The Role of a Mentor

In our session yesterday we were very pleased to hear from Bronwyn Beach and Vanessa Marsh from GippsTAFE.

2007 was Bronwyn's first year working full time at GippsTAFE. She is an experienced drug and alcohol counsellor and now teaches these competencies in a program aimed at people currently working in the area of drug and alcohol counselling. Because all her students are working the program is offered flexibly; a mixture of RPL and online training.

Vanessa is an experienced online facilitator with a good, working knowledge of the use of the online classroom, Elluminate, but no expertise in the area of drug and alcohol counselling. She works in the GippsTAFE Innovation Department and one of the roles of this department is to promote and support the introduction of online learning across the institute.

Early in 2007 Bronwyn decided that she would like to introduce weekly Elluminate sessions to her program. She approached the Innovation Department and it was decided that Vanessa would act as her mentor offering her support and assistance through the process.

Bronwyn had previously participated in a number of online classroom sessions and although she had never been a presenter approached her first session with a fair amount of confidence. How hard could it be she thought. However she found the experience overwhelming even though Vanessa was there as a co-facilitator; there was just too much happening. Her students were new to this type of learning, there were a number of technical issues and due to shyness they were reluctant to speak.

Before the next session Bronwyn and Vanessa revised their approach. Vanessa advised that they should limit the number of Eluminate tools that they would use to allow the students to become more comfortable with the technology. Vanessa would be responsible for trouble shooting and monitoring the text chat so Bronwyn could completely ignore these aspects and focus on her presentation. The students were asked to write down any questions and could ask these at set times during the session. Bronwyn also developed pre-session activities that the students were asked to complete. This helped them to feel more confident about contributing to the online session.

As the year has progressed Bronwyn has become much more confident about using Elluminate and now needs very little help from her mentor, Vanessa. She has gradually increased the range of Elluminate features that she uses. Her sessions include brainstorming, audio presentations by her students and some assessment activities. She conducts and records RPL interviews in Elluminate and has even used it in conjunction with the virtual world, Second Life, to conduct an online role play.

Student feedback has been very positive. Most reported that they found their first session wierd as they were not used to communicating online in this way but they have have quickly got used to it and requested longer sessions. They like the flexibility of studying online and appreciate the added interaction of the online classroom sessions.

From Bronwyn's point of view she says that the addition of the Elluminate sessions has made it much easier to teach flexibly. The ability to record sessions is great for proving learner engagement when it comes to audit time. Her skills in using Elluminate have grown so she now feels much more confident and is even teaching other teachers about how to use an online classroom.

Here are Bronwyn's five tips for those just starting to use an online classroom:

• have a co-facilitator
• keep it simple and don't use too many functions at once
• use pre-session activities to help students prepare for each session
• control hands up; pause for questions at set times in the presentation
• treat it like a normal lesson

Thank you to Bronwyn and Vanessa for sharing their valuable experiences with the group. The session was recorded, please contact me at lynnh@gippstafe.vic.edu.au if you would like a link to the session.

This is the final Classrooms Online session for 2007. Thank you all for your interest in the network and I look forward to meeting you online again in 2008.

What Happened at our Show & Tell Session

At our recent Show & Tell Session Jan Bruce and Carole McCulloch were the presenters.

Jan teaches disability studies using a blended model. She told us how she had recently used Elluminate to record a role play for her students to listen to. The issues addressed in the roleplay were then discussed in a face to face session. Her students found the task engaging and are keen to participate in future role play conducted in this way. We were impressed by the simple sketches she drew on the white board to set the scene for the role play but Jan commented that she is keen to enhance future activities by greater use of images.

Carole's presentation was about how to use the technique of appreciative enquiry when conducting an online classrooms session. We enjoyed a very interactive session as she demonstrated this process.

We finished with a paired brainstorming activity where members of the group were encouraged to come up with their own idea about how they could use an online classroom with their learners. It was a lot of fun!!!!

Online Survey

As the year draws to a close I am keen to find out how online classrooms are being used for teaching and learning and identify any barriers that may be stopping teachers using the tools.

Classrooms Online has been funded by the Australian Flexible Learning Framework and part of our project involves reporting on these factors.

I recently sent out a survey to the group to find out how they have been using online classrooms with their learners and I have been pleased by the response. If you would like to contribute your experiences in this way please participate in the survey by clicking on the following link:
http://tinyurl.com/3xokwa

Show & Tell

We are nearing the end of the year and I thought it was high time that we listened to the members of the Classrooms Online network tell us about their individual journeys in the use of online classrooms.

Our next session will be held on Friday November 23 @ 1.30 pm EDST in Elluminate. I am calling this session “Show and Tell”; this means it is now your chance to tell us all how you have been using online classrooms.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to implement the use of online classroom with your learners you would be very welcome to tell us how you would like to do this and even try facilitating a short activity with us as your audience.

Please email me at lynnh@gippstafe.vic.edu.au if you have an online classroom story or an idea you would like to share so that I can plan the agenda. The session will be quite informal; a real chance to chat about our experiences and ideas. I already have one volunteer to present at this session.

Looking ahead, the final Classrooms Online session for 2007 will be on Monday December 3 at 11 am EDST; please note this in your diary.

Wikis

I have recently come across three wikis relating to the use of online classrooms.

http://vet-computer-networks.wikispaces.com/virtual-classrooms
A wiki looking at the technical requirements of a number of different online classrooms.

http://liveonlinesessions.wikispaces.com/
http://synchfacilitation.wikispaces.com/
Two wikis looking at the facilitation of synchronous events using online classrooms.

They are well worth a visit.

Please consider making a contribution to these resources.

Online Event

This week (November 7-9) the Australian Flexible Learning Framework is conducting an online event called “e-Show and Tell”. This online event showcases some of the latest developments and future directions of e-learning in Australia and internationally.

The event is free and many of the sessions are conducted using the online classroom, Elluminate. It is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about e-learning as well as observe how different presenters facilitate sessions in online classrooms.

I would particularly like to draw your attention to the session scheduled for Friday 9 November at 11 am (AEDT) by Jonathan Finklestein who was our first guest speaker for Classrooms Online. Jonathan is the founder of LearningTimes and an international speaker on synchronous learning tools USA. His session will explore unique, real-time online group activities for the live virtual classroom. You will find out about innovative learning activities and facilitation approaches that will open your eyes and take online synchronous learning to the next level of engagement.

Registrations are now open at:
http://networksevents.flexiblelearning.net.au

Live Classroom with Clint Smith

On Tuesday we enjoyed a session with Clint Smith from Eworks in Wimba Live Classroom. The group was small but our locations varied from Townsville to Tasmania and included several towns in rural Victoria showcasing one of the great advantages of using an online classroom.

We began the session with a guided tool of the platform. Then Clint demonstrated how to use the polling tool. In Live Classroom this allows you to pose questions that require the participants to type in an answer rather than just use multiple choice. Once all the reponses were entered Clint published these to the whiteboard and used the information to initiate discussion amongst the group. This was a great way to include all the participants in the discussion and get the session rolling.

Thank you Clint for an informative session and for demonstrating your well developed online facilitation skills.

Collaboration and Communication Using Online Classrooms

Today Leanne Isaacson hosted a session for the network in the online classroom, Discover E. Leanne began the session by giving us a quick overview of the tools available in this online classroom. She then shared some of her experiences in the field of e-learning with the group.

Leanne has 12 years experience in the the coordination and delivery of training as well as 18 years as part of a family farming enterprise. Her interest in e-learning began when she saw that many rural communities had access to communication tools such as video conferencing but did not use them. The first activity she organised was a wine tasting via video conferencing. The only problem was that the facilitator had different wine to the participants. However I am sure this did not stop the enjoyment of the evening and it certainly did not dampen Leanne's enthusiasm for e-learning. Her next venture was to organise a floristry course via video conferencing and more recently she has moved to the platform of online classrooms.

Leanne sees the online classroom as a valuable tool for committees and groups providing them with a simple, convenient and cost effective way to communicate and collaborate. They are particularly useful for those who are located in rural and remote areas. She has been working with the group, Australian Women in Agriculture, assisting them with project applications and reports. They use application share to efficiently put together any documents that are required.

Some groups conduct their committee meetings in her online classroom using the whiteboard for the agenda and brainstorming, application sharing to work on budgets and conducting a poll when a vote is called for.

Leanne has conducted some training in the use of software applications in the online classroom and has facilitated online workshops and webinars. More recently she has been piloting online mentoring using this platform.

Thank you Leanne for your time today, it was a very informative session.

Online Classrooms in Rural SA

The next session for Classrooms Online will be held on Friday October 12 at 1pm AEST. Leanne Isaacson will be hosting the meeting in the online classroom Discover E.

Leanne has 12 years experience in the coordination and delivery of numerous training programs and has a passion for e learning as well as for the increasingly innovative role that technology can play in assisting individuals, committees/groups and businesses in cost effective communication and collaboration. Leanne has used online classrooms to deliver workshops in a range of areas including risk management and digital story telling. Much of her time is spent improving the way members of organizations meet and work together on line. She has done a lot of this work within rural communities in South Australia. I am sure she will have some valuable information to share with us.

If you would like to be a part of this session please contact me at lynnh@gippstafe.vic.edu.au . I will need to pass your email address on to Leanne so that she can send you the appropriate link.

Remember you can register for you own Elluminate Vroom, a free three seat room you can use at any time by clicking on the Elluminate logo at the top of the page.

If you would like to try your hand at facilitating a short activity at one of our future meetings please contact me. This is a great opportunity to have a go at something new.

Elluminate Sponsorship

Elluminate recognises the value of the learning that is taking place amongst the members of the network, Classrooms Online, and has agreed sponsor the blog until the end of October. They are hoping that some of you will take the opportunity to set up your own three seat Elluminate room (Vroom).

You can register for your Vroom by clicking on the Elluminate logo at the top of the page. Elluminate provides these Vrooms free of charge and I encourage you to register for one as it is a fantastic way to practice using an online classroom.

In return Elluminate is providing the Classrooms Online network with a 10 seat Elluminate room until the end of October 2007. If you would like to conduct an Elluminate session with a small group in this room please contact me at:
lynnh@gippstafe.vic.edu.au

Jo Fuller and Adobe Connect

You will remember that our recent Classrooms Online session was hosted by Jo Fuller in Adobe Connect. Jo is using the online classroom for RPL interviews, employment preparation and to deliver programs in community services.

Adobe Connect looks quite different to many of the other online classrooms I have seen. The different tools are set up as pods that can be moved, resized and added or removed depending on the requirements of a particular session.

Jo started the session with a welcome map where we could add our location, she then showed us the various features available in Adobe Connect before describing some of the ways she has used the classroom.

The people who attended were able to play with some of the features and took full advantage of the opportunity to ask Jo many questions about this online classroom.

If you woul like the link to the recording of this session please contact me at:
lynnh@gippstafe.vic.edu.au

Jo Fuller - TAFENSW

The next session for Classrooms Online will be hosted by Jo Fuller in the online classroom, Adobe Connect. Jo is the manager of Staff Learning and Development at TAFE NSW - South Western Sydney Institute. She plans to begin the session with an overview of Adobe Connect and its features and then share some examples of how she is using it for teaching and learning. We will end the meeting by brainstorming some ideas as to how we could use online classrooms to enhance our teaching and learning.

Please contact me at lynnh@gippstafe.vic.edu.au if you would like to participate.

Tips on Using Elluminate

Yesterday Malcolm Jolly of GippsTAFE shared his experiences of using the online classroom, Elluminate, with the network Classrooms Online. He was joined by two of his learner group, Shalene and Peter, who told us how the program had worked from their perspective.

Malcolm is delivering the Diploma of VET Practice, a level 5 teaching qualification, to a group of teaching staff at GippsTAFE. He is using a blended delivery method which relies heavily on the use of the online classroom, Elluminate. Malcolm chose to use Elluminate because it met the needs of the learner group who are all busy teachers spread over several different campuses. He was also keen to build the e-learning skills of the group as excellence in flexible delivery is a major goal for his organisation.

At the beginning of the program many of the group were unfamiliar with the use of an online classroom so Malcolm ran a series of practice sessions and set up a "help desk" to get over the initial teething problems. Some of the challenges they faced were problems with firewalls, different plugs on headsets and a general lack of familiarity with online classrooms. Shalene had many problems when trying to log into Elluminate due to the firewall on her home computer but she found the various systems Malcolm had put in place eventually helped her overcome these issues. Peter reported that the practice sessions had made him fell much more confident with the use of the online classroom environment.

The Diploma in VET is now well under way and is proving to be very successful. Malcolm's learners are making good progress and are becoming very comfortable with their Elluminate sessions.

Some of Malcolm's tips for using Elluminate were:

• have some one in the session to support the main presenter; the extra person can help with any technical issues and keep an eye on the text area during the session
• use breakout rooms to trouble shoot technical problems so the whole group is not held up
• provide orientation for your learners
• start slowly and progress slowly; don't try to use all the functionality at first
• take time to play with all the tools
• convert lengthy elluminate urls to tiny urls so that links don't get broken
• name your slides to make it easier to move to the correct one during a session
• record your sessions so absentees can catch up easily
• know your learner group; what are their needs and experience
• use ice breaker activities to make your learners comfortable and also to introduce them to some of the tools such as the interactive whiteboard

Thank you to Malcolm, Shalene and Peter for sharing their experiences with us.

The session was recorded so if you would like the link please contact me by email at:

lynnh@gippstafe.vic.edu.au

Session 4 with Malcolm Jolly

The next session for Classrooms Online is scheduled for Thursday 30 August at 3 pm AEST. This session will be conducted in Elluminate and will feature Malcolm Jolly from GippsTAFE as our guest presenter. Malcolm is using Elluminate to deliver the Diploma in VET. He will share some of the tips and tricks he has discovered on the use of Online Classrooms.

If you are interested in being a participant in this session please send me an email at lynnh@gippstafe.vic.edu.au

Mary Schooneveldt and TAA

Our recent session with Mary Schooneveldt was very interesting and well attended. The session was conducted in an interview format with Glenda asking Mary a series of prepared questions. This created an informal atmosphere and allowed other participants to ask questions and make comments as the interview progressed.

Mary told us how she used the various tools of Elluminate to facilitate the learning of her students who are studying to upgrade their qualifaction to a TAA. She is firmly convinced that the use of the online classroom is providing a huge advantage for her students who are studying in a totally online environment.

Thank you to Mary for sharing her experiences with us.

TAA in Elluminate

The next session for Classrooms Online is scheduled for Tuesday 14 August 2007 @ 1.00 pm (AEST). This session will be conducted in Elluminate and will feature Mary Schooneveldt who is an experienced TAA and online teacher.

Mary is currently teaching the TAA upgrade / bridging course entirely online using a LMS (Learning Management System - Blackboard). Each week she has a 2 hour Elluminate workshop where she uses a range of Elluminate tools to replicate the discussion and small group work that is a regular feature of face to face delivery. Application share, web tours, break out rooms and interactivities via the whiteboard are just some of the tools she is using.

If you are interested in taking part in this session please send me an email @ lynnh@gippstafe.vic.edu.au as soon as possible.

Distance Ed Tasmania

Have you ever tried to teach someone long division over the phone? Have you tried to learn another language out of a book? These are some of the many challenges the teachers and students at Distance Ed Tasmania had to deal with before they began to use the online classroom, Centra 7. In our session last Friday Geoff Ellis and Phillip Campbell from Distance Ed in Tasmania told us how they are using this tool and what it has meant to their students.

Distance Ed Tasmania provides education for K-10 students who, for various reasons, are not able to attend face to face school. Their students come from around Australia and overseas and many are geographically isolated. The teachers use their online classroom to increase the interactivity of their programs and try to overcome the social isolation that many of their students feel. The emphasis is on providing the opportunity for the students to share their work and learning experiences allowing them to build a real community. Recently Phillip ran a school asssembly in Centra with over 60 families logging in at the one time to take part. I think this shows just how successful the use of online classrooms can be.

Some of the subjects taught are maths, art, music, reading and French. The teachers use the tools available in Centra 7 such as breakout rooms, web safaris, the interactive whiteboard and application sharing in their teaching. Using web safaris they are able to broaden the experience of their students by tapping into international news sites. It can be a window to the world for students living in isolated communities. The teachers also make extensive use of many of the valuable online educational sites that are appropriate for the age of their different groups of students. Of course the online classroom is just one of the tools that the distance ed teachers use but they do feel it is a very valuable one.

Many of the advantages of using online classrooms that Phillip and Geoff identifed are relevant to teaching and learning in all situations not just for the K-10 age group. These are:

• building community
• increased spontenaity
• increased collaboration
• access to online resources
• opportunity to demonstrate skills
• ability to share high quality images (especially useful for the art program)
• ability to share video files

Phillip and Geoff have established protocols for the use of their online classroom. All participants are aware of these protocols and they help to ensure the sessions run smoothly. Their ideal group size is 15 - 20; with this number they can get some good discussions going amongst the group but it does allow the quieter students to sit back and listen until they feel confident to participate.

Thank you very much to Phillip and Geoff who hosted the session for us in Centra 7. They presented a very interesting session about how they use their online classroom to enhance teaching and learning.

We had over 20 people book into the session but as always happens some people experienced technological issues when logging in. My apologies to those who did have trouble, the session was recorded so you may be able to catch up that way.

I am looking forward to our next session which is scheduled for Tuesday August 14. I will be sending round details for this shortly.

Australia Wide and More

Our email list for Classrooms Online continues to grow. We now have representatives from all the Australian states and territories as well as someone from our neighbour, New Zealand.

Second Session

I am pleased to announce that we have scheduled our second session.

The next live session for Classrooms Online will be on August 3 2007 from 2 - 3 pm (AEST). Geoff Ellis and Phillip Campbell from Distance Ed Tasmania will be hosting the session in Centra 7 and will share with us their experiences when using online classrooms to deliver educational programs to school age students in Tasmania. I am certainly looking forward to hearing how they use online classrooms to enhance the educational experience for their students.

We have already had a tremendous response and the session is nearly full.

Jonathan Finkelstein Presents for Classrooms Online

Our first session for the network, Classrooms Online, featuring Jonathan Finkelstein has just finished. We had a group of 23 participating in what was a very interesting and inspiring hour. I am sure everyone who attended will leave with some fantastic new ideas about how to use online classrooms for teaching and learning.

Jonathan began the session with some interesting icebreakers. He then moved onto facilitation tips and finally engaged us with some interactive white board activities. It was inspiring to see how he was able to lead us through the session and keep an eye on text messaging with out missing a beat.

The session was recorded so if you were not able to attend please send me an email at lynnh@gippstafe.vic.edu.au to request a copy of the link.

Please share your thoughts on the session by adding a comment to our blog.

Try Elluminate Session

I will be hosting a try Elluminate session prior to our first session with Jonathan Finkelstein. If you would like to take part in this session click on the following URL between 10.00 and 11.00 am (Victorian time) on Tuesday June 26, 2007.
http://www.tinyurl.com.au/x.php?7x7

You will need headphones and a microphone to take full advantage of this session.

First Session Featuring Jonathan Finkelstein

I am please to be able to confirm that the first session for the network, Classrooms Online, will feature Jonathan Finkelstein, founder of LearningTimes,http://www.learningtimes.net, author of “Learning in Real Time”, and host of the “Real Time Minute”.

Jonathan will join us live online to lead us through the exploration of unique, realtime online group activities and collaborative techniques for the live virtual classroom. We will look at several innovative live learning activities and facilitation approaches that harness a group’s collective energy to achieve a learning objective in a social, meaningful way. This session is highly interactive and looks at the use of online classrooms from a teaching and learning perspective. It promises to open your eyes and help you take online learning to the next level of engagement.

The session is scheduled for
Thursday June 28, 2007 @ 1.00 – 2.00 pm Victorian Time (EST)

The session will be conducted using Elluminate Live and will be recorded for members of the networkers who may not be able to attend.

Numbers for the session are limited so if you would like to attend please contact Lynn Huguenin at lynnh@gippstafe.vic.edu.au as soon as possible to reserve your place.

Introducing the Facilitators for Classrooms Online

The facilitators of the network are Lynn Huguenin and Glenda McPherson. We both work at GippsTAFE in Victoria, Australia. We are looking forward to this exciting project exploring teaching and learning in online classrooms.

Lynn is an experienced online facilitator and has been recognised at a national level for her online medical terminology courses. Lynn was one of the first online teachers in Australia to introduce voice technologies into her e-learning courses. In 2006 Lynn (with Vanessa Marsh) ran a very successful e-learning network about online voice tool, called "Talking About Voice".

Glenda worked with TAFE frontiers from 2000 – 2005 before she joined GippsTAFE. She has facilitated many online conferences, presentations and sessions during that time, especially at TAFE frontiers with Flexible Learning Week and the TAFE VC online conferences. As a previous Victorian Toolbox Champion, she is well versed in the e-learning environment.

Welcome to Classrooms Online

Welcome to the online space for the network, Classrooms Online.

Classrooms Online is one of the Australian Flexible Learning Framework E-learning Networks for 2007.
http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/flx/go/home/projects/2007/pid/403

Are you using or interesting in using an online classroom for teaching? If so, here is an opportunity to join in a network of like minded professionals. It doesn’t matter if you are using Elluminate, Adobe Connect, Live Classroom or Centra 7! ‘Classrooms Online’ is a network looking at the issues of teaching and learning in online classrooms.

Sessions will feature presenters from across Australia and around the world. These experienced users of online classrooms will share their teaching and learning experiences allowing the network to explore further applications of these tools in the VET sector. There will be opportunities for network participants to conduct and evaluate trials with their own learners.

If you would like to be involved in this dynamic, educational opportunity contact Lynn Huguenin at lynnh@gippstafe.vic.edu.au or on +61 3 5662 6802.