Moderator: Mark Russell

Did you see that? Online Behaviors Students Report as Appropriate for Virtual Classes (1:00-1:15pm)
Casandra Cox
University of Arkansas

Conferencing technology has become commonplace for students due to the pandemic. Teaching virtually revealed a range of student behaviors from students utilizing desks as they would in a class setting to those engaged in a variety of activities (duck blinds, facials, and road trips). Data were collected using an online instrument. Only items focused on student behaviors from the larger study are reported below. Participants of this study were University of Arkansas students who had been in a virtual class or classes during the previous 15 months. Cognitive interviews and pilot testing were conducted on the overall instrument. Students were recruited from large enrollment classes and through the daily news announcements between December and May 2021. Respondents were freshmen 20.1% (n=108), sophomore 25.7% (n=138), junior 26.4% (n=142), senior 21.2% (n=114), and graduate 6.3% (n=34). Usable responses (n=545) showed students somewhat agreed 44.1% (n=241) and strongly agree 31.1% (n=170) with 'video cameras are optional"; 'background appearance is important for students" showed 33.0% (n=180) somewhat agreed, 23.3% (n=127) neither agreed nor disagreed, and 19.3% (n=105) strongly agreed; only 14.1% (n=77) strongly agreed with 'the type of digital background (beach, library, etc.) impacted other's opinions of me" while 28.6% (n=156) somewhat agreed. Statements 'it is acceptable for me to be out and about (drive-through, doctor's waiting room, walking the dog, etc.)" showed 57.5% (n=314) strongly or somewhat disagreed; 'I multitask during virtual class unless participating in an activity or discussion" showed 54.7% (n=298) strongly or somewhat agreed; and 'it is okay to sit in bed (with bed visible) during class" 47.1% (n=257) strongly or somewhat agreed while 22.5% (n=123) neither agreed nor disagreed. Results indicate teachers should utilize questionnaires about virtual class behaviors from students to develop relevant class procedures and policies.

Using Collective Reading to Facilitate Student Discussion and Engagement (1:15-1:30pm)
Kendra Jernigan
Abilene Christian University

Often reading assignments are seen as solitary activities that students may not necessarily be motivated to complete independently. Instructors may find it challenging to encourage their students to prepare for classes by effectively engaging with the course materials, especially without additional work in lesson preparation and grading for instructors. Perusall is a social e-reading platform that is compatible with most Learning Management Systems. It allows instructors to provide collective reading assignments to facilitate student discussions and course engagement. The objectives of using Perusall as a supplemental tool include improved reading comprehension, engagement with course material, and the development of a more inclusive learning community. It offers students intrinsic and extrinsic motivational support to complete course reading assignments and effectively prepare for active and collective learning. Within this case study, Perusall was utilized within a senior-level reading and writing-intensive course concerning environmental thought and ethics. The presented case study will emphasize course design and assignment implementation and highlight some benefits and challenges of using collective reading assignments. Examples of collaborative reading exercises and pedagogical frameworks will be discussed in order to offer more instructional tools for use within academic courses. Collective reading pedagogical frameworks and techniques offer opportunities for instructors to creatively innovate and invite increased student participation within their learning communities.

OC-RAE: A Hands-On Virtual Learning Environment for Agricultural Education in the Information Age (1:30-1:45pm)
Daniel J Karran
Olds College

The Olds College Remote Agriculture Ecosystem (OC-RAE) is a novel project designed to meet the needs of new programs that focus on the intersection between agriculture and technology. It is a virtual learning environment, where students learn hands-on about sensors, IoT connectivity, cloud computing, and the fundamentals of water, soil, and plant science from almost any location. OC-RAE is comprised of three phases: Phase 1 - students build a growth chamber from a low-cost assortment of sensors, cameras, and microcontrollers; Phase 2 - students use the growth chamber to grow and monitor plants, collect diverse datasets on an IoT cloud enabled platform, and practice data-driven decision-making using senor output; and, Phase 3 - students compile and analyze the collected data to meet objectives specified by the instructor. After a successful launch during the COVID pandemic in the winter of 2021, OC-RAE has proven to be a versatile way to teach agriculture technology for many different learning or research objectives. In this presentation, we share our experience developing and using OC-RAE as a learning/research tool and discuss the many possibilities in which projects like OC-RAE can move agricultural education forward in The Information Age.

Building an Ed Tech Database (1:45-2:00pm)
OP McCubbins
Mississippi State University

A plethora of educational technology that teachers could integrate into their classrooms exists. However, these technological solutions are not adopted for various reasons, such as teachers' lack of knowledge about the technology, limited proficiency with using the technology, or teachers' lack of perceived usefulness of specific technology tools. In addition, with the increasing professional demands faced by teachers, they may not have the time to explore these technologies. How can this issue be addressed? How do preservice teachers learn about and keep track of educational technology that they can integrate into their instruction? Students enrolled in the Teaching Methods in Agricultural and Human Sciences at Mississippi State University learn by doing. They build an educational technology database app to assist in learning about specific technologies. Students explore educational technologies to integrate into instruction for their microteaching experiences. They develop a brief description and potential uses of a specific tech tool. They enter the information along with a URL into a form that automatically organizes it in a spreadsheet. The class reviews the information and cleans up data and removes duplicate entries. We then use Glide, a no-code app building platform, to transform the crowdsourced database into an app. Glide is a platform that allows a user to build an app in minutes with no coding required. The app is distributed to students and they bookmark it on their smartphones. The 'Ed Tech App" is then referenced throughout the semester as students plan lessons and develop their technology integration skills. This project has been implemented for two semesters, resulting in two database apps outlining 43 and 87 technology entries respectively. It has become a very popular course project that students continually mention being useful beyond our class. We will conduct technology integration self-efficacy studies in future courses to measure the potential impact of this project.