Distance Learning

1
Distance Learning

• Things Learned Teaching Online Mathematics
  Courses
• Mike OLear, Adjunct

2
My Experience

• Taught online (2001-2005) at Great Falls COT
• Introductory Algebra (MA 005)
• Business Mathmost success
• Intermediate Algebra (MA 100)
• Statistics (MA 241)least success

3
My Experience

• Used WebCTinitially poor environment for
  mathematics
• No MathType
• No coordination with symbolic algebra software
  (Maple, Mathematica, etc.)
• Clutsy way to make HTML fileshad to use Netscape
  Composer to do HTML

4
Experience

• Until WebCT got better, used Pearson Course
  Compass MyMathLab as the virtual environment
• 1 year later, WebCT got upgraded--sufficient as a
  mathematical classroom
• Now (2009), BlackBoard seems very adequate to
  support the classes I taughtCindy L. presently
  uses it in STAT 216

5
Experience

• Took a 3 credit class from MSU Bozeman on
  teaching math distance classes
• Had various seminars on distance learning
• Had seminar from U of IIlinois professors
  teaching online Calculus successfully for 10
  years

6
Experience

• Tutored online Statistics student from U of
  Phoenixthey dont have online math courses
  figured out yet, either
• Tutored multiple online MA 117 students this past
  spring and summer from Missoula COTthere are
  assessment dangers of taking online quizzes and
  tests

7
What I Learned From Experience

• It seemed that GFCOT was beta testers for MSU
  Bozeman for online math (and other) courses
• Possibly UM could use UMCOT for same
  investigation
• The future is certain for all academic
  post-secondary institutionsonline will be
  implemented

8
Administrators Like Online Courses

• Cost savings due to virtual vs actual classroom
• Larger acceptable student/teacher ratio with
  online offerings
• Remotely stationed, possibly cheaper, less
  educated teachers available for online
  offerings
• Larger geographical area for studentsI had a
  student in the Philippines in my Stat class

9
Administrators Like Online Classes

• Monitoring of classes can more easily and more
  covertly be done if they are online
• Book publishers and special interests are
  successfully lobbying Administrators pitching
  their claims of online possibility and
  successmathematics/science is rarely mentioned
  in these discussions, however

10
Students (Mostly) Like Online Class

• Cost savingsdont have to drive and dress for
  class, dont have to get a baby sitter
• Conveniencedont have to alter job schedules to
  match school schedules, can have class 24-7
• Any location (including during vacation trips,
  hospital stays, etc.) can be used to attend
  class

11
Students (Mostly) Like Online Class

• You can have extra help next to you during
  online homework, quizzes, and tests, which you
  would not have face-to-face (FTF)
• Grading is easier in online equivalent to FTF
  math courses

12
Some Math Teachers Like Online Course Options

• Fewer math/science teachers than, say, History,
  English, Education, Psychology, etc. teachers,
  however
• All of us (Mathematics teachers) must resign
  ourselves to the inevitability of the movement
  reaching uslike subdivisions coming to Bozeman
  ranch/farm property in the early 70sprepare
  for it, dont fight it

13
Some Concepts of Teaching Online Learned

• I morph from a teacher into more of a
  facilitator when going online with class
• I must inventory what works for me in the
  classroom and find equivalencies online
• --PowerPoints and video lectures are NOT
  panaceas to equivalencies
• --video conferencing is too expensive and
  inconvenient, for either school or students

14
Some Concepts of Teaching Online Learned

• Resign yourself to some percentage of failure
  the first time(s) you present online
  coursesupervisors should realize this, I hope,
  rather than expect instantaneous perfection
• --realize that students (and you) are
  beta-testers
• --you will be more open to constructive changes
  (changes which are effective)
• --you will get better quicker in your course

15
Some Concepts of Teaching Online Learned

• Do offering hybrid and then morph into full
  online later, if possible
• --what you cant find equivalents to online,
  then keep them FTF
• --I had phone office hours as well as chat
  lines (for slow typers, who couldnt join
  conversations)
• --I set up tutoring centers in Bozeman,
  Missoula, and Billings (as well as in Great
  Falls) for FTF help

16
Some Concepts of Teaching Online Learned

• Important assessments should be done FTF
• --I had all midterms done in a proctored test
  center, with finished exams immediately sent to
  me for gradingI did homework and some quizzes
  online, however
• Encourage geographical clusters of students to
  form study groups with extra credit

17
Some Concepts of Teaching Online Learned

• Mandate a campus computer room visit (before the
  semester starts) for a 1 hour visitation with you
• --so you can size each other up
• --so class expectations can be imparted FTF
• --so students can have a guided surf of your
  class web site
• --so students can meet (group) with each other

18
Some Concepts of Teaching Online Learned

• Not all students are suitable for online
  classes
• --the most organized do best online (notice I
  did not say the smartest)
• --the more self-teachers and self-sufficient
  (rarely found) do the best
• --must be technically literate and have
  dependable, middle aged computer (at least), and
  access to backup
• --must have a friend who is a computer geek to
  help with problems

19
Some Concepts of Teaching Online Learned

• Use course email for ALL class businessdont
  respond to students who contact you on other
  email accounts
• This will keep the complete class records
  (gradebook, email, class documents, etc.) at one
  electronic locationtrue even for hybrid classes

20
Some Concepts of Teaching Online Learned

• The most successful online math offerings are
  those with high volume of algorithmic content
• --Business Math
• --(some) 100 and 200 level offerings
• --I used Workshop Stats book best in online but
  still ended up with poor results

21
Some Concepts of Teaching Online Learned

• You will spend more time preparing for the course
  (the first few times) longer than it is
  worthwhile to do, or more than you are paid to do
• If possible, have parallel FTF and online
  sections for students to enter
• If I have paper grader, have him/her post online
  documents, post grades, do chat lines, fix
  technical problems, make phone calls, etc.

22
Learned Online Teaching Concepts

• The text I use online may be quite different than
  that used FTF for the same class
• --FTF I used Velleman 2nd Ed Statistics for STAT
  216
• --online I used Workshop Stats, 1st Ed for STAT
  216
• --I used Velleman once online, and it was a
  disasterbetter, somewhat, with Workshop

23
U of Illinois Experience

• Came to MSUGF and put on a day long seminar in
  2003?
• Had completely online pre-calc., calc. 1 and 2,
  and was going to do lin. alg. nextsuccessfully!!
• Course designers were 2 math professors and 2 or
  3 high school teachers from the areaneeded
  online for corn farmers in the Champagne-Urbana
  area

24
U of Illinois

• They had Mathematica demos and homework weaved
  throughout the curriculaonline student
  connection to Mathematica
• They had TAs man phones on multiple office hours
  and email answers to questions and do class
  bookwork online.
• They authored their own text, made it available
  online through passwords of Adobe .pdf documents

25
U of Illinois

• They had study centers at remote locations
  around Illinois, and places on main campus for
  online students to study or get tutored
• They had online homework, interactive kinds of
  work, group work, problem solving threads, etc.,
  all onlineand it was effective for students!!
• At the seminar, they gave us a thought problem,
  which I solved with Sketchpad on their Mac laptop
• I recommend they come here and give seminar on
  mathematical online offering successes

26
Dangers of Math. Online Offerings

• Do all major assessment FTF, not online
• --avoids cheating
• --maintains uniformity of assessment
• Do homework, minor quizzes, group work/
  proposals/results online
• --automatic feedback nice
• --automatic grading nice

27
Online Math. Dangers

• Multiple choice answers can be teaching wrong
  mathematical objectives or bad mathso review
  EVERY TestGen question you will post online, for
  correctness of math. and correctness of
  assessment probe (make sure the question does
  what you want it to do for students)
• --rounding problem questionsall right or all
  wrong teaches students to get the right answer
  instead of learning any math. concepts

28
Online Math. Dangers

• Dont publish long winded documents or
  announcements online. Students (even the good
  ones) will pay attention to between half a page
  to one page of written information or
  instructionsthe rest will be glossed over or
  misinterpreted, or just not read! Say things
  online short, sweet, and clear

29
Summary

• 3 kinds of teaching attitudes about online (from
  Chronicle of Higher Ed paper)
• 1 opponentsFTF teaching, in the classical
  tradition is the only way to gofight online
  movements to the bitter end
• 2 pragmatic opponentsonline will be done,
  but is second-best alternative?I am this
• 3 full blown supporters of online
  Intellectually equivalent of FTF courses?author
  was this

30
Summary

• I think online will work good enough for students
  and our standards if the teacher puts much
  thought into how to accomplish the same goals as
  in FTF
• What cannot be done online must be retained as in
  FTF (e.g., tests, tutoring, working in groups,
  etc.)
• I had to do much on my ownmathematics is not
  considered in much of the how to teach online
  training

31
Summary

• Blackboard is an acceptable and adequate
  electronic classroom environment (now) to handle
  most mathematics classesnot so just a few years
  ago.
• Possibly run beta programs, using COT personnel
  and course offerings, and supervise/monitor
  student learning with your own personnel

32
Summary

• If possible, start with hybrid (and maybe stay
  hybrid), adding elements a bit at a time as you
  feel secure to do so
• If possible, offer FTF and online course at the
  same time (i.e., same semester), and compare
  learning outcomes