students to meet outside of class business in order to build social capital, however.

Another tool we've used a number of times is videoconferencing. Everyone logs on at a predetermined time with a web cam and microphone, and class proceeds just as it might on campus. The results have been interesting, though somewhat less satisfying than actually meeting. One problem is the limitations of the software: only one person can speak at a time, you have to sign up and get into a "queue" in order to have speaking time, etc. This sounds like no big deal, but actually it does seem to take away a bit of spontaneity, plus seeing a thumbnail webcam of each other student is not as grounding as seeing them in the flesh. It has possibilities, though. Another problem is that many people reported being a lot more self-conscious during videoconferencing sessions than they normally are in a regular classroom, probably because during videoconferencing you can see yourself.

Multimedia

I'm interested in multimedia approaches to building social capital online. The classes I've taken in the OTL program are all text-based, an arena in which I'm very comfortable, but I also realize that isn't as preferred a method for everyone who is ever going to take an online class. Also, I'm always acutely aware of the limitations of text -- of how there is so much information that it leaves out or is simple really, really hard to include, and of the possibilities that technology now gives us for including other dimensions of human expression and experience.

One thing I have found interesting is a very different form of online class that my wife is involved in. This past year, she decided to finish her B.A. (she left school as a junior years ago due to financial circumstances) and after a lot of research enrolled in a distance learning program at CSU Chico. In most ways it is much more traditional than what we're used to here, but it's also much more high-tech and multimedia. What that university has done is to give certain major tracks an online option, but the classes are the same as for those who choose to do it online in-person in the traditional way. They have webcams and large flat screen monitors in the classrooms so that they class meetings are broadcast to the online students, who can either watch it later from an archive or watch it live and participate in the class via their own webcam/microphone setup. The professor can interact with the distance students during class just as he or she can with the in-person students. These classes also feature online discussion boards and activities in which all the students (in-person and distance) can participate. It seems to work really well for everyone (though some of the professors are more deft in its implementation than others), maybe because it's such a familiar format.

Reciprocal Altruism

I'm very interested in the idea of social capital and the ensuing discussion. The first thing that came to mind for me was "reciprocal altruism", a term from evolutionary psychology. The notion there is that our basic social instincts come from our evolutionary heritage and that we have an evolved instinct to altruistic acts -- doing good things for others around us -- but also an instinctual expectation that other people will also perform altruistic acts. In other words, there is an expectation of reciprocity -- perhaps not directly, but overall, within the group (I scratch your back, you scratch hers, she scratches his, he scratches mine, etc.), so that the sum for everyone winds up greater than their individual part. What goes along with that is highly evolved "cheating detectors" that trigger feelings of indignation towards people who are viewed as taking more than they give, or at least not giving what they are reasonably able to give.

Now I know that this is not the same thing as social capital, but I think it does have some relevance. For example, if an instructor sets up work groups in order to increase social capital among students, the equation described above will necessarily come into play regarding their experience with their group.