Trying again: Fall 2014

So, in order to see if the Janux software is improved from last spring semester (when I enrolled in and sadly dropped the History of Science class), I enrolled in a Fall course. History of Science is not being offered again, and the Native American class that I would have liked is not offered either, so I enrolled in Understanding the Global Community. I'm taking a different approach this time. Instead of proactively seeking things out as I did with History of Science, I am going to depend on notifications from the course to let me know when to do things and what is going on. I got an email welcoming me to the course, totally generic as you can see below.

The email promised information soon as we get close to August 18. I would say August 17 is pretty close to August 18 (you cannot really get closer), but no information has come in the email. Maybe at the site? I logged on, but the course is still closed and does not open until tomorrow. Notice that the email urges me to share my enrollment in the course through social media... but is there a hashtag provided...? Uh, nope.

Also, as you can see below, the instructor shows up as a grey-head... that does not bode well for the course, does it? Generic email, generic avatar. Ouch. Online presence for both the instructor AND for the students are ingredients I consider essential. But here the instructor is just a generic avatar, and there is no clickable link to learn more (I tried clicking on Course Instructor to the left there, and I clicked on Suzette's name, the avatar... nothing). 

This lack of presence is especially regrettable because Suzette has a wonderful presence at Twitter which would be great to share with the students. In fact, it's her dynamic presence at Twitter that motivated me to choose this class. I checked her Twitter stream to see if she is using a hashtag for the course, but there is no mention of the course in her stream. And as for a live Twitter widget bringing her Twitter presence into the course space... uh, nope.

Sigh. I feel obliged to do this to see if the Janux software and course design have improved from last year, but this is not off to a good start. 

Sigh again.

January 25 email

A cheery email from Kerry; I wonder if it will have any effect on the non-participation in the not-for-credit version of the class. Kerry urges us to check back at our posts to see if people have left comments, but given that there is no easy way to do that, I don't think that is a very effective strategy for making the community come to life as he says in the email. I had decided that this would be a make-or-break weekend for me, so I am glad that Kerry's email might revive the dormant open section of the course. Fingers crossed.

Kerry's email below.

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Dear students,

We are nearing the end of the 2nd week, and I want to let you all know that Brent and I are really enjoying your posts!   Your work investing time in writing thoughtful posts and in getting to know one another and discussing your take on the history of science is really what this course is all about.  That interaction is what transforms dry course materials into a living, breathing learning community.  I can't wait to see how you bring your own experiences and perspectives to bear on the Interpretation essays for Mesopotamian astronomy!

By now you are getting the hang of Janux and of the rhythm of the regular weekly assignments.  Remember that there's a place where Brent and I are leaving tips about Janux:  Go to the Discussions area and look for the History of Science to the Age of Newton / Forum.  Here's another tip:  Keegan Long-Wheeler has prepared six video tutorials about Janux on youTube.

Even more importantly, remember that you can check back at the Forum and read through the personal introductions that people have left there.  For example, if you find mine, you'll see why you often see me holding a coffee mug.  And check back as often as you like; many of us (myself included) will change or add to our introductions as the weeks go by.

The first assignments for next week's unit on ancient Egypt and the Aegean should be available shortly (if not already).  Remember that although each week officially starts on Tuesdays, with the Starting Assumptions assignment due on Tuesday nights, it's a great idea to get started early and to work ahead.  Why not complete up through the Week 3 Starting Assumptions and first Topic assignment this weekend?

Check out the blog of the History of Science Collections to see a link between the Rosetta Stone, which you'll encounter next week in the ancient Egypt assignment, and today's celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Mac.  If you happen to live in Norman, you can stop by the Collections to see a 1984 Mac, a Crossing Cultures exhibition featuring more than 150 rare books, as well as a lobby display celebrating the television series Sherlock. Read more on the Collections blog.

Check Brent's profile at Janux; every Sunday he will post "chat hours" for the coming week in his "Thoughts" section.  He is also available to show you around the exhibits here in the Collections, if you want to stop by.

We look forward to seeing you online this weekend!

January 16 email

So, we got a great email from Kerry! I hope that the content of the email is recorded SOMEWHERE at the site too (update: I did find the announcements forums when I got lost trying to find one of the assignment discussions). I actually stopped doing emails like this a long time ago so that I could use a blog instead. Why...? LINKABILITY and RE-USE. So, instead of writing emails to students each day or each week, I post the announcements in a blog, every day, and students can CHOOSE if they want to subscribe to that by email. One content tool (blog) - lots of distribution channels. :-)

So, Kerry's email covers some really important topics, and I will record some quick thoughts and notes here (because, honestly, I despair of having a discussion about stuff like this inside the Janux platform... I get the awful feeling I can post things in there and I would never even be able to find them again!).

Thoughts about the email:

I know Kerry's for-credit students are so glad about the flexibility on the assignment deadlines for the first two weeks. Online courses are so great that way!

I wonder if Kerry can LINK to items in Janux...? Because, honestly, we need links in this email. If someone has NOT read the Syllabus yet or read the Week at a Glance, they should do that now, and having a link there would really help. Is anything in Janux linkable? I have not figured that out.

I need to go do an introduction in the forum... but I find that kind of discouraging given the unwieldy way HTML editor and the way things are so hard to find again. I wish we had SUBSTANTIAL profile pages, as opposed to the very minimalist profiles available right now.

I need to leave a note to say hi to Brent, whom I do now know. Kerry, of course, I know, ha ha. He has been my digital hero since I first came here to OU in 1999 (in fact, I can still remember talking to someone on my first day on campus who interrupted me mid-sentence and said, "You have to meet Kerry Magruder!").

I am glad Kerry told us to go to the Lessons tab. I did that simply because I could not figure out the Dashboard, but now I see that was the right thing to do!

Of course, I totally love Kerry's way of explaining that the course is not a survey of content to memorize and master but instead adventures to have together with others as we explore together. That is soooooo much easier to do online than in a traditional classroom! And just from the reading I did in the books the other night, I have hundreds of questions (literally: hundreds!) that I want to explore.

So.... KUDOS TO KERRY on this email! I have participated in several MOOCs and never received anything even close to this as a communication from the instructor.  I still feel trepidation about the software, but I am excited to see what I will get to learn tonight!

Day 2: Informative Email!

I received an informative email today about the History of Science class:

Two very important topics here, and I am grateful for the information the email provides:

Time commitment. I already know that I will not be spending 5-7 hours per week on the class. As I explained in my first post, I really cannot afford to spend more than about 3 hours per week. I hope some information will be forthcoming about what people should do if they know in advance that their time commitment is limited: Are we still welcome to participate in the class? And are there suggestions about how we should devote the limited time we have available? In a regular class, a teacher can set expectations for time commitment from their students (in fact, that is essential - especially in an online class; here's my message about time commitment for my students), but in an open class like this one, time commitment is obviously something that is driven by student choice than by requirements in a traditional sense. The more guidance we can get from the instructor, the better! I hope for guidance about how best to spend my limited time as the class gets started. 

Recommended books. The email lists information about print editions, but I was really relieved that there are also ebook versions available... both for convenience and at a cheaper price! The Kindle edition of Lindberg's book is only $9.99, and the Osler book is much cheaper in Kindle also (just $13.99), so that's good news - the prices in the email were discouraging, but I can cope with Kindle prices. And I am so glad all three books are available as ebooks. My guess is that for students in an e-course like this, the ebook options are probably highly desirable, especially now that the Amazon Kindle Cloud reader makes it possible to read Kindle books in any browser, plus all the various devices which have Kindle apps. In the MOOCs I've taken before, with an international audience, ebooks were much preferred, esp. because of shipping issues. 

Just speaking for myself, I do not learn well from videos; I learn much better from reading texts. So... I am going to buy these books! I'll call it a late Christmas present to myself. I'm really glad that all three books are available in Kindle since that is definitely what I prefer (BIG FONTS make me happy, hopelessly nearsighted person that I am).

I also feel obliged to comment that these books really challenge the "walled garden" approach of the Janux platform. It would be one thing if ALL the learning materials really were "in there" (in the form of videos, PDFs, etc.). But if we ARE going outside the platform to do our learning (reading books, looking at websites), then why all the emphasis on Janux being closed off, with all the discussions taking place inside the platform? I for one plan to be blogging about the course, especially since I will be reading these books which are on a platform - Amazon Kindle - that is outside the Janux platform. Anyway, we'll see how all that goes. I cannot imagine taking a course without blogging about it, and I cannot think of a single reason why I would want to make that blog private. But is there an aggregator in Janux to pull in discussions from outside, gathering blog posts and other social media mentions? I didn't see anything at all like that when I checked out a couple of courses last fall; maybe they have added that to the current version of the software.

Meanwhile, I'm hopeful that by reading the books, I'll make enough progress just with my 3 hours per week of time that I'll be able to participate in the class! Most of all, I really appreciated this informative email; poor communication was a very serious problem in the MOOCs I have done elsewhere, but this was a very good way to get us ready for tomorrow.

Still no hashtag for the course for those of us who want to use blogs and other social networking tools to share about the class, so when I go crosspost this over at G+ and Twitter, I guess I'll say #janux and #januxhsci and #ouhistoryofscience. Maybe a specifically recommended hashtag will be forthcoming... Kerry, are you reading this? We need a hashtag! :-)