Course Syllabus Fall 2007

Here is our course syllabus. As new materials become available, we may incorporate them into the readings and class discussions.

Beyond WebCT: Integrating Social Networking Tools Into Language and Culture Courses

Course Description: This course is designed to introduce students to web-based social networking environments and provide them with the resources and experiences to effectively integrate them into their teaching repertoire.

Course Objectives:

1. Students will become familiar with web-based social networks and their use in education.
2. Students will explore and evaluate a variety of social networking sites through collaboration on a class blog.
3. Students, in consultation with the instructor, will implement one social networking tool in a currently taught course. Students will show evidence of integration with course content and objectives.
4. Students will develop a corresponding student assessment rubric.
5. Students will share results on class blog.
6. Students will develop a portfolio of effective, appropriate, collaborative teaching/learning environments, to include a pedagogical rationale for their use as well as suggested course applications. Students will submit this work on a class wiki.

Course Format: In-class and online discussions, in-class and online exploration and collaboration.

Required Texts: Online resources provided in syllabus. Unless otherwise noted, you are to read/listen/view these materials prior to that class date.

Course Requirements:

• Graduate status.
• Students must have taught a minimum of one year in the department and successfully completed the departmental methods course.

*Since this course requires the use of an iPod and iPod recording device, we will assign those items on semester loan to students who do not have them. Students who have need of a computer with speakers and microphone will receive an iBook (Apple laptop) for the duration of the semester.

Final Grade:
30% Wiki (Portfolio)
25% Classroom Implementation of Social Networking Tool
25% Blog Contributions
20% Participation

1st session: What is Web 2.0?

For Class Discussion:
Reminder: Please prepare the following three items before our first class:

1. Thomas L. Friedman’s discussion about his book, “The World is Flat” (Please note this talk is 1 hour and 15 minutes.)
2. Web 2.0: A New Wave of Innovation for Teaching and Learning? By Brian Alexander
3. Getting Started with Web 2.0 by Professor Michael Wesch
4. Please download and save this article for session 13: The Power of the Mashup by Suzie Boss and Jane Krauss

In-Class Activities:

1. Web 2.0 by Jeff Utecht: (5 minutes)
2. RSS in Plain English by Lee and Sachi Lefever (3.5 minutes)
3. Work on RSS, class blog, podcasts

You will write a minimum of seven posts for the class blog. You will find rubrics for your work on the ‘Course Blogs’ page. Your blog posts should reflect on course resources, discussions, projects, and/or the impact of Web 2.0 technologies on language education. You should also pick an education-focused blog and podcast to subscribe to for the semester; these will be another source of information for your blog posts. The instructor will periodically post/assign a topic question for you to blog about.

2nd session: Educational Trends

For Class Discussion (to prepare in advance)

1. IdeaCast’s interview with Don Tapscott, author of ‘Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything’. (First 15 minutes of the podcast)
2. Map of Future Forces Affecting Education
3. Horizon Report, a collaboration between The New Media Consortium and the Educause Learning Initiative
4. The Machine is Us/ing Us by Professor Michael Wesch (a little over 4 minutes)

In-Class Activities:

1. Chronicle of Higher Ed special video on Digital Ethnography Project
2. Web2.0
3. TouchGraph Google Browser
4. Personalized portals: Netvibes, Page Flakes, Protogpage, Bloglines

3rd session: Teaching Today’s Students

For Class Discussion (to prepare in advance)

1. Information Overloaded by Thomas Washington. You’ll need to register to receive this article.
2. “Backwards into the Future: Seven Principles for Educating the Ne(x)t Generation” by Helen Sword and Michael Leggott
3. Authentic Learning for the 21st Century by Marilyn M. Lombardi
4. “The Demand for ‘On Demand’” by Bob Weir
5. Network Cha Cha by Katherine Grayson

In-Class Activities:

1. Web 2.0 & Language Learning by Graham Stanley(7 minutes)
2. Interlangua
3. Web 2.0 Backpack: Web Apps for Students by Josh Catone of Read/WriteWeb

4th session: Collaborative Editing

For Class Discussion (to prepare in advance):

1. Educause’s 7 Things You Should Know About Collaborative Editing
2. Educause’s 7 Things You Should Know About Blogs
3. “Reflecting, Writing, and Responding: Reasons Students Blog” by Carie Windham
4. Wiki Pedagogical Potential by Renée Fountain of dossiers technopédagogiques
5. See Who’s Editing Wikipedia by John Borland

In-Class Activities:

1. Wikis in Plain English by Lee and Sachi Lefever (under 4 minutes)
2. Google Docs & Spreadsheets, MindMeister
3. Work on Class Wiki
4. Brainstorm class projects

5th session: Assessment

For Class Discussion (to prepare in advance):

1. Beyond Campus Boundaries ePortfolio Transforms into ‘Cultural Application’, a conversation with Trent Batson
2. Student Web Portfolios St. Olaf College
3. UCONN’s eportfolio You’ll need to get an account to view this.
4. The Chronicle of Higher Ed: The New Metrics of Scholarly Authority by Michael Jensen
5. Educause—Technology and Learning: Defining What You Want to Assess by Joni E. Spurlin

In-Class Activities:

1. Work on class project
2. Work on course wiki

6th session: Digital Storytelling

For Class Discussion (to prepare in advance):

1. Educause’s 7 Things You Should Know About Digital Storytelling
2. Podcasts: What it is and how it works by Craig Syverson of gruntmedia
3. The Chronicle of Higher Ed: Lectures on the Go by Brock Read
4. Confessions of a Podcast Junkie: A Student Perspective by Carie Windham
5. Campus Technology’s iPod Course Design
6. Consensus: Podcasting Has No ‘Inherent’ Value by Paul McCloskey
7. Educause’s 7 Things You Should Know About Screencasting

In-Class Activities:

1. Voicethread, podcasting, mogulus, talkshoe
2. Work on class project
3. Work on course wiki

7th session: Social Networking

For Class Discussion (to prepare in advance):

1. Comparing Social Networking to Online Communities by Lee and Sachi Lever
2. Educause’s 7 Things You Should Know About Facebook
3. Educause’s 7 Things You Should Know About Facebook II
4. 12 ways to turn your Web 1.0 site into a Web 2.0 site by Quinton Figueroa of Slayerment
5. Educause’s 7 Things You Should Know About Twitter

In-Class Activities:

1. Social Networking in Plain English by Lee and Sachi Lefever (under 2 minutes)
2. Facebook, pownce, jaiku, twitter
3. Work on class project
4. Work on course wiki

8th session: Social Annotation

For Class Discussion (to prepare in advance):

1. Five Ways to Mark Up the Web by Nick Gonzalez of TechCrunch
2. Educause: Calibrated Peer Review: A Writing and Critical Thinking Instructional Tool
3. Comment Press 1.0
4. Educause’s 7 Things You Should Know About Social Bookmarking
5. Social Bookmarking in Plain English by Lee and Sachi LeFever (3.25 minutes)

In-Class Activities:

1. Del.icio.us, Diigo, Fleck, Flickr, Stickis
2. Work on class project
3. Work on course wiki

9th session: Presentation Tools

For Class Discussion (to prepare in advance):

1. Educating the Net Generation: Chapter 7, Convenience, Communications, and Control: How Students Use Technology ; Chapter 9, Curricula Designed to Meet 21st-Century Expectations
2. Educause’s 7 Things You Should Know About Google Jockeying

In-Class Activities:

1. Spresent, slideshare, Screencast-0-Matic, CamStudio (Windows only)
2. Work on class project
3. Work on class wiki

10th session: Viral Videos

For Class Discussion (to prepare in advance):

1. Educause’s 7 Things You Should Know About YouTube
2. Educating the Net Generation, Chapter 15, Planning for Neomillennial Learning Styles: Implications for Investments in Technology and Faculty
   

In-Class Activities:

1. YouTube, GoogleVideo, Vimeo, TeacherTube, Ustream
2. Work on class project
3. Work on class wiki

11th session: Virtual Meetings

For Class Discussion (to prepare in advance):

1. Educause: From Distraction to Interaction: Incorporating Cell Phones Into the Learning Environment
2. eSchool News Online: Educators Assess iPhones For Instruction
3. Educating the Net Generation, Chapter 12, Learning Spaces
   

In-Class Activities:

1. Skype, GizmoProject
2. skrbl
3. ClassSpot
4. TeamSpot
5. Work on class wiki

12th session: Online Rights and Safety

For Class Discussion (to prepare in advance):

1. Digital Millennium Act: An Overview by the UCLA Online Institute for Cyperspace Law and Policy
2. Educause’s 7 Things You Should Know About Creative Commons
3. Creative Commons
4. Identity 2.0 by Dick Hardt
5. “The Online Amplification Effect” by Margaret Soltan
6. “Admissions of Guilt” by Terry Calhoun

In-Class Activities:

1. Example of Higher Ed Creative Commons Use: Drew University Writing Program On-line Resources for Writers
2. MIT Digital Repository
3. Connexions
4. Next Vista for Learning
5. OpenID
6. ClaimID

13th session: Mashups

For Class Discussion (to prepare in advance):

1. Educause’s 7 Things You Should Know About Mapping Mashups
2. Dr. Mashup; Or, Why Educators Should Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Remix by Brian Lamb
3. Educause’s 7 Things You Should Know About Google Earth
4. The Power of the Mashup by Suzie Boss and Jane Krauss

In-Class Activities:

1. Google Maps: Create Personalized Maps (under 2 minutes)
2. Google Earth
3. Discuss class projects

14th session: Virtual Worlds

For Class Discussion (to prepare in advance):

1. Educause’s 7 Things You Should Know About Virtual Worlds

T.H.E. Journal: Second Life: Do You Need One? Four-part series

• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four

In-Class Activities:

1. Supermarket 2.0 (under 6 minutes)
2. Second Life
3. Wrap up, review
4. Course wiki