Section I - Components of the CEL program
Theme of Communication
Two forms of communication will be used
over the course of the student’s project work:
• Synchronous communication
• Asynchronous communication
Synchronous communication is the type of
communication that students will use during
telephone conferencing or in-person
discussions. It allows students to create an
immediate dialogue of comment and response.
Students will demonstrate asynchronous
communication when using e-mail. Comments
or questions are “mailed off” and then students
must wait until the recipient reads and responds to the message.
Since students will be communicating with their group members at the other schools
through telephone conferencing and e-mail, students will need to learn the protocols
and rules necessary for this type of communication, these can be found in the section
titled “Netiquette”. It would be of benefit to the student to have the rules of Netiquette
posted in the room in which they will be communicating with the other participating
schools.
Learning Tasks
The goal of the students is to learn collaborative communication, research, and
presentation skills by learning to use the tools of e-mail, bulletin board system, and
related software, while interacting with their peers.
Résumés
FirstClass uses résumés to identify users; they are useful because they advertise what
a person or a conference is all about. From reading a résumé you can find out whether
or not you share common interests with other people on the same system.
Constructing a résumé is also a good learning activity; it is one way students can learn
how to represent themselves to others and, in some situations, a résumé can be a
powerful communication device. For instance, prior to introducing yourself to another
person, you can read his/her résumé and find something of common interest to “break
the ice”.
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Students will use their word processing program to create an extended version of
their résumé as a Language Arts class assignment, and post an excerpted version
on the FirstClass bulletin board system.
Students need to define what they feel is important to put on the electronic résumé
to be attached to their e-mail account. The list should include such items as school
attended, scholastic interests, extracurricular activities, and the student’s likes and
dislikes. Students should be cautioned to avoid putting things in their résumé that
would enable others to match the alias to the student.
After evaluation by the teacher, students can paste the final résumé into their user
account by copying the information from the word processing file by opening up
Résumé from the Edit menu in FirstClass.
Instructions for Posting Résumés:
1.
Select your résumé text from the word processing program that you are using
Choose Edit-Copy.
2.
Log on to FirstClass using your alias and password.
3.
Choose Edit – Résumé.
4.
Click in the body of the résumé.
5.
Choose Edit – Paste.
6.
Type a Heading in your résumé heading - Use your alias (examples: "Snow
Drop", "Red Baron's Bio." "Water Dog's Résumé").
7.
Select your logo using the selection tool in your graphics software.
8.
Choose Edit – Copy.
9.
Go into FirstClass.
10.
Choose Edit-Résumé.
11.
Click on the Square to the left of your title heading.
12.
Choose Edit-Paste.
To View Another Résumé in FirstClass:
1. Choose Service-Directory.
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2.
3.
4.
5.
Wait for the Directory to load.
Click on the name of the person you want to view the résumé.
If the résumé has been put in FirstClass, it will appear.
To look at the logo full size, click on the logo and a window will open revealing
the entire logo in full size.
To update a personal résumé:
1. If your résumé has been input into a word processing system, enter Résumé
document and choose "Select All" and "Copy".
2. Log into your user id in FirstClass, then choose "Edit - Résumé".
3. Type your ALIAS in the header.
4. "Paste" Résumé document in the body of the résumé.
Creating Aliases, Passwords, and Logos
Interacting in an electronic environment provides an opportunity to remove
barriers based on stereotypes about a person’s age, gender, or cultural background.
When creating an alias and logo, students consider how they want to present
themselves and take responsibility for their choice. Names that may embarrass the
student should be strongly discouraged and offensive ones disallowed. It may be
hard to select an appropriate alias without giving away at least a small part of
one’s identity, ones that reveal too much should be avoided. After choosing aliases
and drawing logos, teachers can have the students write a paragraph describing the
rationale for their choice.
Aliases and Passwords
Students should create an alias that does not reference age, gender, or other
aspects of their identity, but reflects an image of them in a positive manner (even
if it does not reflect their identity). The alias should be easy to pronounce and
memorize.
It is important to explain to students the correct procedure for using aliases on the
Internet. While concealing their identities is useful in order to protect them from
child predators, they must also realize that using one provides an opportunity to
engage in deception or harassment, behaviour that would not be permitted if their
identity was known publicly. Although aliases are required for this project, they
are uncommon on the Internet in general because they are considered undesirable
by the recognized standards of Netiquette, and are either strongly discouraged or
not allowed in many discussion groups or mailing lists.
Passwords help an individual have control and ownership over their own work. It
is important that students learn to keep their passwords private to prevent other
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people from entering their workspace to sabotage their work or their personality
by, for example, sending fraudulent e-mail.
Students should create their own passwords based on the following criteria:
• It is a secret word that cannot be guessed.
• It should be a minimum of four characters and a maximum of eight.
• It does not have punctuation
• It is easy to remember and to type into a computer.
Teachers can ask students to evaluate their aliases to see if they fit the above
criteria.
Aliases and passwords should be given only to the system administrator or to the
teacher. Students should be reminded never to reveal their aliases or passwords to
anyone else.
After the students have created their passwords and aliases (and written several
paragraphs to demonstrate and justify their choice of alias), teachers can show them
the procedure for logging on to the e-mail/bulletin board system. Teachers can
familiarize the students with the desktop icons and let them open an e-mail message
that was previously created by the teacher.
Logos
A logo is a graphical element that identifies a specific item or
company; the Nike “swoosh” is a good example. The design is simple
with elements of symbolism and should be easily recognized by
others. Logos use symbols and graphics to simplify and communicate
ideas. Students will create their own logo to add to their logbooks.
Uncanny’s Logo
Graphics programs will be used to create logos, so the appropriate skill sets should
already have been learned.
Teachers can use examples of logos cut
from newspapers, magazines, or business
cards to illustrate how individuals and
organizations have used logos to
communicate a message. Teachers should
discuss the elements of logos: some logos
are pictures (gender id on washrooms);
some are letters (Sony, Ricoh),
Kat’s Logo
and some combine letters and pictures (The University of Calgary, Bank of
Montreal). Logos are designed for clarity and simplicity, as well as to be visible
when enlarged or reduced in size.
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Students need to understand why they are producing a logo: to introduce
themselves to strangers from different schools who will become their colleagues,
and to use the logo as a trademark that will be used on their work.
Teachers can discuss possible starting points for developing a personal logo
(family history and coat of arms, hobbies, sports, activities, interests, initials,
lifestyle objectives, attitudes about life); the personal résumé may also be useful.
The final design should be created on a computer using ClarisWorks so that it may
be used in electronic documents. While students are working on their own
designs, they may collaborate with others to share ideas and critique their designs.
When the logo has been completed, students can write one or two paragraphs to
explain the reasoning behind its creation, then include the logos in their résumés
and attach it to logbooks and nametags.
To attach their logos students should:
• Create their logos in a paint program in ClarisWorks - Paint.
• Select their logos using the click and drag selection
tool. Their selection should be a square shape even
if their logo is not square. If they use a non- square
rectangular shape, their logo will be distorted in their
résumé.
• Paste their logos in the small square graphic window
to the left of the header of the résumé where they
have put their name.
Scavenger Hunt
Teachers can encourage students to become familiar with the other resumes by
creating a scavenger hunt. Teachers create a list with a series of questions based
on student resumes. Students read through the resumes to find the correct answers,
which they then post to a folder in FirstClass. After the due date for all the entries
the teachers can post the answers and a general breakdown of how well the
students did. Refer to the Samples and Projects section of the manual for a sample
of a scavenger hunt.
Etiquette
Collaborating electronically means that students need to acquire the proper
etiquette skills to ensure that they can interact with their peers in an appropriate
manner.
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Netiquette
The word “etiquette” refers to rules of behaviour that people are expected to
follow. When using the Internet, these rules are referred to as “Netiquette”, and
they also apply when using other electronic forms of communication such as the
Internet, e-mail, and BBS.
REMEMBER: Your conference is being broadcast to a wide audience, some of
whom may be tape recording your words.
Basic Rules
Rule 1. You Are Not Alone
• Never write a message that you would
not be willing to say to a person if you
met them on the street. Verbal and
physical signs contribute to
understanding when we talk to
someone in person, but there are no
such signs possible when
communicating by computers, so it is
important to practice Netiquette in
order to avoid misunderstanding or
hurting others.
• Be careful when using sarcasm and
humour. Without face-to-face
communications, jokes may be viewed as criticism.
• Remember that messages can be monitored by an administrator to ensure that
there are no abuses of the system.
Rule 2. Look Good
• Check your mail regularly, and answer e-mail promptly.
• Keep paragraphs and messages short and to the point.
• Focus on one subject per message and always include a pertinent subject title for
the message, so the user can locate the message quickly.
• Typing messages in all capital letters is the equivalent of shouting. If you want to
emphasize words, put *asterisks* before and after to draw attention.
• Proofread your messages for mistakes; spelling and grammar skills are vital to
good communication.
Rule 3. Share What You Know
• Do your research well ahead of time, and make sure your notes are clear and your
argument is logical.
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• Offer answers to questions when you can, and ask questions when you are unable
to find the information for yourself.
• Make sure the people you are communicating with are kept current with what you
are doing.
• Cite all quotations, references, and sources, and respect copyright and license
agreements.
Rule 4. Don’t Start Fights
• Starting a fight on the Internet is considered to be very inappropriate behaviour
and can reflect poorly upon you.
• Remember not to post messages that might be misinterpreted (reread them
carefully, or ask a teacher if you aren’t sure), and do not respond publicly to such
messages.
Rule 5. Respect Privacy
• Reading the mail of other students or teachers is a violation of their privacy.
Rule 6. Respect Time
• If you wish to communicate with only one or two people, send e-mail instead of
posting a public message to the group.
Rule 7. Forgive and Forget
• If you feel someone has made a mistake, be patient and show good manners by
giving them the benefit of the doubt. After all, everyone makes mistakes from time
to time!
Rules adapted from:
Shea, Virginia (1994) Netiquette. Albion Publishing, San Francisco, CA
The Netiquette Page at http://www.lhup.edu/~tbrink/NETT.HTM
Etiquette for telephone conferences
Students should log on to the telephone conference by introducing themselves by their
alias. Each time they speak, they should mention their alias so that everyone knows
who is speaking.
When the conference ends, the students should log off by alias the same way they
logged on.
At the end of each session, a teacher at each location
should log
off with: "This is (school name) logging off." and then
hang up the phone. This lets the operator know how many
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people are still on line. Once everyone is off, the operator can close the Bridge.
It is extremely important not to use real names on the conference calls. All teachers
who are helping the children need to be reminded of this prior to the conferences. This
is to protect the anonymity of the children, particularly when conferences are being
broadcast. If you need to use a child's real name to get his attention, simply hit the
mute button before calling him, and then unmute when the child is ready.
Use the mute button when:
• Someone is having a private conversation near the telephone, between
conferences.
• The class change bell goes off.
• Someone is broadcasting school announcements at your school.
• You are listening but not speaking.
• Someone has to call someone else by his or her real name.
Copyright
It is easy to copy text, graphics, and files that are posted on World Wide Web
sites, but it is illegal to use these materials without written permission.
Intellectual property is defined as original written work, artwork, or dramatic
performance, such as books, newspapers, dictionaries, manuals, catalogues,
magazines, pamphlets, computer software, paintings, drawings, design trademarks,
sculptures, architectural works, engravings, dramatic works, photographs, films,
videos, scripts, maps, lyrics, and musical works; it is less tangible than usual
property.
Copyright not to be given to ideas themselves but only to the expression of those
ideas fixed in some medium of communication. The two reasons for copyright
protections are:
• Economic: protects income source (no one can profit from your intellectual
property).
• Moral: protects creator’s reputation (no one can alter a copyrighted document,
take credit for someone else’s work, or associate a person’s work with
something they do not wish to be associated with).
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Teachers should discuss ownership of physical belongings, using toys in a toy
store or stereos in an electronics shop as examples, as well as ownership of
“intellectual property” and who can use copyrighted material:
• The originator.
• Anyone to whom the originator gives written permission.
• Anyone using the material for purposes of private study, research, criticism,
review, or newspaper summary. This is known as “fair use.”
• Writers using short passages quoted from other authors’ works, provided that
acknowledgement is made to the source of the quotation.
Teachers can discuss copyright law as applicable to the students’ projects, and the
need to reference all sources applicable; when using the World Wide Web,
reference all text and pictures with URL, author, and date of access. In order to
avoid instances of copyright infringement, the use of royalty-free clip art is
encouraged.
Teachers need to be reminded to ensure that their teaching methods do not infringe
on the Copyright Act. A copy is on the web at
http://insight.mcmaster.ca/org/efc/pages/law/canada/canada.C-42.html#27
Further information about copyright can be obtained from:
Gow, Gordon. Copyright Reform in Canada.
http://www.sfu.ca/~gagow/capcom/cpyrght.htm#back5
Kerr, Philip. Copyright Law in Canada.
http://www.trytel.com/~pbkerr/copyright.html
Sim, Peter. Copyright and Electronic Media.
http://www.mbnet.mb.ca/~psim/copyrt1.html
Infringement of copyright is included on the back pages for easy reference.
Decision-Making Through Consensus
Students working in a group will need to be
provided with some basic guidelines for making
group decisions that are satisfactory for all
participants. There are two main methods for group
decision-making: consensus and voting. Voting
requires students to choose which plan or
suggestion they prefer and then accept the idea that
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receives the most votes. Voting is likely to cause negative feelings and stress
within a group environment. Consensus requires students to listen to one another’s
ideas with open minds and be willing to make compromises for the benefit of the
whole group. Decisions made through consensus can be reached with more
effectiveness and can avoid generating feelings of hostility, resentment, or
exclusion. For the duration of the Collaborative Electronic Learning projects it is
preferred that students use a consensus model for decision-making whenever
possible.
Consensus encourages the involvement of all members and the generation of
ideas. Commitment to the project and to other team members is increased since
everyone has an opportunity to provide input and can thereby develop a greater
sense of responsibility and value to the group. Consensus enables everyone to
know where each person in the group stands on an issue, this is important when it
is time to create plans of action.
The process of consensus requires:
• Clearly state the problem or issue that needs to be
discussed.
• Brainstorm to allow ideas to be freely generated and
encourage full participation.
• Discuss the ideas and make sure each one is given equal consideration.
Comic Dude’s Logo
• Focus on the specific topic; eliminate ideas that don’t fit the parameters.
• Modify ideas that show potential.
• Make a final selection of the ideas still left open.
Once the groups have narrowed the field down to a few choices it is important to
keep the following rules in mind:
• Keep everyone involved.
• Do not use majority rule to make decisions.
• Do not use horse-trading (“I’ll give you this, if you give me that”)
• Do not give up.
Decision-making through consensus is based on the notion of a win-win outcome.
In order for consensus decision-making to be effective, students must believe that
a win-win outcome is preferable to a win-lose outcome.
Students should also have the belief that through cooperation
and collaboration, solutions can be found.
Isamu’s Logo
Consensus Guidelines
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• Focus on the problem. Consensus decisionmaking requires that all participants agree on
what the problem is, and focus attention and
effort to resolve it.
• Avoid sub-optimal decision-making processes. In
order for consensus decision-making to produce a
win-win outcome, students must avoid reverting
to other, less effective, methods such as voting,
trade-offs, and power struggles.
• Adhere to the facts. Good research and data
collection is important for achieving consensus. Students cannot achieve
consensus if they do not understand the problem. To understand the problem,
good research is a must.
• Accept others’ viewpoints. It is important to have an open mind when listening
to another student’s ideas. Acceptance of different ideas increases the
likelihood of reaching consensus. Therefore, it is important for students to
avoid behavior that focuses only on their own needs, which can destroy the
group’s ability to reach a consensus.
• Check-ups. Decision making through consensus tends to be task oriented.
When working on large projects it is sometimes easy to lose sight of the main
objective. It is important for students to do a periodic
check of the group’s progress and ensure that they keep
the main objective in mind.
Decision-making through consensus is not always easy
and involves a lot of work. However, the benefits usually
outweigh potential drawbacks. Groups that use
consensus to make decisions are likely to be more
effective, more committed to achieving resolution and to the success of the project
in general than those who do not.
Adapted from the following source:
Mark Alexander, The 1987 Annual: Developing Human Resources, University
Associates
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