Project Proposal

Explanation Technology you wish to pursue teaching: hardware, software and/or web 2.0 element and your OBJECTIVE/RATIONALE for teaching this technology

Project Proposal #1 I would like to teach the Waynesburg University faculty how to use Collaborate. Currently the faculty and students use Wimba to interact online. Collaborate is a software program through Blackboard that allows instructors to provide an engaging virtual classroom anytime and anywhere. OBJECTIVE/RATIONALE: My objective is for faculty to be able to play a few tutorials and then be able to understand the fundamental skills necessary to navigate around Collaborate and utilize the virtual classroom component. My only experience is with Wimba and Elluminate. Collaborate is completely new for me. I imagine them to be similar. I had experience being a student in a Wimba classroom. In Elluminate I also had experience from a student perspective and a moderators perspective because I shared my project/desktop with my classmates and was given moderator capabilities. Collaborate is necessary because it is being implemented as the new virtual classroom for Blackboard users at Waynesburg University. Collaborate users will have access to the following technologies: virtual classrooms and online video conferencing. I will provide a tutorial on how to navigate through Collaborate. I will also give an overview on the different components available to the instructors such as virtual classrooms and web conferences. I will discuss how to upload files and media in Collaborate using Plan. I will also explain how to create a virtual classroom online session. This tutorial will also include session information, content area and participation. I will provide instructions on how to utilize Publish to share sessions that you created in Collaborate. I will also explain how to obtain previously recorded sessions and how to share those with students. Once somebody has completed my training they will successfully be able to hold a class in a virtual classroom using Collaborate. I would like to give my colleagues a pre-test and post-test assessing their prior knowledge about Collaborate and their knowledge after my training. I will use their feedback in the creation of future tutorials. I will generate a survey for my colleagues that will ask questions pertaining to comfort level and future educational goals in relation to online teaching. I will also ask them about past experiences with Wimba and Collaborate. These surveys will provide insight to how comfortable each person is and what level of training they need to fulfill present and future goals. This information will allow me to group them based on experience but also prepare them for their future experiences.

Your experience or proficiency with this technology

What the colleagues will be able to do and why it is necessary for them to obtain these skills

Beginner lesson: what skills will you address specifically to introduce teachers to this technology Intermediate lesson: what will they need to integrate this into their lessons Advanced lesson: what additional bells and whistles can they add to integrate this into their lessons Final product that can be created once someone has completed all 3 lessons Assessment ideas for this series of presentations Survey ideas for this series of presentations