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Catherine Strattner

Applying Bloom's Taxonomy to teach thinking skills in e-learning « Jen e-blogger - 0 views

  • 4. ANALYSIS: This level is defined as the ability to break down material to identify its components and to analyze its organizational structure and content. E- Learning activities that focus on scaffolding thinking at this level includes those that guide students to identify different components of a particular object, to better appreciate the relationships between the parts. It requires students to identify different aspects of a process to appreciate the working principle behind the process.
  • 4. ANALYSIS: This level is defined as the ability to break down material to identify its components and to analyze its organizational structure and content. E- Learning activities that focus on scaffolding thinking at this level includes those that guide students to identify different components of a particular object, to better appreciate the relationships between the parts. It requires students to identify different aspects of a process to appreciate the working principle behind the process.
  • 4. ANALYSIS: This level is defined as the ability to break down material to identify its components and to analyze its organizational structure and content. E- Learning activities that focus on scaffolding thinking at this level includes those that guide students to identify different components of a particular object, to better appreciate the relationships between the parts. It requires students to identify different aspects of a process to appreciate the working principle behind the process.
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  • 4. ANALYSIS: This level is defined as the ability to break down material to identify its components and to analyze its organizational structure and content. E- Learning activities that focus on scaffolding thinking at this level includes those that guide students to identify different components of a particular object, to better appreciate the relationships between the parts. It requires students to identify different aspects of a process to appreciate the working principle behind the process.
  • 4. ANALYSIS: This level is defined as the ability to break down material to identify its components and to analyze its organizational structure and content. E- Learning activities that focus on scaffolding thinking at this level includes those that guide students to identify different components of a particular object, to better appreciate the relationships between the parts. It requires students to identify different aspects of a process to appreciate the working principle behind the process.
  • 4. ANALYSIS: This level is defined as the ability to break down material to identify its components and to analyze its organizational structure and content. E- Learning activities that focus on scaffolding thinking at this level includes those that guide students to identify different components of a particular object, to better appreciate the relationships between the parts. It requires students to identify different aspects of a process to appreciate the working principle behind the process.
  • 4. ANALYSIS: This level is defined as the ability to break down material to identify its components and to analyze its organizational structure and content. E- Learning activities that focus on scaffolding thinking at this level includes those that guide students to identify different components of a particular object, to better appreciate the relationships between the parts. It requires students to identify different aspects of a process to appreciate the working principle behind the process.
  • 4. ANALYSIS: This level is defined as the ability to break down material to identify its components and to analyze its organizational structure and content. E- Learning activities that focus on scaffolding thinking at this level includes those that guide students to identify different components of a particular object, to better appreciate the relationships between the parts. It requires students to identify different aspects of a process to appreciate the working principle behind the process.
  • 4. ANALYSIS: This level is defined as the ability to break down material to identify its components and to analyze its organizational structure and content. E- Learning activities that focus on scaffolding thinking at this level includes those that guide students to identify different components of a particular object, to better appreciate the relationships between the parts. It requires students to identify different aspects of a process to appreciate the working principle behind the process.
  • 4. ANALYSIS: This level is defined as the ability to break down material to identify its components and to analyze its organizational structure and content. E- Learning activities that focus on scaffolding thinking at this level includes those that guide students to identify different components of a particular object, to better appreciate the relationships between the parts. It requires students to identify different aspects of a process to appreciate the working principle behind the process.
  • guide students to arrive at a certain concept, rule, principle or method and use the concept, rule, principle or method in a workplace or simulated workplace environment.
  • require students to construct a new product from the components given or apply different aspects of their prior learning to put together a product.
  • require students to critic or review materials or ideas.
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    This blog post outlinse different learning activities that address the different levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.
Donna Angley

Learning Objectives - 0 views

  •  
    There are really TWO categories of learning objectives based on their purpose. One type of learning objective is for internal use-the design team, client and subject matter expert. The other type is for the audience members. If designers would write different learning objectives for each category, the world would be a better place. This is because internal learning objectives tend to be too technical and non-motivating for your eLearning audience.
Diane Gusa

The Application of Learning Style Theory in Higher Education Teaching - 0 views

  • A learning style is: "A complexus of related characteristics in which the whole is greater than its parts. Learning style is a gestalt combining internal and external operations derived from the individual's neurobiology, personality and development, and reflected in learner behaviour" (Keefe & Ferrell 1990, p. 16).
  • general tendency towards a particular learning approach displayed by an individual.
  • Riding & Cheema (1991), from an extensive review of the literature, conclude there are only two principal styles "families", the holist-analytic, and the verbaliser-imager. These two broad groupings relate to the type of cognitive activities normally ascribed to the two hemispheres of the brain. Curry (1983) suggests there are three different perspectives on styles: those relating to a preference for a particular instructional approach, those relating to the individual's intellectual approach to assimilating information independently of the environment, and those relating to the individual's intellectual approach to assimilating information with the environment.
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  • Dunn, Deckinger, Withers & Katzenstein (1990), who found that teaching students based on their diagnosed learning style did significantly increase their achievement level (see also Napolitano 1986).
  • Research indicates learning style is not a stable construct, so one may alter instructional style to meet a learning style that will itself change, requiring a further change in instructional strategy.
  • Researchers have failed to address the question of how it is possible to achieve a tailoring of instructional approaches on anything other than an individual level.
  • What may be possible is to promote an educational environment developed for flexibility at the individual student level.
  • What is required is a stimulus-stimulus approach, where the student and the lecturer are actively involved in both learning and the mechanics of the learning process, the aim being to facilitate learner empowerment by developing in students a critical awareness of material studied and the delivery and structure of the material. Learners can then tailor flexible education strategies to their requirements to optimise the quality of the learning experience.
  • his ability of an individual to actively select from a personal style or skills portfolio, is part of what can be termed self-directed learning
  • In an educational setting, a self-directed learner no longer operates as a passive receiver of information, but takes responsibility for the achievement, and ultimately setting, of learning outcomes. In essence, the traditional lecturer-student divide becomes increasingly blurred, as the learner begins to pro-actively structure the programme to match their own learning attributes.
  • facilitator, and finally to that of a resource to be tapped
  • lecturer's role
  • Under such an approach, higher education ceases to be simply something that is done to people, and becomes a platform from which individuals can go on to, in effect, educate themselves
  • "causer of learning".
  • This approach will tend to create learned helplessness in people
  • Higher education should be concerned with not only enhancing learning in a specific situation, but should also constitute a catalyst for further self-initiated development of the individual, above and beyond the contents and aims of a particular course. T
  • The lecturer must avoid removing traditional barriers to self-direction, such as a rigid programme structure, only to erect new barriers through the use of prescriptive self-direction strategies imposed on the student.
  • allow the individual the freedom to define and devise learning strategies, and to make mistakes. T
  • The role of the lecturer must be essentially non-interventionist, unless the student seeks guidance
  • as people may still not choose to direct their own learning due to: a lack of belief in their own ability, a failure by them to recognise that self-direction is needed or preferable, the setting of an inappropriate learning goal(s) that fails to act as a motivator, and previous learning and education experiences.
  • That educational system primarily tends to concentrate on didactic approaches that often view learning as being of secondary importance to memory, where information acquisition and subsequent information regurgitation predominate.
  • This will require that the lecturer breaks down barriers to learning and self-direction that may be present. This covers: those barriers created by the student during the course (wrong choice of learning approach, poor motivation, lack of confidence), those barriers that the course itself may indirectly create (lack of flexibility, lack of direction and guidance, poor structure), and those barriers that the student brings to the course (reason for attending the course, poor learning skills, previous bad learning experiences).
  • In the initial stages of a programme, the lecturer will need to ensure the existence of an appropriate control structure, as students undergo the transition from being other-directed in their learning by external influences, to being self-directed.
  • caffold structure
  • clearly communicated and understood aims and objectives for the students at regular intervals.
  • allows students to progressively take control of their learning,
  • but that also offers sufficient guidance and direction in the early stages to prevent individuals from becoming lost.
  • The application of learning style theory in higher education teaching
    • Diane Gusa
       
      This would take a very brave instructor to do this. However, I know of colleges (Goddard for one) that does exactly this in their graduate program.
Hedy Lowenheim

How Do I Invest? | Beginning Investing - 4 views

  • What is investing?Any time you invest, you're devoting your own time, resources, or effort to achieve a greater goal. You can invest your weekends in a good cause, invest your intelligence in your job, or invest your time in a relationship. Just as you undertake each of these expecting good results, you invest your money in a stock, bond, or mutual fund because you think its value will appreciate over time.
    • Hedy Lowenheim
       
      Very useful site for my course in personal finance. The site explains personal finance in very simple terms. Most anyone should be able to relate to how the information on investing is presented. Great information on topics such as investing, goal setting, active and passive management, etc., that correspond to many of my course's learning objectives.
  • Planning and setting goalsInvesting is like a long car trip: A lot of planning goes into it. Before you start, you've got to ask yourself: Where are you going? (What are your financial goals?) How long is the trip? (What is your investing "time horizon"?) What should you pack? (What type of investments will you make?) How much gas will you need? (How much money will you need to reach your goals? How much can you devote to a regular investing plan?) Will you need to stop along the way? (Do you have short-term financial needs?) How long do you plan on staying? (Will you need to live off the investment in later years?
    • Hedy Lowenheim
       
      The car trip analogy that the authors use in this article for planning & setting personal financial goals, is something everyone can relate to. This gave me some excellent ideas that will definitely be of use to me in my course since financial goal planning is another one of my learning objectives. I felt that the car trip analogy used on the site will assist with understanding the planning that goes into creating medium and short term goals was brilliant, and something everyone should be able to relate to. Creating medium and short term goals are also learning objectives in my course, (module 3). It should be an excellent way to engage students, since most everyone travels and has to put energy into planning out their trips, for example what to bring on the trip, how long it will take, how many stops there will be along the way, etc.
    • Hedy Lowenheim
       
      Another one of my learning objectives is understanding cash management and cash flow and having the students understand how important it is to save, and put that money to work. Site has some very useful examples on how to save and put away money automatically in a disciplined fashion.
  • Active and passive strategiesThe two main methods of investing in stocks are called active and passive management, and the difference between them has nothing to do with how much time you spend on the couch (or the exercise bike). Active investors (or their brokers or fund managers) pick their own stocks, bonds, and other investments. Passive investors let their holdings follow an index created by some third party.
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    • Hedy Lowenheim
       
      Another one of my learning objectives is understanding the difference between active and passive management. This site will definitely be helpful in refining some of the learning objectives in my course. It might also be a good site to post a link to for more information on specific person investing topics.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      how will you use this resource in your course, Hedy?
    • Hedy Lowenheim
       
      Alex I plan on using this Motley Fools web site which focuses on investment basics since the personal investing terms and strategies are presented very clearly, simply and with humor and relate directly to learning objectives in my modules; such as active and passive strategies in relation to investing (module 6), cash management/cash flow (module 2), and short and medium goal planning (module 3). The site will be an excellent resource for the students. This will also introduce them to the Motley Fool web site which should be helpful to them throughout the course and afterward. I felt that the car trip analogy used on the site to help understand the planning that goes into creating medium and short term goals was brilliant and something everyone should be able to relate to. Creating medium and short term goals are also learning objectives in my course, (module 3). It should be an excellent way to engage students, since most everyone travels and has to put energy into planning out their trips, for example things like what to take on the trip, how long it will take, how many stops there will be along the way, etc. I added some comments under the highlighted areas in Diigo with sticky notes (you should also be able to view them on the site) that reference a few of my learning objectives. By the way, I did find some useful sites on Merlot & OER, but many of linked to PDF files. A link on Merlot led me to the Motley Fools web site. I hope this helps! Hedy
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      this looks great Hedy! thanks! not sure what you meant by the comment about pdfs. you should be able bookmark pdfs... : )
    • Hedy Lowenheim
       
      I am under the impression that you cannot highlight text & create sticky notes in PDFs (just tested again), that was why I was having a hard time finding an acceptable site for the assignment in Merlot, most were PDF files. I guess I could have bookmarked them in Diigo and entered my comments write on the Diigo site instead of on the actual URL. I was thrilled once the Merlot site linked to the Motley Fool site!
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      ahhh. yes, that is true, put you can bookmark the resource, and annotate it on the diigo site - exactly as you describe! just wanted to be sure you knew that : )
    • Hedy Lowenheim
       
      I thought you might have wanted us to do highlighting and sticky notes for the assignment and right from the actual URL site. I must say that in the past 24 hours I have became much more familiar with Diigo, sink or swim, but I still need to work with it. Love the tool! Will we have access to Diigo after the course? Thanks and get some rest!!
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      yes. i want to be sure you can use this tool, so i am glad you persisted!! and i am really glad you love the tool. me too! yes you will have access to this group and this tool beyond the end of the term. that is one of the reasons i use the tool!
    • Hedy Lowenheim
       
      Excellent!! Be great if students continue to use it. Looks like these messages b/t us are not for public viewing. Is that a setting you turned on? I know there is public/pvt setting for sticky notes when you first create one (that's what was giving a bunch of students issues), but I do not see that setting on these notes. Hope this makes sense. Thanks& hope swimming is going well! Hedy
Donna Angley

A Constructivist Approach to Teaching - 1 views

  • Presenting instructional content online requires faculty to consider course objectives and the learning outcomes that are produced. How those outcomes are achieved and by how many students are important concerns of higher education institutions and their faculty members
  • Constructivism, on the other hand, is founded on the notion that “the only important reality is in the learner’s mind, and the goal of learning is to construct in the learner’s mind its own, unique conception of events”
  • learner is not a passive recipient but rather the center of instruction
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  • constructivists believe in independent exploration by students that will lead to a deeper understanding of the content
  • cooperative/collaborative approach
  • socio-cultural model
  • cooperative or collaborative model of learning argues that learning occurs as an individual interacts with other individuals
  • socio-cultural model of learning argues that learning best occurs when the learning event is meaningful, more deeply or elaborately processed, situated in context, and rooted in the learner’s cultural background and personal knowledge
  • one goal is to create a meaningful environment that includes communication and collaboration
  • New technologies allow for construction of knowledge through what is actually deeper reflection by the learner
  • Through groups and other learning interactions with their online peers, students acquire deeper understanding because of the “opportunities for exposure to multiple perspectives and interpretations
  • Learning involves active cognitive processing
  • Learning is adaptive
  •   Learning is subjective, not objective
    • jessica mascle
       
      again, does it need to be balanced?
  • Learning involves both social/cultural and individual processes
  • socializing function by fostering a friendly environment
  • Organizing involves setting the objectives, procedural rules, and timetables
  • intellectual role, guide the students’ journey to understanding. This is accomplished by probing and questioning students about their responses, by summarizing main themes, and by linking these to assignments such as readings, written responses, and independent and group projects.
  • discussion board posts serve as learning artifacts as well as springboards for more learning and the development of community
  • social negotiation and mediation
  • authentic and real-world environments
  • Teachers serve primarily as guides and facilitators
  • prompting students to develop their own inquiry questions
  • allowing students to express their knowledge through multiple avenues
  • encouraging group projects and collaborative learning
  • If, on the other hand, we believe that learners actively construct knowledge in their attempts to make sense of their world, then learning will likely emphasize the development of meaning and understanding
  • use of discussion boards
  • provide forums that require students to research an area of interest and report back to the class in the forum
  • incorporates collaborative elements
  • instructor should build in as many collaborative opportunities for group work
  •  
    ooooh execllent tags highlighting and comments!!
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    The author contends that using a learning-centered, or constructivist, approach in online courses is critical to student success.
Diane Gusa

Learning-Centered Syllabi - 0 views

  • Learning-Centered Syllabi Workshop
  • Creating and using a learner-centered syllabus is integral to the process of creating learning communities.
  • students and their ability to learn are at the center of what we do
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  • we focus on the process of learning rather than the content, that the content and the teacher adapt to the students rather than expecting the students to adapt to the content, that responsibility is placed on students to learn rather than on professors to teach.
  • facilitate student learning rather than to act as "gatekeepers" of knowledge
  • A necessary first step in creating a learning-centered syllabus, according to most sources, is to spend some time thinking about the "big questions" related to why, what, who and how we teach.
  • thoughtful discussions with ourselves and our colleagues about our teaching philosophy and what it means to be an educated person in our discipline
  • We also need to think about how we encourage responsibility for learning in our students.
  • students should progress from a primarily instructor-led approach to a primarily student-initiated approach to learning.
  • participate in planning the course content and activities; clarify their own goals and objectives for the course; monitor and assess their own progress; and establish criteria for judging their own performance within the goals that they have set for themselves, certification or licensing requirements, time constraints, etc.
  • Your first objective is to facilitate learning, not cover a certain block of materia
  • According to Johnson, "course objectives should consist of explicit statements about the ways in which students are expected to change as a result of your teaching and the course activities. These should include changes in thinking skills, feelings, and actions" (p. 3)
  • Don't use words that are open to many interpretations and which are difficult to measure. Make sure that all students understand the same interpretation.
  • here are three primary domains of development for students in a course
  • The Cognitive Domain is associated with knowledge and intellectual skills. The Affective Domain is associated with changes in interests, attitudes, values, applications, and adjustments. And the Psychomotor Domain is associated with manipulative and motor skills
  • An effective learning-centered syllabus should accomplish certain basic goals (Diamond, p. ix): define students' responsibilities; define instructor's role and responsibility to students; provide a clear statement of intended goals and student outcomes; establish standards and procedures for evaluation; acquaint students with course logistics; establish a pattern of communication between instructor and students; and include difficult-to-obtain materials such as readings, complex charts, and graphs.
  • Students need to know why topics are arranged in a given order and the logic of the themes and concepts as they relate to the course structure
  • Clarify the conceptual structure used to organize the course.
  • Does the course involve mostly inductive or deductive reasoning? Is it oriented to problem-solving or theory building? Is it mostly analytical or applied? In answering these questions, acknowledge that they reflect predominant modes in most cases rather than either/or dichotomies.
  • Identify additional equipment or materials needed and sources.
  • "Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss your specific needs. Please contact the Disability Resources Office at 515-294-6624 or TTY 515-294-6635 in Room 1076 of the Student Services Building to submit your documentation and coordinate necessary and reasonable accommodation."
  • Use a variety of methods.
  • "A learning-centered syllabus requires that you shift from what you, the instructor, are going to cover in your course to a concern for what information and tools you can provide for your students to promote learning and intellectual development" (Diamond, p. xi).
  • Critical Thinking
  • Critical thinking is a learned skill. The instructor, fellow students, and possibly others are resources. Problems, questions, issues, values, beliefs are the point of entry to a subject and source of motivation for sustained inquiry. Successful courses balance the challenge of critical thinking with the supportive foundation of core principles, theories, etc., tailored to students' developmental needs. Courses are focused on assignments using processes that apply content rather than on lectures and simply acquiring content. Students are required to express ideas in a non-judgmental environment which encourages synthesis and creative applications. Students collaborate to learn and stretch their thinking. Problem-solving exercises nurture students' metacognitive abilities. The development needs of students are acknowledged and used in designing courses. Standards are made explicit and students are helped to learn how to achieve them.
Alena Rodick

Emotional presence, learning, and the online learning environment | Cleveland-Innes | T... - 0 views

  • Those engaged in online learning deal with the effects of emotion on a daily basis, whether in designing instruction, teaching, or learning online. The work of Damasio and LeDoux independently suggests that emotion is neither an objective nor outcome of learning yet is central to cognition. The study of O’Regan (2003) showed that students express their emotions in relation to the various aspects of an online course such as design and organizational issues (i.e., a lack of clear instructions), cognitive issues (i.e., learning materials, success), social issues (during communicating), time management, or technology. Similarly, Cleveland-Innes, Garrison, and Kinsel (2007) also found out that students disclosed emotions in relation to the social, teaching, and cognitive presence in an online course.
  • Research results from multiple studies indicate that emotions are an integral part of the learning environment and influence students’ learning experiences (Cleveland-Innes & Campbell, 2006). According to Baumeister, DeWall, and Zhang (2007), emotions influence outcomes. That is, positive emotions lead to positive outcomes and negative emotions to negative outcomes.
  • Emotion may constrain learning as a distracter but, if managed, may serve as an enabler in support of thinking, decision making, stimulation, and directing. Online learning is replete, not fraught, with emotion. We conclude, with others, that emotion is present in online learning communities
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  • Given this reality, emotion must be considered, if not a central factor, at least as a ubiquitous, influential part of learning—online and otherwise (Plutchick, 2003; Stets & Turner, 2006; Wosnitza & Volet, 2005). Therefore, emotions expressed in the online experience, as explained by the CoI model (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2000), indicate that emotional presence exists in social, cognitive, and teaching presence.
  • ey to online environments is to acknowledge and discuss emotional tenor as much communicative information is lost without tone of voice and facial expressions— emoticons excepted. The exploration of emotional states that are not present— hidden yet influential—needs attention.
  •  
    In spite of evidence that more and more students are engaging in online learning experiences, details about the transition for teachers and students to a new learning environment are still unconfirmed. While new technologies are often expected to make work easier, they also involve the development of new competencies. This change may, in itself, elicit an emotional response, and, more importantly, emotion may impact the experience of online learning. Knowledge about the impact of emotion on learning broadly is available, but not about emotion and online learning. This study presents evidence of emotions present in online environments, and empirical data which suggests emotional presence may exist as a fundamental element in an online community of inquiry.
alexandra m. pickett

If I'm talking, you should be taking notes. - 0 views

  • , mad
  • However, I also have learned that we cannot assume that everyone of a certain age is a digital native. Working at a community college, I have students with a large variety of academic and technological experiences. Some students have very limited access to technology.
    • Diane Gusa
       
      Hi Nicole, I worry about the same thing. I guess the more we make them work, the less likely we are to do too much leading.
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  • June 20th,
  • it is concrete, born before me with a structure and a real plan
    • Donna Angley
       
      Thank you Alex! I would never have been able to create this course without Alex laying out the modules as she did. Like you, I am starting to feel the course coming together in a very organic way.
  • I am fully committed to the idea of self-discovery and peer-teaching within my online course, but I also feel that I have a lot to add and I can’t keep all of this information to myself
    • Donna Angley
       
      You don't have to choose one; you can facilitate from afar, yet still be a presence in your course. In fact, your students will need feedback from you in order to know that they are on track. Self-discovery, peer teaching, and instructor presence are not mutually exclusive, thank goodness.
  • h-ha moments are coming regularly now. The challenge is now enjoyable.
  • The a
    • Donna Angley
       
      Yay! All the time and effort becomes worthwhile.
  • not necessarily because it meets a learning objective
    • Donna Angley
       
      There have been times when I have had to stop and ask myself, "why am I looking to this particular technology?" If I can't attach it to a learning objective, I let it go.
  • . The first time I implement something I cannot always anticipate all of the issues, but after a run through I can plan for those problems and be proactive in preventing them.
    • Donna Angley
       
      I think this process is not only natural in teaching, but expected - especially in the online environment. We ask for student feeback so that we can improve the course. In this way, it is constantly evolving.
  • . Students will need to find a community setting for 15 hours of either observation of a child, or volunteering in working directly with children
    • Donna Angley
       
      Great idea, and as a former supervisor of both a before-school and after-school program, you can observe a lot at one of these programs. Kids play, study, socialize, etc. Lots to learn through observation and probably with permission, your students might be able to interact with the kids as well.
  • July 4th,
  • I am going to give up more control and expect more self-directed learning from my students, not only online, but in my f2f courses too! I am going to put more emphasis on discussion boards than I had previously anticipated.
  • I am thinking about what I feel is working for me as a student and what is not, so I can include or not include those things in my course.
    • Donna Angley
       
      I think this is difficult for us because no matter how much we include in order to get students interacting, in the end it is out of our hands. Well, not completely -- we can always facilitate the discussion from behind the scenes if we need to, but you see what I mean.
  • Now my perspective had drastically changed—I am instead asking myself how do I get the students to the information? How will I devise learning activities that will assist them in their search for knowledge and understanding? It is not my responsibility to spoon feed them, but to teach them how to spoon feed themselves.
  • conceptualizing some of the activities for my course
    • Donna Angley
       
      I struggled with this as well. Still not sure if I have enough substantial learning activities for my course. It wasn't until I actually started creating the learning activities that I realized I was rather naive about the entire process. Like you, I had this vague idea. I finally had to sit down and figure out what I wanted my students to be doing and then creating activities that met those objectives.
  • despite the extensive conversations that we have had.
  • Giving up control and trusting students to learn. I don’t need to give them the information, just provide the opportunity for them to discover it for themselves, and trust that they will do it. Everyone says this works, I can’t wait to see it happen!
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      brilliant!! : ) just made my day !!
  • Not only has my expectation for online teaching changed, but I also am trying to apply some of these ideas to my f2f courses.  I want students to take more responsibility for their learning. I want them to learn from each other, and to discover knowledge instead of waiting for it to be fed to them. I want to build more community into my courses, so students feel that they can share and learn from others and take risks in class. I also want students to learn what they are interested in learning, or what they need to learn depending on where they are in their understanding of the content.
Lauren D

Benefits of Peer-Based Learning.pdf (application/pdf Object) - 0 views

  •  
    Forums, online communities, and professional networks are these new learning environments, where people find and share information, collaborate and learn on demand. A significant challenge is to motivate people to participate in the knowledge-sharing and learning process. Especially in peer-based learning environments, where learning depends on the effort of all participants, it is essential to provide enough incentives to participate and share information with others." Implementing systems fostering trust through reputation can enhance the learning effectiveness, and provide alternatives for the traditional pedagogical approaches still in place in current e-learning courses. Formal education could profit from such new learning environments adopting these pedagogical approaches and related technical systems."
alexandra m. pickett

Writing Student Performance-Based Objectives - 9 views

Irene Watts-Politza

Three generations of distance education pedagogy | Anderson | The International Review ... - 0 views

  • Another notable trend is towards more object-based, contextual, or activity-based models of learning. It is not so much a question of building and sustaining networks as of finding the appropriate sets of things and people
  • and activities. CloudWorks, a product of the OU-UK, is an example of this new trend, in which objects of discourse are more important than, or at least distinct from, the networks that enable them (Galley, Conole, Dalziel, & Ghiglione, 2010).
  • The next step in this cycle would seem to be, logically, to enable those sets to talk back to us: to find us, guide us, and influence our learning journeys. This represents a new and different form of communication, one in which the crowd, composed of multiple intelligences, behaves as an intentional single entity.
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  • PageRank algorithm behind a Google search works in exactly this way, taking multiple intelligent choices and combining them to provide ranked search results (Brin & Page, 2000).
  • it is not individuals, groups, or networks that help us to learn but a faceless intelligence that is partly made of human actions, partly of a machine’s.
  • We and others have described these entities in the past as collectives (Segaran, 2007).
  • Despite the ubiquity of such systems, what still remains unclear is how best to exploit them in learning. However, it seems at least possible that the next generation of distance education pedagogy will be enabled by technologies that make effective use of collectives.
  • learners and teacher collaborate to create the content of study, and in the process re-create that content for future use by others. Assessment in connectivist pedagogy combines self-reflection with teacher assessment of the contributions to the current and future courses. These contributions may be reflections, critical comments, learning objects and resources, and other digital artifacts of knowledge creation, dissemination, and problem solving.
  • Teaching presence in connectivist learning environments also focuses on teaching by example. The teachers’ construction of learning artifacts, critical contributions to class and external discussion, capacity to make connections across discipline and context boundaries, and the sum of their net presence serve to model connectivist presence and learning.
  •  
    Special Issue - Connectivism: Design and Delivery of Social Networked Learning Terry Anderson and Jon Dron Athabasca University, Canada Abstract. This paper defines and examines three generations of distance education pedagogy.
  •  
    Connectivism: Design and Delivery of Social Networked Learning Terry Anderson and Jon Dron Athabasca University, This paper defines and examines three generations of distance education pedagogy.
  •  
    Three Generations of Distance Education Pedagogy [Print Version] Special Issue - Connectivism: Design and Delivery of Social Networked Learning Terry Anderson and Jon Dron Athabasca University, Canada
Kristen Della

Learning Theory (wikipedia) - 0 views

  •  
    In psychology and education, learning is commonly defined as a process that brings together cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences and experiences for acquiring, enhancing, or making changes in one's knowledge, skills, values, and world views (Illeris, 2000; Ormorod, 1995). Learning as a process focuses on what happens when the learning takes place. Explanations of what happens constitute learning theories. A learning theory is an attempt to describe how people and animals learn, thereby helping us understand the inherently complex process of learning. Learning theories have two chief values according to Hill (2002). One is in providing us with vocabulary and a conceptual framework for interpreting the examples of learning that we observe. The other is in suggesting where to look for solutions to practical problems. The theories do not give us solutions, but they do direct our attention to those variables that are crucial in finding solutions. There are three main categories or philosophical frameworks under which learning theories fall: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. Behaviorism focuses only on the objectively observable aspects of learning. Cognitive theories look beyond behavior to explain brain-based learning. And constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts.
Danielle Melia

EBSCOhost: Exploring the Impact of Web-Based Learning Tools in Middle School Mathemati... - 0 views

  •  
    This study examined the impact of Web-Based Learning Tools (WBLTs), also known as learning objects, in middle school mathematics and science classrooms. Survey, qualitative, and student performance data were collected from a sample of 18 teachers and 443 students. Teachers were very positive about the learning benefits, design of WBLTs, and increased engagement of their students. Students were moderately positive about these same features. Student learning performance with respect to remembering, understanding, applying and evaluating concepts increased significantly when WBLTs were used. Qualitative data suggested that a number of students enjoyed the visual supports, ease of use, and interactivity of WBLTs as well using technology to learn. Some students noted that the WBLTs used in class were not challenging enough and that the help features and the design of certain WBLTs were deficient. Overall, it is reasonable to conclude that WBLTs, if selected carefully, can be a positive and effective learning tool in a middle school environment. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
Irene Watts-Politza

Teachers' Invisible Presence in Net-based Distance Education | Hult | The International... - 0 views

  • The stance taken in this paper, then, is constructivist – that conversation is learning in the making.
  • Any conversation, that is, draws on heteroglossia (Bakhtin’s neologism) – pools of different ideas whose elements, when exchanged, foster learning. According to Bakhtin, every utterance has a double significance. It is an expression of a 'unitary [common] language' used to conduct the conversation and, at the same time, it builds on the 'social and historical' differences embedded in the heteroglossia (1981, p. 272).
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      This is what happens in a discussion thread.
  • Yuri Lotman,
  • ...28 more annotations...
  • described conversations as multi-authored texts rather than as multi-voiced heteroglossia (see Bakhtin, 1994,
  • texts “fulfill at least two basic functions:
  • fulfilled best when the codes of the speaker and the listener most completely coincide and, consequently, when the text has the maximum degree of univocality” (1988, p. 34). The generation of new meanings occurs when there are differences between the speaker and the listener. Texts used in educational exchanges cease:
  • online adult education is not the delivery of texts but, rather, the creation and insertion of ‘thinking devices’ into conversation.
  • For this article we have concentrated on teacher and student views of teachers’ role orientations in online courses.
  • our intention has been to identify and clarify teaching ‘saliences’ that have emerged in online adult education in Sweden. In a wider sense, however, our analysis is also a response to the question: ‘Whatever happened to teaching in the learning society?’
  • the posting data support the claim that the teachers adopted an initiating role.
  • Greater activity:
  • Greater influence on topic:
  • Faster response times:
  • When asked about their views, all students felt that teachers played a central role in supporting Net-based learning. Indeed, some of them suggested that moderation in online settings of adult education is more important than in face-to-face settings.
  • Orientations to Teaching
  • Activity Orientation
  • In this perspective, teachers gave students tasks that activated them and, thereby, fostered their understanding of subject matter.
  • offered students tips about articles, books and Internet sites
  • Some students spoke about being activated by stimulating tasks that led them to engage with the Web and libraries, with one of them adding ‘seeking by your self is a pre-condition for learning.’ Active searching also meant that students came into contact with information which extended their learning beyond the task itself.
  • None of the teachers, however, was entirely satisfied with their dialogic or conference practice. Levels of engagement, dialogue, and initiative-taking were not as high as they had hoped. In response, they tried to promote conversation by encouraging students to react to each other’s postings, by organising tasks where cooperation and interaction was needed, or by introducing new aspects and questions when discussion faltered.
  • Further, teachers reported that they also tried to act as models of good behaviour by giving swift replies to student postings and by making their own postings appropriate yet concise.
  • In contrast to the teachers most of the student group were satisfied with the course conversations.
  • A few
  • felt that sharing different aspects of the subject matter with the teacher and fellow students raised fresh questions. It made them reach beyond the book, evoking learning and thinking along new pathways. Even if they thought that well-chosen tasks were the most effective way of fostering dialogue, they also expected the course leader to participate fully, developing new themes if student postings declined, and remaining alert to student proposals that might enhance the interchange of ideas and knowledge.
  • Many students emphasised the importance of teaching that corroborated or validated their learning.
  • None of the teachers, however, spontaneously offered this view as their primary role or orientation. Nevertheless, when asked whether they had any correspondence with students through private mailboxes rather than ‘conferences’ and ‘cafes,’ some of them said that they occasionally responded privately to correct misinterpretations.
  • This task raises many questions about teaching, highlighting the difference, for example, between instructionist and constructionist paradigms for learning (Wilensky, 1991). Would a too well-planned course be instructionist, thus constraining student influence and the pursuit of democracy? In their postings, teachers in this study felt that there was no necessary contradiction – that well-planned courses could, indeed, strengthen student influence. Nevertheless, busy distance education students, according to the teachers, often appreciate instructionist courses with clearly stated activities and tasks, even if the students are left with limited opportunities to ‘construct their own relationships with the objects of knowledge’ (Wilensky, 1991, p. 202).
  • Teacher’s invisible presence is exemplified in taking a stand-by role and/ or being reluctant to intervene. ‘The [teachers’] silence should be deafening,’ one teacher recommended. Although most of the teachers agreed that well-planned courses do not inhibit course dialogue, the fact that in their own online course deliberations they set aside time to discuss this issue may reflect ambivalence in their stance. The question of when and how teachers should intervene remains impossible to resolve, except in practice.
  • three different aspects of teaching,
  • a second conclusion – that the promotion of learning in an open environment requires an animating or steering presence. Such teaching, however, is not a process of instruction. And for this reason the word teacher may no longer be appropriate. In English, the word tutor is commonly used in adult education, because it has connotations of ‘supervision’ and ‘guardianship’ as well as ‘instruction’ (see Oxford English Dictionary). More recently, Salmon has suggested ‘e-moderating,’ but even moderation carries instructionist connotations – to exercise a controlling influence over; to regulate, restrain, control, rule (OED) – that may not be appropriate to all forms of liberal education. In the context of mainland Europe, the word pedagogue may be appropriate since, etymologically, pedagogue denotes someone engaged in 'drawing out.'
  • Intellectual development, however, can be an intra- as well as an inter-personal phenomenon. That is, learning may not come directly from teachers but rather from their absent or invisible presence. Online pedagogues, therefore, can be present in different ways. They may be present in person, participating in learning conversations. They may constitute an absent presence that, nonetheless, is embodied in the learning resources directed towards students (e.g., the selected readings or activities). Or pedagogues may exist merely as inner voices, inherited from the language of others, that (invisibly) steer the desires, self-regulation, and self-direction of learners. Indeed, this last pedagogic position ‘auto-didacticism,’ has always been central to the post-Enlightenment ideals of liberal adult education.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      Here's the money.
  •  
    Swedish study of university student and professor attitudes toward satisfaction with and definition of teacher presence in online adult learning. Implications for course design with respect to knowing one's audience.
George Dale

learning objectives vs activities - 0 views

  •  
    Online quizzlet to demonstrate the difference between learning objectives and learning activities
Nicole Arduini-Van Hoose

Bringing Life to Online Instruction with Humor - 1 views

  • Based on our experience using humor as an instructional strategy in traditional and online courses, we explain how instructors can incorporate humor into online courses
  • Of the personal dimensions of teaching, humor is the most human of them all. T
  • Humor is not a pedagogical panacea, and the mere inclusion of humor will not assure that learning will occur. I
  • ...26 more annotations...
  • The challenge for instructors teaching online courses is to learn to use humor to create interesting and inviting virtual learning environments while minimizing any potential pitfalls of humor as an instructional device
  • e, the educational purpose of the humor is the most important consideration. As a pedagogical device, humor can promote various objectives, such as to increase student interest and attention, facilitate the student-teacher relationship, provide students with a “mental break,” or promote the understanding and retention of a concept. In contrast to humorists, who gauge success by laughter, educators measure the effectiveness of humor by how it promotes learning. Although humor can be used to increase students’ overall enjoyment of the online experience, most of the humor incorporated into an online course should serve an instructional purpos
  • simpler forms of humor that would “bomb” in a comedy venue, such as word-play (e.g., puns, oxymorons) and clever or witty observations, can be used successfully in online course
  • nstructors recognize that potentially offensive humor, such as sexist or racist jokes, is not appropriate (Perlman & McCann, 1998). The safest target is the instructor, because self-deprecating humor avoids offending or alienating others, and allows students to view the teacher as more “human.
  • several ways that instructors can enhance visual humor for the online environment
  • journals devoted to humorous research (e.g., Journal of Polymorphous Perversity, Annals of Improbable Research).
  • Visual humor is especially effective in online courses, and cartoons, illustrations, and photographs, can easily be integrated throughout the course
  • e, we strongly encourage instructors to consider the guidelines for pedagogical humor mentioned in the previous section. First, does the humor promote an educational objective? Second, will the students understand and appreciate the humor? Third, is the target of the humor appropriate for the course?
  • For this type of humor to be effective, the visual punch line needs to be hidden behind a hyperlink.
  • We strongly believe that integrating personal photographs or “home movies” into online instruction adds a more personalized and intimate feel to the often sterile nature of online courses
  • use an extra-credit activity called the “Contributing Editor” that requires students to locate potential sources of humor on any course topic.
  • For instructors who are comfortable using humor in course examinations, there are several approaches for adding humor to multiple-choice tests. First, an additional distracter (e.g., choice “e”), such as a joke at the expense of the instructor, can be added to select items. Second, names that appear in items can be reformatted by inserting the instructor's name or creating fictitious names. Third, a “final” item can be added with the setup “The test is over and you...” with funny distracters targeted to the students, instructor, or course. (See Berk, 2000 for additional strategies for infusing humor into multiple-choice examinations.)
  • the most suitable joke formulas for the online course are word-play and exaggeration. A word-play joke involves the modification of a word, clichés, definition, common phrase, or concept. Examples of word-play pedagogical humor include silly names, funny unit subtitles, oxymorons, and factitious definitions. Word-play is a relatively simple form of humor, and instructors should expect smirks (or moans) rather than big laughs. Also, word-play jokes will only be successful when instructors follow the principle of “knowing your audience” (i.e., students must recognize the word, concept, or phrase that is being reformatted or embellished).
  • The final step of humor writing is to edit the joke by following the four principles of “aggressive editing” (Sankey, 1998)
  • The placement and duration of humor used in online lecture modules are critical to the flow of instruction.
  • Humor can allow students a brief “mental break” from an online lecture, and instructors can use transitions to illustrate a concept with topic-related tangents or self-deprecating stories.
  • ules as an opportunity to use humorous personal examples and commentary to expand on previously discussed lecture topics. By clearly identifying the tangent, students recognize that the rant is separate from the lecture
  • For a more detailed explanation of the techniques and principles of humor writing, instructors can refer to various comedy writing books (e.g., Carter, 2001; Helitzer & Shatz, 2005).
  • course, we strongly encourage instru
  • course, we strongly encourage instru
  • luding funny quotes, jokes, and cartoons, and in this section, we identify resources for locating pedagogical humor. When deciding which material to use for the online course, we strongly encourage instructors to c
  • we strongly encourage instructors to consider the guidelines for pedagogical humor mentioned in the previous section. First, does the humor promote an educational objective? Second, will the students understand and appreciate the humor? Third, is the target of the humor appropriate for the course? The Internet is the best resource for pedagogical humor, and although any search using a discipline and “humor” as descriptors will yield numerous web sites, we recommend more narrowly focused searches (i.e., “humor” and a specific discipline topic). Additional resources for pedagogical humor include supplemental instructional materials provided by book publishers and journals devoted to humorous research (e.g., Journal of Polymorphous Perversity, Annals of Improbable Research). When using humor from other sources, instructors need to adhere to copyright considerations. Visual humor is especially effective in online courses, and cartoons, illustrations, and photographs, can easily be integrated throughout the course. Although visual humor is usually self-contained (i.e., a caption or the illustration delivers the punch line), there are several ways that instructors can enhance visual humor for the online environment. Visuals, such as photographs or illustrations, can be used as a punch line for a joke. For example, when discussing the difficulty of course examinations, the setup would be “And this is how students often feel after an exam…” with a photograph or cartoon of frighten individuals delivering the punch line. For this type of humor to be effective,
  • we strongly encourage instructors to consider the guidelines for pedagogical humor mentioned in the previous section. First, does the humor promote an educational objective? Second, will the students understand and appreciate the humor? Third, is the target of the humor appropriate for the course? The Internet is the best resource for pedagogical humor, and although any search using a discipline and “humor” as descriptors will yield numerous web sites, we recommend more narrowly focused searches (i.e., “humor” and a specific discipline topic). Additional resources for pedagogical humor include supplemental instructional materials provided by book publishers and journals devoted to humorous research (e.g., Journal of Polymorphous Perversity, Annals of Improbable Research). When using humor from other sources, instructors need to adhere to copyright considerations. Visual humor is especially effective in online courses, and cartoons, illustrations, and photographs, can easily be integrated throughout the course. Although visual humor is usually self-contained (i.e., a caption or the illustration delivers the punch line), there are several ways that instructors can enhance visual humor for the online environment. Visuals, such as photographs or illustrations, can be used as a punch line for a joke. For example, when discussing the difficulty of course examinations, the setup would be “And this is how students often feel after an exam…” with a photograph or cartoon of frighten individuals delivering the punch line. For this type of humor to be effective,
  • we strongly encourage instructors to consider the guidelines for pedagogical humor mentioned in the previous section. First, does the humor promote an educational objective? Second, will the students understand and appreciate the humor? Third, is the target of the humor appropriate for the course? The Internet is the best resource for pedagogical humor, and although any search using a discipline and “humor” as descriptors will yield numerous web sites, we recommend more narrowly focused searches (i.e., “humor” and a specific discipline topic). Additional resources for pedagogical humor include supplemental instructional materials provided by book publishers and journals devoted to humorous research (e.g., Journal of Polymorphous Perversity, Annals of Improbable Research). When using humor from other sources, instructors need to adhere to copyright considerations. Visual humor is especially effective in online courses, and cartoons, illustrations, and photographs, can easily be integrated throughout the course. Although visual humor is usually self-contained (i.e., a caption or the illustration delivers the punch line), there are several ways that instructors can enhance visual humor for the online environment. Visuals, such as photographs or illustrations, can be used as a punch line for a joke. For example, when discussing the difficulty of course examinations, the setup would be “And this is how students often feel after an exam…” with a photograph or cartoon of frighten individuals delivering the punch line. For this type of humor to be effective,
  • ll the students unders
  • A wide range of hum
  •  
    "The challenge for instructors teaching online courses is to learn to use humor to create interesting and inviting virtual learning environments while minimizing any potential pitfalls of humor as an instructional device. In a commentary noting the need for humor in online courses, James (2004) observed that "Because humor is one of the major traits of the best, most effective teachers, it is a characteristic that all teachers should want to hone, practice, and nurture, regardless of medium" "
  •  
    Thinking back to our conversation on humor. (I was only a lurker in that conversation, but maybe now I have time to revisit this idea). Hope this adds to your thoughts.
  •  
    explain how instructors can incorporate humor in an online course, the enhancement humor can bring, guidelines for locating, selecting, developing, and integrating humor into an online courses, and examples of humor in various online components.
Irene Watts-Politza

Online Teaching Effectiveness: A Tale of Two Instructors | Gorsky | The International R... - 0 views

  • We propose, as have others (i.e., Shea, Pickett, & Pelz, 2003), that the community of inquiry model (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000) reflects the principles of good practice in undergraduate education and can accurately quantify them.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      Go, Dr. Pickett!
  • issues of pedagogy, dialogue, and interaction
  • guide the coding of transcripts.
  • ...22 more annotations...
  • Social presence is the perceived presence of others in mediated communication (Rourke, Garrison, & Archer, 1999), which Garrison et al. (2000) contend supports both cognitive and teaching presence through its ability to instigate, to sustain, and to support interaction. It had its genesis in the work of John Dewey and is consistent with all theoretical approaches to learning in higher education.
  • Teaching presence is defined as “the design, facilitation and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing [students’] personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile outcomes” (Anderson et al., 2001, p.5). Vygotsky’s (1978) scaffolding analogies illustrate an assistive role for teachers in providing instructional support to students from their position of greater content knowledge. Although many authors recommend a “guide on the side” approach to moderating student discussions, a key feature of this social cognition model is the adult, the expert, or the more skilled peer who scaffolds a novice’s learning
  • Shea, Pickett, & Pelz , 2004
  • Each category of a tutor’s presence is vital to learning and to the establishment of the learning community; tutors' behavior must be such that they are seen to be “posting regularly, responding in a timely manner and modeling good online communication and interaction” (Palloff & Pratt, 2003, p.118). Without an instructor’s explicit guidance and “teaching presence,” students were found to engage primarily in “serial monologues” (Pawan et al., 2003). Baker (2004) discovered that “instructor immediacy, i.e., teaching presence (Rourke et al., 1999), was a more reliable predictor of effective cognitive learning than whether students felt close to each other. Studies have demonstrated that instructor participation in threaded discussion is critical to the development of social presence (Shea, Li, Swan, & Pickett, 2005; Swan & Shih, 2005) and sometimes not fully appreciated by online faculty (Liu, Bonk, Magjuka, Lee, & Su, 2005). Shea, Li, and Pickett (2006) proposed that teaching presence – viewed as the core role of the online instructor – is a promising mechanism for developing learning community in online environments.
  • students ranked instructor modeling as the most important element in building online community, while instructors ranked it fourth.
  • Shea (2006), who completed an extensive study of teaching presence and online learning, concluded that two categories (“design” and “directed facilitation”) sufficed to define the construct.
  • Kalman, Ravid, Raban, and Rafaeli (2006) argued that interactivity is an essential characteristic of effective online communication and plays an important role in keeping message threads and their authors together. Interactive communication (online as well as in traditional settings) is engaging, and loss of interactivity results in a breakdown of the communicative process.
  • Research indicates the existence of a relationship between learners’ perceptions of social presence and their motivation for participation in online discussions (Weaver & Albion, 2005).
  • Northrup (2002) found that online learners felt it was important for instructors to promote collaboration and conversation. When interactive activities are carefully planned, they lead not only to greater learning but also to enhanced motivation (Berge 1999; Northrup, 2002).
  • Researchers have suggested that timing of messages can serve as a proxy for a sense of social presence (Blanchard, 2004), as an indication of attentiveness (Walther & Bunz, 2005) or respect (Bargh & McKenna, 2004), and as a clue to the sociability of a community (Maloney-Krichmar & Preece, 2005). As such, the frequency of messages may serve as a signal for how engaged participants are with the community.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      Agreed.
  • Eom found that the most significant factors for increasing student satisfaction with online classes are paying attention to students and responding to their concerns.
  • The highly esteemed instructor was especially active from semester midpoint to semester end; she more than doubled her active participation in both teaching presence (especially discourse and instruction) and social presence (all three categories).
  • the lack of specific, progressively structured inquiry tasks and/or the lack of facilitation skills (teaching presence/facilitating discourse) may have contributed to the relatively limited occurrences of cognitive presence.
  • something else accounted for the extreme satisfaction and dissatisfaction experienced by students in the two forums. The something else may be the two exceptional events that occurred during the third month: The instructor held in low esteem became nearly dysfunctional, while the highly esteemed instructor exhibited very high teacher presence and social presence (see Table 3 and 4).
  • Shea, Pickett, and Pelt (2003) found that students’ perceived teacher presence also correlates with perceived learning as well as with students’ satisfaction with the forum. This correlation points to the tentative conclusion that teaching presence affords learning by setting a convenient climate.
  • we suggest that students’ perceived learning in course forums has a significant impact on their participation
  • the table is suggestive of the eventual possibility of having an “objective” tool for evaluating the quality of a given forum.
  • (Anderson et al., 2001).
  • Teaching effectiveness may be defined as how an instructor can best direct, facilitate, and support students toward certain academic ends, such as achievement and satisfaction. Teaching effectiveness has been investigated extensively in traditional classrooms for more than seven decades (for a meta-analysis of empirical studies from 1995-2004, see Seidel & Shavelson, 2007). Over the past five years, research has become directed toward teaching effectiveness in online or virtual classes. As a preface to our study, we discuss findings and conclusions concerning teaching effectiveness in traditional classrooms.
  • Journal Help ISSN: 1492-3831 Journal Content Search All Authors Title Abstract Index terms Full Text Browse By Issue By Author By Title User Username Password Remember me Article Tools Abstract Print this article Indexing metadata How to cite item Review policy Email this article (Login required) Email the author (Login required) Post a Comment (Login required) Font Size Make font size smaller Make font size default Make font size larger SUBSCRIBE TO MAILING LIST 5,591  subscribers Select Language​▼ function googleTranslateElementInit() { new google.translate.TranslateElement({ pageLanguage: 'en', autoDisplay: false, layout: google.translate.TranslateElement.InlineLayout.SIMPLE }, 'google_translate_element'); } Home About Register Archives Announcements Resources Submissions http://www.irrodl.org/
  • One of the most widely cited sources for teacher effectiveness in traditional classrooms is Chickering and Gamson (1987), who suggested seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education.
  • encourages student-faculty contact, encourages cooperation among students, encourages active learning, gives prompt feedback, emphasizes time on task, communicates high expectations, respects diverse talents and ways of learning.
alexandra m. pickett

ETAP640 Summer 2011 Blog - 2 views

  • So far I am enjoying the experience
  • What are the most effective instructional technology tools available to me to help me meet my instructional objectives?
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      brilliant!
  • challenge!
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      self assess!
    • Kimberly Barss
       
      check!
  • ...37 more annotations...
  • I have been much more aware of the idea that today’s younger generations (those who are 30 and younger) are much more technologically savvy. 
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      I want to challange you, just like i challanged Ian (who is currently smitten with Prensky : ) to challenge the notion of natives vs. immigrants. Read this (http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/2011/05/natives-are-revolting.html), find other articles (and there are many) that unpack the problems with this notion, and come back and tell us all about it.
  • I have been spending quite a bit of time and energy learning the Moodle system,
    • Donna Angley
       
      I think I spent the entire weekend last week playing around in Moodle, learning how things worked, and trying to set up my basic module outline. Once I got the hang of it, I kinda like it. I find with technology that it just takes time and patience (not my forte) to really grasp it. I don't think computer skills of any kind can be learned from a book alone; it needs to be hands on learning.
    • Kimberly Barss
       
      I completely agree! I am a very hands on and visual person, I need to INTERACT with the material in real life or else it's just text on a page.
  • It is ENGAGING
    • Donna Angley
       
      Very. I found myself not wanting to step away from the computer, even to eat. Eventually, I got hungry enough and forced a break.
    • Kimberly Barss
       
      Yes! The faculty on the SLN website even said that online teaching is an addiction!
  • Blackboard
    • Donna Angley
       
      The two other online courses that I took were both on Blackboard. I've never actually taken a course in Moodle. I have no idea what my course will look like when I'm done, but I'm very curious.
  • I’m really starting to get the hang of the expectations for posts
    • Donna Angley
       
      Took me a while as well, but now I feel more comfortable with my posts. I wasn't doing enough research. Once I started doing that, I felt like I was contributing something to the whole class.
    • Diane Gusa
       
      I had the same thought. I only hope that the computer lab is open during my class time.
    • Donna Angley
       
      Your sticky notes are usually "floating" so I never know what you're commenting on. Can you make them stationery?
    • Diane Gusa
       
      I wonder the same thing...this applies to several blogs ago. I guess we need to add a date or title.
  • This course has been the most difficult course that I have ever taken
  • I was teetering between dropping the class
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      i am really glad you did NOT drop the course!!! : ) me
  • punishment
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      : ) seriously teacher-centric...
  • I am still under the impression that the interactions required of us in the discussion space are too numerous. 
  • I LOVE LOVE LOVED that Bill Pelz commented on our posts!  I felt like a celebrity walked into the room and his comments could be equated to getting an autograph. 
  • I have learned a lot this module, especially: NEVER give up (this has been especially resonant with me) Passion for teaching and learning go hand in hand, and are a must-have for online educators The best training tool for an online teacher is to be an online learner BE ORGANIZED MANAGE YOUR TIME Support your students and your faculty (whatever your role is) And last, but not least (yes, this was intentional) don’t procrastinate.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      LOVE the new theme Kim! looks great!
  • half of the requirement for this class.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      please read the rubric. it is NOT required that you do 12 posts. this is your own self imposed choice if you do. The minimum is 6 - maximum 12. it is entirely up to you.
  • I was given this gift: show your students the importance of reflection. 
  • There was absolutely nothing about my course learning activities that was learner-centered, or, one could argue, learning-centered!  I was being extremely teacher-centered in my approach! 
  •   Because of that, I need to embrace these tools, explore new ideas, and for goodness sake- think about the STUDENT.
  • It took me almost two and a half hours just to set up a voicethread that didn’t crunch all of my text and pictures together!  Or get the right size and color font.  I realize that these are all things that cannot be explained to anyone, or if you did try and tell them, they wouldn’t understand how much work it is until they tried it themselves.
    • Donna Angley
       
      I, like the others in this course, understand. It's a lot of work, but the finished product will be worth it, I'm sure.
  • I think that embedding a youtube video or loading a podcast are in my future and I can’t wait! 
    • Donna Angley
       
      Two thumbs up!
  •   I made all of my assignments turned in to me, privately,
    • Donna Angley
       
      I too had made this mistake with some short writing assignments that I was going to have my students write. It was Alex's suggestion to have them blog it that really made sense. This way they could read each others blog entries and leave comments as well.
  • This week, as we are supposed to have the course “done done” I am doubting myself.  Every time I log in to my course I change something, add wording, create new links to rubrics where there weren’t any, etc.  It just seems like I’m never satisfied.
    • Donna Angley
       
      So glad I'm not alone. I keep logging in as well, looking to change something. Over the past 3-4 days I've definitely made changes, but I'm getting to the point now that I'm wondering if I should just leave it alone. I'm the same way about large writing project...always looking to edit. Thinking it might be time for me to step back from the computer.
    • Diane Gusa
       
      I thought done, done, done is at the end...aren't we going to have peer feedback next module?
  • I’ll have my master’s in December and I couldn’t be more proud. 
    • Donna Angley
       
      CONGRATULATIONS! I'll finish in December as well. It's been a long journey, and as much as I've enjoyed it, I'm ready to have my weekends back :-)
    • Diane Gusa
       
      :)
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      congratulations kim!!!!
  • I feel like a late bloomer (I’ll be 26 in November
  • #1- I’m scared of the idea of  real live students actually taking my course #2- I’m really disappointed that real live students will never take my course
    • Donna Angley
       
      I'm glad you said this, because I've been thinking it for several weeks now. I really want a chance to teach it, but I'm afraid of getting a chance to teach it. I'm not a teacher by profession, so I think I have more fear than most that I won't be able to facilitate my course properly. For instance, how do I open modules, are grades recorded automatically or do I manually put them in, how do I get them to show for each individual student, etc. I've put so much time and effort into building this course, I want a chance to teach it, but having never taught at the college level, I don't know that I'll get the opportunity. I will still give it my best shot as soon as I graduate in December. If SUNY isn't interested, I'll try other avenues.
    • Diane Gusa
       
      "live students" when you do teach live students you will discover kinks you never saw...this semester I had a great activity that 18 of 19 students loved! The discussions were full of every presence. The I discovered that my student from China was so lost and overwhelmed. Now I am rethinking cultural sensitivity in my activities...how do I balance a activity that engages 99% of my students 110%, but looses one student because of a cultural difference...still thinking on this.
  • feedback
    • Donna Angley
       
      I don't know if I should have done this, but I actually have 2 evaluation/feedback areas. One is the generic resource right in Moodle. I tried to write my own questions, but when I "viewed" the forum, my questions were replaced with the generic questions. So, I created a document with my own questions and I am having students download the document into a word processor, add their answers and then post to a forum.
  • o there will likely never be online courses at Mildred Elley.
    • Donna Angley
       
      Can you teach it elsewhere? As we have learned in this class, online learning is up and coming. It might be worth looking into.
    • Diane Gusa
       
      Failures maybe because the facilitators did not "know" and "do" what "you" know...convince him to try your course as an experiment...because this is the future of education...This summer I taught one online course and had a student from China, several from the west coast, and only two within driving distance in a class of 20!
  • ETAP 680 (research seminar). 
    • Donna Angley
       
      I'll be taking the course in September...how was it? I had hoped that it was just a very long research paper...any such luck? It's my last course for my degree.
  • quality with the traditional classroom in the public eye? 
    • Donna Angley
       
      I think you're probably right, but I think it's turning a corner. At a time when institutions are scrambling for money, online learning costs them very little. They pay an instructor and that's about it. We don't need a classroom or any campus resources other than student access to the library for research if they need it.
  • prettying up
    • Donna Angley
       
      Do you mean the background or theme of the course, because I'd love to know how to change that.
    • Diane Gusa
       
      I am almost three times that....almost :)
    • Diane Gusa
       
      My dissertation chair gave me wonderful advice...Enough is enough! If we recognize that we are always evolving, growing, expanding, deepening our understanding...then we understand that a "project" is just a snap shot of one time in our progress.
  • the more effort you put into it, the more successful you’ll be.
  • One thought I had, as I look forward to getting a PhD, is that theories come from practice which means that theories about online learning come from individuals creating courses, teaching courses, and collecting feedback from courses over and over and then after all of that work is finished, turning right around and working at analyzing the data, and attempting to answer research questions.  In order to have credible research, the questions must be relevant, the measures must be valid and thorough, and the analyses of results must be comprehensive. 
  • Reflective Writing: I have to admit, at the beginning of the course I thought the blogging activities were just busy work.  I viewed the assignments as busy work, and treated my entries as such.  As time ticked on, I started getting into the blogs and realizing that it was my personal space in which I could reflect on my work on my course and my learning throughout the week/module.  So much of life and learning in school is sort of thrown at you, and if you don’t take the time to intentionally deconstruct the events and make sense of them, then you’ll never grow and improve.  I’d rather grow.
  • If I don’t place intentional emphasis on something (like making it worth a portion of their grade) then I am sending a message that it’s not important. 
  • Nothing should be an accident or “just because” in the online teaching environment. 
  • Students don’t want their time wasted.
alexandra m. pickett

Online Course Design - 0 views

    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      Joy! thank you for making your learning visible to me! I am awed and inspired by the depth of your insights!
  • So establishing teaching presence is what all the designers, Alex, and even I, am doing when we make decisions about the content of the course, the types of activities we want to include, the tools we would like to use, how we want to assess, how we provide channels for providing and managing feedback, how we want to induct students into the course, how we want to wrap up the course….Basically – everything!
  • From planning, to execution, to assessment, to revision. So this is why developing a course is an “iterative process”.
  • ...23 more annotations...
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      eureka!!! brilliant!!!
  • And nothing happens by chance. Everything happens by deliberate design. And I am seeing how this is happening.
  • People are important, so… (make decisions, plan activities, evaluate, discard, adapt, iterate, etc.) Thinking is important, so ….(make decisions, plan activities, evaluate, discard, adapt, iterate, etc.) Learning is important, so….. Content knowledge is important, so… Skills are important, so…
  • From this, I have learnt that it is perfectly fine to change your mind, as long as you have solid justification. This was also a useful reminder abot the importance of accurately matching the number of objectives with activities. A designer needs to avoid creating an objective that has no activity, and an activity with no objective, as can sometimes happen through oversight.
  • “You need to rethink lots of things, to be open to possibilities, opportunities to options, then you’re more likely to be successful,” says Alex. This kind of openness does not happen as a matter of course. It has to begin with an awareness. This attitude of being open to possibilities, opportunities and options has to be actively worked upon. I failed to understand this at first. So I found it perplexing that Alex would pursue what I thought was a trivial line of discussion. What do you think is not possible to teach and learn online? I volunteered several bright contributions. I was still unaware of the purpose of this apparently innocuous discussion. Of course now I know better. That discussion was supposed to challenge a closed mind. Because with a closed mind, we render ourselves unable to be open to possibilities, opportunities to options. A closed mind works against innovation, progress, improvement, expansion. This is a new frontier, and therefore the stance which can reap untold benefits and leanings should be “Let’s explore!” So the question we should be asking isn’t “What cannot be done?” but rather “How do I make this possible?”
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      thank you for this observation, joy! thank you for taking the bait and giving us all the opportunity to question our assumptions and to arrive at creativity, innovation and possibilities!! : )
  • I need to be open to possibilities, opportunities, to options. I must put aside my prejudices and temporarily suspend “logical thinking” in favor of creative thinking.
  • But we should never give up on the unwilling ones.
  • The best way to spark change is to let them attend an effective online course.
  • I am beginning to see how “developing a course is a transformative experience”.
  • I don’t think I can return to the classroom and teach anything the same way before.
  • Designing an online course has been, for me, a truly transformative experience. It has allowed me not only to reexamine, reformulate and reassess, but to also move forward to innovate and in some ways, to reinvent myself as a teacher.
  • I was therefore quite relieved Alex confirmed what I had feared. I was packing in too much. Even before even before Alex provided her completely justified feedback that my course was too packed (“for you Joy, less is more!”)
  • An online environment is different from a f2f setting. Being able to state it in a theoretical way is not the same as understanding it and translating it into practice. Of course I knew the theory. But when the time came for application in the design of the online course, my knowledge did not transfer well into practical application. This is one of the main problems when there is a failure of the student to  successfully transfer learning, which is basically one of great challenges of teaching.  So basically, what I did initially did was to replicate my f2f activities directly into my online classroom.
  • As I feared, and Alex confirmed, this large amount of group work puts a strain on the students and also poses too many logistic difficulties. Perhaps one or two group work activities might work, but not several in each module. It is unrealistic. So I have learnt, in a very concrete and hands-on way, that designing for my online classroom in this instance is different from designing for my face-to face classroom.
  • Once again, I am reminded that theory and practice need mutual reinforcement. Understanding the theory is one thing. Transferring the theoretical knowledge into action requires experience, reflection, and feedback from others.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      thank you for making your thinking and learning visible to me!
  • Having experienced a wonderful sense of community, and seeing how it is done, I do feel that I have a fair idea of the basic ingredients that go into creating a sense of community. However, Alex has set a high, high standard, and I don’t know I have the energy to sustain the community building effort, even if I knew how to do it!
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      i have great expectations of you joy! i know you can do it : )
  • this is a process
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      Yes!!! the value to me and to the others in the class is to be able to watch your process. we see how you think and refine and how your ideas change and evolve and that adds to our understanding of you and our own learning.
  • My present ideas never look like version 1! The result is that the ideas I handed up in the proposed learning activities resemble very little of what I actually have now
    • Joan Erickson
       
      Oh Joy, I can relate! By the time Alex reads my submitted writing assignment, my actual course design has already morphed a few times. I've visited your course, it looks great! the activities you set up indicatethat you have high expectations for the participants!
  • Confucius
    • Joan Erickson
       
      wow, Confucious said that? I didn't even know, and I'm Chinese!
  • In short – let the students do the work. This is the best way to learn. This principle, I think, has been demonstrated in this course. And I intend to pursue it in my own course. I see the value of giving the students both structure and space.
  • One of the insights has to do with letting go as a teacher.
  • Reading Sue’s
  • I agree with Sue.
alexandra m. pickett

Authentic On-line Learning - 3 views

  • I suppose one of the assumptions that I have about my own on-line course is that if a certain percentage of my students are of the Generation Y population, they may very well know more about the technology than I do.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      question your assumptions!!!!
  • 20 to 22
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      it's 20-24 yrs old- that is 38% Fifty-one percent are over 25 yrs old.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      the larger percentage are OVER 25 years old!
  • so I guess that will most likely be my audience.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      check your assumptions!
    • Donna Angley
       
      You're right; I don't really know who my audience will be. I also assume that the Generation Y population have the technology down pat; that's not necessary true.
  • ...36 more annotations...
  • While I think the technology has to be embedded in instruction whenever possible, it can’t be left to teachers alone to solve this problem.
    • Donna Angley
       
      I feel teachers need much more support from administrators as well as the Education Department. I know that SED is currently addressing the problem of making technology accessible in our classrooms, but even as they are planning it, the technology is increasing exponentially. It's going to take major educational reform -- Our new commissioner has been personally involved with the Technology task force.
    • Diane Gusa
       
      This is a wonderful analogy, which I plan on using in my instructions for discussions!
    • Diane Gusa
       
      This is my struggle too. I am spending this weekend stopping in. I do like the post titles, it helps me to priortize what I want to read.
    • Donna Angley
       
      I think a lot of my difficulty is that my only comparison for online learning are the 2 courses I've taken prior to this. One was okay, the other not so good. So, I'm only realizing now that the online environment and experience can be a lot more robust that I had thought.
    • Diane Gusa
       
      I work to 2AM every morning to keep up...as I teach an online course and take care of a 18 month old. However, I am enjoying the late night flow as I work! I have enjoyed your posts, and I can see your hard work.
    • Donna Angley
       
      Thanks Diane, a lot of this is new to me as well, but I'm working through it.
  • I had to question what the objectives were first, and then create an assessment that tied into the objectives. 
    • Donna Angley
       
      This is probably one area that still scares me. I think I'm going to have to come up with a rubric for the forum in my course, and I don't have any experience creating a rubric. I've Googled it and there are many rubrics out there, but I don't know if I can just "borrow" a rubric and tweak it or is this plagarism?
  • what I need to do is think of these posts as mini research papers.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      exactly!!! i actually say "Every post you make in this course is an exam. " in the interaction course info document for the course!! : )
    • Donna Angley
       
      Now that I realize this, I'm finding the workload a little easier. I had to adjust my schedule. I'm used to doing most of my online work on weekends, but that's not enough for this course, so I made changes. Now I come home from work and put aside about 2 hours each night specificallly for addressing posts.
  • I don’t feel like I can get to it all.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      you can't. just really digg into stuff that interests/engages you.
    • Donna Angley
       
      Whew! Thanks Alex. I'm feeling a little more comfortable this week as far as what I should be doing to stay on top of things.
  • I’m doing my best.
    • Donna Angley
       
      I am making it work, and I don't feel as overwhelmed as I did just 2 weeks ago. Feeling more confident in the whole process of posting and working in the course shell.
  • I decided to give it a try.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      excellent!! give your students the gift of having high expectations : )
  • 1) Will it help you present content in a more effective or engaging manner, 2) will it facilitate collaboration or interaction between students in an more effective manner, and 3) will it help provide feedback or help assess students more effectively.  I feel the blog will get students interacting in a more casual setting regarding the stories, and the Wiki will definitely facilitate collaboration.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      brilliant!!
    • Diane Gusa
       
      Your assessment of the first 4 weeks is so correct, (in my opinion). I am into the end of the 4th week in an online course I am teaching now and my students are finally soaring, It is soooooo exciting for me to see the growth. The only problem is that my class is only 6 weeks summer....The course I am planning is a 4 week winter term course, so now how to I get my students to soar within one week? My dilemma.
    • Donna Angley
       
      Wow, 4 weeks is not very long. What kind of class will you be teaching in the winter session? I'm not sure you can push the timeframe of when they begin to soar...that happens when it happens. I guess if you can somehow get them interacting with each other right away, that might help promote discussions that lead to those 'aha' moments.a little quicker.
    • Diane Gusa
       
      I decided not to do winter term...I will no less than 8 week courses...which as an adjunct is a $$$ decision that will hurt. However, I do not believe that 16 courses squeezed into 4 weeks is ethical.
  • My Avatar
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      WOW!!! cool
  • I really hope I get the opportunity to teach this course
  • I really hope I get the opportunity to teach this course
  • the course unfolded slowly
  • the course unfolded slowly
  • the course unfolded slowly
  • the course unfolded slowly
  • the course unfolded slowly
  • the course unfolded slowly
  • the course unfolded slowly
  • the course unfolded slowly
  • the course unfolded slowly
  • off.  Luckily, the course unfolded slowly and in a very specific order, and I had time to reflect, prepare, and digest the information coming at me.  I’ve learned that I can take on a rather monumental assignment and with a lot of hard work and perseverance, I can complete
  • flect, prepare, and digest the information coming at me.  I’ve learned that I can take on a rather monumental assignment and with a lot of hard work and perseverance, I can complete it.  This was a BIG deal for me and it’s given me a sense of empowerment.   It’s also come at a good time, because I’ll be taking my last course in September in order to finish up my degr
  • flect, prepare, and digest the information coming at me.  I’ve learned that I can take on a rather monumental assignment and with a lot of hard work and perseverance, I can complete it.  This was a BIG deal for me and it’s given me a sense of empowerment.   It’s also come at a good time, because I’ll be taking my last course in September in order to finish up my degr
  • the course unfolded slowly
  • the course unfolded slowly
  • the course unfolded slowly
  • the course unfolded slowly
  • ’s also come at a g
  • prepare, and digest the information coming at me.  I’ve learned that I can take on a rather monumental assignment and with a lot of hard work and perseverance, I can complete it.  This was a BIG deal for me and it’s given me a sense of empowerment.   It’s also come at a g
  • Never in a million years did I ever think that I would go on to graduate school, but here I am on the cusp of that achievement.  I am the first out of 6 siblings to earn a master’s degree. 
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      Congratulations Donna!!!
  • I didn’t realize that I was in charge of my own learning. 
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      any kind of learning... online or f2f is ONLY student-centered if that is how it is designed and if that is how the instructor facilitates it... now that you know that you are in charge of your own learning, i need your help : ) You can help me change the world by sharing that insight with anyone you have the opportunity to teach in the future. I have very high expectations of you Donna!!! : )
  • I came to realize that I didn’t have to give them all my knowledge — that in fact, I had to let them learn some of these things on their own.
  • I think it’s a situation where I don’t know what I need until somebody tells me that I need it.  I’m certainly open to suggestions, but at this point I feel like I’ve done what I was supposed to do; however, I realize that this is VERY new to me and that I have probably made some mistakes that will be pointed out to me.  That’s fine, and as I said, I welcome comments and suggestions. 
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      good point
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