Taking Accessibility and Learning Styles Into Account While Designing Activities

1. Taking Accessibility and Learning Styles Into Account While Designing Activities Week 5 Introduction to Web-Based Mentoring and Distance Education

2. Week 5: Taking Accessibility and Learning Styles Into Account • Discussion Questions: • What types of activities work better with adult learners? What are some examples of these kinds of activities? • What are the components that make these activities engaging and effective? • Share some “recipes” for activities that you have found useful in the past and that could be adapted for either yours or a teammate’s final project.

3. Table of Contents • Trends in Professional Development • Developing Activities • Developing Activities – Whole Group • Developing Activities – Team • Developing Activities – Individual • Developing Activities – Encourage Critical Thinking

4. I. Trends in Professional Development • As we have begun to touch on the previous weeks, the new trends in professional development are: • Building and sustaining Communities of Learners • Providing Job-Embedded Professional Development • Moving away from workshops and In-service days and moving towards continuous learning with follow-up • Aligning PD School Improvement Plans, District Plans, and Professional Development Standards We are moving away from professional development that is disjointed, misaligned, stand-alone, and disconnected from practice.

5. II. Developing Activities • Throughout your online course learners will engage in a variety of learning activities. • Some assignments require that students collaborate in small teams; while others can easily be completed individually, and still others necessitate that the whole group is involved in the learning activity. • The key is to effectively match course objectives with learning activities that embrace all three structures for learning.

6. III. Developing Activities - Whole Group Activities • Whole group activities may or may not require that all members of the class be present for an activity at the same time. • The whole group can take part in synchronous activities as well as asynchronous activities. • Online experiences MUST begin with whole group community building. Before jumping into content the community of learners must get to know one another in order to build trust and interdependence.

7. III. Developing Activities - Whole Group Activities When writing whole group activities consider: • Course objectives and goals • Size of the group • Time • Scoring tools and rubrics • Availability of the class to meet • How to facilitate conversation when in a lull • How to redirect conversation • Final assessment • How the assignment can be adapted to include learning styles or other accommodations • Working to make class members feel connected • How feedback will be given

8. III. Developing Activities - Whole Group Activities Ideas for Whole Group Activities: • Participation in a chat • Brainstorming sessions for a final project • Introduction to an assignment • Discussion forums • Presentation of projects/products • Display of model assignments • Course introductions • Personal introductions • Class projects • Determination of grading scale to be used • Providing feedback on the course • Participate in course reviews or summaries • Class simulations • Creating a class portfolio or ideas or projects • Discussion with a content expert

9. IV. Developing Activities - Team Activities • The collaborative aspects of team activities help students to foster a sense of belonging in an online environment. • Teamwork helps students to find online courses to be less sterile and more alive since it encourages active participation. • Furthermore, participating in team activities may increase retention and motivation for course content.

10. IV. Developing Activities - Team Activities When designing team activities consider: • How the activity connects with course objectives • How the activity will be assessed • How the activity will be introduced to students • How will the workload within the team be balanced • How will students’ interactions and learning be monitored • How will positive interdependence be fostered • How will there be individual accountability • How will team assignments be completed when team members are absent • How will formative data be gathered on team progress • How much time do should students spend on the activity • How will students use technology to complete the activity • How will clear instructions be articulated to the students • How supplemental activities can be integrated for teams who finish early • How the activity fits in with the broad plan of the course • How will team-building activities be integrated into the course • How will the facilitator promote cooperative interactions • How the activity meets a variety of learning styles • How will feedback be provided to the team and individuals?

11. IV. Developing Activities - Team Activities Team Activities to Consider: • Simulation Students work on an artificial scenario of real conditions. • Role-Playing Hypothetical situations are presented to students and they are responsible for assuming a different role or perspective for the activity/drama. • Formal Debate Working in teams, learners gather information on both sides of an issue in preparation for a debate. Teams may be responsible for defending or challenging a particular viewpoint. • Professor Partnership In this scenario students create activities and or assessments that a teacher could use when teaching a particular topic. Teams can even be responsible for writing test questions or projects that will be incorporated into their own course. • Writing Projects When learners are given a writing assignment they can work in a team to peer review and edit each other’s rough drafts.

12. IV. Developing Activities - Team Activities Team Activities to Consider: • Team Projects Teams of students can work together to create a product or a project. All or part of the grade can be assigned to the team. • In-Basket/Out-Basket Similar to what can be seen in a business office this activity encourages students to work collaboratively to answer the memos or instructions from the in-basket. The instructions for each assignment may all pertain to a central topic. • Expert Conference When working on a project that has several categories of information, teammates can be assigned one specific category to become the expert on. The experts would then meet at an expert’s conference to share each other’s expertise. • Mystery Case Study Here students are assigned to a case that they must solve. Working together teammates identify the solution to the mystery.

13. V. Developing Activities – Individual Activities • Individual assignments should require learners to construct meaning from the content, to interpret the information, and to extend the concepts presented. • Assignments that necessitate that the learner him/herself shares what he/she knows or has learned should be completed individually. Topics that require opinions might be ones that are covered individually. • Individual assignments are also helpful when there are time constraints since an individual can work with just his/her own schedule.

14. V. Developing Activities – Individual Activities When writing individual activities consider: • Course objectives and goals • How much time the activity should take • Scoring tools and rubrics • How to encourage personal reflection • How the assignment relates to individual learners • How the assignment can be extended or shortened • How the assignment can be modified for a student with special needs • How will feedback be provided • How does the work reflects contributions/learning from teamwork activities • How the activity addresses a variety of learning styles • How to reduce/eliminate cheating.

15. V. Developing Activities – Individual Activities Individual Assignments: • Posting to the discussion board • Responding to messages in the discussion board • Reading assignments • Creating a homepage • Identify course goals • Writing a paper • Keeping a Learning Log (where one records the information that he/she is learning) • Writing a Reflection in response to an assignment • E-mailing comments

16. V. Developing Activities – Individual Activities Individual Assignments: • Attendance in a chat • Signing up to a listserv • Final projects • Quizzes and tests • Research • Relating a given scenario to his/her working environment • Reviewing information from a PowerPoint slideshow • Answering questions from the reading materials • Preparation for a chat • Work related to the performance assessment • Evaluation of student work • Post chat assignments • Creating a graphic organizer • Designing a timeline

17. VI. Developing Activities - Encourage Critical Thinking Where does Critical Thinking Take Place in an Online Environment? • Whenever a person is deconstructing knowledge in order to build onto it, critical thinking is taking place. • This can certainly happen individually, but as a facilitator, you will want to foster it and see it happening throughout your community. • The best place to see evidence of group critical thinking is within the chat and discussion tools. The tools offer participants the opportunity to collaborate (synchronously or asynchronously) and archive a log of their group’s cognition. • The log is key reference for the participants as they continue to build knowledge and is invaluable for you as a facilitator. You will refer to it as you reflect on and evaluate their critical thinking processes as well as the sophistication of the content they are discussing/creating.

18. VI. Developing Activities - Encourage Critical Thinking Activities can be used to promote critical reflection: • Guiding Questions: Provide guiding questions with content presentations • Think-Abouts: Use think-about questions through activities • Templates: The use of templates to guide individual activities • Connections: Connecting content from previous weeks of the course

19. VI. Developing Activities - Encourage Critical Thinking Communication tools can be used to promote critical reflection: • Use the Individual Reflection Forums: Each participant is provided an individual discussion forum with permissions set for just the participant and facilitator. This is a forum for reflection on learning with respect to the goals of the course. The facilitator monitors this forum and provides individualized coaching, feedback, and support through the learning process. • Provide synthesis statements: Synthesizing of the discussions at midpoint and at the conclusion of the discussion • Application: Encouraging participants to apply concepts to their work setting • Voice: Use of different “voices” to encourage participants to see other points of view • Philosophy: Having participants articulate their philosophy and values of the topic • Peer review

20. VI. Developing Activities - Encourage Critical Thinking Feedback can be used to promote critical reflection: • Rubrics: Rubrics should be used for participant self-assessment and facilitator assessment. Constructive feedback should be provided, in narrative form, by the facilitator. • Peer review: Provide opportunities and guidelines for peer review • Individual Contributions: Allow participants to assess individual contributions through the learning experience. • Support: Support participants as they implement strategies learned. Use the individual reflection forum and emails, where appropriate, to provide ongoing feedback and support.

21. Resources • All information contained in this presentation are part of CTE’s Online Learning Model.