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=Special Interest Group Proposal = =- by Joys, Heather, and Trixi =

Your **SIG focus**. In particular, indicate what focus you will have in each of the 4 common places in education: the teacher, the student, the subject matter, and the context.

We can focus on the subject matter as a group. This will be the general topic of **LEARNING IN ONLINE ENVIRO** **NMENTS**

But if each one need to apply a different focus, then: Joys (Students.) Heather (Teacher) Trixi (Subject matter / context)

Your members and their **special areas of emphasis** within your SIG. **﻿Joys:** Emphasis is **geometry learning online.** **Heather:** Emphasis is **re-teaching capabilities online.** **Trixi**: Emphasis is **retention in online classes.**

1. to use the wiki to its fullest capabilities 2. to use Diigo. Some of the reasons we are choosing to use Diigo over other social bookmarking tools can be found @ http://www.diigo.com/about
 * The new thing(s) our group is learning:**

The **major categories of resources you hope to gather related to your SIG**. These might include professional organizations, tech help forums, lesson plans, online articles and/or examples.


 * ﻿Joys: **

My **target audiences** / **age group is high school, focusing on ten graders.**

My **setting / scope would be nation-wide, with a focus on Michigan online learning environment.** >> [] >> [] >> [] >> []
 * 1) I will carry out a survey in my classroom - to see if my students like to learn Geometry online with The Geometer's Sketchpad. []
 * 2) I will look for some of the successful online learning examples.
 * 3) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Search for a free online course to test learning outcome. Try my best to find a Geometry course if it is possible.
 * 4) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I will use some more time to look into the following links so that I can find more helpful information:
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I will use some more time to look into the following links so that I can find more helpful information:


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Heather: **

My **target audiences** / **age group is high school, focusing on ninth graders.**

My **setting / scope would be nation-wide, with the focus on a traditional classroom containing an online component to the class.**


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">online articles about possible places (blackboard, school websites, podcasts)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[][]
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">teacher resources:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">fellow biology/physics teacher at work who has an online component to her classes: she suggested Blackboard. While it is complicated, it has nice features. She was willing to answer any questions in the future!
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">college friend who is an online instructor: suggested online format to set-up class. She said almost like a website with everything on it that you do in your class PLUS more.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">instructor of professional development: I took a class on online instruction at a conference and will dig out my notes concerning what he suggested for online instruction.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">sample lesson plans/units that can be put online (I was thinking of our stair projects and WebQuests from 811 as examples!)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[] (use this website as a starting point to create some of the materials to put online). It contains multiple links to free software to help with the creation of different things!


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Trixi: **

My **target audiences** / **age group is Community College!**

My **setting / scope would be nation-wide, with a focus on Michigan Community Colleges**.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">During the TechQuest Project, I will start by researching this problem, investigating the following questions:

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. What factors lead to poor student retention in online courses? <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Are there demographic / personality /learning style differences between students in retention? <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. What has been tried / researched so far in terms of improving student retention in online courses? <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. Is the retention problem caused by a technology issue? a teaching issue? an accessibility/usability issue or a <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">combination of all three?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I plan to use a combination of library databases, online catalogues, and websites to research sources. For starters...


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Articles: **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. Staying the Course: A Study in Online Student Satisfaction and Retention <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Michael Herbert, Ph.D. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/winter94/herbert94.htm

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. J. EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS, Vol. 36(1) 105-112, 2007-2008 DESIGNING ONLINE COURSES TO PROMOTE STUDENT RETENTION BETH DIETZ-UHLER AMY FISHER ANDREA HAN Miami University, Middletown, Ohio ABSTRACT <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Journal of Educational Technology Systems, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Volume 36, Number 1 / 2007-2008, pages 105-112 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/27736474/Designing-Online-Courses-to-Promote-Student-Retention

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. Cost-Benefit of Student Retention Policies and Practice <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Simpson, Ormond (2008). Cost-Benefit of Student Retention Policies and Practice. In: Bramble, William, J. and Panda, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Santosh eds. Economics of Distance and Online learning. New York, USA: Routledge, pp. 162–178. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://oro.open.ac.uk/11854/


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Websites: **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. iNACOL resources (North American Council for Online Learning) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://www.inacol.org/

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. The International Center for Distance Learning Research and Praxis <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://www.usdla.org/

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. The American Distance Education Consortium <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://www.adec.edu/online-resources.html

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. AHEAD - a professional membership organization for individuals involved in the development of policy and in the <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">provision of quality services to meet the needs of persons with disabilities involved in all areas of higher <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">education. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://www.ahead.org/resources/universal-design/resources


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Books: **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. Title Essential elements : prepare, design, and teach your online course / by Bonnie Elbaum, Cynthia <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">McIntyre, and Alese Smith <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Published Madison, WI : Atwood Pub., c2002

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Title Enhancing learning through human computer interaction / Elspeth McKay [editor]. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Published Hershey : Idea Group Reference, c2007.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Dissertations & Theses: **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. Community college online courses [electronic resource] : student retention / by Marie Pritchett. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Author Pritchett, Marie. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Published 2009 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Description 143 p. : ill. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Note Advisor: Frances LaPlante-Sosnowsky. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">THESIS Thesis (Ph. D.) -- Wayne State University, 2009.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Title Learning strategies, motivation, and self-reported academic outcomes of students enrolled in web- <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">based coursework [electronic resource] / by <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Author Foust, Roberta A. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Published 2008 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Description 116 p. : ill. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Note Advisor: Shlomo Sawilowsky. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">THESIS Thesis (Ed. D.) -- Wayne State University, 2008.