C-S-I- : Triangulating Interactivity to Create an Integrated Online Learning Environment

1. C-S-I-: Triangulating Interactivityto Create an Integrated Online Learning Environment Rebekah K. Nix, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Dallas Senior Lecturer | Teacher Development Center Curtin University of Technology Adjunct Research Fellow | Science and Mathematics Education Centre May 27, 2011

2. High-quality learning experience • “interactivity and individualization…” • “… whether the experience is face-to-face or online” Crow (2010)

3. The essential element How do you define interaction? • Reciprocal events that require at least 2 objects and 2 actions • Occur when these objects and events mutually influence one another American Heritage

4. Instructional interaction An instructional interaction is an event that takes place between • a learner and • the learner's environment Two purposes: • to change learners and • to move them toward achieving their goals • Learner 1 4 3 Wagner (1994) 2

5. Importance of online interaction Professionally developing staff to use information and communication technologies is viewed from the standpoint of diffusion of innovation, moving from early adopters to mainstream majority, and targeting staff development at this latter group. Approaches to staff development using information and communication technologies are described, and recommendations for staff development for online teaching are made. Wilson & Stacey (2004)

6. Principles of Good Practice item #3 of 7 in the first section about Curriculum and Instruction WCET (1995)

7. The evolving context • Content is EVER-CHANGING • Microsoft suite • Web 2.0 • Clouds… • Students are TRANSITIONING • Digital natives • Online learners • Competitive workers • Instructors are MANAGING • Platform adaptations • Conceptual approach • Program requirement Fisher (2011)

8. The ubiquitous challenge • Content needs to be DELIVERED • Better • Faster • Cheaper • Students need to LEARN • Better • Faster • Cheaper • Instructors must TEACH • Better • Faster • Cheaper • Lighter! • Faster! • Thinner! And we all want to be…

9. The online advantage • Content is AVAILABLE • Learning objects • Personal ICT devices • Wireless networks • Students are EAGER • Entitled • Immediate • Constant • Instructors are SNEAKY • Experienced (understanding) • Crafty (knowledge) • Still in control (wisdom)

10. Online vs. face-to-face There are two big changes in the last four years that are really dramatically opening up new possibilities. They’re not small changes. One is the Web 2.0 tools, because the models that we looked at in that book were really prior to the explosion of Web 2.0. And the other is immersive interfaces, because the ability to meet inside of a shared virtual world can also be very powerful for learning. Crow (2010)

11. Designing for distance learning • Research is not conclusive with regard to the amount or kind of instructional interventions. • Although there is significant research on distance education, there is less research that deals with course design. • Faculty professional development often deals with the “how to” and not the “why” in online professional development. Ehrlich (2002)

12. My guiding framework Nix (2011)

13. Constructivist Learning Environment Survey Taylor, Fraser & Fisher (1997)

14. Professional Teaching Standards National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (2001)

15. Affordances of ICT Webb (2005)

16. ED4372: Educational Technology

17. Welcome

18. The 21st century(?) toolbox • Content-Student • Surveys • Lessons • Quizzes • Student-Student • Discussions • “Assignments” • Projects • Instructor-Student • Announcements • Gradebook • Email/Website

19. Projects Although student perceptions are important, the ultimate indicator of course effectiveness is the degree to which students reach the learning objectives. Johnson, Aragon, Shaik & Palma-Rivas (2000)

20. Project Example

21. Project Results The fact that we can save and re-work or correct our assignments and questions helps give time to think and re-think.

22. Announcements Further effort is needed to improve overall student/instructor communication, especially in the area of instructor feedback and student progress. This will require identifying and implementing new communication strategies to facilitate student/instructor communication at appropriate points in the course. Johnson, Aragon, Shaik & Palma-Rivas (2000)

23. Announcement Example

24. Announcement Results Total announcements posted by instructor Weekly announcements (15 total) posted by instructor

25. Surveys Roughly 10 percent of students in 2003 took at least one online course. That fraction grew to 25 percent in 2008, was nearly 30 percent in the fall of 2009, and we project it will be 50 percent in 2014. Christensen, Horn, Caldera & Soares (2011)

26. Survey Example

27. Survey Results

28. Lessons Meaningful interaction: If we truly want learners to be able to use the content, we need to design instructional activities that involve learners in the types of activities that allow them to practice using the content as it is used in real-life situations, deal with increasingly complex uses of the content as a whole…, and get meaningful feedback and necessary support along the way. Shank (2004)

29. Lesson Example

30. Lesson Results

31. “Assignments” Instructional design is not an exact science. Each finished course is the result of a series of decisions influenced by learning objectives, resources, and time. A decision that instructional designers make repeatedly is which interactive activities will help learners most efficiently and effectivelyachieve those learning objectives. Nuriddin (2011)

32. “Assignment” Example

33. “Assignment” Results … First off, I think that if you'd spend a little more time within the lessons, you might see the value of some of the tasks that seem superfluous... My job is to help prepare you for being a great teacher. The 'little' activities that start the second part of the lessons are intended to help you 'see' other ways of looking at situations, of reading between the lines, of adapting to changing situations, and of dealing with so much that will be beyond your control. …

34. Discussions Wyatt said, the most important thing to take away from his research is the importance of effective tutoring. "Although tutoring has been proven time and time again," he said, "it's a really hard nut to crack, simply because students resist it almost like it's a sickness. They see it almost as a punishment." Grasgreen (2011)

35. Group Discussion Example

36. Class Discussion Example

37. Discussion Results M 21 9 29 19 18 12 N 82 54 78 77 78 67 Number of messages per forum

38. Quizzes At its core, distance education is a change process, not a delivery system, and higher education culture has historically proven resistant to change. Perhaps the greatest benefit of distance education is its potential role as a catalyst for modifying the way educational institutions do business. Willis (2000)

39. Quiz Example

40. Quiz Results

41. Gradebook “Learned most from” responses by type. Following the advice of the educational technologists, we incorporated various student-to-student interactions in our courses designed to enhance relational learning. Subsequently, many of our online students reported indifference to, or even vehement criticism of, learning activities designed to promote student-to-student interaction. Kellogg & Smith (2009) Content Student Professor

42. Gradebook Example

43. Gradebook Results Passed 90% 93% 86% 93%

44. Email/Website • Once it’s sent it can’t be recalled. • Follow all school guidelines for responding to students. • Prrofread, PROOFFread, and PROOFREAD. • Reread each e-mail and other postings you write before sending them. • Be timely in all responses. • Be sure you answer all points students raise in their postings. • Be sure to end any response with an invitation to the student or on a positive note. • Do not delete any student postings to you. Sull (2009)

45. Email Example

46. Website Example

47. CLES Results

48. Evaluation of teacher interaction It is notable that both observations and assignments assess the interactions between teachers and students, but in somewhat different ways. Both types of measures focus on how tasks are presented to students…, understood by students…, and the criteria that a teacher accepts for completed (acceptable)… Observations focus on students’ opportunity to participate in rich classroom discussions, however, while assignments focus on students’ opportunity to develop their written communication skills. Matsumura, Garnier, Slater & Boston (2008)

49. Asynchronous interaction system The database and the interaction system provide a good source of information that is important for the faculty member to analyze student progress and the effectiveness of the learning. However, it is also difficult andtime consuming for the faculty member to monitor, collect, and analyze information from the system, which contains huge amounts of data from a great number of students and tutors. Choy & Ng (2004)

50. How do you really know? Teachers whose students described them as skillful at maintaining classroom order, at focusing their instruction and at helping their charges learn from their mistakes are often the same teachers whose students learn the most in the course of a year, as measured by gains on standardized test scores, according to a progress report on the research. Dillon (2010)