Department of Special Education Employs Hybrid Model for Students

When Desire2Learn was adopted at EIU, the Department of Special Education began offering its first course to employ a hybrid model. Since then, special education professor Melissa Jones-Bromenshenkel has utilized D2L, along with other online resources, to implement a cohort-style hybrid model for her Special Education graduate course.

D2L Course Site

The idea of starting an online hybrid model began when the department realized some of its candidates would be traveling great distances for classes — some from as far away as Chicago. Many of the students enrolled have full-time jobs or are involved in other activities, and there was a great deal of information to share, as well as learn, in the course.

“Using technology allows the candidates to have a quality learning experience while making the most efficient use of their limited time,” stated Jones-Bromenshenkel.

Using LiveBinder

Using Porta Portal

The Special Education graduate-level course being merged into the online model is called Assessments, Programs and Services for Students with Exceptionalities and English Language (SPE 5675). The course relies heavily on Desire2Learn, but also incorporates other online tools – like Porta Portal, Evernote, Pinterest, and LiveBinder – to compile an “electronic resource” file for candidates to use in their future roles as administrators or teacher leaders. The file can include online modules, YouTube videos, websites and much more. SPE 5675 is offered to students enrolled in Education Leadership cohort programs in Decatur, Champaign, and Mt. Vernon. 

Using Pinterest

The various technology tools are used to communicate information  including modules, assignments, and lectures with features, such as discussion boards, collaboration, chats, and emails. It is also used to complete class assignments—the Electronic Resource file and the Collaborative-Data Based Plan, which involves the analysis and display of various types of data. 

The hybrid course has been very beneficial for future school administrators across the State of Illinois, but, as with many new experiences, there are bumps. Dr. Jones-Bromenshenkel added: “Student feedback, professional development, and trial and error have helped the course evolve and I plan to continue revising and enhancing it as new technologies and information become available.”

For more information on the hybrid Special Education graduate course, contact Dr. Melissa Jones-Bromenshenkel, via email: mljones2@eiu.edu.

Physics Professor Utilizes D2L to Enhance Course with Associated Lab

Online courses are becoming more common today with technology advancements. Students are capable of completing items done in the classroom from the convenience of their own home. With this in mind, the Department of Physics at Eastern has outfitted one of its general education courses with an associated lab online.

Mr. Nenad Ilic

Nenad Ilic, the department’s academic support professional, is using the learning management system Desire2Learn and the voice and video calling software Skype in a unique way. The general education course Adventures in Physics (PHY 1052G) now comes with an associated lab (PHY 1053G) combined into an online format.

Ilic has taught a variety of physics courses including general education courses covering mechanics, thermodynamics, and electromagnetisms. “Technology provides an opportunity to reach a broad audience and train students to develop a variety of computer skills,” he stated. “Delivering a course online requires students to be more proactive, post comments, ask questions, and work more independently.”

The online course is based on the D2L platform and combines the functions of working in a classroom with online learning. Lectures that would take place throughout the week in a classroom setting are available as study modules for the students with homework assignments, tests, and sometimes essay topics; all based on the study modules.

The laboratory section of the course is online as well. When the students register for the course, they are instructed to order a lab package. This includes all the equipment needed to complete laboratories at home – with the exception of supplies like water and cups. For the course, students are required to complete 12 labs using the provided lab kits. The labs entail experimental procedures, data collection, analysis, and answers to provided questions. Students are required to submit lab reports as well as complete an online teleconference using Skype to demonstrate they have full understanding of the lab material.

Ilic noted: “The online course offered provides an opportunity for the university to reach a wider audience for students who cannot attend regular on campus classes and students of other universities that can obtain the necessary credits at their institution.” 

For more information, contact the Physics department via email: physics@eiu.edu.

Career Skillet Website Bridges Professionalism Gap Between Faculty and Students

How many times has a student come to your class with a paper due and asked for a stapler? Many faculty members think this is irresponsible while students tend to disagree. There is a vast disconnect between what faculty and students believe is irresponsible.  The Career Skillet website was developed to bridge the professionalism gap between faculty and students. 

Dr. Michelle Sherwood and her colleague, Dr. Jill Bowers from the University of Illinois, launched Career Skillet in July 2013.  Dr. Bowers has a research interest in emerging adulthood and Dr. Sherwood has two children who are emerging adults. With the help of some focus groups, the two combined their knowledge to develop the user-led Career Skillet website.

Dr. Sherwood began focusing on her children and the struggles they have had understanding professionalism and commonly used buzzwords that go along with it. She began looking into the classes she taught and asked her students to describe professional words, like networking. Many students would respond with: “We know we are suppose to do it, but what is it exactly and how do we do it?”

Screenshot of Career Skillet Website

The Career Skillet website is self-funded and targets emerging adults (students from high school to university) and is filled with information based on what they have been told by the emerging adults and the needs those emerging adults have identified. There are also sections related to the Family and Consumer Sciences field, including what FCS is, what FCS has to offer, jobs you can get specific to FCS, and FCS-related professional organizations.

Dr. Sherwood incorporates the use of the website in her graduate courses as well. Her Adolescents and the Family (FCS 5852) course and Current Issues and Trends in Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS 5460) course have focused activities which teach her students to apply research to everyday life. If the activities are of high quality, they can publish them on the Career Skillet website. Anytime there is a guest author on the site, it is very likely to be a student from her course or perhaps a student from the University of Illinois.

Professional presentations are developed and given by Drs. Sherwood and Bowers regarding the Career Skillet website as well. They have presented at the Illinois Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, the National Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, and the Illinois Council on Family Relations.  They also use the presentations in their undergraduate core classes as an informational resource. “As we have done presentations to students about this website, their feedback has been fascinating,” Sherwood stated. “There are just basic things they do not know and when you stand in front of them as a faculty member, it makes you realize the gaps in what they did not know.”

Dr. Sherwood has also received some funding through Eastern to pay for photos and hosting.  She has also recently received a Winkleblack grant which will help fund the next idea they want to add to the website called “Nailed It, Failed It.” Her idea is to have students sit in on a mock interview where she can provide feedback after the interview and it can then be posted online. Viewers will then have the chance to vote if the student nailed the interview or failed the interview. The grant will help provide the video equipment and capabilities needed for this undertaking.

“Research shows that emerging adults want to participate in things. They want to be able to interact,” Sherwood added. “We are trying to make it fun and incorporate Buzz Feed articles, things of that nature to add to it.”

For more information visit the Career Skillet website (www.careerskillet.org) or contact Dr. Michelle Sherwood via email: mlsherwood@eiu.edu.

Expedition Endurance: An Inquiry to Human Survival

Why do people continue to flock to the Southwest after retirement? This is a region that is desperate for water, but is growing in population. Cameron Craig, geographer and professor in the Geology/Geography department, wanted to further research the aspects of water usage in the Southwest to educate Midwesterners on how water is used.

This summer, Craig took four students on a 14-day expedition to the region. Those on the trip included: Craig, project leader Nate Page, student director; Aric Pelafas, Darius Holland, and Jay Bushen. They traveled through New Mexico, Arizona, southern California, Utah and Colorado to talk with many individuals associated with water resource management. Each student was responsible for finding and setting up interviews in particular regions. 

“There were a lot of ‘firsts’ for the group, which was exciting for me to see,” said Craig. “Most of the students had never been anywhere in the Southwest before, and Yosemite National Park and the Grand Canyon was a first for all of us.” 

Aric and Cameron talk with Brian Werner about
water conservation practices for landscapes

The trip was very educational for the entire group. While in the Tucson area, the group met up with a past student, Kevin Jeanes, who serves as vice president of Craig’s film company Tempestas et Caelum Productions (TCP). Jeanes was excited to see these new faces in the TCP family. In Central Valley of Huron, Calif., the group talked with some local farmers who spoke in their native Hispanic tongue. Craig stated: “A human being that used to be happy can no longer be happy, because they cannot do what they did for years — farm.” Craig is also continuing to work with some of the members he met with on the trip.

The Tempestas et Caelum Films Facebook page has been a hit with 351 likes so far. It was a learning experience not just for the students and Craig, but also for those who followed them on Facebook. They each kept a daily diary about what they learned and experienced and shared with their followers who loved reading their reflections. TCP Films continues to receive comments and questions about the project and how we can think differently about water resources. 

Early this fall, TCP Films will be traveling to local schools presenting an educational experience about how we should be thinking about water in the Midwest. They will also be traveling to surrounding areas, including Indianapolis, Champaign, and Chicago, to present a circuit lecture series to educate residents about the project. The ultimate product from this project is a documentary film which they plan on airing on WEIU and surrounding PBS stations in the Midwest in late October or early November.

The TCP Films Family in Yosemite Valley

“We are grateful for those who helped fund the trip,” said Craig. Next year, Cameron Craig would like to take students out west to see how they deal with water resources there. 

Craig concluded: “I take students out, because I want to relive what it was like for me through their eyes. It is an expedition--we are exploring something new. Not necessarily new out there, but it’s new for me and the kids.”

For more information regarding the integrative learning trip visit tcpfilms.com or contact Cameron Craig via email: cdcraig@eiu.edu.

KSS Professor Uses Social Media to Interact with Students

Dr. Amber Shipherd

Social media has become an essential part of today’s world.  Social networking sites like Twitter are being used on an everyday basis with 255 million monthly active users (about.twitter.com/company). Because of the popularity of sites like these among students, Dr. Amber Shipherd, assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Sports Studies, decided to incorporate them into her classroom.

Twitter is an online social networking application in which you can send messages – called “tweets” – consisting of up to 140 characters. Dr. Shipherd created a Twitter account strictly for academic use in her classroom. She teaches Sport and Exercise Psychology to both undergraduate and graduate students and noted that her undergraduate students use the application more than her graduate students. Dr. Shipherd uses the account to post articles from Yahoo! News that deal with topics being discussed in class.

 She uses the Twitter postings to find out if her students understand the material even though they are not talking in the classroom.  “Some students will not speak up in class, but are willing to read a short article posted on Twitter and start talking or tweeting about it.” She also uses the Twitter account as a quick way for her students to contact her with any questions regarding class or homework. With Twitter, she is able to give her students a quick response without the hassle of emailing back and forth.

Screenshot of Dr. Shipherd's Twitter Page

Dr. Shipherd has also began posting a “Tweet of the Day” – which includes posting a question at the beginning of class. Students then have an opportunity to comment; Dr. Shipherd can respond throughout the day. “The postings are another way to connect the material with stuff going on in the media and to see how it is being applied and used,” she mentioned.  

Geddit is another application that Dr. Shipherd has been incorporating into her classroom. Geddit is a free application that can be downloaded and used on any device. The application functions the same as using clickers in a classroom. So far, Dr. Shipherd has been using the application as an assessment check, creating and posting a question related to the discussion topics. “I can get an overview of the responses and see if students are understanding the content,” said Dr. Shipherd. “But I can also see individual student responses as well, and see that maybe I need to talk with them individually.” Geddit offers additional features such as incorporation into the curriculum. Eventually, Dr. Shipherd plans to integrate many more features of Geddit into her courses.

Although not all her students have devices in which the application can be downloaded, so far the responses from students who have been able to use it have been positive. She stated: “It’s a good way to get students thinking about and interacting with the content outside of the classroom.”

For more information on using Twitter or Geddit (www.letsgeddit.com) in the classroom,

contact Dr. Amber Shipherd via email: amshipherd@eiu.edu or find her on Twitter: @docshipherd.

FCS Implements Online Technology Tools with D2L for Graduate Course

Since the campus’s adoption of Desire2Learn in 2012, departments like Family and Consumer Sciences have taken full advantage of its features.  Dr. Lisa Brooks, an FCS assistant professor, has been working with Ms. Lisa Dallas, assistant to the dean for academic technology for the Lumpkin College of Business and Applied Sciences, to convert one of their courses into an online format this past summer.

D2L Course Module

Dr. Brooks noticed graduate students are continuing to ask for more online course options to help offset juggling work, family, and school; consequently,  FCS Administration and Supervision (FCS 5450) was converted to an online format. Brooks and Dallas attended the Spring 2014 Faculty Summer Institute (FSI) to learn how to incorporate the best pedagogical practices for online teaching, which assisted with the development of this course.

Dr. Brooks and Ms. Dallas learned about “low-stake” and “high-stake” assignments as they pertain to using new technology tools at FSI. Incorporated into the course are assignments that are worth a smaller point value – low-stake – in which students can experiment with the technology before they are required to complete an assignment worth more points: a high-stake assignment.

Formative evaluations are a necessity in an online course, an idea that was emphasized at FSI. Students enrolled in FCS 5450 were asked to complete a formative survey at midterm using Qualtrics. The survey was developed by the instructor with questions pertaining to the difficulty of the course and provided an opportunity for suggestions on improving the course. Brooks noted: “The main point is that if an instructor asks for feedback and takes action when/if appropriate, it will improve the quality of the course.”

Dr. Brooks adds interaction with her students as much as she can with the online format by incorporating audio with her news items in the modules. She enhances her PowerPoint presentations with narrations that allow students to follow along and listen to her just as they would in a classroom setting. To keep the students engaged in the course, they are also required to read two articles provided by the instructor, add their own research of additional scholarly articles, and participate in the weekly discussion posts. At the end of the course, the discussion topic was switched to incorporate a student-centered approach in which the students provided the instructor with ideas and articles. Brooks added: “The student-choice topic was perhaps the best in the class and definitely kept students engaged to the end.”

Blackboard Collaborate Session

Aside from the features used within D2L like the discussion board and Turnitin, numerous online technology tools are being used to facilitate student learning. Those tools include an online web conferencing tool (Blackboard Collaborate), online survey software (Qualtrics), and Lockdown Browser. Brooks added: “The implementation of D2L at EIU allowed Online Rooms, Turnitin, and Lockdown Browser tools to be easily incorporated with the content and objectives of the course.”

The online course and variety of technology tools available through D2L and EIU make this technology unique which is one reason Dr. Brooks and Dallas wanted to incorporate it into the course.

“Mobility of D2L allows faculty the flexibility to manage their course using multiple devices,” Dallas added. “Mobility of D2L also allows students to study and work anywhere on anything.”

For more information on the FCS graduate course, contact Dr. Lisa Brooks or Lisa Dallas via email: tlbrooks@eiu.edu or lmdallas@eiu.edu.