Faculty Spotlight: Arlyn Roffman

Discussion Generated Action Journals
Adolescent Psychology for Out of School Time, Summer 2008

Spotlight Poster

Introduction Arlyn Roffman was a "newbie" to online teaching and learning when she was asked to redesign her course for the Out of School Time Program. The course was reduced in length, so she needed to think differently about how to teach. She tried to think of ways she could incorporate some of the things she has students do in class into the new online course. The Action Journal came to mind as a way for students to collect ideas that they read on the discussion board, and organize them so that they could be used in the students' classrooms.

Timeline

Arlyn had used Action Journals in a face-to-face course in the past, but began using the idea online in the Summer of 2008.

• In the Fall of 2007, Arlyn enrolled in the Online Course Development Seminar
• In the Spring of 2008, Arlyn developed her first fully online course
• In the Summer of 2008, Arlyn taught her first fully online course

Equipment/Software

• myLesley Discussion Board
• Microsoft Word or comparable word processing program

Process

In the online course, students are required to respond to stimulating questions posed by Arlyn each week. The students must draw from their readings and assignments when composing these posts, and are responsible for responding to the posts of their classmates. While reading these posts, students often copy and paste useful ideas or "actions" into an open Word document to analyze later. Students must add at least one "action item" per module.

The students are not required to do this neatly or in an organized fashion; they can keep their notes in a bulleted list that is copied directly from the discussion board. They do not worry about grammar or spelling. Students are required to cite the person from whom they are taking the idea. No parameters are set up around what is added to the journal, as long as the ideas can be applied to the classroom and are "future oriented." The students turn this journal in at the end of the semester.

Outcome

Students found the journal to be a wonderful resource for ideas to use in their own classrooms and programs. It encouraged the students to engage in their discussions on a deeper level, based on knowledge and experience, with a focus on real, useable ideas.

Arlyn's Next Steps...

A few weeks into the semester, Arlyn realized that some students were having difficulty understanding the assignment. She created a handout outlining how the assignment works, naming and clarifying what the students are to do. The handout really helped to clarify what was expected of the students. The next time she teaches, Arlyn will provide this handout up front to guide the students. To view this handout, click here.

You Can Create an Action Journal Too!

• Use this step-by-step guide to set up your own discussion board
• Contact eLIS@lesley.edu for a special one-on-one training session