I had many grand plans of what I might analyze the affordances of. However, as I tossed about these ideas I have also been getting structure in place for my upcoming online course for the fall. During this process I kept finding myself thinking about Angel.
It became clear that there were certain affordances of Angel that I wanted to hold on to. However, there are also areas where Angel's affordances are lacking.
Centralized Communication
The first affordance that I want to discuss is the way Angel affords centralized communication. With the selection of a few preferences I can insure that when I communicate with students through Angel they receive messages both through the Angel Communicate tab and their student email.
This lets me send one message that is delivered in several places. An important note here is that neither Angel nor the student email is especially friendly when it comes to the mobile interfaces that many students use.
Secure Repository
The second affordance of Angel is that upon course creation establishes a secure place where course materials and student assignments can be kept. A secure repository is important for logistical reasons (the college only wants registered students to take a class) and and it is an important part of establishing a safe writing environment (e.g. a student feels uncomfortable sharing their writing with the entire class during the writing process).
A secure repository also provides a space to collect copy righted materials for class use when public distribution for class would be frowned upon. Note: A big challenge with Angel is there is no easy way for a 'public' space where students can choose to open their work up to a larger (unknown audience).
Varied Moderation
Being able to vary the types and kinds of moderation of class discussion is another important affordance of Angel. Whether I want to have a closely moderated discussion group for the entire class or areas where only small groups can have conversations privately Angel supports moderation that can support these types of activities.
Another part of a big challenge with Angel mentioned previously, is that in addition to not affording a 'public' space, there are not easy ways to moderate or established public dialog. This is an activity that Tumblr easily affords.
Levels of Visibility
When working on creating a course or changing parts of an established course structure the fact that Angel affords different levels of visibility is important. Being able to hide unfinished material or establish reveal dates or date ranges of visibility supports a wide range of activities. As I organize a course I can create holding areas and only reveal what is finished or immediately needed by students. This type of visibility lets me see course structure while not distracting students with changing folder contents. Changing visibility also helps combat information overload by letting me reveal items that become important as we move through a project and hide items that are no longer needed.
Affording visibility in Angel does not extend pass the password protected bounds of the institution. Although it is easy to add students and other faculty from within the institution, extending access to 'outsiders' or the public as mentioned early is not easily supported.
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