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Spotlight on the 2003 SIGTel Online Learning Award Winners

Gail Boddy, Sherri Sorrells, & Lori Schock

Middle School Online Interactive Collaboration Using Blackboard to Bridge Distance Gail Boddy, Lori Schock, Sherri Sorrells

Robinson Middle School
Wichita, KS, USA
gnboddy@cox.net

Project Summary

Telelearing is now a significant method of learning in businesses and at the university level. Learn how middle school students benefit from a learning experience in which they collaborate with distant peers, have a wider audience for their work, and are able to access and process information using many learning modalities.

Objectives

This project was developed to provide middle school students with the opportunity to collaborate with peers in other locations. The topic, History of Computer, was chosen for the project. Objectives for the project included:

1. Students will develop an understanding of and apply copyright law and fair use principles when creating multimedia productions.
2. Students will research computer history and current computer topics online, and use productivity tools to create a timeline and a multimedia presentation.
3. Students will use the discussion board and virtual classroom in Blackboard to communicate with peers in other locations, planning a collaborative research project, exchanging information, and providing peer evaluation of individual components in the project.
4. Students will use the Internet to locate, analyze, evaluate and synthesize information that will be used in the multimedia presentation, paying close attention to the reliability of sources.
5. Students will develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills by working together to prove a position they have agreed upon.

Necessary Telecommunications Resources

A multimedia computer per student; Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; Internet access; Blackboard account for the instructor; "Thinking Machines" by the History Channel; Optional—A projector to facilitate group instruction

Role of Telecommunications

Students communicated daily using a forum to plan projects, share information, ask for assistance, and send copies of work to their partners. Instructors read students' discussions regularly and posted information or posed questions as needed to assist students with their work. All assignments, evaluation tools, and materials (with the exception of the video "Thinking Machines") were available online in the Blackboard course. All work was turned in electronically using a digital drop box.

Groups of 3–4 students were created after students submitted information via an online form. Each group had its own forum within the course. The initial assignment was an icebreaker, which helped students begin team building. Assignments became progressively more difficult, requiring more collaboration within the groups and higher-level thinking skills. These assignments included:

1. A scavenger hunt that required students to locate information online, share information in their forum, and compile the information into a Word document.
2. A time line which required students to determine a standardized layout for the timeline, locate information, and compile the information into a four-century time line using Excel
3. A research project on a current technology topic where students formulated a thesis, researched the topic, shared information, and created a multimedia presentation to support the thesis

Curriculum Area(s) Involved

Computer studies and language arts were the primary curriculum areas addressed in this course. Although the course incorporated all ISTE NET•S for Grades 6–8, ISTE NET•S 3–5, productivity, communication, and research, and NCTE Standards 7–8, research and use of technology, were the standards primarily targeted.

Grade Level(s) Targeted

Eighth-grade students participated in this project. The project is appropriate for students in Grades 7–9 and could be adapted for other grade levels.

Planning Requirements & Procedures

Initially we decided which standards to address, brainstormed project ideas, gathered materials, created lessons, and uploaded lessons and evaluation rubrics to Blackboard. We also created an online registration form for the students to enroll in the course. We met several times in person and communicated by phone and e-mail as we prepared the course and throughout the project.

To prepare for the course, students created e-mail accounts using Yahoo's free service and were guided through how to enroll using the online form. We also developed lessons to enable students to learn the technology tools they needed to complete the assignments.

Class Management Strategies/Required Activities

All requirements and assessment rubrics were placed online in the Blackboard course. Teachers provided instruction in three ways:

1. Classroom demonstration and discussion
2. Online Tegrity video, PowerPoint demonstration, and written instruction, and
3. Communication with individuals or small groups via email, discussion forums, or announcements.

Students worked in collaborative groups of 3–4, posting messages in an online forum. Students had access to requirements and assessment rubrics online. A calendar was included in Blackboard so students could see when each component was due and general announcements to all 75 students were posted regularly. Students were mentored by all three instructors and by peer coaching. Assignments were turned into a digital drop box; work was checked by instructors and returned via e-mail.

Suggested Class Time & Project Duration

This was a nine-week project—October through January. The length of the project was appropriate for the material covered. Students met for 45 minutes per day, but they also worked on other assignments during this time. Even though the class met for 45 minutes per day, records from the Blackboard course indicate students entered and used the course in the evenings and weekends.

Method(s) for Evaluating Student Achievement of Objectives

Projects were evaluated in the following ways:

1. Icebreaker—Students were given points for participation.
2. Scavenger Hunt—Students were given points for each correct answer and for successfully turning the assignment into the Digital Drop Box.
3. Time line—Evaluated with a rubric based on a list of required information and layout specifications. Students also used an online form to evaluate their project, collaboration of group members, and difficulty level of required tasks.
4. Multimedia Presentation—Evaluated with a rubric that included content, organization, conventions, layout, sources, and various PowerPoint technical aspects.

We were surprised that students had a great deal of difficulty communicating, sharing work, and turning in the scavenger hunt. Not one group successfully located and compiled all the information. We made adjustments, requiring students to show work-in-progress to both the instructors and their partners several times during all other assignments. This helped students tremendously, since the partners all knew how much progress had been made and adjustments could be made to meet layout and other requirements. Students also adjusted their behavior. The initial assigned conversation in the forum was not very focused. The instructors frequently posed questions or made comments to help the students organize their work, but students seemed to feel that the work was an individual endeavor and that the forum was just a place to enjoy conversation. After the scavenger hunt, discussion in the student forum became progressively more focused on assignments. Students learned to divide assignments into parts, assign rolls, and share results frequently. Even though later assignments were more difficult than the scavenger hunt, students had better performance on the time line and the research project. A student survey at the end of the timeline project showed most students found the project to be very easy or about right; less than 10% found it very difficult. After completing this online collaborative course students were given a test on the history of computers. Every student who participated in this course passed the test. This test has been given to computer studies students in the past. No class in the past participated in the online collaborative course and no class in the past had 100% of the students pass the test.