Teaching on the Web III: Best Pedagogical Practices

1. Teaching on the Web III: Best Pedagogical Practices Curt Bonk, Indiana University President, CourseShare.com cjbonk@indiana.edu http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk http://CourseShare.com

2. A Vision of E-learning for America’s Workforce, Report of the Commission on Technology and Adult Learning, (2001, June) • A remarkable 84 percent of two-and four-year colleges in the United States expect to offer distance learning courses in 2002” (only 58% did in 1998) (US Dept of Education report, 2000) • Web-based training is expected to increase 900 percent between 1999 and 2003.” (ASTD, State of the Industry Report 2001).

3. Software and hardware customers e-learn the ropes,Scott Tyler Shafer, Red Herring, Feb. 13, 2001 • “Since Cisco is looking to educate 800,000 people globally, the classroom model wasn’t feasible. …Cisco selected and certified 120 partner training companies…” • “Oracle says it has 1,000 developers signing up every day to take courses over the company’s Web Oracle Network (OLN)…estimates it will train 2.5 million engineers in 2001.” (this was only 500,000 in 2000)

4. Are you ready?

5. Brains Before and After E-learning After Before And when use synchronous and asynchronous tools

6. Best of Online Pedagogical Strategies…who are the key players?

7. Guy Kemshal-BellTechnical & Further Education (TAFE) in Australia(guykb@iprimus.com.au)(Had Instructors Rate 21 Online Teaching Competencies From TAFE Questionnaire)

8. Changing Role of the TeacherThe Online Teacher, TAFE, Guy Kemshal-Bell (April, 2001) • From oracle to guide and resource provider • From providers of answers to expert questioners • From solitary teacher to member of team • From total control of teaching environment to sharing as a fellow student • From provider to content to designer of learning experiences.

9. Online Teaching SkillsThe Online Teacher, TAFE, Guy Kemshal-Bell (April, 2001) • Technical: email, chat, Web development • Facilitation: engaging, questioning, listening, feedback, providing support, managing discussion, team building, relationship building, motivating, positive attitude, innovative, risk taking • Managerial: planning, reviewing, monitoring, time management

10. Rate 21 Online Teaching Competencies From TAFE Questionnaire

11. Key Skills or Attributes (scale 0-3)The Online Teacher, TAFE, Guy Kemshal-Bell (April, 2001) • Ability to provide effective online fdbk (2.86) • Ability to engage the learner (2.84) • Ability to provide direction and support (2.82) • Skills in online listening (2.76) • Ability to use email effectively (2.70) • Ability to motivate online learners (2.66) • Positive attitude to online teaching (2.66) • Skills in effective online questioning (2.65)

12. Less Impt Skills or Attributes (scale 0-3)The Online Teacher, TAFE, Guy Kemshal-Bell (April, 2001) • Higher-level Web page development (.606) • Use of video/audioconferencing (1.06) • Ability to develop simple Web pages (1.45) • Skills in using online chat (1.84) • Ability to build online teams (2.10) • Skills in planning, monitoring trng (2.20) Ability to say dumb things. Ability to offend people. Ability to sleep 24 X 7. Ability to get distracted.

13. Three Most Vital SkillsThe Online Teacher, TAFE, Guy Kemshal-Bell (April, 2001) • Ability to engage the learner (30) • Ability to motivate online learners (23) • Ability to build relationships (19) • Technical ability (18) • Having a positive attitude (14) • Adapt to individual needs (12) • Innovation or creativity (11)

14. Let’s brainstorm comments (words or short phrases) that reflect your overall attitudes and feelings towards online teaching…

15. Feelings Toward Online TeachingThe Online Teacher, TAFE, Guy Kemshal-Bell (April, 2001)(Note: 94 practitioners surveyed.) • Exciting (30) • Challenging (24) • Time consuming (22) • Demanding (18) • Technical issue (16); Flexibility (16) • Potential (15) • Better options (14); Frustrating (14) • Collab (11); Communication (11); Fun (11)

16. Student CommentsThe Online Teacher, TAFE, Guy Kemshal-Bell (April, 2001) • Positive Side: intense, challenging, emotional, dynamic, addictive, fun, stimulating, flexible, empowering, intellectually stimulating. • Less-Positive Side: Time-consuming, frustrating, little feedback, isolating, bewildering, a lot to grapple with.

17. Karen Lazenby Instructor Qualities(University of Pretoria, Nov., 2001, klazenby@tsamail.trsa.ac.za) • Web-Smart (technology smart) • Flexible (ability to shift between roles) • Patient • Responsive • Friendly • Positive • Supportive

18. Online Strategies(Karen Lazenby, University of Pretoria, Nov., 2001) • Limit lecturing online—promote self-directed learning • Set clear rules for posting and interaction • Explain tasks and overlooked info. • Let learners synthesize key points. • Publish best work of students (with permission) • Involve participation from outside experts

19. Tips for SuccessUniv of Missouri Extension, Distance Learning Design Center (DLDC)http://dldc-courses.ext.missouri.edu/dldcwww/dlplanning/ • Give pts for participation & contribution. • Set time limits for task, feedback, etc. • Set quantity for regular participation. • Make first online discussion an ungraded ice breaker. • Reward early submission. • Prompt and remind frequently.

20. E-ModeratingE-Moderating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online, (Gilly Salmon, (1999) Kogan Page) • Know when to stay silent for a few days. • Close off unused or unproductive conferences. • Provide a variety of relevant conference topics. • Deal promptly with dominance, harassment, etc. • Weave, summarize, and archive often. • Be an equal participant in the conference. • Provide sparks or interesting comments. • Avoid directives and right answers. • Acknowledge all contributions. • Support others for e-moderator role.

21. Pedagogical Recommendations(Berge, 1995, The role of the online instructor/facilitator) • Don’t expect too much/thread • Draw attention to conflicting views • Do not lecture (Long, coherent sequence of comments yields silence) • Request responses within set time • Maintain non-authoritarian style • Promote private conversations

22. Managerial Recommendations(Berge, 1995, The role of the online instructor/facilitator) • Distribute lists of participants • Provide timely administrative info—books, enrollment, counseling, etc. • Change procedures that are not working • Change misplaced subject headings • Decisively end discussion sessions • Don’t overload

23. Social Recommendations(Berge, 1995, The role of the online instructor/facilitator) • Use introductions • Be accepting of lurkers • Do not ignore bad discussant behavior—privately request change • Watch for use of humor and sarcasm • Praise behavior you seek • Guard against fear or public ridicule

24. Vanessa Dennen: San Diego State University

25. Research on Nine Online Courses • 9 case studies of online classes using asynchronous discussion • Topics: sociology, history, communications, writing, library science, technology, counseling • Range of class size: 15 - 106 • Level: survey, upper undergraduate, and graduate • Tools: custom and commercial • Private, semi-public, and public discussion areas

26. Deadlines • Deadlines motivated participation • Message counts increased in the days immediately preceding a deadline • Deadlines inhibited dialogue • Students posted messages but did not discuss • Too much lag time between initial messages and responses

27. Modeling • Instructor modeling increased the likelihood of student messages meeting quality and content expectations • Modeling was more effective than guidelines

28. Guidelines and Feedback • Qualitative discussion guidelines and feedback helped students know what their participation should look like • Quantitative discussion guidelines and feedback comforted students and was readily understood by them • Feedback of both varieties was needed at regular intervals, although the qualitative feedback need not be individualized

29. Little or no feedback given Always authoritative Kept narrow focus of what was relevant Created tangential discussions, fact q’s Only used “ultimate” deadlines Provided regular qual/quant feedback Participated as peer Allowed perspective sharing Tied discussion to grades, tasks. Used incremental deadlines Poor Instructors Good Instructors

30. Common Instructor Complaints • Students don’t participate • Students all participate at the last minute • Students post messages but don’t converse • Facilitation takes too much time • If they must be absent, the discussion dies off • Students are confused

31. Reasons why... Students don’t participate • Because it isn’t required • Because they don’t know what is expected Students all participate at last minute • Because that is what was required • Because they don’t want to be the first Instructor posts at the last minute

32. Solutions • A well-designed discussion prompt, followed by • Clear guidelines • Clear modeling • Regular feedback

33. Asynchronous vs. Traditional:How would you respond? What did you think of the readings? Online problems: • Too general. • Provides no sense of expected response. • Can easily lead to tangential comments.

34. How would you respond? • Who invented ______? • Who was the most influential political figure of the 1990’s? • What were the 3 main points of the reading?

35. Common problems with online discussion prompts Too vague • Learners have no idea how to respond Too fact-based • Only one or two persons need to respond Lack directions for interactions • Learners don’t know what acceptable participation looks like

36. Elements of a good prompt • Specifies the desired response type • Allows for multiple correct answers (perspective sharing, unique application of knowledge) • Provides guidance for peer interaction • Fosters reflection, thinking, or collaboration

37. A 5-Stage Approach: Async • Initial topic or idea generation • Initial response • Respond to peers (can continue for as long as desired) • Wrap up questions • Reflect

38. A sample 5-part prompt Step 1: Idea Generation • Find a recent news story online or announcement that provides an example of one of the issues or concepts in our recent readings. Post the URL and a brief summary of the article. Do not go into detail of what this is an example of or how it relates to the reading.

39. A sample 5-part prompt (2) Step 2: Initial Response • Select and read one of your classmate's contributions, and post a message under their thread that discusses what major issues this article relates to and support your assertions with references to our course readings. If there are secondary issues, mention those as well. Please respond to a message that has not yet received a response so that we can make sure everyone gets at least one response. You may, of course, respond to multiple threads if you wish.

40. Tie asynchronous discussion to rest of class • Provide an intro statement • Generate several sub-questions • Refer to text/readings • Suggest learning outcomes of discussion • Learners should be able to: • Generate definitions of ... • Link topics • Provide examples of ...

41. Sample: sub-questions • In the last week I've read articles in the New York Times and USA Today about students doing research on the Web -- and plagiarism! • What can we do? What is your position on this issue? • Is the Web a great research resource, or encouragement to be lazy? • How do we teach our students to use it responsibly? (Do most teachers know how to use it responsibly?) • Don't forget that plagiarism has been around for years -- think about this issue from both the student AND teacher perspective (how you plagiarize and how you get caught)

42. Make Discussion an Activity • Debate a topic • Search for and share resources • Learn about a topic • Build a study guide • Expand on a topic • Find real-world cases

43. Require Peer Responses A form of providing feedback • Lessens the instructor’s load • Forces students to read and consider each others’ work

44. 3-sentence rule • Avoid overwhelming “I agree” type messages • Require that all students post messages of 3 sentences or longer • The result: • I agree with you. • That’s a good idea • Ummm…. I have to actually say something now!

45. Model desired interactions • Provide students with a sample message • Share an archived discussion from a previous course (perhaps on a related, but different topic) • Exhibit desired communication style in all messages to students

46. Provide feedback • Set expectations (tell learners how they will get feedback) • Provide quantitative feedback (numerical grade, rubric, count #/length of messages) • Provide qualitative feedback • Try to refer to students by name and relate personal experiences

47. Ron Oliver: Edith Cowan University in Australiahttp://elrond.scam.ecu.edu.au//oliver/; r.oliver@cowan.edu.au Professor of Interactive Multimedia, and the Director of the Centre for Research in Information Technology and Communications

48. Collaborative and Constructivist Web Tasks(McLoughlin & Oliver, 1999; Oliver & McLoughlin, 1999)) • Apprenticeship: Q&A; Ask an Expert (chats & async). • Case-Based and Simulated Learning: exchange remote views; enact events online. • Active Learning: Design Web pages and project databases. • Reflective/Metacognitive Learning: Reflect in online journals, bulletin boards • Experiential Learning: Post (articulate ideas) to discussion groups • Authentic Learning: PBL, search current databases

49. Pedagogical Techniques of CMC(Paulsen, 1995, The Online Report on Pedagogical Techniques for Computer-Mediated Communication) • Collective databases, Access to Online Resources • Informal socializing (online cafes) • Seminars (read before going online) • Public tutorials • Peer counseling, learning partnerships (Online Support Groups) • Simulations, games, and role plays • Free Flowing Discussions/Forums • Email interviews • Symposia or speakers on a theme • The notice board (class announcements)

50. Framework for Pedagogical CMC Techniques(Paulsen, 1995, The Online Report on Pedagogical Techniques for Computer-Mediated Communication) • One-alone Techniques: Online journals, online databases, interviews, online interest groups. • One-to-one Techniques: Learning contracts, internships, apprenticeships. • One-to-many Techniques: Lectures, symposiums, skits. • Many-to-many Techniques: Debates, simulations, games, case studies, discussion groups, brainstorming, Delphi techniques, nominal group process, forums, group projects.