service learning in online courses
TRANSCRIPT
Service-Learning in Online Courses
Minnesota Campus Compact Webinar: February 9, 2010
How are faculty currently using s-l online?
• Multiple Pathways for integration
– Individual students create an action and implementation plan with a local community partner
– Instructor and community partner joint plan for all students in the same course
Pathway 1- Individual partnership
• Students investigate course content and make personal linkage to local community partner
– Link course skills to community need– Create an individualized action plan and log– Create measurements to see effectiveness
Benefits of model 1
• Students have to link the content to the community
• Multiple issues are addressed
• Multiple communities have impact
Challenges
• With 30-40 students in a class, how can a faculty member keep track of 30-40 community partners?
• Does the community partner have access to the course, instructor, and university providing the course?
Potential Solutions
• Consider assigning students to work in small group teams of 5-6 with a community partner
• Have an area on the on-line course structure where community partners can meet/discuss with each other and the instructor
At the University Level…
• Work with your CBL office when planning
• Survey students to determine previous experience with s-l/CBL
Pathway 2: Faculty and Community design
• Faculty and community partner match course content with the community partner need
– All students work with ONE community site
– Students may work on different projects or needs at the same site
Benefits
• Instructor and community partner offer similar experience for all students in a course.
• Larger group of students can have a greater impact on one community partner vs. “drive-by” with multiple sites.
Challenges
• With distance learning, it is very difficult to have students in the same geographic location with one community partner.
• Like f-t-f service learning, 30-40 students will overwhelm a community partner.
What types of service are students engaging in?
• Early on (2003) models used separate place-based volunteering at individual community partner sites.
• Later models (2006) began using the community-based research model. – Here, students, instructors and community partners co-
create both the experience and assessment measures
My examples
• Bemidji State University—students chose individual partners and plan—most students were spread throughout the state of Minnesota.
• Hamline—students worked with one community partner—most students were local commuters
Current Model—Hamline UniversityEach One, Teach One
• LEAD based not course based• Goal: Keep middle school students IN school• Hamline students work with New Orleans middle
school students on-line for an academic year.• Hamline students travel to New Orleans for face-to-
face work 2-3 times per year and stay in the project for 2-3 years on average.
What opportunities could online s-l create?
• International
• Rural
• Areas without an institution of Higher ed.
What are the next steps for online s-l?
• Tools– Cell phones– Twitter– blue tooth– Holograms??
What are the next steps for online s-l?
• Building capacity– Experiment with variations on current models– Collective group to gather and disseminate research– Mentoring teams to create new models, research, and
tiered levels of service-learning.
What are the next steps for online s-l?
• Sharing resources across institutions/community partners
• Sharing resources within stakeholder groups– MCC– AACU– NYLC
What are the next steps for online s-l?
• What do you think the next steps are or should be?
• Where’s the research evidence for effective online
service-learning?
• How can online service-learning create transformational change in the community?