The Technology

This section of the COPLACDigital Handbook covers the basics of course/project websites and videoconferencing.

WordPress & Websites

All COPLACDigital course sites and their associated project and student sites will be hosted and paid for by COPLAC. WordPress is COPLACDigital’s platform of choice—as such, it is the only platform for which the COPLACDigital Principal Investigators and Program Associate can provide support. If faculty want to use a different platform, the alternative to WordPress must be approved by the faculty members’ instructional technologists and the Principal Investigators. If the alternative platform cannot be supported by the faculty members’ instructional technologists, it will not be approved for use.

The COPLACDigital Program Associate will create the subdomains and subdirectories for each course and its associated sites, as well as installing WordPress on those sites, before the semester begins. The Program Associate is available for technical support, but if they need help with WordPress, faculty should reach out to their institutional instructional technologists first.

Overarching Project Site: This site is built by the instructors and should be a portal into the project sites created by each team of students enrolled in the course. It should contextualize the project in relation to the course and the COPLACDigital initiative.
- Example: http://storyland.coplacdigital.org/
Campus Project Sites: Each campus with students participating in a particular COPLACDigital course will have a campus project site. A campus project site is built by the students from that particular school enrolled in that particular COPLACDigital course. The focus of these campus project sites, though, will vary based on locality and available resources.
- Examples: http://storyland.coplacdigital.org/unca/ and http://storyland.coplacdigital.org/geneseo/
Course Site: This site is built by the instructors and serves as a procedural space for the course—it can/should contain the course syllabus, links to readings and other relevant resources, and it will syndicate each student’s blog posts.
- Example: http://storyland.coplacdigital.org/course/
Student Sites/Blogs: These sites are given individually to each student and function as a procedural space where students can post about readings, project updates, and other thoughts related to the course. Student sites also function as a good experimental space where students can test their knowledge of WordPress and site building before they build their project sites.
- Examples: http://storyland.coplacdigital.org/strong/ and http://storyland.coplacdigital.org/caruso/

Local Institution Responsibilities

Instructors: Faculty must notify the Program Associate of their desired URL slug for their course/project at least three months before their courses begin. It is the responsibility of the COPLACDigital faculty members to develop the website for their courses and the overarching project website associated with their courses. These sites will be made available to the instructors prior to the semester beginning, provided the Program Associate has received all pertinent information.

It is also the instructors’ responsibility to assist their students with technical problems to the best of their abilities.

Instructional Technologists: Instructional technologists are responsible for assisting their faculty members with any technical issues that may arise in using WordPress and site building. [Given the grant’s goal of building Digital Liberal Arts capacity among COPLAC faculty, it is generally the expectation that technologists will help faculty, but will not build the sites for them.]

It is also the technologists’ responsibility to provide technical support for students in a COPLACDigital class taught by the technologist’s institutional faculty, whether or not these students attend the technologist’s institution. COPLACDigital courses are open to students on all 30 COPLAC member campuses, and it is likely that students from COPLAC schools not involved in this Mellon grant will take COPLACDigital courses.
- It would also be helpful for technologists to assist students at their school who are in COPLACDigital classes NOT taught by a faculty member from their institution.
Instructional technologists who are members of a union that prevents them from assisting students with technology problems should make sure to communicate this stipulation clearly to faculty members. COPLACDigital students in those cases should be referred to the instructor of the course for which they need assistance.
Finally, each institution’s approach to the role of IT help on campus differs, so don’t hesitate to contact Jeff and Ellen for help in identifying those resources for other campuses.

Students: Students taking COPLACDigital courses are responsible for building out their blogs/sites for the course they are taking. Additionally, students are responsible for creating and developing the campus/local project site for their COPLACDigital course.

We strongly encourage faculty to facilitate the sharing of technical knowledge and experience among their students and to encourage students to seek out their more experienced classmates when they have technical problems.
If student sites do not meet with the project’s standards, we reserve the right to remove the project from the COPLACDigital website.

Videoconferencing

UNC Asheville’s Distance Learning Services will handle the teleconference connections for the COPLACDigital course sessions. Students and faculty may connect from an interactive videoconferencing room on their campuses if they wish; however, they can also connect from anywhere else—office, dorm room, home—anywhere there is a robust internet connection. Students and faculty will be emailed a link at the beginning of the semester, and at the appointed time for each class, participants will click on the link and log on. And then, poof! They will appear in the class session. If there are problems with a video feed, participants also have the option of using audio only, and if all else fails, they can even call into the conversation on their phones. Note that all sessions will be recorded. Make sure to tell your students that sessions are recorded before the initial videoconference meeting, and it’s a good idea to reiterate that during the first session or two. Copies of the class sessions will be archived, and you may request copies of archived class sessions from Greg Dillingham. Students will also receive recordings of their final presentations.

During the video conference, students will be able to see both of the co-teachers on the screen, and they will also be able to see multiple students in small squares. Faculty will be able to see their co-teacher in a large square, and then multiple students in small squares. The students who have spoken last will appear in the small squares. The number of students seen at any one time is up to the faculty, but typically it is 6 students at a time.

The co-teachers’ connections will have more capabilities than the students’ connections. For example, they will be able to adjust their bandwidth, connect and speak to each other before or after the class without students hearing, and/or call each other before or after the class.

It is hard to describe the teleconference experience, but we will give you an opportunity to participate in a teleconference at the workshop. Here are a few things to keep in mind and to tell your students:

Although students and faculty can connect from anywhere, it is important to choose your place wisely. Make sure it is a quiet space where you will be able to hear easily, and where you will not be distracted. Make sure that there isn’t so much light or glare that you cannot see your screen.
Wearing a headset will often improve audio quality significantly. Make sure you have a headset ready, in case your audio quality is poor.
Instructors might also want to talk to their campus IT professionals about getting a second monitor for the semester when they will be teaching. A second monitor makes it easier to share content and keep up with website content while also seeing students and co-teacher.
When you are not speaking, mute your microphone. Leaving your mic on while others are talking can cause some really nasty feedback and sound distortion.
Although there isn’t usually much of a time lag between the speaker and his/her audience, for a variety of reasons, silences within a conversation are longer than for discussions that take place in the same room. It takes a while to get used to these longer silences, but eventually the class adapts to the new rhythm.
Yes, the classroom dynamic is very different from that of a brick-and-mortar classroom. However, the class does develop its own chemistry, and the students and faculty do form bonds. So, enjoy the experience, and have fun observing the ways that your students will connect with each other at a distance!

Faculty should also touch base with their campus videoconference professional, to check on availability of videoconference rooms (should faculty wish to connect from one of these rooms for classes), and to check out possible web conferencing tools for office hours and small-group meetings.

Roles & Responsibilities

How the Courses Work