EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING SUITE
A Dialogger's Experiential Learning Suite combines a course with a role-play simulation. The course provides a theoretical framework for the skills students practice in the simulation. The course also provides students and instructors with a parallel forum for debriefing, discussion and reflection. A Suite is assembled with the following components:
- Course Syllabus – a text or pdf document and a Browser page;
- Registration Module – a Web Browser page;
- Online Course with optional Caucus Groups – Dialog Dashboard;
- Sim Introduction & Character Casting Module – Web Browser pages;
- Simulation Commons with optional Caucus Groups – Dialog Dashboard; and
- Instructor Reports – Web Browser pages.
DIALOG DASHBOARD FEATURES:
Personalization
A single database keeps track of each persons permissions, data, history and state of participation. A Dashboard welcomes each person and provides a personalized view of what is new for that person.
Login/Logout
By registering, participants enable the database to keep track of their activities and data and thereby enjoy a personalized experience. Participants login with an email address and a password.
People Directory
Students and instructors are listed in a directory with their photos and posts. Only registered users have access to the addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.
MyPage
On MyPage, participants create a personal profile and Blog. Blogs may include text, photos and videos and personal discussions with friends. Participants who are comfortable with technology can volunteer to help others. Helper names have a blue background. People can say thanks by giving helpers a star.
Personal Journal, Essays and Exams
On their MyPage, students may write regular entries in a private journal to note reflections about the course and their experiences as players. Only instructors can access a students journal and provide comments. Students similarly submit essays and their responses to exam questions for the instructor to evaluate, grade and comment on.
Help
The Help guide sets out Frequently Asked Questions and the contact information of the instructor or administrator and helpers who will assist participants in using Dashboard features and make changes or correct mistakes.
Tool Bar & Alerts
The Tool Bar displays a Wiki, Docs, Binder, Polls, Calendar and News icons. A tools icon turns red to alert participants when there is new information for them. Similarly, the page icons for new discussion posts are colored red until participants have opened them. When a participants register for the first time, they may notice gold colored page icons for discussion posts that were created before they registered. They will remain gold until the are opened.
Wiki
A Wiki is a collaborative database about topics of interest. Any participant can make a new entry or add, delete or change the text of an existing entry. The Wiki software keeps track of each entry and enables anyone to track the history of an entry, including the name of the authors and editors.
Files
The Files icon provides access to a directory of folders and files of interest to participants. Folders organize files into topic categories. Anyone can upload a file and everyone can download one, but only the administrator and the person who uploaded a file can delete it. All files are read-only and cannot be changed. The Files directory accepts many popular file types, including Text, PowerPoint, Flash, Video and Adobe PDFs.
Binder
A Course Binder is created by the course author and managed by instructors. It is like the Files resource in that it provides access to files of various types organized in topical folders. Through a Hide/Show command instructors can publish the files assigned for students to study for the next step in a course. Instructors may also add, delete, modify or move files. The course Syllabus is typically one of the first files in a Binder.
Polls
Instructors, students and players may create surveys or polls to take the pulse of the community or make group decisions. There are five kinds of polls:
- single choice;
- multiple choices;
- ranking;
- rating; and
- token distribution among a list of items.
Search
Members may search the title and content of all posts using the usual word searches. All data that a participant has access to may be searched or the query may be refined by the user. A search can be refined by tags and where, what, who and when qualifiers. Results are shown by where and what qualifiers and linked to the sources.
Search has continually updated lists of posts that are the most recent, most viewed and highest rated.
News
Simulations start with a new report of an event or a conflict situation. The plot is advanced through subsequent news reports. When players make decisions, the consequences are reported in the News. Instructor/players are the editors and reporters of the News. Players have great freedom but may not act inconsistent with the news reported to date. Through the News, instructors keep a simulated grounded and provide facts that players have to address.
Calendar
A Calendar displays notes for a day, details of events, invitations to chat and logs of chats. Anyone can enter a new item and has access to all items.
Chat Rendezvous
Participants can post a calendar notice of their plan to chat at a certain time and invite others to join them. Others can indicate whether they intend to join the conversation. Chats can be private or public.
Chat
Participants may engage in same-time conversations in a public or private text chat.
Chat Log
All chat conversations are recorded in a searchable log that is accessible through the Calendar.
Threaded Discussions
Discussions are organized into Categories, Folders, Topics and Posts. Instructors or assigned student moderators create the categories and folders. Any participant can create discussion topics and posts.
Discussion Rating
Each discussion post may be rated by participants on a scale of -5 to +5. Along the bottom of each post is a rating bar that shows the rating consensus for that post and how individual participants rate the post.
Creating and Editing Polls and Posts
All posts are created and edited using a What You See Is What You Get text editor. Enter your content, use bold, italics or underlined for emphasis, check spelling and grammar and click Submit. If you want to change anything, open the post, make your changes and click Submit. Folders, polls and posts can only be edited or deleted by the original author or an instructor and moderator.
Caucus Groups
Breakout study or interest groups may meet at a Caucus and have discussions separate from their class or other simulation players. A Caucus is limited to invited members of a group. It uses the same Dialog Dashboard as the Course and Commons. A class or simulation may have any number of caucus groups.
Private Messaging
Send and receive private messages to and from registered participants. Private messaging has all the features of regular email but its limited to registered participants. A closed private messaging system is required to maintain player anonymity. However, a participants regular email is automatically notified when the person receives a Dashboard message.
Peer Review
At critical times during a simulation, characters may be asked to rate the performance of their peers on scale of -5 to +5. The scores may form part of student grades although player anonymity is preserved only the instructor knows the identity of characters.
Sim Introduction & Player Casting Module
Players are provided with an introduction to the simulation and a brief biographical description for each of the characters. Players submit their first, second and third choices. These are noted on a spreadsheet that is used by the instructor to assign character roles to the students.
Performance Statistics
On their personal MyPage, Students are provided with a continually updated report of their personal performance statistics and class averages.
Monitoring Learning Objectives
Students take surveys before, during and at the end of a simulation to monitor their progress with the course learning objectives and the effectiveness of the course and sim.
Feedback, Debriefing and Reflection
Throughout the course, students are encouraged to provide and discuss feedback about their experience as a character in the simulation. At the end of the simulation, students debrief, first as characters and then as themselves.
Instructor Report & Grading
Instructors have access to a restricted report that includes student journals, essays, exams and detailed performance statistics. The statistics are assigned values and may be used in part to calculate student grades.
