The document discusses combining a social network and information gateway to support at-risk students. It aims to address the significantly lower retention rates of Alaska Native students at UAA compared to average. The project uses a virtual challenge-based learning approach through a social networking site to engage students. This involves students working in online groups to solve real-world problems through directed research and critical thinking. The goals are to increase engagement, foster creative technology use, and improve satisfaction and learning outcomes for at-risk students.

1. Combining a Social Network and Information Gateway to Support At-Risk Students G. Andrew Page, Ph.D., University of Alaska-Anchorage, [email_address] Kelly Smith, University of Alaska-Anchorage, [email_address] Debra Canavan, Kodiak College UAA, [email_address] http://www.steppingstonenss.com

2. Where are you? Use the magic wand tool to mark your location.

3. Our Problem / The Problem Theoretical Framework Virtual Challenge-based Learning Geographical Concerns ICTs Used Tour of Stepping Stone Challenges, Learning, & Considerations SESSION OUTLINE

4. POLL #1 Have you participated in project-based learning? Yes No

5. Our Problem Alaska Native student retention is significantly lower than for the average student at UAA. Source: University of Alaska-Anchorage Performance '09

6. The Problem "The road to college is not race neutral. Black and Latino households are disproportionately represented in the lower tiers of the class system, which means that black and Latino children are carried toward adulthood by social processes that render them considerably less likely to make it in an elite college or university" (Stevens, 2009, p.164). SOURCE: Stevens, M. L. (2010). Creating a class: College admissions and the education of elites. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, MA.

7. United States National Educational Technology Plan (2010) The Executive Summary of the 2010 U.S. National Technology Plan Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology states: "Under the Obama administration, education has become an urgent priority driven by two clear goals. By 2020, • We will raise the proportion of college graduates from where it now stands [39%] so that 60% of our population holds a 2-year or 4-year degree. • We will close the achievement gap so that all students – regardless of race, income, or neighborhood – graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and careers"(p.v).

8. "Colleges and universities and their faculty—like public officials, corporate executives, and movie stars—will need to monitor blog sites, wikis, social networks , faculty rating sites, newsgroups, and other social sites to inform efforts to maintain and elevate the institution's reputation. This will become even more the case as colleges and universities move to immersive environments. As these environments become compelling and popular, their impact on institutional reputation will become inseparable from that of the physical campus" (Katz, 2008, p.28). SOURCE: http://www.educause.edu/thetowerandthecloud

9. “ It is incumbent upon the academy to adapt teaching and learning practices to meet the needs of today's learners; to emphasize critical inquiry and mental flexibility, and provide students with necessary tools for those tasks; to connect learners to broad social issues through civic engagement, and to encourage them to apply their learning to solve large-scale complex problems.” Source: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/CSD5810.pdf

10. Challenge-Based Learning “ [C]hallenge-based learning brings relevance to class work. By giving students the opportunity to focus on a challenge of global significance, yet apply themselves to developing local solutions, challenge-based learning creates a space where students can direct their own research into real-world matters and think critically about how to apply what they learn.” Source: Johnson, Laurence F.; Smith, Rachel S.; Smythe, J. Troy; Varon, Rachel K. (2009). Challenge-Based Learning: An Approach for Our Time. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.

11. “ The result, as this study shows, is increased engagement , extra time spent working on the challenge, creative application of technology , and increased student satisfaction with schoolwork. Not incidentally, students also mastered the subject-area content and developed many of the skills identified as vital for 21st century learners”. Source: Johnson, Laurence F.; Smith, Rachel S.; Smythe, J. Troy; Varon, Rachel K. (2009). Challenge-Based Learning: An Approach for Our Time. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. Challenge-Based Learning

16. Polling #2 Have you participated in project-based learning that is completely online? Yes No

17. The Process Know the Learner Bandwidth

18. Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs) The following tech tools were used in the process of virtual project based learning.

19. Acknowledgments

20. Working in Groups

21. Front-end Analysis

23. The Process

24. http://www.steppingstonenss.com Web Tour This is how we started, but it has grown exponentially since the first pages were set up!

26. POLL #3 Would virtual project-based learning be an instructional strategy you would consider? Yes No

27. References Skills and accomplishing team projects online. in T. Anderson (Ed.). The Theory and Practice of Online Learning . 2nd Ed. Athabasca University, D. & Thomas J. (2008). Developing team sy. http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120146 Johnson, Laurence F.; Smith, Rachel S.; Smythe, J. Troy; Varon, Rachel K. (2009). Challenge-Based Learning: An Approach for Our Time. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. http://ali.apple.com/cbl/global/files/Challenge-Based%20Learning%20-%20An%20Approach%20for%20Our%20Time.pdf Measuring Up: The National Report Card on Higher Education, 2008.” National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. http://measuringup2008.highereducation.org/states/report_cards/index.php?state=AK Richard J. Light, Making the Most of College: Students Speak Their Minds (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001). For a summary of Light’s research, see Richard Light, “The College Experience: A Blueprint for Success,” http://athome.harvard.edu/programs/light/index.htm

28. References Smith, G. (2009). Obtaining, processing, and constructing English: Blogging in the ESL classroom. Journal of Media Literacy Education 1 (2009) 75-80. http://jmle.org/index.php/JMLE/article/viewFile/37/8 Stevens, M. L. (2010). Creating a class: College admissions and the education of elites. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, MA. University of Alaska Anchorage, Office of Institutional Effectiveness. (2009) Performance '09. http://edit.www.uaa.alaska.edu/institutionaleffectiveness/upload/Performance-09-final.pdf . NOTE : For a provocative view of the clash between traditional educational structures (i.e., classroom lectures and blackboards) and the electronically mediated world that young people now live in, see the video created by students in a digital ethnography program at Kansas State University. Wesch, M. (2007). A Vision of Students Today . Video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o Wesch, M. (2007). The Machine is Us/ing Us (Final Version) . Video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g

30. Quyana! (Yup'ik Eskimo for “Thank You”) Debbi [email_address] Kelly [email_address] Andy [email_address]