Final Project

This document summarizes the components of the final project for integrating technology in a first year, Introduction to Business course at Blue Ridge Community and Technical College. Links to the blog, blog rubric, wiki, and wiki rubric are located in this report. The components of the project include:

I. Project Description
II. Blog
III. Blog Rubric
IV. Wiki
V. Wiki Rubric
VI. Project Evaluation

Project Description
This project is created for the Introduction to Business course in the AAS Business program designed for freshmen students at Blue Ridge Community and Technical College. The course provides foundational principles in business, including advertising, marketing, law, management, and human resources. Upon completing this course, students will have the ability to describe how these areas efficiently interact with one another in the field of business. This course will allow students to gain a complete understanding of basic business principles, and ideally, afford students the opportunity to decide if the field of business is one they desire to study and be employed.

The current course design could be dramatically improved by incorporating resources and creating learning activities that integrate technology and challenge students to think critically. To do so, this course will be formatted to go beyond a blended environment in order to include various web 2.0 tools and create a “blurred learning environment” (Whitehouse, 2009) with eight face-to-face sessions, seven asynchronous sessions, and one synchronous section. Additionally, usage of a textbook will be reduced and resources available through the Internet will be incorporated to provide opportunities for students to become more aware of the availability of resources in the global environment. For this project, the emphasis integrating technology will include the use of blogs and a course-created wiki.

Students will utilize a bi-weekly “3-2-1” assignment in which they identify three key points, two questions, and one reflection question all pertaining to the weekly topic. This activity will serve as a method of formative assessment, allowing the instructor to track student progress and determine those needs that should be addressed in subsequent sessions. Additionally, this activity supports integration of technology and the acquisition of critical skills for living and working in the twenty-first century.

During class, students will work individually, as well as in groups, to create a class wiki. Since students will be communicating on various assignments through WebCT, this wiki is designed solely for the compilation and presentation of the final project. By scaffolding instruction, students will build this wiki, beginning in week one, and conclude the project during the final week of class. The wiki is created and managed by the instructor to serve as an organizing center for the final project. This will be a forum for discussion, resource sharing, and access to students’ personalized pages solely for the compilation of the final project.

All other course correspondence, including the syllabus, course schedule, PowerPoints®, links to the Internet, portals for submitting assignments, quizzes, and all other instructional materials related to the course, will be supported with WebCT. Since WebCT is already used in the course, this project will focus on integrating a blog and a wiki in the delivery of the course. While the WebCT portal will lock students out after completion of the course, the blog and wiki will be tools that students will be able to use as a resource long after completing the course.

Blog
Students will prepare a bi-weekly “3-2-1” assignment in which they identify three key points, two questions, and one reflection paragraph all pertaining to the weekly topic. As mentioned earlier, this activity serves several purposes. While other tools could be explored for the “3-2-1” assignment, such as a discussion board, an individual blog is a better choice in this situation. Student access to the discussion board in WebCT will be removed at the completion of the class, but students will be able to continue with the blog beyond the time constraints of this class. Additionally, students can choose to invite or maintain the blog as a private location for this assignment, encouraging a more open and honest self-reflective experience.

Instructions and an example of a potential student blog can be found at below in the "3-2-1" Student Post Example posting

Blog Rubric
To support student understanding of the expectation for this project, an ideal student post has been provided in the above link. Additionally, a blog rubric will be delivered to students.

Wiki
Students will contribute to a group wiki that focuses solely on the creation of a business plan; the wiki identifies the main components of the business plan. Each student will contribute to a shared page to add their key points for each section. Additionally, students will maintain their own page in each section to compile all components of the business plan. Finally, students will post any questions about the business plan in the discussion section of the specific section.

By scaffolding instruction, the student will have the opportunity to build the entire business plan in distinct sections throughout the semester, and should gather information from each section to compile the final business plan. While the instructor will facilitate and build the framework for the wiki, students will contribute to all sections. Ideally, students will support one another through the “tips” page, and receive feedback from peers during the semester that will help them strengthen the development of the business plan.

Instructions and an example of a potential student wiki post can be found at http://cbus150.wetpaint.com/.

Wiki Rubric
To support student understanding of the expectation for this project, an ideal student post has been provided in the marketing plan section of the wiki in the above link. Additionally, a wiki rubric will be delivered to students.

Project Evaluation
Evaluation of this activity will be conducted through both formative and summative activities. All of the formative assessments should be performed at multiple points throughout the semester to ensure all areas in the formative evaluation plan are constantly monitored for progress. Ideally I will take time during three of the class sessions to monitor the areas focused in the plan.

I will conduct the formative evaluation for this course during face-to-face instruction in weeks three and eight, and during an asynchronous session during week twelve. All summative evaluation activities will be completed during the final week of class.