Virtual Office Hours: Tutoring Distance Students in Statistics and Economics

1
Virtual Office Hours Tutoring Distance Students
in Statistics and Economics

• Steven C. Myers, Department of Economics,
• Dwight Bishop, Sayee Santosh Rajaman,
• John Kelly, Design Development Services
• The University of Akron
• Akron, OH 44325-1908
• Myers_at_uakron.edu

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Introduction

• Value and Use of Office Hours
• The Value of Office Hours for Distance Students
• Present Technological Solutions
• Past Instructional Technology Developments

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Virtual Office Hours

• Software Requirements for Students and Professors
• Hardware requirements for Students and Professors
• Hardware Requirements for the University
• Conducting a Virtual Office Hours Session

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3 Motivations

• Distance students do not have the same access to
  the professor as face-to-face students.
• E-mail frustrates me when what I want to do is
  pick up a pen and write an equation or draw a
  graph.
• I cant stop by your office, I am in LA

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Value and Use of Office Hours

• Faculty members shall maintain office hours and
  establish alternative means of communication
  which are reasonable and convenient both for
  themselves and for the students whom they teach.
• Office of General Council, The University of
  Akron, Rule 3359-42-01(C)(3) Student Rights and
  Responsibility.

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Value and Use of Office Hours(Distance Learning
Office Hours Requirements)

• Whereas office hours are intended to facilitate
  communication between students and their
  professors and
• Whereas distance learning students want to be
  able to communicate with faculty members during
  the evenings and weekends
• Now be it therefore resolved that the distance
  education policy explicitly include a provision
  for office hours to be done online, as a
  percentage of the distance education coursed the
  instructor is teaching, meaning that the faculty
  member does not have to be physically in the
  office on campus for these online office hours.
• Resolution of Distance Learning Policy and
  Faculty Office Hours, Resolution 01, 2003-2004
  Academic Year Southeastern Louisiana University.

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Value and Use of Office Hours

• Some of your most effective teaching may occur
  during office hours.
• Wilbert J. McKeachie's Teaching Tips Strategies,
  Research, and Theory for College and University
  Teachers, 2002.

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The Decline of Office Hours

• Reason 1
• Rising costs of student time due to working,
  providing dependent care and attempting to
  balance time in a two-worker family.

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The Decline of Office Hours

• Reason 2
• The Internet creates a ready substitute for
  office visits through the use of
• Email,
• threaded discussion lists, and
• remote submission of assignments.
• Students can time- and place-shift their need to
  seek a professors help.

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Office Hours for Distance Students

• Face-to-face students get to see the professor
  before and after class and stop into the physical
  office hours.
• Distance students might use email, discussion
  boards and chat programs.
• AOL, MSN, Yahoo, Netmeeting all fall short of the
  objectives.

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Why worry

• Richard Lights two symptoms of students in
  academic trouble.
• A sense of isolation from the community.
• A student in trouble is unwilling to seek help.
  (50 of struggling students)
• Richard Light. Making the Most of College
  Students Speak Their Minds, Harvard Press, 2001.

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Virtual Office Hours

• Chat
• Audio and video
• One or Multiple Students
• Whiteboard or drawing surface
• Digital Ink Technology (something to write with!)

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Past Technological Development

• Chalk-n-talk
• Everything written in class
• Overhead transparencies
• Prepared slides
• Ability to write
• PowerPoint
• Elegant slides
• Interactive PowerPoint
• Write on those elegant slides

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Digital Ink Technology

• Myers, Steven C. "Six Uses of Technology to
  Improve Teaching and Learning," Poster Session
  AEA Committee on Economic Education, ASSA
  meetings, San Diego, January 4, 2004.
  http//gozips.uakron.edu/myers/scholarship
•  
• Myers, Steven C. "Digital Pen Technology in
  Electronic Technologies"  Good Practice Showcase,
  The Economics Centre of the Learning and Teaching
  Support Network (LTSN),  Universtiy of Bristol,
  UK, January 2004. http//www.economics.ltsn.ac.uk/
  showcase/myers_presentations.htm

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Digital Ink Technology

• Aiptek
• Pen Tablet
• www.aiptek.com

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Digital Ink Technology

• SMART Sympodium
• www.smarttech.com

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Digital Ink Technology

• Tablet PC
• www.thetabletpc.net

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(No Transcript)
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Software Requirements

• Flash player
• In over 90 of browsers
• Free to download
• URL - weblink

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Hardware Requirements

• Professors need some digital ink technology.
• Video camera
• Headset with microphone

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Hardware Requirements - Server

• Macromedia Flash Communications Server MX
• Integrated into cold Fusion Application server
  (future)

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Conducting a VOH Session

• Professor shares a URL (within WebCT)
• One click and you have joined the VOH session.
• Lets see an example.

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Virtual Office Hours Tutoring Distance Students
in Statistics and Economics

• Steven C. Myers, Department of Economics
• Dwight Bishop, Sayee Santosh Rajaman,
• John Kelly, Design Development Services

• This paper and revisions
• http//GoZips.uakron.edu/myers
• The University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-1908
• Myers_at_uakron.edu Bishop_at_uakron.edu

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http//GoZips.uakron.edu/myers

• myers_at_uakron.edu