Huett, J., Huett, K. & Bennett, E. (2010). The Way of the Wiki: Using a Wiki as a Management Tool for Online Programs. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. 13(3).
The Way of the Wiki: Using a Wiki as a Management Tool for Online Programs
Summary:
Jason Huett, Kimberly Huett and Elizabeth Bennett write of the benefits of using wikis to allow for collaboration. They write of a online graduate program in which the faculty tried using a wiki to discuss the curriculum. Huett, Huett and Bennett (2010) write, “Wikis promote collaborative knowledge convergence” (p.1). With this graduate school the use of wikis has been a tremendous asset to the program. Faculty and staff were able to collaborate in order to create the curriculum for the online component of their program. Huett, Huett and Bennett discuss the issues facing online education programs, specifically surrounding the sometimes overwhelming administration issues. “As an online program develops, it can become progressively more difficult to manage information, resources, and people. Email and infrequent face to face contacts can become increasingly inefficient and do little to promote the kind of real-time, collaborative knowledge management and strategic planning needed to insure program health and vitality (Huett, Huett & Bennett 2010 p. 1). The authors go on to discuss how this inefficient management of online programs results in communication gaps and lack of understanding of program objectives by interested parties. The authors found that utilizing wikis created an environment in which collaboration was valued and an egalitarian culture was created instead of the traditional top-down management style.
Response:
Using Wikis to engage in collaboration is a great idea. I can see how this would work well in educational institutions. One concern I run into is communicating via email. It seems as though I can send out dozens of emails and never get a straight answer. Using a wiki to collaborate with colleges would solve this problem and create an atmosphere of mutual respect. This is something that I have recently come across within my position as the graduate assistant with the CCE program at WWU. We are currently working on a wiki for developing a new format for the new student orientations. The graduate student advisory committee had a face to face meeting in which we discussed the goals of the orientation and identified the content areas we wanted to cover and then began working on the format and agenda via a wiki. Committee members who were not in attendance were able to participate and we have begun work on this project. My experience so far is quite positive. I have no doubt that this will become a grand asset to many different industries.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Article 11
Seirup, H. & Tirotta, R. (2010) Utilizing Distance Learning as a Strategy for Academic Successs for Undergraduate Students on Academic Probation: Atypical Candidates for Online Learning. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 13(3) Retrieved from ERIC database.
Utilizing Distance Learning as a Strategy for Academic Successs for Undergraduate Students on Academic Probation: Atypical Candidates for Online Learning
Summary:
Holly Seirup and Rose Tirotta of Hofstra University write about a study that explored the implementations, student satisfaction, and the effectiveness of an academic support course that was taught online at a medium sized private college in the Northeast (Seirup & Tirotta 2010). This course was required for students on academic probation. Seirup and Tirotta discuss concerns facing providing a required course in an online format. They write of faculty concerns with the online format as well as student concerns. The concerns focused on faculty and student lack of experience with online courses. They discussed the history of academic support courses on college campuses stating that the goal is “to assist in student transition to campus, to provide necessary academic and interpersonal skill development, to teach and/or enhance non-academic support skills, to develop community, and ultimately, to positively impact student retension” (Seirup & Tirotta 2010 p. 1). After discussing how faculty came to the decision to provide this class within an online format, characteristics of typical online students, how the course was implemented and citing prior studies on student satisfaction with online courses Seirup and Tirotta (2010) state, “On average, the students enrolled in the course increased their GPA by .16 bringing the GPA of more than half of the students above a 2.0 and off of academic probation.
Reaction:
This study was well executed and presented in a very professional manner. The results are quite promising for creating similar programs. In their discussion of typical characteristics of online learners, students on academic probation are out of the ordinary. Students on academic probation are placed in this category and required to complete an academic success course because they are falling behind and not receiving adequate grades. Typically online learners are independent, highly motivated, have good reading and writing skills and are proficient in computer use. Some of these characteristics are definitely lacking in students who are on academic probation. So why did the program have so much success? From reading this article I would agree that such a course would work well for these types of students. I think that students in this category desperately need to practice increasing their self-motivation and self-direction. They also may need to practice working on computers in order to increase their skills in this area. By participating in an online academic support course students are able to practice the exact skills they need to improve.
Utilizing Distance Learning as a Strategy for Academic Successs for Undergraduate Students on Academic Probation: Atypical Candidates for Online Learning
Summary:
Holly Seirup and Rose Tirotta of Hofstra University write about a study that explored the implementations, student satisfaction, and the effectiveness of an academic support course that was taught online at a medium sized private college in the Northeast (Seirup & Tirotta 2010). This course was required for students on academic probation. Seirup and Tirotta discuss concerns facing providing a required course in an online format. They write of faculty concerns with the online format as well as student concerns. The concerns focused on faculty and student lack of experience with online courses. They discussed the history of academic support courses on college campuses stating that the goal is “to assist in student transition to campus, to provide necessary academic and interpersonal skill development, to teach and/or enhance non-academic support skills, to develop community, and ultimately, to positively impact student retension” (Seirup & Tirotta 2010 p. 1). After discussing how faculty came to the decision to provide this class within an online format, characteristics of typical online students, how the course was implemented and citing prior studies on student satisfaction with online courses Seirup and Tirotta (2010) state, “On average, the students enrolled in the course increased their GPA by .16 bringing the GPA of more than half of the students above a 2.0 and off of academic probation.
Reaction:
This study was well executed and presented in a very professional manner. The results are quite promising for creating similar programs. In their discussion of typical characteristics of online learners, students on academic probation are out of the ordinary. Students on academic probation are placed in this category and required to complete an academic success course because they are falling behind and not receiving adequate grades. Typically online learners are independent, highly motivated, have good reading and writing skills and are proficient in computer use. Some of these characteristics are definitely lacking in students who are on academic probation. So why did the program have so much success? From reading this article I would agree that such a course would work well for these types of students. I think that students in this category desperately need to practice increasing their self-motivation and self-direction. They also may need to practice working on computers in order to increase their skills in this area. By participating in an online academic support course students are able to practice the exact skills they need to improve.
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