elearning

27 Sep 09

26 Sep 09

Education Innovation: 7 Characteristics of Creative Professional Learning Communities

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elearning professional learning session1 advancededc

Often problems re-surface because teachers only have enough time to manage the problem, but not truly solve.
- ...because we are not limited by the length of the school day. - on 2009-09-26
- Online teachers may have an advantage over f2f teachers in finding enough time to "meet" to solve instructional problems. - on 2009-09-26
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In other words, the best ideas are a mash up of the team’s ideas. Ideas are like Legos or Tinker Toys. Individual ideas can be combined and built into a great idea.
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- Believing you have the answer or the solution before you are even sure of the real issue is a failure of many PLC teams. Teams must learn to question their assumptions, their ideas, their data, and their plans.
- Most Principals, “…like to start with the big picture and then work out the details. In improvisational innovation, teams start with details and then work up to the big picture.”
  - Not just principals - me too... Have a hard time allowing freedom in the big picture! - on 2009-09-26
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Henry

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online learning education elearning technology session1 advancededc

great online courses are defined by teaching, not technology
- And the type of teaching necessary for "great" online teaching is is in large part quite different from the type of teaching necessary for "great" face-to-face teaching. - on 2009-09-26
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In our view, an excellent online course is one in which the student is able to focus on the course itself and the medium of delivery becomes transparent to this process.
- How far are we from reaching this reality (the medium becoming transparent to the process)? - on 2009-09-26
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- allowing them to construct their own understanding of the subject material.
  - This is a difficult concept for me to grasp. Maybe I'm holding on too tightly to *control* of the learning outcomes. Does "allowing them to construct their own understanding" mean that students may leave with an incomplete understanding of the content I'm charged with teaching them? - on 2009-09-26
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- There isn’t someone standing nearby to offer comment and clarification. Communication is often asynchronous and commonly in written form. In the classroom, if an instructor is losing the class because a lecture is dragging, he or she can change gears or topics, pick up the pace or suggest a quick break. Not so in the online world.
- At the same time there needs to be another pathway that provides more detailed background material for those students who either want or need more information about a particular concept.
  - Multiple pathways - or multiple approaches to the mastery of a single concept... Very difficult to achieve in a face-to-face setting. Online learning is ideally suited to this! - on 2009-09-26
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- The roles for both students and teachers are changing in the online world (Collins & Berge, 1996; Sieber, 2005) and one of those changes is that the instructor role is moving from provider of content to designer of student learning experiences
  - I hope I'm up to this challenge - "designer of student learning experiences." - on 2009-09-26
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- students actually contribute to course content
  - From my experience teaching online high school courses, it seems we are far from this. Maybe it is our current approach? Maybe we have not provided the scaffolding necessary for students to learn to participate in content creation meaningfully (as in more than a lackluster answer to a lackluster discussion question). - on 2009-09-26
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- Originally her approach was to integrate previously successful best practices but had evolved into a “smorgasbord of jazzy supplements with little thought placed on their value, role and importance within an education context” (p. 7). Mandernach also discovered that despite the outward, tech-savvy appearance of her course, the pedagogical effectiveness had actually decreased.
  - AMEN! I love technology as much as (or more than) the next person, and I have taken a course just like the one described here. It was pure distraction - long on "cool," short on content. - on 2009-09-26
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- masters of effective feedback
- Specific aspects of online teaching that are reported to contribute to enhanced learning and student satisfaction also include: quick turnaround time by instructor on email and assignments (Hopper and Harmon; 2000); frequent and engaged contact and individual feedback (Anderson, 2006); having goals and objectives that are clearly stated (Carr-Chellman & Duchastel, 2000; King, 1998; Orde, et al., 2001; Sieber, 2005) and detailed enough to clarify “what the student should be able to do, the conditions under which the student should produce the desired behaviour and how well the student must be able to perform it” (Ellis & Hafner, 2003, p. 643); great communication skills (Hopper and Harmon, 2000; White, 2000); regular use of student names (Aragon, 2003) and the capacity to be real and genuine (Aragon, 2003; Beaudin & Henry, 2007).
- It is through sustained communication that participants construct meaning (Garrison, et al., 2000) and come to a more complete understanding of the content.
  - Is this the case with all students? I don't learn this way. I'm not trying to be a "Negative Nelly" - just want to avoid painting all students with a broad brush. - on 2009-09-26
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- It is also important to emphasize that community will not happen on its own.
- Those new to designing and delivering online courses tend to quickly gain an appreciation for the magnitude of the process.
  - Truer words have never been spoken! ;-) - on 2009-09-26
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- In an online course, students need to be able to find everything they need to be successful learners and how to do so easily.
- Ideally assessment should provide diagnostic feedback that helps “the student to improve learning, the teacher to improve the instructional process, and the institution to improve its curriculum, support services, and infrastructure” (p. 16).
- One is to provide exemplars of the course assignments.
- Perhaps the most common of these provide direction on being effective self-guided learners. Unless the students in an online course can manage their time and provide some degree of self-motivation, they tend not to do well in a virtual course environment.
  - Do students actually read these guides and tutorials - the ones that help with self-guiding, time-management, and motivation? - on 2009-09-26
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- Another little extra is the inclusion of brief audio clips. There is something particularly connecting and compelling about hearing a voice.
- Of course, the inclusion of additional resources in websites and online courses requires an understanding of the issues of fair use and copyright (Pitler, 2006).

29 Jul 09

Learning Without Limits

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08 May 09

Concord.org - @CONCORD: Volume 4, No. 3

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If someone else (e.g., a principal or technology coordinator) signs up teachers for an online course, completion rates plummet.
Teachers have to have a strong personal motivation to participate--for example, the content is clear and compelling or they are receiving graduate credit or they have paid tuition.
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- Shorter courses (no more than 12 or 15 weeks) create higher completion rates and more flexibility for teachers.
- We've found mixed results when adding a face-to-face component to an online professional development course.
- Sample group activities include participants working in pairs to review each other's work, small group discussions, solving a mystery based on instructor clues, writing a report together, or creating a web page or PowerPoint presentation as a team.
- So we hedged our bets and built in a face-to-face local study group. In retrospect we see that the site-based team sapped online discussion and adversely affected recruitment and motivation.
  - Interesting to see the effects of face-to-face groups. It's a little counter-intuitive, but makes sense in retrospect. - on 2009-05-09
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- Weekly or bi-weekly evaluations are essential. Private discussion threads provide further opportunities for discussing evaluations.
- In addition to ice-breaking activities, designed to tap into the creativity and individuality of each participant, we provide a place online where participants are encouraged to "hang out," share personal stories or professional news.
- Designing for the smallest page size, creating graphics that are compressed, using animated GIFs instead of QuickTime or MOV files help speed up the tedium of waiting for a page to appear.
  - AMEN! As a former dial-up user (very recently on dial-up!), I have to second this statement! Please, please, please design with dial-up in mind. There are still many out there on dial-up - not because they are stubbornly resisting new technology, but because broadband isn't available. - on 2009-05-09
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- Moderators are not experts in the field, but facilitators trained in course moderation.
  - I'm not sure I understand this idea of "non-expert" moderators. I'd like to think that my fearless leader in any online course has at least a minimum of expertise in the content area. Maybe I'm not understanding exactly what they mean. - on 2009-05-09
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- And we should have solicited more input from potential participants about what they needed. Adequate needs assessment is a companion to quality control. Make sure the course is a good match for what the participant needs.

05 May 09

Recommendations for developing classroom performance assessments and scoring rubrics. Moskal, Barbara M.

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assessment elearning education goal objective

"Goals" are
broad statements of expected student outcomes and "objectives" divide
the goals into observable behaviors
Many teachers initially have difficulty
creating goals and objectives that can be used to guide instruction and that
can be measured.
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- He suggests the use of tasks that resemble the type
  of activities that are known to take place in the workforce (e.g., project
  reports and presentations, writing legal briefs, collecting, analyzing and
  using data to make and justify decisions). In other words, performance
  assessments allow students the opportunity to display their skills and
  knowledge in response to "real" situations (Airasian, 2000; 2001;
  Wiggins, 1993).
- The task should not
  examine extraneous or unintended variables.
- Is knowledge required in the completion of the task that
  is inconsistent with the purpose? Will lack of this knowledge interfere or
  prevent the students from completing the task for reasons that are not
  consistent with the task's purpose?
- A teacher cannot evaluate an internal process
  unless this process is displayed in an external manner. For example, a teacher
  cannot look into students' heads and see their reasoning process. Instead,
  examining reasoning requires that the students explain their reasoning in
  written or oral form.
- A
  scoring rubric that has fewer categories and clear distinctions between these categories
  is preferable over a scoring rubric that has many categories and unclear
  distinctions between the categories.
- Two independent
  raters should be able to acquire consistent scores using the categories
  described in the scoring rubric. If the categories of the scoring rubric
  are written clearly and concisely, then two raters should be able to score the
  same set of papers and acquire similar results.
- A given rater
  should be able to acquire consistent scores across time using the scoring
  rubric. Knowledge of who a student is or the mood of a rater on a given
  day may impact the scoring process. Raters should frequently refer to the
  scoring rubric to ensure that they are not informally changing the criteria
  over time.
- A set of anchor
  papers should be used to assist raters in the scoring process.

30 Apr 09

report3.pdf (application/pdf Object)

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E-Learning Essentials | Learning Styles: How to Maximize Your Online Learning

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The Illinois Online Network says one of the best things you can do as an online learning student is become a true advocate of its merits through discussion. If you ". . .truly believe in its potential to provide quality education which is equal to, if not better than the traditional face-to-face environment", you'll strengthen the habits you need to succeed.

Home - SafeAssign Wiki - Confluence

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Authentic Tasks (Authentic Assessment Toolbox)

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Illinois Online Network: Instructional Resources : Pointers and Clickers : Rubrics

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26 Apr 09

Planning Your Course

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13 Apr 09

Welcome to the Gateway to 21st Century Skills and GEM. — Gateway to 21st Century Skills

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10 Apr 09

Hoover Institution - Education Next - Florida’s Online Option

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flvs online elearning mvps

the school is open to charter, private, and home-schooled students
The FLVS motto, “any time, any place, any path, any pace,” emphasizes the school’s flexible and mastery-based approach to learning.
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- Moreover, FLVS students don’t have to wait for the semester to begin; they can choose the month in which they would like to start.
- Instructors are expected to respond to student questions and provide comments on assignments within 24 hours. In addition, teachers phone students at least monthly, many times using oral assessments to ensure that students’ work is their own.
- According to state rules, a student’s full-time school may not deny access to courses offered by FLVS.
- The new law phased out the statewide programs, mandating that beginning in the 2009–10 school year, each Florida school district must develop its own offering or contract with a provider to offer a K–8 full-time online school option.
- FLVS had to scramble quickly to respond. While the legislation did not directly impact FLVS’s supplemental programs or funding, it presented another, possibly more dangerous, issue. With 67 districts mandated to begin their own online programs and funding incentives for these districts to contract with low-cost providers and pocket the difference, FLVS feared that virtual education would be tainted by low-quality programs.
- “reformers can become such zealots. What is a great idea is lost in the translation of zealot status, lost in a wash of defensiveness.”

24 Mar 09

Distance Learning Self Test

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12 Mar 09

http://www.jaymctighe.com/articles/BestLearning.pdf

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Know Thy Learner: The Importance of Context in E-Learning Design - 2001 - ASTD

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Melanie Jennings's Library tagged elearning → View Popular

Learning Spaces | EDUCAUSE

Education Innovation: 7 Characteristics of Creative Professional Learning Communities

Henry

Learning Without Limits

Concord.org - @CONCORD: Volume 4, No. 3

Recommendations for developing classroom performance assessments and scoring rubrics. Moskal, Barbara M.

report3.pdf (application/pdf Object)

E-Learning Essentials | Learning Styles: How to Maximize Your Online Learning

Home - SafeAssign Wiki - Confluence

Authentic Tasks (Authentic Assessment Toolbox)

Illinois Online Network: Instructional Resources : Pointers and Clickers : Rubrics

Planning Your Course

Welcome to the Gateway to 21st Century Skills and GEM. — Gateway to 21st Century Skills

Connexions - Sharing Knowledge and Building Communities

MERLOT - Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching

Adjunct Faculty Toolbox

Hoover Institution - Education Next - Florida’s Online Option

Distance Learning Self Test

http://www.jaymctighe.com/articles/BestLearning.pdf

Know Thy Learner: The Importance of Context in E-Learning Design - 2001 - ASTD

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