Mod 3: WiseMapping - Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Tool

Name of the tool
WiseMapping


Url of the tool
http://www.wisemapping.com


Primary category of the tool
Critical thinking and problem solving


** Please click the following links to watch screencast version of the review **


#1: http://screencast.com/t/YzJjMDUzNTUt

#2: http://screencast.com/t/ODkzMDFmYz
#3: http://screencast.com/t/NGY2OTczN
#4: http://screencast.com/t/NGFkMTI4


Description of the tool
WiseMapping is a concept and mind mapping diagram tool that is available for free on the Internet. The key functionalities of mind mapping, from creating to archiving and sharing, are provided via the Web interface. Unlike other programs, such as Freemind - the very popular desktop mind map program and iMindMap - a heavyweight mind map software with many bells and whistles, WiseMapping is a simple Web 2.0 version of mind mapping tool. Thus, WiseMapping sticks to its core features of mind mapping: a) create topic nodes with boxes, b) add subtopics under any topic node, c) add subtopics to the topic node, and d) re-arrange the hierarchical structure of the map with drag and drop. The notable Web 2.0 aspects of the WiseMapping are the features that enable users to add a link to the topic node, to add a tag to the mind map for search on the internet, to share your mind map with others via either collaboration or viewing, and to publish your mind map on the Internet via the WiseMapping server. When you publish, you are given three options as to how you might embed your mind map in your document: a) simple url, b) direct url link, c) html code for embedding as iframe tag inside the html file. 


WiseMapping offers only one association between topic nodes: the parent and a child. Children can have only one parent whereas a parent may have many children. However, this simplicity with easy collaborations via the Web is what attracts educators the most as a valuable tool in their teaching situations.


What do you need to know before using this tool?
No particular skills are needed.


What do you need to have before using this tool?
A computer with the Internet connection. Mac users need to use Mozilla-based browser. 


How do you use this tool?
1. Register at http://www.wisemapping.com
2. Watch the video, "WiseMapping in two minutes."
3. Click on "My Wisemaps" link at the upper right hand corner.
4. Click on "Create a new map."
5. Watch the "First Edit" video by clicking the button in the lower left corner.
6. Click on "Shape" icon under the topic menu to determine the shape of the topic node.
7. Click on "Add" icon to create a topic node.
8. Double-click on the node to edit the title of the topic node. 
9. To create a subtopic, add a topic and move it to the parent topic node. Once the parent topic node has at least one subtopic, you can create subtopics by clicking on "Add" or simply by clicking "Enter." When you add a node, it is created under the root topic node.
10. Click on a small circle attached to the node to expand or collapse the subtopics.
11. Click on "Note" icon to attach a note to the topic node.
12. Click on "Tag" icon to create a tag on the map.
13. Click on "Share" icon to invite collaborators or viewers for the map.
14. Click on "Publish" icon to publish the map on the Internet.


Example of WiseMapping
The following example of WiseMapping illustrates how students can use WiseMapping to collaborate on solving math problems on the Web. It has been always difficult to have students think about more than one ideas, let alone collaboration on multiple ideas when solving math problems. With WiseMapping, math teachers can achieve both: multiple perspectives and collaboration. 


The topic nodes on the left illustrate multiple ideas of students. One upper right node is a question node. The node in the lower right corner is the summary node that concludes their effort on the problem. Icons are used to indicate different students working on nodes.


Please click the link below to view the example - only Mozilla Firefox is supported.
ProblemSolving-1


Description of a scenario of how WiseMapping might be used in a teaching environment.
Cooperative or collaborative learning in mathematics has not been as successful as in other subjects. The small group dynamics in mathematics classrooms often lead to peer teaching, dominated by one or two students in the group. Moreover, The two most important activities in mathematics, problem solving and proof do not lend itself to collaboration for many reasons. We often hear from mathematicians and students alike, “I do not remember what exactly went on when I solved the problem,” leaving little room for collaboration. A Web 2.0 tool such as WiseMapping - critical thinking and problem solving, could provide mathematicians and students with an opportunity to make their thought process of problem solving or proving a theorem visible to themselves and others. 


As illustrated in the example of WiseMapping, math instructors can use WiseMapping to help students to expose their ideas to themselves and other students before leaping into a solution phase. This is what makes collaboration in mathematics possible, and WiseMapping is a perfect tool for the task. Consequently, I would use WiseMapping in any teaching scenario in which collaboration or multiple perspectives is a key to learning. I present two specific scenarios.


Scenario #1
I teach one section of low division precalculus each year. My teaching method - let students work on problems alone, let them collaborate on them, and let them present their work to the whole class with minimal lectures - has not been as successful as in my other upper division courses. One particular area of concern is the degree to which they collaborate in the beginning of each class. Firstly, they are not mathematically mature enough to exchange ideas toward a solution. secondly, it is questionable if they worked alone as they were supposed to do so before each class. I would ask students to use WiseMapping to exchange their ideas on the problems within each group. That way, students will be forced to work and share their ideas before each class. As a consequence, I as a teacher expect more lively discussions in class. 


Scenario #2
Another difficult area in college mathematics teaching is to teach students to learn multiple perspectives about problem solving or proof. It should be noted that the two dimensional and nonlinear aspect of WiseMapping is a perfect environment for learning multiple perspectives. Almost all solutions of math problems show the linear, one way only characteristics. It would be very difficult for students to imagine other ways to solve the same problem in such environments. Hence, I would use WiseMapping in challenging problems and projects in my geometry class for educational majors in order to teach them there are always more than one way to do in math. The goal would be to have future teachers think about the challenging problem early on, then share their ideas together so that multiple perspectives are generated and appreciated by themselves.


What are the advantages of using this tool in a teaching environment?
Two major advantages of using WiseMapping in teaching mathematics are: a) have students reveal their thought process of problem solving or proof, thus make possible collaboration on developing and sharing ideas toward problem solving or proof.


What are the disadvantages of using this tool in a teaching environment?
One disadvantage of using this particular tool is the fact that the product is not supported either by the strong non-profit company or by a stable company. There is a chance that the product will cease to exist. Another disadvantage could be not having multiple association types between the nodes. Each node can have only single line of information.

Example of "Jing" Web 2.0 Creativity Tool

Here is an example of Jing application. 

I like to present a particular learning management system (LMS) to faculty members who are new to the system, but want to write an online course themselves using the LMS. The presentation will provide them with an overview of the LMS so that they understand what features are offered, thus they can create a lesson plan for the LMS. Jing could be a good Web 2.0 tool for this purpose. Explanations are given in double brackets. Only the first part of this presentation is prepared for the purpose of Jing example.

:::   :::   :::   :::   :::   :::   :::   :::   :::   :::   :::   :::   :::


Dear Faculty members, 


Welcome to online course development!
This short blog presentation will walk you through the Learning Management System (LMS) that you're going to use to create your online courses. More detailed face-to-face discussions will follow. I will be available through your entire online course development process.


The example course is English 1301, but the structure and navigation of the system will be similar to your future math courses. The snapshots and videos in this blog will show the teacher's view of the course, but it will be almost identical to what your students will see. Each course starts with the front page of the course that looks like this. 


[[ The image was captured on my desktop with an option to get a copy of embedded html code for the image that has been stored in screencast.com at capture. In this way my blog page can download the image from the screencast.com to display properly. You have a second option to do the same by storing an image file on your computer, then you can upload it directly to your blog site through its editor. You have two options to adjust the size of the image: a) you can set the canvas size the way you want it when you capture the image in Jing, or b) you may adjust the width and the height of the image in the web-editor such as a blog html-editor, but in this case, the ratio of the width and the height should be the same as the ratio of the original image captured.]]









In the left pane, the course contents are organized in folders. The main frame shows the main cover page, the author's video window, and the modules for students to follow throughout the course. Each module consists of different activities such as video lectures to watch, reading assignment, discussion board, peer reviews, and others. Students can mouse over each module to see what kind of activities they will do in each module. The following video shows those modules and activities.


[[Jing allows us to embed a short video.]] 

Jing: Web 2.0 Creativity/Innovation Tool

Name of the tool:
Jing


Url of the tool:
http://www.jingproject.com


Primary category of the tool:
Creativity and Innovation - screen image and video capture with audio for presentations

Please click the link below to listen to the podcast part I.

http://voicethread.com/share/1249307/

Description of the tool: Jing
Jing is a tool that captures images or animations on your computer with your own voice narratives. That is, Jing records everything you see or do on a selected area of your computer screen for up to 5 minutes. Once captured, The images or videos can be available instantly on the Web if the user sends them through either screencast.com or saves them locally and uploads to the website, like your blog site. All of these tasks are done by following the very simple, but intuitive user interface Jing provides. One cannot underestimate the neat features Jing offers after the screen is captured. The user can add arrows and text boxes to attach textual information to some part of the captured screen. In addition, the user can highlight or frame the region of the captured screen. The user can choose the color of his/her choice on any screen elements Jing offers, such as red arrow or blue text box.

Applications of this compact, but capable tool are boundless. You may use Jing to insert a simple visual information such as a map into an instant messaging conversation, an email as a link (url), and even a Word document or powerpoint presentation. But, the most compelling use of Jing should be where an instant image or video information is needed at the moment of ongoing conversation or collaboration on the Web. Jing's website aptly describes it as "Snap a picture of your screen, record video of onscreen action, and share instantly over the web, IM, email." 

Please click the link below to listen to the podcast part II.
http://voicethread.com/share/1249324/

What do you need to know before using this tool?
The required knowledge is minimal. The only place where the user might be confused is when he/she copies the embedded html code from the clipboard. But, the knowledge of Html is not required.


How do you use this tool?
1. Download and install the free version of Jing from the Url listed above.
2. The clipped yellow sun (Jing application icon) is located at the corner of upper right-hand screen. It will appear when Jing is running.
3. Click on the Jing icon.
4. Choose an action among "capture, history, and more."
5. When "capture" is clicked, you can select the area of your computer screen with the cross-hair.
6. Once the selection is made, the menu icons of the Jing application screen appear; they are "capture an image, recored a video, record webcam with Jing Pro, and redo selection."
7. For an image capture, click on "capture image icon." You have an option to send the image to screencast.com or to save the image to your local computer. If the first option is chosen, the url link to the screencast.com site or the embedded html code containing html code for linking will be copied onto the clipboard so that you can simply paste it onto the editor or the document you're working on. 
8. For a video recording, click on "record a video icon." Then, the recording screen appears. At this time, everything you see and do in the selected computer screen will be recorded, possibly along with your narratives. When, the recording is done, you can make it available the same way as you would with the captured image. 


An example of using this tool
Please follow the link to the example:
http://kye5.blogspot.com/2010/07/example-of-jing-web-20-creativity-tool.html

A description of how I might use this tool in a teaching environment
I have quite a unique teaching style in college mathematics teaching. In most courses, my students need to present their mathematical work (either problem solving or proof) to the whole class. This particular technique is very powerful because the students' attitude toward their work is very different when they think they have to explain what they understood to the whole class in front of the teacher. They reflect upon their work relentlessly until they really make sure they got it. 


However, it had some drawbacks in the past. Some (but not often) students simply cannot explain math in front of his/her peers and the teacher. So I had to let them do it in my office privately, which is very time consuming. Also, I usually have many students in my office during the office hours because some students want to rehearse their presentations before class. Jing has a great potential to remedy this situation. Some shy students may create a Jing document before their presentation and make it available to the teacher or to their group. This Jing document with images and voices could mimic what they would do during their presentations. The student in the same group may rehearse their presentations with Jing documents before class one another, which can save many hours of teacher's time. Extremely shy students now create Jing presentations for his/her teacher for grade. I admit some students either dropped the class or changed the section because of mandatory presentation requirement. With Jing, I have now an alternative. 


Another use of Jing in a teaching environment is online tutoring. One difficulty of online (math) tutoring is the context in which the question arises. When a student asks a question online, he/she has to explain the whole context just to explain what the question is. This usually wouldn't be a problem in face-to-face to tutoring environment with textbooks and other materials available. If students are taking an online course, this issue of context is even more problematic because tutors often times do not have access to the web page the student is looking at. In this scenario, Jing can help greatly in that student can simply capture the question and its context, and insert his/her questions with arrows and text boxes onto any form of online tutoring - either email, IM, or web. Then, the tutor can return the Jing document with hints or suggestions. This exchange can continue until the student can get enough help they need.


What are the advantages of using this tool in a teaching environment?
Jing generalizes the notion of a document that the students and a teacher communicate by. With the documents created by pencil and paper, the students and a teacher used to exchange textual and visual information efficiently in the form of homework and projects. In digital era, the students and a teacher were able to exchange textual information efficiently, but not images and videos. With Jing, the students and a teacher can now exchange information not only in terms of text and images, but also in terms of videos. For example, the teacher may read homework document submitted in any form, document or image, then insert comment on their work with Jing and return their work. The use of videos in presenting their work or projects that can be captured in their computer screens opens up a fascinating possibility in many academic learning and evaluating situations.


What are the disadvantages of using this tool in a teaching environment
The reliability of information could be an issue. Images and videos are not reliable as textual documents. They may be easily corrupt during transfer. It also requires bigger data, which implies more Internet bandwidth for such data exchanges. It also requires more care to create images and videos, even with Jing. 

Knowledgebase about Distance Education

*** This document is being edited continually as the author gain more knowledge about distance education through the course ***


How has distance education evolved over the years?

According to Moore (2005), there are largely five generations of distance education in history. They are:
1. Correspondence
2. Broadcast radio & television
3. Open universities
4. Teleconferencing
5. Internet/Web


How is distance education different than face-to-face education?
Teaching and learning in face-to-face education takes place at the same space and time whereas those in distance education may occur at different times and places. The ways in which or the tools by which space and time constraints are relaxed usually distinguish many different kinds of distance education.  In addition to space and time, teaching is planned and executed independently of learning in distance education whereas teaching and learning in face-to-face education cannot be separated in any meaningful way.


What special needs does a distance learner have?

- A distance learner needs active learning skills because most learning activities in distance education require active participation rather than receiving information passively.
- Since most distance learning environments are technically inclined, distance learners need to possess the minimal amount of computer skills.
- Virtual collaboration skill
The way students collaborate in distance education, for instance with Web 2.0 collaboration tools, requires special skills. Students are used to communicating with both verbal and non-verbal (including facial cues and etc.) means. On the other hand, the collaboration in the virtual setting requires often communicating with only verbal or textual cues. It could take time for some students to develop this kind of new skills. 


What specific skills does a teacher need in an online environment to meet the needs of students?

- technical expertise
- being able to listen attentively to students need in an online setting
- being able to develop a suitable pedagogy for his/her course in an online environment
- knows how to coach in a virtual setting when students tries to learn actively material in an online setting.


What theoretical frameworks or perspectives influence distance education?
- Theory of transactional distance asserts that the distance is a pedagogical phenomenon and is not simply a matter of geographic distance. The transaction that we call distance education is the interplay between people who are teachers and learners, in environments that have the special characteristic of being separate from one another. It is the physical distance that leads to a communication gap, a psychological space of potential misunderstandings between the instructors and the learners that has to be bridged by special teaching techniques: this is the Transactional distance by Moore in "Distance Education: A systems view." 
- Learner autonomy 
- Collaborative learning and the social construction of knowledge


What are the trends in distance education?
- Web-based online education
- Use of Web 2.0 tools from in creating online contents to in collaborating online. 


What research is being conducted in distance education?
- The single largest group of research studies in distance education is on how effective if it is as a way of learning, with a particular communication tools. 
- Much recent research on Web-based Instruction has been done, but without clear reference to the core theory or knowledge of distance education research. 


What are the challenges (for students, for teachers, for schools) for distance education?
Challenges for students:

- By 2019, about  50% of all high school subjects will be taught online.
- Online learning, A Disruptive Innovation for students
- Balance between work and study.
- New digital media literacy - online books, Kindle


Challenges for teachers:

- Learn new technological tools for educational purposes
- Adapt their teaching strategies developed in face-to-face to distance education or create a new one
- The pace at which distance teaching environment changes
- Less flexible to accommodate different learning styles
- Lack of opportunity to provide students personal attention


Challenges for schools (institutions)

- For Educational Institutions - The cost and financial models that exist for traditional education do not work with Distance.
- For Corporate Institutions – Understanding the learning level of their personnel. - For all – Management may not always be effective or correctly governed. Marketing of Distance Education may not always be consistent.


What are the rewards (for students, for teachers, for schools) of distance education?

Rewards for students:
- Expanded curriculum options available to students
- Advanced Placement and accelerated study
- Expanded access to elective subjects for students
- Alternative educational opportunities for diverse students
- Schedule flexibility for students with schedule conflicts
Rewards for teachers

- Renew their teaching continuously
- Help students with up-to-day technological innovations - Become an active teacher and a researcher
- Listen more attentively to students need
- Become a dynamic teacher who solves the challenges in education that the 21st century technological acceleration imposes
- Being able to use diverse tools available
Rewards for schools (institutions)

- When implemented correctly, Distance Education, through E-learning development and proper marketing is profitable.
- A wider base of end-users or personnel may be instructed without regard to time constraints or distance.
- Better training and a larger variety of courses or topics of training may be offered due to reduced expenses and time constraints. This would lead to more people educated in a shorter amount of time.

Schoology: Educator's Web 2.0 Tool Box

Name of the tool:
Schoology

Url of the tool:
https://www.schoology.com
Primary category of the tool:Course/Learning management system with built-in Social networking

Description of the tool - Schoology
Schoology is an enterprise level course/learning management system disguised in social networking user interface that today's students feel comfortable with. Two major categories of features are the course management system that is similar to Blackboard, Moodle, or Sakai and the configurable social networking user interface that is similar to Facebook. In sum, Schoology is a course management system with the built-in strong Web 2.0 communication features. Major clients are schools and school districts, though it fits well in the colleges.

In course management side, Schoology provides common capabilities such as creations of school, course, and groups or classes. It also supports tests and quizzes. It enables instructors to manage courses, grades and even attendance. Overall, it parallels the capabilities of Moodle, but with much user-friendly interface.

In social networking side, Schoology provides features that are not seen in typical course management systems. They are cross-school networking and private messaging, group workspace for departments, PTA, Clubs, and Teams, Blogs, and personal file storage and bookmarking.

In conclusion, Schoology can be a strong alternative to major course management systems especially at school settings. But it features more favorable social networking-like communication capabilities among all stakeholders: students, teachers, administrators, staffs, and parents.
In order to use Schoology as teacher, one should talk to the administrator of the school you are in if the school already registered your school at Schoology. Otherwise, you may have to ask your school to set up an account in Schoology for you.

The primium add-ons can be purchased to customize the system for schools and districts. The basic version is available for free.

What skills needed to use the tool?
No particular skill is needed, but familiarity with any course management system as Blackboard and social networking site as Facebook would help.

What resources do you need before using the tool?
Since the tool is server-based, you do not need to download any major program. But your school must register at Schoology before you as a teacher can use the tool.

How do you use this tool?
The way you use this tool depends on your role in your school system. Let's consider a usage as a teacher.
1. Contact your school to check if the school has already registered at Schoology. If it has, call the contact person to obtain an account. If it has not, you may request a registration at Schoology.
2. Once you get an account as a teacher, you can create a class of your own. At this point, it is possible that the administrator in your school may set up your class for you.
3. You can create tests and quizzes, analyze their results and monitor students' progress while communicating with students off school.
4. You can communicate with parents through Schoology as well if you choose to do so.
5. You may do most course and learning management tasks with strong communication in many aspects.

Create an example with this tool and either embed in your blog or submit the Url.
Since my college already registered at Schoology, I have to wait to get an account from the school. In the mean time, I submit the url that illustrates features.
Url: https://www.schoology.com/features.php 

Here are some more screen shots of Schoology.com. I registered as a fake teacher at another university so that the identity was not verified by Schoology. Thus, not much action has been shown. 

Here is the welcome page after the registration.


Identity verification page, which I didn't go through.


Social, Academic, and Group settings page.


My network page.

Describe a scenario of how you might use this tool in a teaching environment

As a teacher in a college, I would create a class and set it up at Schoology not only to manage my courses but also to encourage my students to communicate and collaborate on assignments. I am interested in using Schoology for one particular teaching method that I apply each summer session.

I teach one day and my students teach the other day during summer sessions. As an instructor I teach on A-days whereas my students teach on B-days. Thus, my students work hard on every A-days after my lecture in order to prepare their teaching the next day (B-day). I have to give up about 30 to 40 minutes of my class time to allow them to collaborate on their group's work before their teaching presentations on B-days.

Two hurdles in this teaching scheme are not being able to provide students with (a) appropriate help from the instructor and (b) a tool for communication among students when they work alone at home. With the aid of Schoology, I will be able to remove these hurdles. User-friendly and social networking style communication tools will allow students in the same group to discuss over math problems that could be dealt with without help from the teacher. I can provide just-in-time help when they request for help through Schoology during the virtual office hours.

The significant benefit for students would be being able to talk about the math problems with which they are struggling. As we all experienced as a math student, sometimes just talking to someone is all they needed to move forward when they are stuck with the math problem.

What are the advantages of using this tool in a teaching environment?

The advantages in a particular teaching environment mentioned above are the social networking interface embedded in the course management system. Students' collaboration would be more seamless with the interface students are already familiar with.

What are the disadvantages of using this tool in a teaching environment?

The major disadvantage should be having a course on a rather proprietary course management system that your school does not provide full support.

Please note that the number of screen shots is small because I need to get an account from the college that I am to log onto Schoology I identified the personel who deals with Schoology accounts, but I was not able to contact her yet.

Kye's Vocabulary for Diatance Education

Distance Education:
Distance education refers to education in which learning occurs with no close proximity between students and a teacher.

Distance Learning:
Distance learning occurs with no close proximity between students and a teacher

Online Learning:
It refers to a particular type of distance learning where the medium that makes distance learning possible is the Internet-based online technology.

Web-based Learning:
It refers to a particular type of online learning where students go online by the Web.

Hybrid Learning:
It refers to learning whereby students learn both in distance and face-to-face learning environment.

E-learning:
It refers to learning whereby students learn electronically, but it also means online-learning.

Blended Learning:
It refers to learning in which more than one instructional setting are used.

Distributed Learning:
It refers to learning in which students, a teacher, and resources are distributed over time and place whereas centralized learning refers to learning that occurs at fixed times and places.

Flexible Learning:
It refers to learning in which students and a teacher have flexible schedules for learning and teaching.

Open Learning:
It refers to learning in which students can access to courses and resources freely whereas many courses in colleges are closed and offered only for enrolled students with fees. The first major such example is MIT open course ware.

Synchronous Learning and Asynchronous Learning:
Synchronous learning refers to learning environment in which students and a teacher share time and place to learn and teach, whereas asynchronous learning is not bound to the common time and place.

We may consider self-paced learning

Why are there so many definitions for distance education?

There are many ways to break away from traditional, face-to-face learning and to go with distance learning. The traditional learning environment has assumed the centralized (place) and synchronous (time) gathering of students and the teacher. If we relax the constraint of place while keeping the time, there would be TV-based learning and video-conference learning. On the other hand, if we relax time while keeping the place, there would be flexible learning and self-paced learning on campus.

There are also many media whereby we break away from the constraints of time and place. The most popular medium today is the Internet with which students and the teacher can easily relax time and place constraints. We may further differentiate distance learning by the degree to which it eases up time and place constraints. For example, face-to-face learning lies on one extreme of the spectrum and asynchronous, online learning places itself on the other extreme of the spectrum whereas hybrid learning falls in the middle.

Kye's CUIN 7356/7 Instructional Design class

Hello everyone,

I'm Kye, a new student at IT&D.
I am expecting an exciting semester. I am also eager to learn this exciting field with everyone and our professors, Dr. McNeil and Dr. Robin.

Kye