Qualities of a Successful Online Environment
The Tennessee Online Board of Regents (http://www.tn.regentsdegrees.org/faculty/pedagogy.htm) provides guidelines and best practices for educators teaching distance courses. Educators submitting courses for acceptance to the TN Board of Regents Online Program need to demonstrate a proficiency of instructional design. The Board requires objectives, learning outcomes, entry-level behaviors, clustering of instruction with timelines as well as materials needed for the course. Statements of course outcomes as well as grading procedure and scale are also required of the instructor.
In my personal experience of online education, all of my courses have been very well designed. Information is clear. Initially, one needs to understand the rhythm of the instructor and coursework. For example, my very first semester with Dr. Snelson and Dr. Dawley was stressful given a new environment. As a traditional student, I wanted to provide the answer that they wanted, instead of creating my own learning. I believe their classes are successful is that their method is consistent and expectations are clear. Dr. Snelson gives assignments on Tuesdays, models are given, the rubric is provided and resources, such as videos, are provided on her personal website to demonstrate a task. The class is like clockwork. Dr. Dawley, on the other hand, is equally consistent, but typically there are several due dates in her design. It is clear that Dr. Dawley tries to create a learning community by the activities that she creates. Mills’ (http://www.tltgroup.org/gilbert/millis.htm) states that meaningful activities (Ask Dr. Dawley about A Tale in the Desert. It is a great activity!) should be a part of online education courses in order for students to interact and learn from each other. Given learning groups that she placed us in last semester, I became a friend of Paul Castelin (We were in group1).
Excellent instructional design and MEANINGFUL communication (e.g., problem solving) could be considered the foundation of successful online instruction.
posted by Julie Cunningham at 5:27 PM
6 Comments:
Julie, I agree that Dr. Dawley’s and Dr. Snelson’s classes are perfect examples of a successful learning environment. To take their courses and then emulate them should create a nice space for other students. Not that I think that goal would be easy to accomplish.
The buzzwords in the articles I read about this seemed to be “sense of community” and “good communications.” The following URL has a detailed paper on the subject.
http://ifets.ieee.org/periodical/7_3/8.pdf
5:15 PM
I enoyed reading your analysis of the teaching styles of Dr. Snelson and Dr. Dawyley. You hit it on the head when you said a good online course needs to have both excellent design and effective communication. I found Dr. Snelson's course so beneficial because of the how well the multimedia experiences tied into my own teaching style and the Visual Media courses I teach. It was a perfect fit and motivated me to design a hybrid course with multimedia tutorials.
Now I can see that Dr. Dawley has designed an equally engaging course, yet different because we are so focused on interactions and more frequent communication. The multiple deadlines are a bit challening to keep up with and I am amazed that Dr. Dawley can keep up with it all. I am taking two courses from her this semester and I am having a tough time keeping the multiple deadlines straight. I find that I need to get online everyday and I have to be better organized to stay on top of the assignments. I love what I am learning though. This whole blogging world is absolutely amazing! It is like instant website - so simple and free. It is fun and time-consuming. I love the fact that Dr. Dawley is exposing us to a variety of online learning tools and methods. This will be a great learing experience and one I need right now as I start to design my first hybrid course for my masters thesis project.
This site is an interesting case study about how to set up a hybrid course: http://taste.merlot.org/portal/jolt/
vol1_no2_hensley.htm
8:07 PM
I really appreciate Caryn's comments because I was feeling inadequate and inept. I have had to resort to pencil and paper to keep my assignments organized and on schedule. Does that mean I need a PDA?
3:36 AM
Yes, Dr. Dawley's multiple deadlines can get a bit stressful. HOWEVER, could the rationale be that we know that this happens, which is the stimulus for getting online more frequently, so that it becomes an automated procedure. School...get online, check out what is new. Humm..we should ask her.
I wish that I could do all of my coursework with Chareen and Lisa. I know that that is not the real world. I know some individuals who could take lessons from them!
Pam, yes..you are an edtech person now. PDA it! Although....when you think about the task...keeping organized, does paper and pencil work? One must consider from low tech to high tech.
Three cheers for Chareen and Lisa!
10:06 AM
It's interesting to read everyone's interpretations of my teaching style. Albeit to say I don't like, or always require, multiple deadlines every week :) BUT I definitely believe in the power of student interaction and collaboration. And sometimes multiple deadlines are needed to make it happen--I hear the stress, though, and I want you to know I appreciate the feedback on that aspect. I'll try to tone it down a tad :)
There is definitely a trade-off in online course design (and thus teaching approach) when attempting to create community vs. teaching skills. Both are important as part of learning, yes? I highly value the social aspect of learning, even though it can be extremely inconvenient for adult online learners. I was tickled that you remembered a Tale in the Desert--I've only used that activity once--maybe I need to pull it out of my hat again :)
Pam, hang in there....I believe you enrolled in two of toughest courses in our program during your first semester. Let me know if I can help!
3:04 PM
I realized the first week of class that multiple dates was a good thing because one of my major frustrations is having to wait for input from others. How to organize those multiple dates is my problem. I can't complain because I am by nature a procrastinator--I just don't have that luxury right now and I have to consider how it would affect the class.
The comment about taking two of the toughest courses is scary. It is kind of a relief when thinking about the future, but it really makes me nervous right now.
6:18 AM
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