eFairs Do you often have student’s deliver in-class presentations at the end of the term? Do you sometimes do poster sessions or science fairs where students display their project work with bristol board and tables at a one day event? Have you ever wanted to invite out-oftown community partners to see your students presentations and projects but did not have the budgeting or the right timing of schedules? Do you occasionally have students create a class yearbook, organize an art show, videotape a role play or skit, or make a time capsule? Have you ever considered efairs?
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An efair or a virtual fair is an electronic exhibit to feature student work. We use technology to transform a traditional science fair, gallery exhibit, poster session, or simple presentation into a virtual show. It provides an online forum for creative and thoughtful review and reflection. The efair can be within a class, program, or school. We can share it with our community and industry partners.
Variations None.
Examples Use your imagination. What could your students showcase in an efair? What would be an appropriate activity for your discipline? Only you know what would be authentic to your field of study, your curriculum, and your students. To get started, consider these ideas: Visual Arts •Gallery show •Art exhibit •Short film festival •Design exposition Health & Community Studies •Poster session •Public service announcement •Career visioning board •Demonstration video Science & Technology •Science fair •Charettte design collection •3-D diagram exhibit •Simulation video Business Administration •Slideshow presentation •Advertising commercial •Trade fair •Travel show
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Humanities & Social Sciences •Short story collection •Spoken word poetry anthology •Time capsule •Brochure exhibit
Merits Similar to a live poster session or science fair, a virtual fair helps students build confidence. By sharing their hard work and accomplishments, students get an opportunity to showcase their talents. Students need to present their work, which teaches them how to promote themselves. Through peer critique, students learn how to improve their craft. There is also networking potential in the sharing and showcasing student work in a virtual environment. Peer Critique. Classmates and peers can provide peer critique in the comments on social media, within the learning management system (LMS), or with blogs, wikis, or podcasts; alternatively, we can use web or video conferencing in a live fair. Comments in these forums should be polite and friendly, respecting Netiquette (Shea, 2004). Formative peer critique “helps students identify strengths and weaknesses, develop and manage learning processes”, and strive to achieve learning outcomes (Odom, Glenn, Spanner, & Canella, 2009, p.109). It still needs professor summative feedback as well as self-evaluation. Professors need to “monitor and assess attainment of learning objectives” (Ello, 2006, p.163). Students need to know evaluation criteria and positive conditions. For example, besides the set of criteria for the critique, professors and students should use strengthbased questions and the Appreciate, Critique, Encourage (ACE) model. Peer critique can foster research critique which leads to critical thinking (Odom et al, 2009). Professors can model acceptance of constructive criticism as well (Reynolds, 2009). Creativity. Through poster sessions, there is a creative and social element of the symposium which builds confidence in skills (Ello, 2006). Being able to share one’s work, reflect on it, and articulate what it means, builds self-esteem, self-awareness, and selfactualization. Collaborative learning fosters problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity outcomes (Ello, 2006). By discussing one’s work with peers and mentors, one can strengthen key goals and resolve challenges in one’s own work. Accessibility. If the virtual fair encourages multiple forms of media, then it provides choice for various learning styles and abilities including English as a Second Language (ESL) learners (CAST, 2012; Gardner, 2011). Students have more time in an online fair to reflect on their critique and comments. Shy students have an opportunity to build confidence from 228
a safe distance. Additionally, if the fair is asynchronous, then it meets the needs of the adult online learner who may prefer any time, any place, and any pace (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012); on the other hand, a live virtual fair provides students real-time immediate comments. An efair may be the only practical method of facilitating critique from industry and community partners.
Challenges Choosing the best technology to facilitate an appropriate and authentic efair may alone be a challenge. Some students may be uncomfortable sharing their work with their classmates. They may be even more uncomfortable in a completely open environment despite the networking and confidence building potential. Peer evaluation that lacks sensitivity can always be challenging. Consider the potential value and risk of inviting community and industry partners. Intellectual Property. Some students may feel uncomfortable sharing their original designs or ideas with others. On the other hand, students do need to be capable of presenting their work to industry. Allow students a choice of which items to share in the virtual fair. Review copyright best practices with students and model good copyright practices. Teach students how to document their work by keeping an inspiration book, storing rough drafts as artefacts, and digital watermarking their work. Netiquette. Despite the many benefits that come with the Internet, there is always the risk of poor etiquette in an online environment. Review good online behaviour, Netiquette, with students. Just like with peer critique, students should be polite and friendly avoiding sarcasm and flaming (angry post wars). Model constructive feedback and encouragement. Consider the pros and cons of keeping the virtual fair private versus public to respect the privacy of the students. Netiquette also includes respecting time and space, so choose tools that are easy to use and access (Shea, 2004). Group Work. If students work in groups, it is important to assign roles and responsibilities (Glasser, 1998) to promote good group dynamics: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning (Tuckman & Jensen, 1997). Notwithstanding, groups need clear assessment criteria for their project roles as well as two-way communication tools like email, telephone, chat, or web conferencing. We can facilitate group work through web conferencing. They may need workspaces like wikis.
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Instructional Design Use a backwards design approach. First, start with your learning outcomes. Second, create your assessments. Third, plan your instructional activities. Finally, choose a technology to enhance the lesson. Design. Consider your curriculum; look carefully at your accreditation standards, graduate attributes, program learning outcomes, course learning outcomes, and lesson learning outcomes. How will an efair enhance the learning outcomes? How will you evaluate what the students do with in the efair? What technologies will you and your students need to learn in order to create an efair? Will an efair enhance the learning experience? Develop. Browse the Internet for virtual fair or poster session software specific for your industry or discipline. Look at how the Influenza Research Network used its YouTube channel to post and share student and principal investigator research to its pan-Canadian membership and the public using videos edited with iMovie to include bumpers and credits. Deliver. Decide what students will do before, during, and after the efair. For instance, you may require that students submit a presentation, poster, or podcast. During the efair, you may have a list of guided questions for review or reflection for students to complete. Before the efair, you may preview and review good peer critique behaviour and Netiquette. The efair should be authentic, active, and applied. Plan how your students will share and showcase their work. You may want students to display their work in small groups, the entire class, or across the entire program. Alternatively, you may want to extend the exhibition college-wide using the campus newsletter or website. Likewise, you may want to open the efair up to industry and community partners to share and critique.
Technology You can simply use the discussion forum tool in the learning management system (LMS) or a blog, wiki, or ebook. Unless you have access to large server space, consider putting slideshow presentations on SlideShare and videos or podcasts on YouTube, Vimeo, or iTunes. Depending on your students interest and the authenticity to the field, you may want to use social media blogs like Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, or Tumblr or virtual pinning sites like Pinterest. Lastly, for a live fair, consider using web conferencing.
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References Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). (2012). Universal Design for Learning. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/index.html Ello, L.M. (2006). Spotlight on research at center stage: Using poster sessions to showcase student research. Journal of Teaching Social Work, 26(3-4), p.155-165. Gardner, H. (2011). Frames of mind: the theory of multiple intelligences (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Basic Books. Glasser, W. (1998). Choice theory in the classroom. New York, NY: Harper Collins. Odom, S., Glenn, B., Sanner, S., & Canella, K.A.S. (2009). Group peer review as an active learning strategy in a research course. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2(1), p.108-117. Reynolds, A. (2009). Why every student needs critical friends. Educational Leadership, 67(3), p.54-57. Shea, V. (2004). Netiquette. Retrieved from http://www.albion.com/netiquette/book/ index.html Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Tuckman, B.W. & Jensen, M.C. (1977). Stages of small-group development revisited. Group & Organization Studies, 2(4), p.419-427.
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Paula Ogg © 2020 Photography by Jonathan Eger