USING FREE AND/OR INEXPENSIVE TOOLS TO CREATE ENGAGING AND INTERACTIVE ONLINE COURSES

Assistant Professor of Accounting at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB), Richard Lillie has the following posted on the front page of his website:

"Do all you can with what you have, in the time you have, in the place you are." *

Lillie personifies this way of life in the way he designs and instructs the Accounting Information Systems, Intermediate Accounting, and Auditing courses he teaches on campus and in blended and fully online modalities at the CSUSB main campus, its Palm Desert campus and for the UCLA Extension.

Lillie notes that the "ultimate challenge" to consider when building courses and teaching in the online modality revolves around "making the learning experience come alive" for students once they log on. That’s easier said than done, to use an old cliché. In Lillie’s case, however, he’s definitely a doer - a professor with an obvious passion for creating engaging, interactive, one-of-a- kind online courses in the accounting field. How does he do it? With sophisticated educational technology, of course – but Lillie uses very inexpensive technology that works quite well and quite easily, thank you.

Using a CMS as a Gateway to Hyperlinks

Basically, Lillie has spent a good deal of his time on how to effectively use a wide range of software, hosted web-based services, and online activities that he blends inside his courses that are typically introduced to students through a course management system (CMS). His course materials make extensive use of inexpensive multimedia and web-based communication services, along with a range of tools that help him create animated problem solving explications and online simulations (handy in accounting). The CMS, for Lillie, is customized to be utilized only as an electronic gateway that hyperlinks to a host of materials, resources, activities and web-based services.

In Lillie’s world, course management systems are simply "a way for universities to create instant websites. I look at a CMS as being a web portal in which I control the buttons and the titles and make them hyperlink (to his course materials made elsewhere and enhanced by various online services and activities). If faculty better understood and realized the power of hyperlinking, it would open doors" (to more innovative, engaging, interactive – and less costly – online instruction practice).

Cool Tools

So, what, precisely, does Lillie use in his online courses? The short, street-talk answer from this writer’s perspective is lots of very cool stuff, beginning with a number of tools that, when combined, are similar to a Macromedia Breeze presentation, but "much easier to use, and much, much less expensive," says Lillie.

Here’s what’s in Lillie’s online teaching and learning toolbox:

GoToMeeting: An online meeting tool that – for an annual plan costing $468, or $39 per month – enables "a single organizer to hold unlimited online meetings with up to 10 attendees." GoToMeeting has the bells and whistles of high-end web conferencing tools, including instant-messaging integration, desktop sharing capabilities, drawing tools, special chat features, attendance reporting, meeting recording and playback functionality, and more. However, for synchronous voice conferencing, participants must call into a toll-based number, provided by GoToMeeting as a free service. In this scenario, meeting participants are charged their standard long-distance rate for calling this toll-based number, just as if they made a regular long-distance call.

Lillie created a free work-around by using Skype to create synchronous desktop voice function to the GoToMeeting. Plus, with a plug-in for Skype, called Festoon, live web cam video calls can be added to the GoToMeeting session. Both Skype and Festoon, while not being actual working functions of GoToMeeting, can be enabled simultaneously from the bottom tray area of the computer screen. So, while there are actually three programs operating, it all looks and feels seamless.

Skype: As noted on its website, Skype is "software that lets you make free calls to anyone else on Skype, anywhere in the world (what’s referred to by IT professionals as peer-to-peer Internet telephony). . . Also, if you and your friends, family or business contacts are using webcams, you can make free video calls." The limitation of Skype is that audio and video conferencing is confined to a maximum of 5 people. This is where Festoon comes in, which is free software that enables Skype audio and video conferencing for up to 200 people.

By combining GoToMeeting, Skype and Festoon, Lillie is essentially able to create a full-blown web conferencing session with synchronous video and audio components. But that is not all. There are a good number of other tools Lillie utilizes in his courses for a variety of reasons and purposes (more on these later).

Important Requirements

It is important to note that in order to effectively accomplish the aforementioned GoToMeeting scenario, Lillie’s students are asked to meet a certain set of technical and course-related requirements. For instance, in his Accounting 440 Fall 2006 course, it is suggested that they have DSL or cable modem connections, along with a minimum of 256 MB of RAM, and a recommendation of 512 MB. In addition, students should have Microsoft Office 2003, and the latest versions of Flash Player, Windows Media Player, and Adobe Acrobat. Plus, they need to install Skype and Festoon, and purchase a headset/microphone and webcam. Lillie advises students that they can purchase a headset/microphone from stores like Best Buy, PC Club, or from online websites, for about $20 to $25. Additionally, running Windows XP with a high-speed Internet connection and a webcam will allow for smooth video-conferencing throughout the course. The cost of a webcam runs about $100. He suggests Logitech models for both the headset/microphone and the webcam.

Lillie also has a section on his course website titled "Important- Statements Regarding Student Responsibilities," where he states that students "will use cutting-edge technology throughout the course. Technology is not perfect, and at times, it may challenge your patience. By enrolling in this course you accept the challenge to learn how to use course technology." He goes on to say that he will help students "resolve technology-related problems. However, please be advised that I am not a hardware/software support technician. I assume that you possess at least basic computer skills and have a working knowledge of software programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer (or similar web browser), and online services such as Skype (or similar messaging programs). If you do not have a working knowledge of these programs and online services, it will be your responsibility to do whatever is necessary to obtain this knowledge and develop these skills."

More Cool Tools (in alpha order)

Capture Wiz Pro: Lillie calls this "the greatest program I have found for capturing screenshots. It’s simple to use and very inexpenisve (at $29.95).

FlashMeeting: As noted on its website, FlashMeeting is a "sophisticated web-based meeting tool, allowing a group of people to setup and have a meeting with each other using the Internet. As long as you have an Internet connection you can join a FlashMeeting anywhere in the world." FlashMeeting is written in Macromedia Flash. Meetings run on "correctly set-up and working computers connected to the Internet, running a modern web browser with the Flash 7 plug-in installed."

It is noted that "although free at the moment, the model of the commercial version of FlashMeeting is one of paying for the service in half hour segments for a specific number of people. A limit to the total number of people in all simultaneous FlashMeetings is used to keep the ‘bandwidth’ to manageable proportions at any given time, both within individual meetings and for the FlashMeeting Server as a whole.

"At the present time an individual Flashmeeting is limited to a maximum duration of 6 hours and a maximum of 25 people. So far FlashMeeting users have respected the ‘trade off’ between a free service and limited server capacity, however, abuse of these limits would result in loss of booking rights."

Lillie says that UK universities are noted as leaders in the development of free or low-cost hosted services, He mentioned that he has used FlashMeeting and called it a "great service."

Free Online Surveys: This is a web-hosted survey service that Lillie uses with his students. He pays $9.99 a month for unlimited usage, but a free version, that offers limited usage, is also available. Free Online Surveys is operated by a United Kingdom company called Problem Free Ltd.

FreePath: This is presentation software that allows users to collect and arrange – through a drag and drop interface – sophisticated presentations that can include video, audio, PDF files, Microsoft Word and Excel documents, HTML, Flash and QuickTime files, and images. Lillie explains that creating presentations with FreePath entails working inside two screens. "One screen is like a matrix box. Each cell of the box can include a feature to be included in a streaming presentation. For example one cell might include a PowerPoint presentation. Another cell might include a video file." For web-based meetings and presentations, Freepath works with GoToMeeting, Microsoft Live Meeting, and WebEx. Freepath was available for an introductory price of $149 at the time of this writing.

Groove: Ray Ozzie, the original creator of Lotus Notes, created Groove Virtual Office. Microsoft purchased Groove Networks last year. Ray Ozzie is now the chief software architect for Microsoft. The Groove Virtual Office technology is being integrated into Microsoft Office and is an important part of Microsoft’s migration to web-based software applications. Basically, Groove allows geographically dispersed users who also have Groove software installed on their computers to share files across multiple computers as if they were one. Users share files with team members seamlessly, and the files remain in sync, so all team members always have the latest versions. Lillie explains that he has a block of reusable Groove Virtual Office (Professional) licenses that he uses with his students. "I create a Groove Virtual Office (peer-to-peer) workspace for a study group/team and invite students into the workspace," he says. "I preload the workspace with tools needed for the team work. Students download the Groove software to their computers. I give them the license key to activate the professional-version of the software. At the end of the term, students continuing with me to the next course keep the software. I void the software license for students not continuing in the next course." The Blackboard feature comparable to the Groove workspace is Blackboard’s Group Page, adds Lillie. But, "comparing Groove to Blackboard is like comparing apples to oranges."

Impatica for PowerPoint: This is a simple program that many colleges and universities have licensed, says Lillie, who uses it primarily to compress his PowerPoint presentations, that include sound tracks and simulations, into files that can be easily delivered, plug-in free, to Java-enabled computers and other devices, even at dial-up speed. The single-user license costs about $500.

MindManager: As noted on its website, this is productivity software "for visualizing and managing information, allowing individuals and teams to more effectively think, plan, and collaborate." MindManager Basic retails for $229. MindManager Pro is $349. Lillie explains how he creates mindmaps with branches that have hyperlinks to notes pages. Within those notes pages, images and diagrams can be added, as well as more hyperlinks to other pages and/or streaming media content. For an example, see www.drlillie.com/KIA1/MM/Ch2new/map.htm.

Ovation: This program is used to "liven-up" PowerPoint files, says Lillie. It is for presentation purposes only. "I take a PowerPoint file and use Ovation to make it look much more professional, and then I capture the Ovation presentation through GoToMeeting. This enables me to stream the Ovation presentation to my students. It takes a couple of steps to get everything done, but the outcome is worth the effort." Ovation was priced at $84.95.

PDF Annotator: As noted on its website, "PDF Annotator lets the user open any PDF file and add annotations, using the mouse or a Tablet PC pen, directly on the PDF file’s pages. The annotated documents can then be saved directly back to PDF format." Lillie says this program is easier to use and more versatile than Adobe Acrobat 7. Cost for a downloadable version sent via email with an unlock key is only $49.95 (valid until Nov. 1, 2006).

SightSpeed: The free basic service version of this software provides unlimited 1-to-1 video calling, unlimited PC-to-PC voice calling, and the ability to create unlimited video mail messages (30 day storage, 30 second record time). A "Pro Service Plan" provides more features and functions for only $49.95 per year. Lillie uses SightSpeed to create short video emails that are stored on the SightSpeed server. Each video has its own unique URL that he sends as a link inside e-mail messages to his students. For an example, see http://app.sightspeed.com/vm/utuga1rzlqbrf3xrmk7defw8us48s17u/op46/en_US/1/

SmartDraw: This is a simple graphics program that works well with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Lillie uses it to create illustrations inside his course materials. SmartDraw was listed at $197 for a single user. See an example of how Lillie uses SmartDraw at www.drlillie.com/A441/DNR/DNRSampling.pdf

TalkAndWrite: This is another free plug-in for Skype that gives users whiteboarding capabilities. As noted on its website, "TalkAndWrite allows partners to hand write, draw, erase, highlight, and insert text on a document while discussing data over Skype. Both can see their own and the partner’s mouse pointers, which can be used to point out items on the document. The magic is that all this happens in real time, so that the action can be watched by both users concomitantly, creating a natural and effective interaction."

TalkAndWrite comes in two versions, BASIC, which is free, and PRO, which costs $28.30 per year. The PRO version allows users to to save and print all documents worked out through TalkAndWrite, whereas the BASIC version does not.

Viewlet Builder: This software is excellent for creating tutorials, says Lillie. It costs $199 for educators. It does many of the same things as Impatica, he adds, "except it literally lets you create a story board by taking screen shots. You can insert a screen shot into a slide, you can add bubbles, you can add a sound track, etc. When you publish it, the presentation is converted into a Flash file that you can upload to wherever you want."

Visual Communicator Pro: This video-creation and editing software allows Lillie to combine video and screenshots to create what he considers to be "TV-like streaming audio/video presentations." The program includes a teleprompter feature where a script scrolls during the recording process. Visual Communicator Pro’s individual retail price was listed at $249. It is also available to educators at a discounted rate through a special volume and site license pricing program.

Wiley Plus: This is a technology solution from John Wiley & Sons, Inc., "a global publisher of print and electronic products, specializing in scientific, technical, and medical books and journals; professional and consumer books and subscription services; and textbooks and other educational materials." Wiley Plus is an online service that provides students and faculty with a variety of presentation, preparation, assignment and assessment tools.

Lillie uses Wiley Plus, integrated with the CMS, for teaching his students how to solve accounting problems. Students log in to Wiley Plus from within the CMS, click on a simulated problem-solving assignment from a chapter in their online accounting textbook, and enter their answers. The system then automatically grades their response and explains what they did correctly or incorrectly. At this point, the system will also provide a hyperlink to the portion of the chapter related to the problem. "It is like a mentoring process," says Lillie. However, to enhance this process even further, students can also go to the bottom tray of their computer screen and open up Skype to see if Lillie happens to be available and then right click to call him. If he answers, his administrative access to Wiley Plus allows him to automatically put the student and himself into a one-on-one audio-video session (because he and the student both have a headset with microphone, along with a webcam). Now they are both looking at the same screen with the problem the student has been working on, as well as seeing and hearing each other. "I refer to this method as plus, plus," says Lillie.

Lillie’s Innovative Method for Grading Papers

If all this isn’t enough, Lillie has also taken paper grading to a new level through the innovative use of easy-to-use and inexpensive technologies. For example, after Lillie receives a student’s paper in Microsoft Word, he converts the document to PDF format, copies it to his Tablet PC, takes his Tablet PC Pen and essentially red-inks the paper with the aforementioned PDF Animator software that he bought for about $50. He then creates a short 2-minute video where he talks about the paper he just graded. The video, of course, was created with the aforementioned $49.95-per-year SightSpeed software that saved his video to a SightSpeed server and gave him a url that he thereupon sent by e-mail to the student, with an attached, and annotated, graded paper.

Conclusion

Lillie explains that much of the teaching and learning occurring in his online courses is interactive and causes students to do something. Most of his methods are asynchronous from a technical perspective. "But it is the way you use it. I am creating a whole series of blended methods that are easy to use and include characteristics of both asynchronous and synchronous [modalities]. "What the whole process (meaning all his methods for using various educational technologies) really does," says Lillie, "is enable me to select the things that are the most appropriate way to do something at the given moment."

For more information about Lillie’s work, see his blog, which is powered by Elgg.net, "an online social network for those interested in education, learning technology and new approaches to teaching and learning."

* The quote at the beginning of this article is attributed to Nkosi Johnson, a Zulu boy born into abject poverty. He was infected with AIDS at birth. Nkosi died at the age of 12.