Columbia University School of Social Work
 
Instructional Technology Resources

Dear CUSSW Faculty,

Role Play Room
Instructors may use the role play rooms to record student role plays course assignment and/or pipe-in live video of role plays to a classroom. The role play room is managed by the School's Office of Computing and Instructional Technology (OCIT). If students must complete the course assignment during non-classroom hours, we recommend a four week advance notice to allow time for OCIT to setup all necessary resources and for students to reserve a time slot for the role play room.

Logistics to consider when designing a role play assignment:
- What is the structure of the role play? Dyad? Group?
- If a dyad, do you want each student to play the social worker?
- How long should each role play be? e.g. 10 mins per session.
- When creating the assignment think about when the students can schedule the role play and when the written portion of the assignment is due. There needs to be adequate time between the video recording and write their self-evaluation. Our office coordinates the allotted time students can reserve the role play room so it is in tandem with the assignment structure.

For example:
If the entire assignment is due week 14, readings, research, role play recording and written analysis, and all the topics from the syllabus that needs to be covered will be completed by week 11, this allows students to sign up for the role play room from week 11 to week 13. 24-48 hours is required to process and post the videos in Mediathread.

Role Play Room Hours
General hours are Tuesdays-Thursdays, 9am - 10pm, during the fall and spring term.
Date ranges are customized to the course and assignment.

How does Mediathread and the Role Play Room work? (Instructor Perspective)
Role play videos are posted to Mediathread, a secure web-based learning environment that enables students to view, analyze, and communicate ideas with video. We are available to give a 10 minute in-class presentation on how to use Mediathread.

Information Given to Students
Once the logistics have been coordinated between the instructor and OCIT staff, we provide Mediathread information and user guide, role play room guide and instructions how to reserve the role play room via CourseWorks. Click links for more details.

https://www1.columbia.edu/sec/cu/ssw/ncwshares/sswmediathread.html

Sample Course Specific Reservation Instructions to Students:

Check List          

• Submit completed Role Play Room Request Form, including a detailed roleplay assignment.
• OCIT will review the request and may follow up via email or set up a meeting to review all the details and logistics of assignment.
• OCIT will setup a Mediathread site for the course assignment.
• OCIT will add a Mediathread Resources link to the course CourseWorks site.
• OCIT will schedule a Mediathread Demo to class with the instructor.
• After approval from instructor, OCIT will email students and post instructions on CourseWorks on “How to Reserve the Role Play Room.”
• Students will email role play room reservations to [email protected] and students will receive an email confirmation of the appointment by OCIT.
• After each role play is recorded and processed it will be posted on the Mediathread site and students are notified by email that it is ready to be viewed.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at <[email protected]>.


Thank you,
Ann McCann Oakley, Assistant Dean
Josephine Tatel, AV Manager
Ed Cardona, Senior Instructional Technology Specialist
LA Creech, Instructional Technology Specialist

August 2016