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“Using Free Web 2.0 Media Tools to Promote Student Engagement
and Instructor Presence in Online Classes.”
Risa Blair and Sheryl Hartman
Miami Dade College
Instructor presence in the online classroom is a vital to promote student engagement in the online
classroom, including both instructor to student interaction and student to student interaction (Picciano,
2002). To that end, Jin et al (1998) provided a model to simulate the professor to student relationship in
the distance-learning environment. This model shows the professor on one side in his or her own world,
and the students on the other side in their own world. Although this model is old by bleeding edge
technology standards, it still holds true in the online environment. There is a clear gap, especially in
terms of communication, providing an opportunity for creating a bridge between the professor and the
students through the use of free Web 2.0 media tools.
Figure 1: Distance Learning Model with Socially Constructed Knowledge (Jin et al, 1998)
Free Web 2.0 tools used in the online classroom to promote student engagement include Animoto,
Xtranormal, Eyejot, Fix8, and Twitter. Animoto is a very easy-to-use tool to optimize student engagement
in the first “Meet & Greet” discussion. Students are generally able to upload picture, so the learning curve
is very short with Animoto. Essentially, students upload pictures, choose music, and are create a video
snapshot introduction to post on their first discussion board.
Xtranormal may be used by students, but can serve a variety of very useful purposes in the online
classroom. The free software download provides a variety of characters for use in scripted dialogue
animations with music and sets. The quality of the characters and the voices is fair, but the overriding
meaning possible is exceptional. Xtranormal can certainly be used for course announcements or
reminders, but the really interesting use is to create characters that conduct conversations about the
course. For instance, early in the semester, the two characters may discuss expectations in the course
and whether they think it will be easy or difficult, as well as strategies for success. The students really
don’t have in depth at the point of this dialogue, so there is some guessing. As the instructor, one can
front-end load the dialogue with Shakespearean foreshadowing. At instructor designated hot spots in the
course, these same two (or maybe different) characters may appear and take their conversation to the
next level. These two characters may discuss any specific assignments or notable aspects of the course.
This is a useful edutainment tool to bridge the gap between the instructor and the students, as music,
dancing, or other software enabled features may be integrated into the animated video.
Eyejot is a simple video email tool. It may be used directly to speak to someone and provide a video.
However, a more interesting use of the tool is for course announcements. An instructor may send a video
and then cut and paste the embed code into any HTML document, or course announcement. Obviously,
since students will see the instructor, he or she would want to present well in the video. For those early
mornings that instructors spend grading online, prior to meeting and greeting the public, there is Fix8.
The free version of this tool provides a lesser quality video; however, the video is enabled with hats,
glasses, beards, or other embellishments. Additionally, in lieu of a video of the instructor, Fix8 allows the
instructor to speak through an avatar that follows (albeit somewhat crudely) the instructor’s facial
movement. Overall, using Eyejot or Fix8 add interest and engagement to the course, as well as provide
an instructor presence, whether using the instructor’s voice alone with an animated character (Fix8) or the
instructor’s voice and video (Eyejot).
Twitter can be a very powerful tool to broadcast messages around the world in a flash. Twitter can also
be used to broadcast drivel. With guidelines in place, Twitter can be a very useful tool to stay connected
to students in an online class.
In summary, the literature supports providing a strong instructor presence in the online class to promote
student engagement. Free Web 2.0 tools, such as Animoto, Xtranormal, Eyejot, Fix8, and Twitter, when
used with intent, can be extremely helpful in bridging the instructor to student gap, as well as for
promoting student engagement in online courses.
References
Jin, Z., Mason, R. M., & Yim, P. P. (1998). Bridging Us-China Cross-Cultural Differences Using Internet and
Groupware Technologies. The 7th
International Association for Management of Technology
Annual Conference, http://www.cim-oem.com/bridge_8c18c.html.
Picciano, A. (2002). Beyond student perceptionsL issues of interaction, presence, and performance in an
online course. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 6, 21-40.