For example, with one exception, every student in the class visited our site and the schedule on Monday. Since I envision everyone viewing the agenda and video on Mondays, this is good news to me. And the one student who was not there on Monday visited early Tuesday....
We have had 6,298 hits from Sept. 2-Sept. 9 (one week)---that is an average of about 330 hits per student. And (not to worry) a hit means that you have visited a discussion, an annoucement, the schedule, the video, a resource, etc. Thus, in a typical site visit, most of us will make several hits.
For the same one week period, we had 249 visits to our WEBCT site---that means each student visited about 15 times or about twice a day.
For those of you who like numbers----7pm-8pm is our most frequented hour and 2am-3am is our least frequented hour (thank goodness). Sept. 8 was our heaviest use day so far.
And to move away from numbers to substance, I am very pleased with our beginnings. The discussions are active; students are using and illustrating our readings; Aaron got us off to a good start with software reviews and even asked the group to be a little metacognitive about the process; we had a good turn out at office hours last week and a good chance to answer questions, especially for our students who added the course a bit late.
Thanks to all of you for getting us off to an active, informed start!
21 comments:
I teach math and coach baseball. I LOVE for numbers!! Thanks for a mathy shout out!
Those numbers are quite interesting and unbelievable, but I guess I do visit the site several times a day. I don't want to miss anything. I also like "peeking" in on the discussions. I enjoy reading the ideas of others.
That's alot! I guess I didn't realize how much I am clicking. I am still trying to get into the "habit" of checking WebCT on a daily basis. Things are kind of hectic right now. Plus, I am fighting for computer time with my teens and husband at home. I might have to become one of those at 2-3am :)
I find that really interesting, I like the layout of these distance courses. I find myself participating more in a class than I ever did in my undergrad program at ISU. I am really finding out new and interesting things from everyone.
I'm a big fan of all of the information that WebCT can generate. It's a huge hit with our teachers when I show them this. It really does help them see what is engaging the students and what parts of the course may need more development.
Wow! That's quite a few hits. I concur with Kim. I certainly have enjoyed being a part of this Masters program. I don't recall any undergraduate courses where I've interacted as much with my classmates as I've done in this Masters program.
That's incredible! I too like the format of this course. I am taking another "distance ed" course in economics and there aren't any discussions and about the only interactions with the professor is when she gives small housekeeeping updates for the course. I really like the format of our courses, MUCH easier.
I love tracking tools like this; I could see myself spending a great deal of time looking at all the different stats if I was the administrator of a class. I think it is really fantastic that we all have gotten into a the habit of checking and posting regularly. At first I was so extremely self-conscience that I would write 5 different posts and then delete them all before actually going all the way and hitting "Post!" Thanks to everyone's great personality and friendliness, I am fast getting over the fear.
Those are amazing numbers! But when I get thinking about how often I visit the site it makes sense. I know I will be an even more frequent visitor when I am done coaching!
Those numbers are pretty awesome! I visit a lot more than I ever thought I would. I agree with Kim C. I participate a lot more here than I am a lot more confident in what I am doing for class during these online classes than any undergrad courses I've ever taken.
It is fun to see others discussions and read what they are saying. It's also great b/c you can take time to think before responding. Time you wouldn't have in a traditional room.
Okay, I'm getting long winded. :-)
LATER!
Wow! Thats alot of traffic. I guess I never realized how often I'm on Webct or how long. WebCt definitely helps eliminate confusion though about assignments and readings.
I would agree with Kim. I have found this to be much more engaging and meaningful than meeting in person in most of my undergrad course. I really like being able to participate in a discussion, but having the time to really think through things before "opening" my mouth, so to speak. Also, there is almost more accountability with a course like this than with a traditional course.
BTW, I am in the process of possibly setting up an online and interactive (probably more like a message board system) way for some of our 5th grade students to respond to literature... much like how we respond to readings and interact with others in the course.
-Sean
I am really impressed with students' performance in this course. This is also reflected in the hits and visits. In terms of quality, I see that the quality of discussions is very high, actually this case is a dream of many online instructors. Generally it is really difficult for an online instructor to create a teaching presence at the same time encouraging social and cognitive presences of students online. However I think the way this course designed, the instructor's involvement and students' motivation are some of the factors which encourage meaningful dialogue.
I love hit counts by the way. You can track the traffic for your blog or website with hit count scripts as well. If you are interested here is the website for additional information.
evrim, the website that you wanted to provide did not come throught. I would be interested in it, since I set up a blog for my 8th graders. I have had two students respond I was sooo excited. It's not many, but it is a start.
The numbers are astounding! I had no idea. If I were teaching a math class right now, I'd have several word problems ready to go.
I agree with everyone that the numbers are amazing. I find myself checking the site quite often to read up on discussions or use the other tools. I really like hearing what other teachers are doing in their classroom and what is working for them.
Here is the stat counter website I forgot to write earlier. You need to login to the site and follow the directions. It creates a code at the end and you just need to put that code into your website HTML code field.
http://www.statcounter.com/
Evrim
That number is pretty astounding. Due to technical difficulties at school and with WebCT (technical difficulties, imagine that!), I have found it difficult to get on-line each day, but when I do I am amazed at what I find. I also really enjoy reading the other posts (although I find it difficult to find time for this), and find that it pushes my thinking -- would this be an example of metacognition? :)
I think Ann is trying to push her way up the most frequented sites list by assigning that we read the blog. Next thing we know she'll be making us buy books she writes. ;-)
Actually, what is neat about blogging -- usually -- is that it is all "pull." You have to take the effort to go look (or set up a feed). You have to inform, entertain or titillate or no one will come. 6298 hits. That's hot!
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