Incorporate a synchronous component into your project. Your ability to use synchronous communication tools with students will be highly dependent on the policies of the organization in which you work - but I think we can say that in general, most online and blended programs will provide some form of real-time access to students. For our purposes, real-time does not necessarily mean a formal web conference. Live chat, open office hours, and tutoring sessions are all examples of real-time communication opportunities in both online and blended environments - the difference in a fully online environment will be the tool you choose to use to facilitate the communication. For Part 1 in this module, incorporate a technology supported element of real-time communication into your project. Even if you will be meeting students face-to-face, I want you to stretch yourself here and try to envision when technology facilitated, real-time communication might be appropriate or even more desirable than waiting until a class meeting.
#HeftyMath Live Twitter Chat
For my synchronous meeting I decided to really stretch myself and held a Live Twitter Chat with students on April 14, 2015. It was a HUGE success! I had 12 students who actively participated.
The overwhelming majority of students were A2 (Algebra 2) but I also had 2 Precalculus and 2 Calculus students who jumped on board. I had anticipated that it would take 15 minutes but actually ran 35 minutes. Here were the questions and some of my favorite responses:
Hello & introduce yourself (which class you are in)
There were 8 Algebra 2, 2 Precalculus and 2 Calculus B students who participated.
Q1 What features of the Sammamish Math website do you like?
Students responded they liked the notes and thought the site was easy to navigate.
Q2 What would you like to see more of on the site?
Students wanted more examples (almost everyone responded about this). The students wanted to see more step by step and picture examples as well.
Q3 What parts of the site are confusing?
Students stated they couldn't find a list of assignments (that's because there isn't a list anywhere) and some students had trouble finding the contact information.
Q4 What topics should be on the website?
This also had a lot of responses: Pascal's Triangle, the Unit Circle, Derivative Lists, and Formulas (what a great idea!)
Q5 What suggestions do you have for the site?
I wish I had done this chat earlier. The students had some amazing suggestions! My favorites were to create a daily blog recapping what we have done, practice problems (not graded) after the tutorials, and a question and answer section.
Bonus Question:
The correct answer was immediate from Dane P!
Below you can see a "recap" of the April 14 Twitter Chat:
For my synchronous meeting I decided to really stretch myself and held a Live Twitter Chat with students on April 14, 2015. It was a HUGE success! I had 12 students who actively participated.
The overwhelming majority of students were A2 (Algebra 2) but I also had 2 Precalculus and 2 Calculus students who jumped on board. I had anticipated that it would take 15 minutes but actually ran 35 minutes. Here were the questions and some of my favorite responses:
Hello & introduce yourself (which class you are in)
There were 8 Algebra 2, 2 Precalculus and 2 Calculus B students who participated.
Q1 What features of the Sammamish Math website do you like?
Students responded they liked the notes and thought the site was easy to navigate.
Q2 What would you like to see more of on the site?
Students wanted more examples (almost everyone responded about this). The students wanted to see more step by step and picture examples as well.
Q3 What parts of the site are confusing?
Students stated they couldn't find a list of assignments (that's because there isn't a list anywhere) and some students had trouble finding the contact information.
Q4 What topics should be on the website?
This also had a lot of responses: Pascal's Triangle, the Unit Circle, Derivative Lists, and Formulas (what a great idea!)
Q5 What suggestions do you have for the site?
I wish I had done this chat earlier. The students had some amazing suggestions! My favorites were to create a daily blog recapping what we have done, practice problems (not graded) after the tutorials, and a question and answer section.
Bonus Question:
The correct answer was immediate from Dane P!
Below you can see a "recap" of the April 14 Twitter Chat: