Key Learning - Education 4150

Objective - Important learning with regard to developing an effective online course

Some of my learning about developing an effective online course also informs best practices required to develop any course—whether face-to-face, hybrid, or online.  I have been reminded of the importance of instructor presence, instructor encouragement, knowing one’s learners, and the importance of communicating clearly to learners.  Furthermore, the “learning climate should enable all participants to feel secure and comfortable so that they can express themselves freely and take part in the learning activities” (Tolu, 2013, p. 1051).  However, “what we know about teaching in the classroom, good or bad, may not translate well online with somewhat complicated technologies, new social orders, and media-rich resources” (Ragan, n.d., p.5). Furthermore, while the broader guidelines for course design tend to apply regardless of the learning modality, the way in which these guidelines are practiced must be given special thought when designing and facilitating an online course.  

Research suggests that two significant challenges with online learning are creating and sustaining a sense of community for learners as well as being cognizant of learner technological and digital literacy skills.   Boettcher and Conrad (2010) explain that meeting together in a classroom “develops intellectual and personal bonds” and makes it easier for instructors to establish a relationship of care in a classroom setting (p.38) whereas establishing a healthy learning community is more difficult in an online course.  Indeed, feedback from learners indicates that a feeling of isolation and lack of community are among the most challenging characteristics of online learning (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010; Ragan, n.d.; Tolu, 2013).  According to Tolu (2013), instructor immediacy is viewed differently in the online classroom as compared to face-to-face teaching.   In contrast to limited instructor availability outside of class times and specific office hours for classroom learners, Boettcher and Conrad, 2010, assert that online learners expect their instructor to be present in some way every day through liberal use of tools such as announcements, discussion board postings, and to provide “fast turnaround” on questions (p. 37).  Tolu (2013) submits that instructor presence in the online modality is a key element “that correlates with learner satisfaction, perceived learning, and sense of community (p. 1052).  Tolu (2013) notes that a “sense of community is found to be significantly associated with perceived learning” (p. 1050).   Siemens & Tittenberger (2009) concur that “the need for social contact is arguably more important online than in regular face-to-face classrooms (p. 3).

Siemens & Tittenberger (2009) also posit that presence is not necessarily more important than is ‘knowing’ their learners; they declare that the “[instructor’s] task is primarily about understanding learners, embracing their tools, and trying to speak their language; that’s why educators zealously try to use blogs, wikis, Facebook, iPods, etc.(p.4). While Schawbel (2014) agree with the importance of including technology and being aware of different generations of learners, he cautions against making assumptions about Generations Y and Z.  He notes that even though they may know how to access information or use technological tools, they often don’t know how to judge the reliability of information and adds that these learners tend to put too much value on opinion and do not consider or research the facts.  Moreover, he notes that,even though Generation Z grew up with technology, “53% percent prefer in-person face-to-face communication over using Web 2.0 tools…including Skype or video conferencing” (para 4). Moreover, Junco (2012) cautions instructors to remember that, “despite the high adoption rate of ICTs among college learners, it is important to remember that digital inequalities still persist…technological ownership, adoption and use within…the population of college learners vary according to gender, race, and socioeconomic status” (Introduction, para 4).  Chamber and Wickersham (2007) reinforce the importance of considering learners’ technological abilities.  They cite a study in which learners engaged in an ePortfolio development assignment viewed “the process as one with more disadvantages than advantages.  Learners cited technological self-efficacy as a primary barrier” (p. 358), which confirms the importance of knowing the technological skills of learners.

Again, the above examples are merely two specific elements that need attention when designing an online course.  Tolu (2013) warns instructors that online courses often take longer and require more labour compared to face-to-face courses because “the course design, methods, materials, and activities—all learning and teaching practices—need in-depth effective planning to facilitate critical and meaningful learning (p. 1053)

Reflecting on learning – Imitating and Improving

Instructor presence was clearly evident in the course introduction.  As well, the initial Skype visit was a positive way to build a relationship with the instructor.  Moreover, including the Moodle tutorial within the course shell removed angst I experienced in other online courses in D2L where the information was not included and I had to find my own support.  The clear progression of Moodle tutorials gave me information I would not otherwise have known to ask about.  Consequently, I have inquired as to whether my own institution has something similar for me to include about Blackboard in my online courses.     

It was also easy to navigate through the course modules.  I valued being able to move forwards and backwards to re-visit earlier modules or support resources.  Moreover, the instructor was very quick to respond to email questions and returned assignments in a timely manner.  I intend to emulate these practices when designing and teaching online courses.

Because the course I am currently taking is self-paced, I can appreciate that it is more difficult for an instructor to have an active online presence.  However, my online courses will likely be semester-long courses that start and end at the same time.  I believe this will make it easier for me to have more of a presence.   Therefore, rather than post all the details for the course modules at the beginning of the course, I will consider which elements of those modules can be posted throughout the term and can be used to increase instructor presence during the course. 

 In most online courses, I missed the lack of instructor presence in terms of ‘active voice’ versus only print introductions to new modules.  While watching suggested videos was interesting, they were less engaging than weekly video introductions as was the pattern in several MOOC courses I have completed.  In three MOOCs, I especially looked forward to weekly ‘interviews with different experts’ or ‘direct teaching’ from an expert in a specific topic.  These videos were sometimes broken up into shorter segments throughout the module with opportunity for review or Google hangout discussions.  Even in today’s focus on learner discovery, I still value direct instruction by instructors who share their subject matter knowledge and scholarly leadership.  Tolu (2013) agrees that direct instruction—including discussion, clarification of misconceptions,  timely feedback…and helping learners with technical problems—is critical and asked for by learners and is “found to be in positive correlation with learner satisfaction and perceived learning” (p. 1052).   [I would have appreciated more instructor engagement in discussion around learning theories or other complex concepts in various online courses that may have helped increase understanding and critical understanding.  As well, having more guidance with technological tools may have made the blog assignment more meaningful; doing this assignment independent of direct leadership or guidance resulted in too many hours trying to ‘figure’ out what was needed and ways in which I might ‘organize’ the blog.  Being shown examples or being provided with clearer instructions for those of us who are still learning about technology (while at the same time giving learners who are confident the freedom to create as they will) might have helped to establish a basic foundation from which I could then experiment to create my own design. Not knowing what is possible or not, meant I had to do a lot of ‘watching’ and ‘reading’ and still often unsure of the expectations.]  Eventually I did find an example of a blog assignment in the Q & A discussion forum or the course.  However, while this is useful, I think I would, instead, be proactive and posting a link to a blog completed by previous learners within the assignment instruction. 

Even though I have not determined how to best help learners who, like myself, might be better served with additional support and examples for assignments such as creating a Blog or ePortfolio, my experiences with ‘not knowing’ suggest doing so is important.  Indeed, research verifies that this is not a concern for me only.  Chambers and Wickersham (2007) also emphasize that, “without express guidance on what is expected of the online instructor, they [learners] are left to “figure it out,” leading to frustrated learners and probably a less than desirable learning experience.”

Interpretive - New insights …changed thinking

One of the significant insights from my online learning is that I have been living a life of ‘unconscious incompetence’ in terms of the entire world of technology.  While I am proficient in Word, I incorrectly assumed formatting and editing would be similar within my Wiki or Blog, but it is very different and requires a different skill set.   Moreover, I am amazed by the broad scope of tools available through Web 2.0. As an aside, I have a renewed appreciation for second language learners as I not only struggle to learn new terms, but more importantly, want to know how different terms are related.  I also need to know which concepts are significant for me and, therefore, merit time to learn, versus those that are less significant in terms of impacting my ability to teach an online course.  My new awareness has thrown me into the oh, ‘so consciously incompetent’ box; I now wonder how I will know enough to be able to choose the “most proper technology to meet course objectives” (Tolu,2013, o. 1053), especially because I still have much to learn.  I believe it is absolutely necessary for me to continue to develop my own understanding of technology tools and affordances because there is such plethora available.

Even though I have not taught an online course, I already determined that creating an online course was not simply a matter of posting a course details used in a classroom.  I was aware of high attrition rates in online courses and questioned why.  However, I did not know that instructor presence correlates significantly with course satisfaction and completion for online learners.  Nor did I realize the importance of having most of the course—including learning activities, assignments, and rubrics—fully developed and available for learners at the start of the term.  While I have always been an organized instructor, I tend to leave room within the course syllabus for ‘more’ or ‘less’ focus on a topic dependent on the learners’ need for ‘more’ or ‘less’ skill development to achieve learning goals.  However, it appears this is less possible to do in an online course.  At the same time, creating a prescriptive course—including all learning activities, assignments, and rubrics—seems inconsistent with a philosophy of individual authentic learning, so this is something I will explore. 

The notion of connectivism is also new to me; I look forward to learning more about how or how not connectivism versus social constructivism may inform my way of teaching.  Because many of my learners tend to lack digital literacy skills, I am mindful of a need to provide additional resources for them while still encouraging them to become more adept at finding and evaluating their own sources.  However, the course subject is not computer literacy and already has prescribed learning outcomes that are difficult to meet within the time allotted.  Consequently, I will consider best ways to combine learning activities to achieve both outcomes for learners.   

Indeed, as confirmed in Tolu (2013), my new learning clearly indicates that, “The information the instructor provides, including the course objectives and outcomes, needs to be clearly outlined, the material should be easy to understand, and it should be organized in a logical fashion.  Inserting interactive probes to reinforce learner knowledge throughout the lesson is also a great idea!”

Decisional ... Applying New Learning

Online learning is no longer in emergent stages.  A query today on Google for ‘online learning’ resulted in about 245,000,000 results (0.46 seconds); a similar query on the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) library data base for academic sources about 1,936,585 results.  Moreover, a query on Google for ‘online teaching’, about 590,000,000 results (0.36 seconds); a query on Google for ‘designing an online course’, about 130,000,000 results (0.31 seconds), and a query for ‘best practices online teaching’ on the UFV library data base, 411,118 results.  As a result of completing research for this course, I found and became connected to a variety of online teaching and learning groups with quality resources and advice.  I will continue to monitor these sources for advice and ideas to help me sustain and develop my learning about online learning.  Moreover, when considering different guidelines for online learning, I accessed some detailed guidelines to which I am adding ideas that will be a valuable guide when designing my course.  I will apply these guidelines when designing and teaching online courses. 

Finally, whether teaching face-to-face on online and whatever the trends, I will heed Gusthall’s (2012) wise advice:  “Generational overviews can be like horoscopes—vague enough to fit everyone without really describing anything, but at the same time they do present an interesting lens to view learner subpopulations” (para 14). And, that today as in years ago, “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically... Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education” (King Jr., 1947).

References

Boettcher, J. V., Conrad, R. (2010). Ten best practices for teaching online. Chapter Three, pp. 36-47.  The online teaching survival guide: simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, ©2010.

Chambers, S. M., Wickersham, L. E. (2007). The electronic portfolio journey: a year later.  Education 127(3), 351-360. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.proxy.ufv.ca:2048/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=9c0884d7-088c-4407-b0c2-05443d7c233a@sessionmgr4004&hid=4208&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU=#db=a9h&AN=24928365

Gutshall, A. (2012) The Breakfast club and Barney: Advising the new college learner.  The Mentor, an Academic Advising Journal.  January 12, 2012. Penn State Division of Undergrad Studies (DUS).  Retrieved from http://dus.psu.edu/mentor/2012/01/advising-new-learner/

Junco R. (2012).  In-class multitasking and academic performance. Computers in Human Behavior.  November 1, 2012, (28)6, 2236-2243. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.06.031.  Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.ufv.ca:2048/science/article/pii/S0747563212001926#b0110

King Jr, M.L. (1947). The purpose of education.  Morehouse College Learner Paper; The Maroon Tiger.  Retrieved from http://www.drmartinlutherkingjr.com/thepurposeofeducation.htm

Ragan, L. C. (n.d.). 10 principles of effective online teaching: Best practices in distance education. [PDF document]. Distance Education Report.  Magna Publications. Madison, WI.  Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/wp-content/uploads/images/10-Principles-of-Effective-Online-Teaching.pdf

Schawbel, D.  (2014, September 2).  Gen Y and gen Z:  Global workplace expectations study.  [Web log comment].  Retrieved from http://millennialbranding.com/2014/geny-genz-global-workplace-expectations-study/

Siemens, G., Tittenberger, P. (2009).   Handbook of emerging technologies for learning .[PDF document]. University of Manitoba, Retrieved from http://elearnspace.org/Articles/HETL. pdf

Tolu, A.T. (2013, January 25). Creating effective communities of inquiry in online courses. Procedia - Social and Behaviour Sciences 70 (no), 1049-1055 [Akdeniz Language Studies Conference, May, 2012 Turkey]: doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.01.157. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.ufv.ca:2048/science/article/pii/S1877042813001584