Module design reflection and plannning

                                Planning and Reflection for Module Design

         When I knew that we were going to design a module for our own online writing course, I got extremely nervous. Before I took ENG 704, I knew nothing about online teaching or studying tools, let alone thinking about designing an online course, even just a module. Since it was an important assignment for the course, I had to face it bravely. From planning, working on, finishing the module design, and reflecting on it, it took me about one month. Looking back the past month of designing the module, I have gained much. Planning is a necessary start for module design, but we also need to make correspondent changes in the process in order to cooperate our course’s needs.

         Planning for module design was not hard for me, and the instructions from The Sample Online Writing Course Module Assignment and Online Writing Course: Reflection and Planning in a Blog Entry by Dr. Cadle helped me a lot. I already had the sample assignment and the sample writing, so I just needed to decide on the interface, the interaction and the discussion, which functioned as a general structure about what my module would look like.

 On the other hand, the module design is not as easy as the calculation of“one plus one”, there are many details as mentioned in Dr. Cadle’s instructions that I should think about as well. I planned to use this course for online English writing students, who are intermediate writers. I named it as English Composition Online Course, and the class number of it was ENG 210, which was numbered by me randomly. There are many factors that can influence what the course will be like. For example, the number of students can influence whether I can be responsible for each of them, and my ideal number is no more than 20 students. How I present myself will matter the development of this course as well. I planned to be a teacher who had enough interactions with my students, but I would not be too talkative to take away students’ opportunities of expressing themselves as well.

As for the interface of my course, I used to try WordPress which was suggested by a tutor in writing center. Later, some of my classmates suggested that Weebly would be a good choice. I tried both of them, and decided on Weebly, which was easier to access and format. I didn’t plan to have password for the module design assignment in ENG 704 because I wished to get feedback from my teacher and classmates, but my future course would be password protected because I believed my students’ privacy and the intellectual property should be protected, where students would need an account to log in.

I planned to design the module in an online course, which was simple and clear. There was no need for fabulous images or creative little buttons for I was afraid that my students would be distracted by them. Categorizing the sections of the course was necessary, which would be home page, modules, discussion, contact information and so on. Also, I didn’t want my students get frustrated in finding materials in my course, so I would create a link for the reading as long as I mentioned it. Building community is a primary goal in online writing course, so I would provide at least three ways that students could use to get interacted with each other and me, which would include discussion board, email, Skype. Moreover, I would let my students choose and suggest the way of interaction that they prefer.

However, when I begun my module design, I realized that there was distance between actual operation and my planning. The first thing I made improvement was my writing sample, and I got some helpful feedback from Dr. Cadle. I didn’t have a citation screen in my video even though I listed it as a requirement in my assignment instruction. Luckily, Dr.Cadle reminded me that I needed to add that in my video because I was modeling how to use sources to my students there. What I learnt from this point was that I should put my students into consideration when I designed my online course, rather than ignore them. Only when our students feel comfortable with the online course, they can make progress in writing.

 I kept revising my module design for many times. For example, in case that my students couldn’t find the assignment document, I attached the link of it everywhere. The first time I only placed it in the Assignment section, and I placed it at the Module section later. I created it as an announcement in Announcement page for the third time revision. In order to make sure that the reading was appropriate for the designed module, I read and edited all of them over and over again, thinking students could benefit from which aspect in their video composition.

I attached importance to students’ interaction in my class. When designing the Discussion page, I thought students might not be positive in creating threads at the beginning of the course, so I started some threads for them. Students will begin to know each other even though they just reply to me in my threads. Students can also contact their classmates and me in many other ways, such as email, skype, which is listed in Contact page.

The only part that I am still confused is whether my online should be more relaxing or more formal. To be honest, I do want to have some background music, interesting images or video on the website. However, I didn’t do that because I was afraid my students would be distracted by them, and I might try it someday when I gain much teaching experience.

Planning can act as a general guideline before we start designing our modules, but we should make some changes as well in actual operation when needed. There is one principle that we should always keep in mind from beginning to the end, which is that students are our focus in teaching and we are always there for them in helping them with writing. The design of online writing course is not rigid, and we should keep improving it according to students’ needs, our teaching experience and technical progress.  

Module 8

                                   My Experience of Trying out Skype

            I have heard about Skype when I just came to America because I was looking for all kinds of communication tools that could help me to contact my families and friends in China. I didn’t try Skype at that time because I thought it would charge me for service fee, and I chose Wechat as my international communication tool, which was a very popular communication tool in China. However, after I had my first experience with Skype, I fall in love with it for its convenience, across-the-board functions and creative design.

            We are supposed to have a Skype ID for our ENG 704, and that’s why I registered for it. I never tried it until I met the first problem when taking ENG 704, which was that I couldn’t open links of writing samples for reading reflection in our first module study. I had thought about writing an email to Dr. Cadle about that problem, but I was afraid it would take some time to get the reply. So, Skype occurred in my mind. It was my first time to open Skype App in my phone, and I behaved like a child, being careful to take every step. I clicked the name of Dr. Cadle in my contacts, and I wondered whether I should call her or message her. To be honest, I didn’t get used to call somebody if I haven’t seen him or her physically before because I would get tongue-shy.

            I decided to write a message to Dr. Cadle in trying out Skype for the first time. I took serious of the content of the first message to my instructor, so I introduced myself, stated the problem and what I wanted Dr. Cadle to help me with, and expresses my gratitude in that message. I was restless when waiting for Dr. Cadle’s reply from Skype, and it didn’t take a long time that she replied to me and helped me with my problem. I felt that Skype was so amazing for it could acted as a bridge for me to get a quick help from others.

            From that time, I began get used to using Skype to contact my instructors or classmates, but I still didn’t try giving a call to somebody through Skype until I met an emergency in ENG 704. I check on the Hub, and noticed that we would had an online workshop. We were supposed to upload documents by tomorrow, and I was unsure about which document we should upload. I was freaked out, and I didn’t know how to contact my teacher at that time. Skype suddenly appeared in my mind again. I called Dr. Cadle, and she didn’t answer me instantly for some reason. Then, I wrote a message to her through Skype, and it only took few minutes that I got a call back from Dr. Cadle. Dr. Cadle answered my questions on the phone, and helped me to clarify my confusion. I also shared what I’ve learned in the class with her. The more I chatted with my instructor, the more I wanted to learn from her. At the end, I even made an appointment with Dr. Cadle that I could talk with her personally through Skype call. Skype doesn’t distance people’s relationship as what I expected before. On the contrary, it helps to provide a space where people can help each other, learn more about each other, and get closer to each other.

            Except for Skype, I also benefited a lot from other alternative communication tools, such as Messenger of Facebook. I am a friend of Kate on Facebook, and we both take one class together. Sometimes, if I meet difficulties in finishing projects of that class, I will ask help from her on Messenger, and she will give me some guides. On the other hand, if Kate is unsure about what our homework is, she will message me for clarification as well. Although we were unfamiliar with each other before, we become real friends through mutual learning by Messenger, which is only a subordinate communication tool of Facebook in some people’s eyes.

            The experience of trying out Skype and other communication tools is like an exploration into space: We are cautious and nervous at the beginning, but when we take our first step of trying out them, we will discover how amazing they are. Moreover, there is no end for the exploration for those communication tools as long as you hold an open mind for it. For example, I plan to invite my families and friends in China to try Skype, discovering how it will work in international communication. 

             

                                      

Module 7: reading reflection

                                           My Views of Plagiarism in Online Writing Class

            What is plagiarism? Actually I knew nothing about it even when I was studying in high school. The first time I heard about it was when I was studying in university in China, but our teachers still didn’t mention much about it except for our degree paper. Until I came here, studying in MSU, I hear about it everywhere. “No plagiarism” functions as a warning in my mind every time I begin my writing, which keeps reminding me that if I have plagiarism in my paper, then I fail it.

However, I haven’t spent even one minute to do a research about it until today. The first thing I do is to find its definition offered by a website, which is “plagiarism is the "wrongful appropriation" and "stealing and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions" and the representation of them as one's own original work”. Then I read some materials, one is Turn it Down, Don't Turnitin: Resisting Plagiarism Detection Services by Talking About Plagiarism Rhetorically by Stephanie Vie, and the other is the chapter fifteen of Teaching Writing Online by Scott Warnock. After reading them, I have some questions in my mind: what is the relationship of plagiarism with the online writing class? What are the advantages and disadvantages of electronic plagiarism detection tools in online writing class? As an online writing teacher, what should we do to prevent plagiarism?

As stated in Teaching Writing Online, “if plagiarism is easier to commit because of the internet, it is also easier to catch because of the internet” (152-3), our students get more chances to cheat in writing since they are surrounded with technologies in online writing class, which means they get easier access to others’ writing. However, since everything is public on the internet, it is hard to detect students’ cheating if they “borrow” someone else’s writing. Maybe we can say the internet promotes and suppresses plagiarism at the same time. On the other hand, online writing teachers read much of students’ writing in online class, so they are familiar with students’ writing progress, which inspects students not to cheat because their teacher is clear about their writing level. Generally speaking, students have less tendency to plagiarize in the online writing environment.

            Although the tendency is less, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. In Turn it Down, Don't Turnitin: Resisting Plagiarism Detection Services by Talking About Plagiarism Rhetorically, Stephanie points out that “when a student is told that their paper will be compared with documents in that database, a student is then deterred from cheating,” which is one main function of electronic plagiarism detection tools. At the same time, when those detection websites gather writing from others, they make money as well because they offer service to us. Stephanie describes the phenomenon in such a way, “we are better able to examine some of the metaphors Turnitin uses to represent its attitudes toward writing, which thereby serve as windows into tension points that drive the business of higher education today.”  Take “Turnitin” for example, it has been critiqued from many aspects in the society: students object it for it make use of students’ copyrighted writing to make money; teachers object it for it creates tense relationships between teachers and students; institutions are unsatisfied with it for its high cost of service every year.

            Faced with the advantages and disadvantages of those plagiarism detection tools, online writing teachers should take advantage of them rather than discard them because they still have their place in teaching world. As Scott suggests, “technology tools have their place, but they should not supplant good teaching practices” (157), so the more important thing is that how teachers should behave when faced with students’ plagiarism. First, teachers should not take aggressive approaches when suspect it because some students don’t know they already plagiarized even they did it. What’s more, teachers should design intelligent and creative students for students where they can’t borrow or copy others’ writing.  Also teachers should pay close attention to students’ work to learn about their process and how they revise it so that students don’t have chances to cheat them.

            It is a common sense that all students want to keep away from plagiarism in their academic life,  teachers have the responsibility to help them in keep students’ academic integrity by educating them about “plagiarism,” rather than test students’ writing like computer detection system with distrust.

Works Cited

Vie, Stephanie. Turn it Down, Don't Turnitin: Resisting Plagiarism Detection Services by Talking About Plagiarism Rhetorically. N.p., 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.

Warnock, Scott. Teaching Writing Online: How and Why. Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English, 2009. 152-7. Print.

Module 6 reflection

                                       Building Community in Online Writing Class

            According to Re-embodying Online Composition: Ecologies of Writing in Unreal Time and Space by Ken and Shannon, it shows that there is a debated topic on whether online writing class is good for students to learn writing, “many research indicates that more than 75% of online and hybrid teachers, despite expecting that they would continue to teach in these environments, responded with “near-audible ambiguity” on the success of the endeavor” (p25). What’s more, some faulty believes that students are disadvantaged by the OWI in such areas as the improvement of critical thinking skills (p25). However, setting the primary goal of online writing class at building community by positing way of “making do,” rather than enhancing the technology of online class, students can benefit more from it.

Before we think about how to build community in online writing class, we’d better figure out why we should build community. As mentioned by Ken and Shannon, “in a face-to-face, or “seated,” classroom, we may reasonably expect our learning communities to form organically” (p26), where students get to know each other without conscious awareness of their own or others decisions. In a f2f classroom, students can feel each other as a person through small talk, gesture, voice, or even clothing. On the other hand, in an online writing classroom, community can also be built: students can be encouraged to know each other through simple technologies, such as email, real-time chat that allows for exchange of biographical details, and so on. All of them can help to produce familiarity as in f2f classroom.

            Except for that, the text created by students needs the existence of community in online class. For example, group work, discussion and peer review require students to escape from the tyranny of isolated cognitive process model. Moreover, even an individual essay is created based on a complex ecological web of knowledge formation, rhetorical expectations, and lived experiences. In all, it can be concluded that building community in online writing class is not only beneficial, but also necessary.

            Based on some suggestions initiated in Re-embodying Online Composition: Ecologies of Writing in Unreal Time and Space, I conclude three ways for teachers that can help to build community in online writing class. The first one is to design assignments that contribute to community building. For example, in a group project, students gradually understand “community” as an entity that contributes to knowledge and communication. Even while they join in a small community, students get mutually engaged in a project of creating knowledge and communicating meaningfully about it.  Conducting a questionnaire is also a good way to help to build community, which requires students to think carefully about how their language and assumptions will be negotiated and interpreted by a specific audience. In the process, students become aware of community in class.

            Sharing a general topic is helpful for building community as well. As they negotiate possible topics, students acknowledge their own embodied experience and the relative distribution of their information and knowledge, and connect their distributed knowledge with classmates. Another benefit of this way is that it can be done with very basic technological tools. However, teachers should help student to realize that sharing a topic doesn’t mean giving up their autonomy in learning community.

            There is another interesting way that help to build community mentioned by Ken and Shannon, which is introductory exercises. Although I have never heard about then before, I am attracted by them because they give students a variety of ways to present themselves to one another, and get them to talk. There are many forms of those exercises, such as video recording, taping, or even just a self-introduction blog. In such an exercise, students get empowered to join their online groups from a position of authority.

            When guiding students toward collaborative interactions with their classmates and teachers in online class, they are not only pushed to learn more about writing, they also grasp a deep understanding of social breadth of knowledge. When more and more people will see the advantageous side of online writing class, the goal of re-embodying online composition mentioned by Ken and Shannon can be achieved.

Works Cited:

Gillam, Ken, and Shannon R. Wooden. "Re-embodying Online Composition: Ecologies of Writing in Unreal Time and Space."Computers and Composition 30 (2013): 24-36. Print.

Module 5 reading reflection

                                       On the Way of Video Composing
        In the current information age, the movement from page to screen is a shift that opens up a new way to present our thoughts. For example, we can present our writing in video nowadays, which is called as video composing. Honestly speaking, I have never tried video composing before. Until today, reading After Digital Storytelling: Video Composing in the New Media Age written by Tim and Megan, I felt like my horizon got broadened. There was a paragraph impressed me most, “our focus should not rest on the fact that new media tools shift traditional notions of text-based practices, but rather must encompass the realization that an important set of new processes intrinsically tied to new technologies has come to light. In short, their research calls us to recognize that to make new media is to enact new methods of composing that are specific to new forms.” This sounds like a piece of advice for writing teacher who teaches video composing for me, and it is this piece of advice trigger my thoughts on what I should do if I will teach video composing in the future.
      First of all, I should realize what difficulties students might meet in the process of video composing. There are two cases involved in After Digital Storytelling: Video Composing in the New Media Age. One is with Candice, and the other one is with Katie.  Although the number of examples is very limited, there is much indication that we can get from them. Except for texts, some students might be unable to express their thought by other modalities. In Katie’s case, Katie feel uncomfortable by in engaging with the visual as a mode of conveying meaning. Spending lots of time showing text slides in the video and only using still pictures all reveal Katie’s uneasiness. Even students who are willing to express their thought in multimodalities, it doesn’t mean they can finish the video composing successfully. For example, they might discover new theme and reaches a new conclusion which is different from their original written script. As stated in Candice’s case, Candice meets a crisis in making a film because she discovers that her mother and she was so alike, and the new thought is opposite with her previous judgment on her relationship with her mother. Most students can be impeded in front of those difficulties, and it is teacher’s responsibility to help explore what the process of video composing should be.
       Video composing is a process that requires working with all the modes, such as alphabetic text, still/moving image, and escapes the tidy confines of a sequential model.  A video is not a translation or transformation of written script, but rather a way to generate new meaning. At the very beginning, teachers should work with the students to assess the multiple meaning-making modes, and students are the one who need to decide how those modes can be synthesized to create synchronous effect. What students should keep in mind is that video composing is not a liner process. On the contrary, it is a recursive process, where students can revisit and revise their original ideas. Moreover, students need to learn adjust the progression as they build new insights of their own experiences. 
       The basic understanding that every video composer should hold is that except for texts, all the other modes can also be used to convey meaning. Modes should not treated as tools to edit our video, but they should be used to “write” our video. Whether it is video composing or composing in other forms, they are a process of writing not a product of writing. As a teacher, they are more willing to see how students keeps improving in the writing, rather than where students achieves at the end. 

Works Cited:

Fulwiler, M., & Middleton, K. (2012). After digital storytelling: Video composing in the new 74 media age. Computers and Composition, 29(1), 39–50.

Module Four Reflections

    The Way to Deal with Errors

       When I read Chapter Nine: Assignments: Outline, Student Texts Drive Them in Teaching Writing Online, I was impressed by some ideas in the introduction. For example, using many informal assignments is a function both of what the students are doing and of the way we look at and evaluate their work; because students write so much online, we can free ourselves from tendencies to focus on error in students’ writing (94). However, when assignments are important, we end up trying to find reasons to state the flaws as a way of justifying grades rather than working with student texts. So, as an OW teacher, in order to deal with students’ error properly, we should understand what errors can do in our evaluation, and how to evaluate students’ work.

       First, errors can be unprofitable intrusions upon the consciousness of the reader, influencing the clarity of students’ work. When we are reading students’ work, we can ignore it if there is few grammar mistakes and continue reading. However, if there are too many grammar mistakes, we can’t ignore them, and those mistakes become an obstacle in our reading process. As a result, those technical errors discourage our access to larger ideas of students’ work, shifting the reader’s attention from where he is going (meaning) to how he is getting there (code).      

       Second, errors can be a reflection of students’ logic map in writing. A closer look for students’ work will reveal very little that is random or “illogical” in what they have written. Writers never make mistakes out of no reason, which can be they haven’t learned the specific writing rules before, or they are influenced by their first language, and so on. I used to have a student, who always used wrong conjunctions in his writing. One time, I had a conversation with him, asking him about why he used some specific conjunctions, and he told me that because he saw other students used them as well. Until then, I realized that he used those conjunctions improperly because he didn’t understanding the meaning of them, only knowing how to spell them.

       Last but not least, what should we expect toward errors in students’ work? On the one hand, we need to decide the type of error. Normally, they can be divided into two types, which are sentence issue and global issue. If it is a sentence issue, it may lie in punctuation, syntax, spelling, and vocabulary. If it is global issue, it may lie in the structure, the content, or the theme. Global issue is the prior concern for teachers when evaluating students’ writing. When faced with global issue, we should ask students questions, and try to get them to talk, listening what they think about their writing. As for sentence issue, if there are too many, some type of specific instruction may need to be taken into account seriously.

On the other hand, the type of assignments have something to do with the evaluation. Small assignments should be used for the purpose of allowing students to work out on a minor scale what we've taught them, and large assignments are a culmination of how well they learned those things. For example, for a journal or post, we may not need to be too picky for we care more about students’ ideas. However, for a term paper or a test, we may concern about students’ grammar as well.

To sum up, students errors definite influence our expectation toward their writings. In order to help students get rid of errors, we should look closely at their work, rather to be certain to see nothing but a chaos of errors when encountering their writing. As students produce a variety of texts in the OW course, our job is to help them to explore and take productive risks to develop their writing, not being scared by errors.

Works Cited

Warnock, Scott. Teaching Writing Online. NCTE: Illinois. 2009. Print.

Module 3 Reading Reflection

 Transform Conversation into Writing

          I have never realized that every piece of discussion that I post on the forum for my ENG 704 online class can be called as a piece of writing until I read the Chapter 8 Conversation: Online, Course “Talk” Can Become Writing in the book Teaching Writing Online by Scott Warnock. In this chapter, he mentions that the use of asynchronous message boards can facilitate student communication. Combined his opinions with my experience of ENG 704 class, I can get the conclusion that online conversation can be transformed into writing by its original features and being properly handled by teachers.

        Discussion boards for an online writing class not only offers the efficient sharing of writing, but also opportunities for improving writing by students themselves. In a face-to-face classroom, the conversation is synchronous which means there are some limits of it: First of all, not every student can participate in discussion for the limitation of time and space in an onsite classroom. However, as expressed by Scott, “The online discussion boards are asynchronous that open environment with more equitable participation (70).”

   Moreover, for some students who are too shy to speak in front of people, discussion boards might be an ideal choice for them to express their ideas freely. Also, if it is a fast-paced chatting setting, some students can’t respond in time for lack of language ability or being distracted. However, that issue won’t happen in discussion boards where they can compose thoughtful, probing contributions with reflective time (70). Take myself for example, when I was sitting in the classroom which is full of native speaker, I dared not to express myself because I was afraid they might laugh at my nonstandard spoken English. When I was writing my discussion thoughts for ENG 704, I was passionate and willing to share thoughts with my classmates because I could revise my post many times before posting to make sure what I said was proper. In the process, my confidence in English learning got enhanced because of enough chances of expression through discussion boards.

    As a teacher for online writing class, it is not easy to deal with the discussion board and inspire students’ passion in keeping using it. Before initiating the discussion, Scott suggests that the teacher should make sure their instructions and expectations are clear and detailed (79). Some students don’t contribute to the discussion not for they don’t want to, but for they don’t know how to respond. Clear-cut guidelines are important for online discussion. If I am the teacher, after the first time I post guidelines for discussion, I don’t get as many responses as I expect. I will try communicating with my students to see whether they are confused about the guidelines, and revise it accordingly.

   The role teacher plays in discussion board will influence how much he or she can get from students’ discussion. Scott has clearly stated that an online facilitator should be reminded of the purpose of any composition is to illuminate the thoughts of students, rather than craft a position that puts them on center stage (73). During the online discussion, what teacher needs to do is to clarify and extend the thinking of students. With the help of teacher, students’ pieces of discussion can be developed into good writing.

   As Scott points out that, “although teacher doesn’t need to be the center of discussion, they need to be involved with students’ asynchronous conversations (75).” The appropriate level of involvement is hard to control in the discussion board for online writing teacher. Both too much and too little involvement can lead students to shut down in another way. Like in ENG 704, at the very beginning of semester, my instructor Dr. Cadle would raise a question for us to start the discussion. Later, she gave the opportunity to us. Students can start a thread for each module if they have questions after reading. Although Dr. Cadle may not respond to each post, she would respond to some post to state her position and initiate more discussion. The way that Dr. Cadle handle with the discussion board is a good example for me to learn, which is not overzealous about responding, but also let students feel that she is always with us in the process.

        At the beginning of taking online writing class, students behave like a kid because they don’t know how to follow teacher’s steps. At this stage, teacher should pay close attention to students’ responses for discussion. Later, when students get used to the pace, teacher can give more freedom to students’ discussion, and be an assistant on students’ way to develop thoughts into discussion post, or even writing.

Works Cited:
       Warnock, Scott. Teaching Writing Online. NCTE: Illinois. 2009. Print.