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Nicole Frescura

Encouraging Critical Thinking in Online Threaded Discussions (Bridget Arend 2009) - 0 views

www.thejeo.com/...Arendpaper.pdf

discussion forums best practices

shared by Nicole Frescura on 22 Jun 12 - No Cached
  • Diane Gusa on 22 Jun 12
     
    This article presents qualitative data from a mixed-method study that explores how asynchronous discussions within online courses influence critical thinking among students. In this study, online discussions were related to higher levels of critical thinking, but qualitative data indicate that the way discussions are used and facilitated is vital for encouraging critical thinking. Online discussions typically have the purpose of creating a space and time for informal, open-ended thinking to occur. Critical thinking appears to be best encouraged among students when a more consistent emphasis is placed on the discussions, and when instructor facilitation is less frequent but more purposeful
Diane Gusa

Learning-Centered Syllabi - 0 views

www.celt.iastate.edu/...syllabi.html

Student-Centered Learning-Centered teaching syllabus curriculum Learning Styles

shared by Diane Gusa on 12 Jun 12 - Cached
  • Learning-Centered Syllabi Workshop
  • Creating and using a learner-centered syllabus is integral to the process of creating learning communities.
  • students should progress from a primarily instructor-led approach to a primarily student-initiated approach to learning.
  • ...22 more annotations...
  • students and their ability to learn are at the center of what we do
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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)
  • 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.
  • 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
  • "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).
  • 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.
  • Clarify the conceptual structure used to organize the course.
  • 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
  • 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.
  • Use a variety of methods.
  • "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."
  • Identify additional equipment or materials needed and sources.
  • 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.
Diane Gusa

Where is reflection in the learning process? | User Generated Education - 0 views

usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/...ection-in-the-learning-process

reflection elearning

shared by Diane Gusa on 29 May 13 - No Cached
    • Diane Gusa
      Diane Gusa on 29 May 13
       
      This is a good resource as you reflect and prepare your first synthesizing blog.
  • What was your significant learning this past week
  • What did you learn or what was reinforced about yourself? What can you take from the class activities to use in your life outside of class?
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Critical reflection is an important part of any learning process. Without reflection, learning becomes only an activity — like viewing a reality TV show — which was never meant to have meaning, but was only meant to occupy time.
  • Critical reflection is not meditation, rather it is mediation — an active, conversive, dialectical exercise that requires as much intellectual work as does every other aspect of the learning process, from analysis to synthesis to evaluation. But in reflection, all the learned material can be gathered about, sorted and resorted, and searched through for greater understanding and inspiration
Kristie Rushing

Technology and Education Online Discussion Forums: It's in the Response - 0 views

www.westga.edu/...markel42.html

shared by Kristie Rushing on 29 Jun 12 - Cached
  • participation in online discussion forums provides opportunities for responsibility and active learning through the expectation of regular participation in online discussions.
  • hey construct knowledge through the shared experiences that each participant brings to the collaborative discussions. The online web courses about teaching offer deeper perspectives and opportunities to learn because the participants are teachers from school districts around the state and other states.
  • This particular use of the discussion forum, to negotiate and construct knowledge, is an example of using the technology as a cognitive tool and not simply as another kind of blackboard or one-way communication method. Cognitive tools and environments stimulate cognitive learning strategies and critical thinking (Jonassen, 1998). Students engaged with course content in discussions and group work with other students engage in generative processing of information.
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  • his involves the processes of reflection and the construction and re-construction of domains of knowledge. The resulting kinds of learning from these processes are not a regurgitation of a lecture or reading. It is a negotiated interpretation of knowledge
  • The discussion forum environment evens the playing field of opportunity and accessibility.
  • The discussion forum makes active participation by all students the price of citizenship within this learning community.
    • Tiffany King
      Tiffany King on 09 Jul 12
       
      What do you think about this? I found this an interesting way of putting it.
    • Diane Gusa
      Diane Gusa on 09 Jul 12
       
      Cool!
  • Students quickly discover that their peers are also holders of knowledge and they initiate discussions and respond to one another's postings
  • It is possible to feel invisible in an online discussion forum if no one responds to an individual's postings. Part of a course design should include a requirement that students respond to at least 3 or more students each week and at least 1 of those should be a student not previously responded to. This helps distribute the responses. Responses are a hook to student motivation to participate above and beyond grades.
  • They recommended that, "Instructors can encourage and model this behavior from the beginning of a course, thereby creating a safe learning environment of acceptance and trust. Activities that enhance sharing and cooperation can further develop openness and solidarity within groups." (McDonald & Gibson, 1998, p.21)
  • Web environments can make use of interactive components and educators should design and look for activities that are problem oriented, interactive, and engage students in an application of knowledge, principles, and values (Hazari & Schnorr, 1999).
  • he stage for disagreement within the discussion forum is also a motivation and invitation for students to become more engaged in the discussions.
  • instructors should have the syllabus developed and the course up and online before the first day of class
  • Instructors need to be a "presence" in the virtual conference center as they monitor the discussions and provide continuous guidance to students to focus on the course goals by utilizing a technique called "weaving". This is a skill that involves using a part of a student comment in a posting and re-directing it to the main topic without an explicit negative value judgment. Instructors in a discussion forum will set and maintain the type of language and tone used in the virtual conference center. It is harder to interpret the tone and therefore the meaning of a message without visual clues or the sound of a voice. Instructors fulfill a role like that of a list moderator as they support and give students guidance in communicating successfully within the environment.
  • Feedback has long been recognized as critical to the learning process and timely feedback is potent.
  • Feedback needs to be specific, personal, and within 24 hours of the posting.
    • Diane Gusa
      Diane Gusa on 09 Jul 12
       
      I think the syllabus should be sent out at least a week before the class starts. What do you think?
    • Kristie Rushing
      Kristie Rushing on 01 Jul 13
       
      I find my self doing this. I am always corious what my classmates have to add to what I have posted.
  • The need for affection is also present in a virtual discussion forum. This need is characterized by trust, self-disclosure and willingness to reveal experiences, thoughts and interpretations.
  • challenging deeply held beliefs
  • These "getting-to-know-you" scenarios are as important as course content in reaching the goal of a collaborative community of learners. The instructor needs to be sensitive to this need and find a balance within the discourse.
  • If they are left dangling for days on end, they lose a feeling of connection and begin to feel lost in Cyberspace.
  • Tiffany King on 09 Jul 12
     
    Why use Disuccion boards in online education.
Diane Gusa

Productivity and online learning redux - 2 views

www.tonybates.ca/...vity-and-online-learning-redux

productivity discussion online learning innovation elearning pedagogy

shared by Diane Gusa on 18 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • Instructional MOOCs (xMOOCs) have basically removed learner support, at least in terms of human (instructor) support, but this has resulted in a very low number of MOOC learners passing end-of-course assessments of learning. Indeed, prior research into credit-based learning has established that instructor online ‘presence’ is a critical factor in retaining students. So far, it has proved difficult to scale up learner support on a massive scale, except through the use of computer technology, such as automated feedback. However, Carey and Trick (2013) and indeed faculty at elite institutions who are offering xMOOCs (see Thrun and ‘the Magic of the Campus‘) have argued that such computer support does not support ‘the learning that matters most’.
  • computer-based approaches to learner support to date has been inadequate for formal assessment of higher order learning skills such as original, critical or strategic thinking, evaluation of strategies or alternative explanations.
  • In cMOOCs that are more like communities of practice and thus contain many participants with already high levels of expertise, that expertise and judgement can be provided by the participants themselves
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  • ‘disruptive’ innovation, where a new technology results in sweeping away old ways of doing something.
  • Thus knowledge management becomes more important than mere access to knowledge. If we look at xMOOCs though we have taken a new technology – video lecture capture and Internet transmission – and applied it to an outdated model of teaching. True innovation requires a change of process or method as well as a change of technology.
  • .Content is only one component of teaching (and an increasingly less important component); other components such as learner support and assessment are even more important. Care is needed then because changes in methods of online content development and delivery could have negative knock-on cost and productivity consequences in other areas of course delivery, such as learner support and assessment. I
Doris Stockton

Best Practices in Teaching - The Center for Teaching and Faculty Development - 1 views

ctfd.sfsu.edu/best-practices-in-teaching.htm

shared by Doris Stockton on 18 Jun 13 - No Cached
    • Doris Stockton
      Doris Stockton on 18 Jun 13
       
      This addresses multiple learning styles, and how the teacher made materials accessible to all students. 
  • Students can use the website to refresh their knowledge before a quiz or test, or anytime or anywhere they’d like
  • “Think Aloud” is not only useful to language literacy, but a valuable tool for problem-solving and critical thinking within every discipline.
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    • Doris Stockton
      Doris Stockton on 18 Jun 13
       
      I actually do this!  I thought I was the only one!
Doris Stockton

http://jolt.merlot.org/vol6no2/alexander_0610.pdf - 0 views

jolt.merlot.org/...alexander_0610.pdf

online discussion forums critical thinking

shared by Doris Stockton on 30 Jun 13 - No Cached
    • Doris Stockton
      Doris Stockton on 30 Jun 13
       
      I reference this article in Mod 3 discussion forum
Doris Stockton

JOLT - Journal of Online Learning and Teaching - 0 views

jolt.merlot.org/...keengwe_0610.htm

online learning teaching

shared by Doris Stockton on 21 Jun 13 - Cached
  • The Barriers to Online Teaching and Learning
  • Similarly, inadequate hardware and software, slow internet connections, learners’ procrastination, lack of technical expertise among the instructors, insufficient orientation for learners, and a lack of release time for instructors to develop and design their online courses have been cited as barriers to faculty participation in developing and teaching online courses (Nkonge & Gueldenzoph, 2006). The researchers recommended training and support for instructors. Supporting faculty becomes significant because of the number of faculty who begin the online teaching experience with little knowledge of the process of designing, developing, and instructing an online course (Cuellar, 2002).
  • Nelson and Thompson (2005) cited faculty time, rewards, workload, lack of administrative support, cost, course quality, student contact, and equipment concerns as barriers to online teaching practices. The researchers recommended that program leaders keep abreast of the technology issues; courses integrate more collaboration between instructors and learners; training be provided to faculty to overcome negative dispositions; leaders attempt to incorporate the need for distance education courses in institutions’ missions, and that a reconsideration of tenure and promotion decisions should be examined in an attempt to support faculty workloads.
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  • Although instruction provided through the Internet offers a viable alternative to the need for “physical” space, the need for faculty involvement in online learning remains a prevalent issue for those institutions that plan to continue offering instruction at a distance (Matsom, 2006; Nelson & Thompson, 2005; Schifter, 2004). In many institutions, faculty members are expected to participate in online distance education as a part of their regular duties as faculty (Kim & Bonk, 2006). However, many faculty members are hesitant to convert their traditional courses to an online format. This resistance is attributed to a lack of support, assistance, as well as training by institutions of higher education (Allen & Seaman, 2008; Keengwe, Kidd, & Kyei-Blankson, 2009).
  • Both novice faculty, who may have been reluctant to participate, and expert faculty play a significant role in guiding the types of support, assistance, and training provided by institutions of higher education. Rockwell et al., (1999) evaluated the types of education, assistance, and support that faculty felt were needed to be successful in online teaching and learning. Faculty responded with the assertions that assistance and support for developing instructional materials, developing interaction, and for applying certain technologies were critical to their success in online environments. Faculty regarded teaching online as more difficult than teaching traditional courses (Gerlich, 2005) as well as complain that online delivery were more labor intensive because of the amount of time required to grade papers and respond to questions (Lao, & Gonzales, 2005; Wegmann, & McCauley, 2008; Sellani & Harrington, 2002). In other studies, faculty felt that additional instructional and technical support were needed because faculty were genuinely concerned about the quality of their online courses and the amount of technical assistance and training available to them at their institutions (Allen & Seaman, 2008; Keengwe, Kidd, & Kyei-Blankson, 2009).
  • Surveys conducted by Brogden and Couros (2002), Grosse, (2004), and Lorenzetti, (2004) suggest that the time and effort demands to develop online courses and to learn new technologies are also causes for faculty member’s frustrations. Additionally, some faculty members may resist online teaching because they are concerned that those courses may require more time for advanced planning (Matsom, 2006). Further, faculty members may be hesitant about this shift due to the fact that they may lose autonomy and control of the curriculum, lack of technical training and support, and lack of release time for planning. Generally, understanding the differences between traditional face-to-face learning environment and online learning environment, and the process of being able to shift from one modality to the other, will give faculty members the ability to design better online courses and focus more on course delivery (Conrad, 2004; Harlow, 2007; Marfoglio, 2006, Sugar, Martindale, & Crawley, 2007). Faculty members may also need to rethink (a) the nature of the content to be taught (b) their role as faculty members and (c) the needs and requirements of the students (Ben-Jacob, Levin & Ben-Jacob, 2000; Lee & Busch, 2005; Jones, Kollof, & Kolloff, 2008).
  • Doris Stockton on 21 Jun 13
     
    This is the article that I used for response to Kelly's Speak out discussion post.
Diane Gusa

Learning Domains - 1 views

pixel.fhda.edu/...learning_domain.html

Learning domains affective cognitive

shared by Diane Gusa on 25 Jun 12 - Cached
  • The affective domain is critical for learning but is often not specifically addressed.  This is the domain that deals with attitudes, motivation, willingness to participate, valuing what is being learned, and ultimately incorporating the values of a discipline into a way of life.  Stages in that domain are not as sequential as the cognitive domain, but have been described as the following: Receiving (willing to listen) Responding (willing to participate) Valuing (willing to be involved) Organizing (willing to be an advocate) Characterization (willing to change one’s behavior, lifestyle, or way of life)
  • Videos and audio clips are also excellent ways to engage the affective domain. These should be short and may include the following: Former students giving tips on how to be successful The instructor informing the students of the value of the course Professionals who are using the knowledge from the course in their lives An overview of the program with key support personnel and facilities visible to the student Streaming audio files throughout the course encouraging students and providing helpful tips Short video clips of the instructor explaining course content
Diane Gusa

Bringing Life to Online Instruction with Humor - 1 views

radicalpedagogy.icaap.org/...shatz.html

humor_online_learning module 4 assignment learning humor

shared by Diane Gusa on 29 Jun 12 - Cached
  • 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
  • ...18 more annotations...
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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?
  • journals devoted to humorous research (e.g., Journal of Polymorphous Perversity, Annals of Improbable Research).
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 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).
  • 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.
  • several ways that instructors can enhance visual humor for the online environment
  • 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 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.)
  • Diane Gusa on 29 Jun 12
     
    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.
Nicole Frescura

4 Tips for Reaching Training Introverts | Mindflash - 0 views

www.mindflash.com/...r-reaching-training-introverts

shared by Nicole Frescura on 05 Jul 12 - No Cached
  • try wording the question a little more provocatively, like: “How does your solution to the scenario differ from the recommended solution provided in the training?”
  • If you’re primarily an extrovert you’re outgoing, gregarious, friendly, and talkative – but you tend to bore easily
  • If you’re primarily an introvert, you’re less outwardly expressive and more likely to process your emotions and thoughts internally. You tend to embrace critical-thinking and you do more listening than talking – but your introspective ways may leave you feeling awkward in social or group settings
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  • a classroom trainer
  • working with introverts and extroverts is a little easier because you can observe the audience and adjust your delivery to suit their dynamics – using a little less talk here and a little more action there.
  • because introverts are more solitary, the self-guided nature of online training is actually a good fit for them
  • Introverts like to think first and talk later
  • focus on relevancy. Introverts respond to substance
  • keep the number of between lesson “pulse-check” questions to a minimum
  • Introverts disdain superficiality
  • keep scenarios realistic, succinct (get to the point!), and complex to up the engagement.
  • communicating relevancy and incorporating design features that show respect for the introvert’s preference for independent learning.
  • send your trainees a link to the quiz or survey a day or two after they take the module. This gives introverts more time to think about the lessons and how they apply on the job
  • Introverts prefer to write down their ideas
Tiffany King

Formative and Summative Assessment in the Classroom - 0 views

www.amle.org/...default.aspx

assessment formative summative

shared by Tiffany King on 20 Jul 12 - No Cached
  • nother distinction that underpins formative assessment is student involvement. If students are not involved in the assessment process, formative assessment is not practiced or implemented to its full effectiveness. Students need to be involved both as assessors of their own learning and as resources to other students. There are numerous strategies teachers can implement to engage students. In fact, research shows that the involvement in and ownership of their work increases students' motivation to learn. This does not mean the absence of teacher involvement. To the contrary, teachers are critical in identifying learning goals, setting clear criteria for success, and designing assessment tasks that provide evidence of student learning.
  • Formative Assessment is part of the instructional process.
  • it can only help in evaluating certain aspects of the learning process.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Summative assessments happen too far down the learning path to provide information at the classroom level and to make instructional adjustments and interventions during the learning process.
Diane Gusa

Education-2020 - Who is the Teacher? - 1 views

education-2020.wikispaces.com/Who+is+the+Teacher%3F

teacher online blog resource

shared by Diane Gusa on 15 Jun 12 - No Cached
  • In the video to the left teachers give a vision of 21st Century teachers. They are teachers who use Web 2.0 tools to facilitate social and collaborative learning.stress the importance of a global community and a community of learninguse interactive multimedia to engage studentsstress the development of critical thinking and problem solving skills in their studentshave their students construct their own knowledgehave students connect, communicate and create through multimedia projects using wikis, blogs, social media toolsuse differentiated instruction for different learning styleshave their students interact with others locally and globallyencourage students to be comfortable with uncertainty and nurture global confidenceprepare their students for the future not the past
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