ase Study of Colleague Collaboration:!Demonstrating Multimodal Assignment Design for Teaching Online!C

Alaina Beaver!Allison Carr Waechter!Merrit Dukehart!Shannon Rathod!

ontributors: C For more detailed info, follow along on our digital handout: http://contedinstructorcollaboration.wordpress.com !

genda:!A •  Concept!•  Choice to Collaborate!•  Methods!•  Assignment Examples!•  Implementation and Troubleshooting!•  Frustrations and Surprises!•  Outcomes and Reflections!•  Recommendations!

ultimodal Collaboration: The Concept !M

This pilot collaboration between a curriculum coach and instructors represents a convergence of CE

interests: improved support for instructors, improved exposure for a

CE academic tutoring service, and diversified learning opportunities for

students. !  

students

Online Comp Hub

instructors

Google Drive

Continuing Ed wanted to offer its instructors an opportunity to begin using newer forms of technology and support in its courses, as well as support instructors in actually implementing such changes in their current courses. !!Continuing Ed is aware that educators are often under-supported when it comes to improving and (re)designing their online pedagogy (Lane, 2013).!

Continuing Ed also wanted to help expose both faculty and students to the Online Composition Hub, a relatively new online multiliteracies center where clients work with tutors on a variety of textual and multimodal projects. !

www.composi*on.colorado.edu  

Incorporating projects that include multimodal elements in online courses can help increase student engagement and motivation, as well as catering to a wider variety of learning modalities and abilities, which is a tenant of the Universal Design of Learning approach toward curriculum design. !!Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a research-based framework that can guide instructors in creating effective curriculum for a diverse population (Meyer, Rose & Gordon, 2014).!  

multimodality

desirable pedagogy Universal  

Design  

Learning for

What made multimodal collaboration seem like a good choice for you and your class? !

he Key Question:!  T

e all said:!!•  Scaffolding meaningful skillsets that

would be used later in the course was important!

•  Our goals were for students to hone rhetorical and analytical skills !

•  We desired more support learning, designing and practicing new pedagogical ideas!

W

Methods  of  Collabora*on    orking Together:  W

phone  calls,    emails,    Skype,    Google  Hangouts,  Google  Drive,    in-­‐person  mee*ngs  

•  experience  what  students  would  experience  •  serve  as  a  model  •  facilitate  learning  the  technology  (Google  

Slides)  

laina urged us to create our own versions of the assignments to: !

A

ssignments!A

The goal was to create low-stakes multimodal, collaborative assignments that students would complete early on in the course, with a plan to continue scaffolding on both the conceptual skills (analysis or demonstration of rhetorical awareness) and logistical skills (using the Google Slides platform and successfully making appointments with the Online Composition Hub) throughout the term.!

& Implementation        Troubleshooting!  

instructor-created exemplars can be very helpful, especially for a new assignment that hasn’t been taught before !

The power of the exemplar:

rustrations and ! urprises!  F S

•  “Because I teach business students I was surprised that so many had trouble using Drive for this kind of collaboration. They consistently reported that Comp Hub tutors ‘taught’ them how to use Drive.”!

•  “I was surprised how easily visual design (cross-disciplinary) aesthetics translated and were understood by students. It encouraged me to think about other cross-disciplinary approaches.”!

•  “Some students felt misled by their tutors when their grade wasn’t an A. I think some students thought getting the help would guarantee an A.”!

•  “Alaina gave me feedback on my assignment and grading rubric, which I found REALLY helpful. Being new to design, Google Drive, and evaluating presentations, I appreciated her feedback. Plus as a teacher, you never get that kind of personalized attention.”!

•  “I had to consider different ways to incentivize my students through grading in using the Comp Hub.”!

Outcomes and Reflections  

 

O“Our collaboration left me feeling more confident as an online instructor, because of feedback and support from Alaina and Comp Hub. I have since expanded the range of technologies students learn and incorporate into their assignments. I feel brave and supported. I think my confidence travels to the students, and they feel confident, too. I just tried my first digital narrative and the results were wildly successful. I wouldn’t have tried this if I didn’t have so much support. I know if I have a technological problem that I have a range of resources to help me, and I can figure them out myself.”!

verall, we all felt the collaboration was worthwhile. The instructors felt it was especially helpful in designing pedagogy and keeping our courses fresh.!

ecommendations R

CE should continue to implement this collaboration opportunity in the future with other instructors. Other institutions should consider providing one-on-one pedagogical support for their instructors because:!!•  Shortened learning curve for instructors learning new

technology!•  Keeps the course grounded/scaffolded in clear learning

goals!•  Helps to “update” courses and get students working with

21st century technology that they will likely use in other contexts, as many industries are using collaborative technologies like Drive to complete work both in office and over distances!

•  Encourages students to value collaboration!•  Encourages instructors to value and utilize cross-

disciplinary collaboration!

MULTIMODAL COLLABORATIVE MODEL!

Instructors in need of/desiring support!!Student learning goals!!!Low stakes meaningful technology!

Form partnership and make a plan!!!Map assignment in course plan!!!Instructor-led experimentation with tool!    

Launch assignment in course!!!Incentivize student engagement!!!Supply ongoing support!

Goal Initiate Implement

Want to know more ? Check out our digital handout at:!

www. http://contedinstructorcollaboration.wordpress.com for more information about:!•  assignment prompts!•  resources for instructors and students!•  instructor exemplars!•  and more! (including all our contact info)!

 

mage Credit I All images in this presentation were obtained via !unsplash.com!!(which is, incidentally, a website we recommend for student projects!)!

Artists:  

Alejandro Escamilla (1, 2, 74, 79, 81)!Nadir Balcikli (3)!

Aleks Dorohovich (4)!Vadim Sherbakov (11)!

Galymzhan Abdugalimov (13)!Craig Garner (77)!Keith Misner (83)!

Jennifer Trovato (84)!