Student Reflections

This is a blog that I used during my online learing class with Dr. Dawley. I found it helpful to reflect on my readings and have others comment on them. At first, I thought I was just "remembering" what I have read, but as time went on, and I read more, I found that it really helped me to synthesize information much better.

Thus, use with students will help them reflect on their own learning, as I have.

Prepare for the Eruptions!

Ko & Rossen’s Online Learning: Chapters 9-11

I am beginning to see a pattern. It seems that a lot the reading about online learning is filled with a barrage of barriers, barricades and brick walls. It makes me wonder why anyone would want to teach in an online environment. I will agree, however, that it is important to know what lies ahead of us, but equally importantly to know what lies inside of us when we take on a new role as either an online learner or instructor.

As an online instructor, we need to know that we will be receiving individuals into our classrooms that may have no concept of what lies ahead of them in the online environment. Our friends, Ko and Rossen, believe that an online orientation is an effective tool for students prior to beginning the online adventure. Is orientation enough? Students may go through the orientation, but still may not clearly understand that online learning is not for everyone. In addition to orientation, I would like to suggest an online learner pass a test before being accepted into an online program. Doctors take MCATs, master’s students take the GRE, why not create the OLCT (Online Learning Competency Test)? This test could also prepare students for online learning in addition to the orientation.

Students are students no matter where if you are online or on ground. Instructors need to be able to manage in both arenas. Ko and Rossen suggest ways to managing communications, participation and workload as well as records and files. After experience, it would be expected that each instructor would come up with his/her own unique way of managing the classroom. It would be no different that the first year elementary teacher who spends a lot of time with management.

I found Ko and Rossen’s explanation of student behavior problems to be quite fascinating. It makes sense that if there are so many other commonalities between online and onground classrooms, that student behavior problems would be present as well. Strategies for assisting a quiet student to a high level of participation as well as dealing with students who post four letter words is really no different than working in a school. One difference in behavior with online students is that inappropriate behavior, such as sending a nasty e-mail, is easier to do than telling your instructor face-to-face how you REALLY feel. In a conversation with Dr. Snelson, she stated that when students become frustrated (not with the instructor) but with a particular task, it is easy for them to write an e-mail.

Julie’s question for the day: How many online instructors have never taught an onground class? Does this make a difference?

The Learning Tug O' War

Palloff & Pratt's Collaborating Online: Chapters 3 & 4

Before reflecting on the readings, I would like to state that I am confused about the audiences. When Palloff and Pratt write about the online learner, are they talking about adult learners, high school learners, middle school students or seniors wanting to learn new information? This question brings me back, yet again, to the SETT (Student, Environment, Tools, Tasks) process for assistive technology. The clarification that I need is about the student, who is the student? I know the environment is an online setting, but before I can think about instruction for the environment, I need to know who is this student that they write about.

We live in a world where many of us do not get along. Just read the news. It should be of no surprise when Palloff and Pratt state that there are groups who do not work well together either. The authors try and explain reasons, such as bad past experiences, lack of leadership, or culture. Placing X amount of INDIVIDUALS in a group to reach a common goal is a hard task no matter the environment. What is an online instructor to do if this process is to succeed?

The authors suggest that collaboration should not be viewed as a "one time thing". It should be interwoven into the overall course. Students need to learn to "celebrate the differences and richness of those on their teams." Conflict management skills need to be used. Most importantly, planning of the course. Once again, we need to look at the design of our course. Have we planned correctly for the use of collaboration? Do we as instructors value collaboration? If we do not, how can we effectively create and model for our students?

Question for the day: If collaboration is so good for learning, then why do many people dislike it? Do we need many positive experiences to change our beliefs about it? Does education need to make sure that teachers use cooperative learning in the classroom thoughout the formative years? Perhaps many our jobs rely on the ability to collaborate successfully on a day-to-day basis. We may just be tired of it at the end of the day.

The Instructional Design Buffet

(Note: Please forgive my “boring “ approach to the reading assignment. My purpose is to understand the processes that I find most important. )

Once again, the importance of instructional design is needed for a successful online class. All chapters: Student Activities, Online Collaboration, Creating Courseware and Copyright are components that need to be considered and carefully planned for prior to instruction implementation.

The two most “meaty” chapters for me were The Process of Online Collaboration and Student Activities in Online Environments. The remaining chapters, Creating Courseware and Copyright were side dishes (I must be hungry. Forgive my food analogies.) that provided additional tools to the construction of online classes.

The chapter on collaboration was of particular interest to me, as I had recently “observed” the Internet for Educators as a TA. The instructor for this class followed Palloff and Pratt’s recommendations for online collaboration. The following occurred in this group activity:
THE STAGES OF COLLABORATION
• Setting the Stage: Presentation of the agenda, or map. Explain to the students where they are going and why.
• Create the Environment: The instructor provide “a place” in the discussion board.
• Model the Process: The instructor provided information about working in groups (multimedia presentation and written text). Everyone has a part in the process.
• Guide the Process: The instructor let the students know that she would not be involved unless students asked for assistance or there was a barrier that needed to be removed.
• Evaluate the Process: The instructor provided a rubric for both weeks that clearly outlined expectations.

Question: Although Palloff and Pratt state that groups need to create a sense of community, I am still somewhat unclear with how much time to allow for team building. Are the ice breakers or introductions enough to create a sense of connectedness or do we hope that the students “bond” through the process? In an on ground class, the process would seem to happen much more quickly.

TOOLS FOR COLLABORATION
• Explanation for teams: The instructor provided a link to an article on Social Cognitive Theory. In addition, she explained why the students would participate in group work.
• Guidelines and Expectations: This is much like guiding the process as mentioned before. The formation of groups should be heterogenous. Try to limit groups to four individuals. Provide “bonding time”. Make sure that students know you will be present, but also communicate the amount of interaction you will have with them. Include peer evaluations This creates an fair way to grade as those who worked will may get a higher grade than those who did not.
• Agreements and Buy-Ins: Simply said, the agreement is a contract created by and for group members. It is used in on ground courses as well. When all group members support the agreement, then there is a buy-in by the members.

Julie’s Favorite Student Activities and Comments from Student Activities in Online Environments (Chapter 6): Simulations and role-playing.

I especially like the idea of using simulations and role-playing. What a fantastic idea! Students can research someone in history, pose as that person, and then answer e-mails from the class or participate in the chat. I wonder if Dr. Dawley would let me pose as Steve Jobs for the remainder of the class?

In summary, like the Internet, the way in which an instructor delivers online instruction is filled with many choices. From group work to online simulations, it seems there is an endless buffet (here we go again…more food analogies) from which to choose. The work comes in how the food is selected and prepared, or in the instructional design. Making healthy and nutritious choices in your online class is the key to successful student learning.

Time to go eat!

Distance Education Bacteria and the Self-Regulation Vaccine

Over the past several years, there has been a huge increase in enrollment for distance education classes. Why? For the same reasons that many of us find ourselves at BSU, such as flexibility. But many after enrolling, many distance students are susceptible to the “I am alone” bacteria that can be found growing in many distance education classes.

“Self-regulation refers to the degree to which learners are metacognitvely, motivationally, and behaviorally active participants in their own learning process” (p.376). Hodges, the author, used Bandura's information (remember him from Social Learning Theory) as he is most recognized in this area. According to Bandura, a student must have the following skills to be able to have self-regulation:
• Ability to self-observe. “This is me. This is what I can do.”
• Ability to self-judge. An individual sets personal standards here.
• Ability to self-react. “This is me. This was my performance. This is why I was or was not successful”. If the student is not satisfied with the performance, then he/she must modify the standards.

So, do you have these abilities? If so, it is my guess that you have not been bitten by the Distance Education Bacteria Bug. In addition to these abilities, the author also writes that goal orientation also determines a person’s ability to be successful in the classroom. Goal orientation refers to things:
• Performance goals: Standards are set by a curriculum, state standards or instructor, an outside entity. When objectives and goals are set by those other than the students, the students will believe that intelligence is fixed.
• Learning goals: Learning goals are set by the student. They are intrinsic. These goals are associated with the belief that intelligence is changeable and can be developed.

What does this mean for distance education? Is it really any different that what we would expect or want from a student in a traditional setting? Although the author states that there is limited research on self-regulation in Web-environments, I would contend that we do not need more. All students need self-regulation and self-efficacy. As instructors in all settings, we need to be aware that some students may not have these skills. Perhaps we need to list them as a prerequisite skill before beginning a web class. However, I would also say that traditional classrooms should list the same prerequisites. Learners are learners, we just need to design for the diversity and provide students with the necessary vaccines ☺

Hodges, C. (2005). Self-regulation in web-based courses. A review and the need for research. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 6(4), p. 375-383.

Cathartic Learning: Now I Get It!

I can’t believe this! I am embarrassed. As a teacher, I have known that by writing, students were able to understand information better as it gives them the time to think about and synthesize information. It was not until I read the article “Distance Education in Traditional Classrooms – A Hybrid Model” that I actually “got it”. This is why we blog, respond, reflect, discuss in discussion boards, and chat about our readings. It allows us the time to reflect and think about the information. Improving our understanding requires us to reflect on our experiences. I like to think of as cathartic learning (Cunningham, 2006. I just coined that phrase right now as I am reflecting on my writing.). Perhaps being in the role of a student, I don’t see why it is I am doing some of the things that I am doing. Transferring information from one role to another gets a bit blurry. But, given the opportunity to reflect on information that I have read, I now see clearly.

So what does my “ah-ha” moment have to do with hybrid learning? Hybrid learning gives students to reflect on information that they have read or learned online. It provides processing time. Think about the majority of students in a traditional classroom. Typically, the majority of them sit there, listening, taking notes, but rarely contributing to the discussion or participating in reflective thinking. If opportunities are provided for students to think and reflect in discussion boards, blogs or wikis, then there is a higher probability of reaching higher order thinking.

When classes are hybrid, it provides students with the best of both learning environments. Face-to-face contact to connect with other students as well as the time to reflect, write and react to classmates, which creates higher cognition.

Yanes, M. J. (2004). Distance education in traditional classes: A hybrid model. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 5(4), p. 265-276.

Are You a Pajama Wearing E-Mailing Statistic?

In Teaching in Our Pajamas: Negotiating With Adult Learners in Online Distance Writing Courses, Halio shares her experiences with teaching online adult learners. Her findings are quite interesting.

After creating what she thought to be an extremely well organized, concise, clear, and thoughtful online program, Halio sits down at home (i.e., in her pajamas) to get to know her students. Instead of learning about the students, she was surprised with what she found.

“You log on to e-mail and are greeted by a hot blast of messages full of students’ emotions-anxiety about their ability to handle the assignments or software (usually from women) or anger at the course load or your policies (usually from men). This emotional outpouring is a new challenge to your teaching, and you sense danger ahead.”

Women:
1. Need for processing information face-to-face (I admit this!)
2. View online courses as impersonal or remote (I have felt this.)
3. Need for encouragement (Ok..who doesn’t like pats on the back? Admit it!)
4. Will write more of the compliments and thank-you’s to instructors (I have sent the Apple iCards to instructors)
5. Will ask for help (Everyone asks for help with HTML and JavaScript, don’t they?)

Men:
1. E-mails are equally filled with emotion
2. Typically will write in response course policies, structure of course or questioning the usefulness of assignments
3. E-mail messages are often subversive as they want to assume the authority
4. Not willing to discuss private issues blocking their progress

Perhaps this article should be a prerequisite reading for all students entering the online learning environment as it puts the student on the other side of the computer.

Halio, M. (2004). Teaching in our pajamas. College Teaching. (52) 2, 58-62.

Week 4: "Get Them Together!"

Online Teaching/Chapter 5:

Ko and Rossen’s (2004) used chapter 5 for organizational tool talk. They discussed a variety of tools from discussion boards, chat rooms, white boards and e-mails. It is hoped that the reader will keep in mind that the list of tools is never static. The most important message from this chapter is “TRIAL AND ERROR”. An instructor needs to remember, that instruction is ever evolving, like the tools that are used.

I thought the EduTools website (http://www.edutools.info/index.jsp) was very functional and cool! It evaluates course management systems using 40 features. What is nice is that one can choose which features are important for a management system. Julie’s tip: You won’t really know a system until you use it!

Ko, S., & Rossen, S. (2004). Teaching Online A Practical Guide. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Online Teaching/Chapter 12:
This chapter provides the potential online instructor with the tasks that an online instructor will need to do or consider. However, reading about how to convert one’s online course is very different from actually doing it. Being part constructivist, I find it difficult to conceptualize teaching my AT & Writing workshop online. How often do I have discussions? Live chats? Video integration? Here again, this is where instructional design plays an important part. If the instruction is already designed, supposedly the conversion should not be too time consuming. Ko and Rossen (2004) remind us that the initial start-up of the class may be time consuming, but in the end, it will be easy to add to, improve or update the coursework.

To prevent the idea of frustration, I need to remember that this is trial and error as was stated in chapter 5. I personally need to reflect back on my first several years of teaching. Mistakes, errors, debacles. . .but without those “joys”, my teaching would not have improved. I need to keep the same mind set for online teaching. Enjoy the journey.

Ko, S., & Rossen, S. (2004). Teaching Online A Practical Guide. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Collaborating Online/Chapter 1:
“Online instructors cannot deliver knowledge; online learners must seek it out.” – Styers as quoted in Palloff and Pratt (2005, p. 3).

The first line of the first chapter immediately got my attention. There is a consistent pattern in most everything that we read. Traditional learning and online learning have almost the same needs.

Chapter one discusses the need to feel connected or a sense of belonging and how to create the belonging within an online course. It is instructional designing for Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, level three, belonging. Instructors need to create community before collaboration can take place. Collaboration is needed to increase student learning. Palloff and Pratt (2005) call collaboration the “heart and soul” of online learning. Another interesting point is that the instructors are also included in this community. This makes sense to me as our instructors are our first role model in this environment, much like the parent is the first teacher in an infant’s learning.

Palloff, R. & Pratt, K. (2005). Collaborating Online. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

In “How Recent Brain Research Can Inform the Design of Online Learning”, Meyer (2004) states that the brain depends on interaction with people in order to learn. Early childhood learning programs focus on interaction between the child and others. The parents are taught how to interact with their child to develop language, social skills and more. We know that as a child learns, synaptic connections are increased. Meyer states “Given this early experience, it is no surprise that face-to-face communication substantially increases levels of cooperation” (2004, p. 8). Meyer questions if too much emphasis is placed on face-to-face learning. Isn’t it true that most individuals have social connections outside the online learning environment? Is it the face-to-face interaction or is it the sense of community within the learning? Can we learn if we feel connected, but without “in person time”? Quartz and Sejnowski in Meyer, state that individuals who play games over the computer have poorer levels of cooperation that those who play the same game in person.

Given how the brain learns, I believe that this article show that it is important for instructors to create opportunities for the student to see the instructor and other students, given data about face-to-face interaction. Furthermore, we need to belong to a group in order to collaborate as a group. There are many tools that allow for the collaboration of students and instructor.

Meyer, K. (2004). How recent brain research can inform the design of online learning. Retrieved February 12, 2006 from http://www.thejeo.com/Meyer%20Final.pdf.