Virtual Opportunities: Interactive Strategies for Online Instruction – Panel Discussion
· The presentation will be posted at website of one of the presenters
· Goals:
o Learn about effective online strategies
o Goals of meeting online communities
o Assessments
· Robert Culp – St. Louis University:
o Teaching programs are moving very quickly to moving some content online to free up the class schedule
o Online learning may not be for every person. Some students will not respond in the same way as in a traditional learning environment.
o Where is a student going to be in an online course in regard to their ability to navigate and synthesize. Self-regulation and self-discipline are essential. If a student does not have these skills, we are setting these students up for failure.
o A pre-assessment might be helpful – there are examples available online
o Look at G. Salmon’s five stages for e-moderating – use a Google Search
· Kathy Hayden
o Uses Elbaum’s (sp?) 9 Essential Elements for Online Learning – a book available on Amazon
o Spend enough time to respond quickly and often – those who are online a lot receive the highest reviews from students
o It takes longer to teach online, but it also provides more flexibility for the instructor
o Create a variety of learning experiences. Read this, do that – gets boring online just as in the classroom
· Dennis O’Connor
o Went through a lot of strategies related to teacher education, mentoring, use of TAs, etc.
o Advantages in training new folks in best practices
o Monitor burnout of online teachers. This can occur just as in the traditional classroom
o Effective strategy – Not being alone in the classroom. Connected this to the use of TAs, etc.
o Working together with another person can make an online course far better than possible.
o He teaches together with an instructor in Dubai
· Kecia Ray – Nashville, Lipscomb University
o Give a time or two a week that the instructor will be enable for live chat
o Give a time or two a week that the instructor will be available by phone (GOOD STRATEGIES!)
o Utilize Skype for connecting with your class
o We have things to learn from traditional classrooms and teachers – not a separate discipline, but rather a different focus of the same discipline
o Richer content results from students are part of development
· Virtual classrooms can be used to supplement the course, such as with tappedin.org
· Assessment
o Requires a lot of time. Giving good, solid feedback is essential.
o Don’t assume that an online student will look for the gradebook. Be sure to tell the students where to find their grade.
o Any CMS – forgive its weaknesses and enjoy its strengths
o Comments in the assessment area of a gradebook that are private are important
o At no time do you have a greater attention of your student than when providing feedback and evaluation
o Use a rubric with a self-evaluation survey to create awareness – most students tend to evaluate themselves pretty well when they understand the criteria
o At the beginning of every course, provide a very specific list of expectations, including due dates
o The younger the student, the more likely it will that a student needs a reminder. We all need these reminders when we don’t have a login part of a regular schedule
o A CMS which allows scores for posts within a discussion is a good idea
o When you respond to posts, you MUST give value added in some way
o Get a rubric for online discussions
o Ask students:
§ What is the pace like?
§ How much time you are spending?
§ I want to continue to improve my course? How can I improve my class?
o BE SURE TO GIVE STUDENTS THE RESULTS OF THE QUESTIONS YOU HAVE ASKED – AN ESSENTIAL STEP
o Peer review may be used for assessment – available through WebCT 6
o Multiple attempts at an online assessment can be powerful –are we most concerned about a grade or learning
o There are ways to have assessments proctored
o Open-book online tests can make teachers more empathetic to students who goes through these evaluations
o The best types of quizzes – glossary and terminology, as well as open book quizzes on readings.
o Make sure every assignment is connected to some type of assessment
· Building Community
o Peer review
o Allow the students to get to know one another. Some sort of getting to know you activity is excellent, especially if they online know each other through the online community
o Have students upload photographs. Putting a name with a face is very powerful
o A wiki might be used to help students create content for their own course – EX: Create a section on digital citizenship
o Use some sort of video conference
o Facebook or Linked In – students can become familiar with tools available outside the course
o Use an icebreaker at the beginning of a course. This is especially important because people are likely to drop the class the first week of the course.
o Community fuels online learning
o EVERY class should have an ice breaking activity early in the class
o Clearly define the purpose for the group
o Create a distinct gathering place for the group
o Promote effective leadership from within the group
o Define norms and a clear code of conduct
o Allow for a range of member roles
o Allow for and facilitate subgroups
o Allow members to resolve conflict
o Have students ask questions to the wisdom of the community – encourage them to do that, and praise them when that happens
o Group work builds community – keep in mind that this can lead to problems (the single biggest problem with group work is the vanishing student – “If you disappear from your group you will drive them CRAZY!”)
· From Q&A Session
o Algebra 1 is the #1 online course in K-12. There are a lot of online products available to teach this course online. The presence of the instructor in any class is going to drive success
o Good teachers will be good teachers online
o http://www.csusm.edu/kayden -- online resources
o Don’t like high stakes testing in online courses – VERY open to cheating
o Students evaluation of each other can be helpful in group assessment
o We can learn more about students through an online course than we often can in a face to face class
o There are a number of states that are starting to add online teaching endorsements
o Prediction: We should be preparing students to teach online, because K-12 online work is proliferating – INTERESTING CONCEPT!
o There is a SIG in ISTE for online learning