Introduction to Online Teaching

1
Introduction to Online Teaching

• Candace Chou
• University of St.Thomas

2
Outline

• Debate
• Process
• Cognitive theory
• Examples
• Tools

3
As We May Think

• There is a growing mountain of research. But
  there is increased evidence that we are being
  bogged down today as specialization extends. The
  investigator is staggered by the findings and
  conclusions of thousands of other workers -
  conclusions which he cannot find time to grasp,
  much less to remember, as they appear.
• Vannevar Bush, 1945

4
Quotes

• Technology is neither good nor bad in itself,
  nor can it dictate educational goals. A pencil
  can be used to write Shakespearean sonnets or to
  copy someone elses homework
• Howard Gardner, 2000, p. 33

5
No Difference

• The best current evidence is that media are mere
  vehicles that deliver instruction but do not
  influence student achievement any more than the
  truck that delivers our groceries causes changes
  in nutrition only the content of the vehicle can
  influence achievement
• Richard Clark, 1994, p. 445

6
Counter-view

• Learning in an online environment can be as
  effective as that in traditional classrooms
• Students in well-design and well-implemented
  online courses learn better than those in online
  courses that are not carefully planned
• Tallent-Runnels et al. (2006)

7
The Balance

• Assigning too much influence to media can lead to
  the design/ development of sloppy, ineffective
  instructional materials that are accepted by
  technologists and users simply because they
  utilize CBI, interactive video, or other
  'high-status' delivery media. Assigning too
  little influence to media, on the other hand, may
  discourage reflective thinking by designers about
  which media can best convey the instructional
  strategies needed to achieve instructional
  objectives (p. 6).
• Steve Ross, 1994

8
Percentage training hours delivered by classroom
and technology
Source Sugrue Rivera, 2005
9
Organization Spending on Training
ASTD State of the Industry Report, 2008
10
K-12 Online Learners
North American Council on Online Learning
(NACOL), 2008
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Postsecondary Online Enrollment
Sloan Foundation, 2008, Online Nation
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Focused Question

• Take out a sheet of paper and list as many
  characteristics of E-Learning as you can.

13
What is e-Learning

• Instruction delivered on a computer by ways of
  CD-ROM, Internet, or intranet
• E-Learning courses include both content
  (information) and instructional methods
  (techniques) to help people learn
• Synchronous or asynchronous or blended learning

Source Clark Mayer, 2008
14
Key Components of Online Learning
Online Learning
Source Dabbagh Bannan-Ritland, 2005
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Key Components of Online Learning
E.g., collaboration, articulation, reflection,
role-playing, exploration, problem solving
Online Learning
16
Key Components of Online Learning
E.g., open , or flexible, learning distributed
learning knowledge-building communities
Online Learning
17
Key Components of Online Learning
E.g., asynchronous and synchronous communication
tools, hypermedia and multimedia tools, web
authoring tools, course management systems
Online Learning
18
Relationship
19
Attributes of Distance Learning

• Globalization and learning as a social process
  are inherent and enabled through
  telecommunication technology.
• The concept of a learning group is fundamental to
  achieving and sustaining learning.
• The concept of distance is relatively unimportant
  or blurred and is not limited to the physical
  separation of the learner and the instructor.
• Teaching and learning events ( or course events)
  are distributed across time and place, occurring
  synchronously and/or asynchronously through
  different media.
• Learners are engaged in multiple forms of
  interaction learner-learner, learner-group,
  learner-content, and learner-instructor.

20
Pedagogical Models (Constructs)

• Open (or flexible) learning
• Distributed learning
• Learning communities
• Communities of practice
• Knowledge building communities

21
Open Learning

• A shift from delivering preestablished curriculum
  to focusing on individual and local needs and
  requirements
• Student-centeredness
• Focus on learning rather than on teaching
• Provides students with flexibility and choice in
  meeting their educational goals.
• Examples, knowledge networks, knowledge portals,
  virtual classrooms

22
Distributed Learning

• Education is delivered anytime, anywhere, to
  multiple locations, by using one or more
  technologies
• A pull model of education in which students
  engage in learning at their own pace and time, in
  contrast to traditional push model in which
  synchronize their needs and schedules to the
  institution.
• What is known lies in the interaction between
  individuals and artifacts and other technological
  devices. (Pea, 1990, Perkins, 1990)

23
Learning Communities

• Groups of people who support one another with
  regard to meeting their learning agendas, working
  together on projects, learning from one another,
  and engaging in a collective sociocultural
  experience in which participation in transformed
  into a new experience or new learning (Rogoff,
  1994, Wilson Ryder, 1998)

24
Communities of Practice

• Groups of people informally bound together by
  shared expertise and passion for a joint
  enterprise. (Wenger Snyder, 2000)
• They are defined by knowledge rather than by
  task, and members are self-selecting rather than
  assigned by a higher authority. (Allee, 2000)
• A popular term in the business community

25
Knowledge-Building Communities

• Learning communities in which communication is
  perceived as transformative (resulting in a new
  experience or learning) through knowledge sharing
  and generation.
• Example research teams in the scientific
  disciplines or firms

26
E-Learning Development Process
Performance analysis
Worker Performance
Job and task analysis
Design
Goals and outcomes
Development
Testing and Implementation
27
Five Types of Content in E-Learning
Type Definition Example
Fact Specific and unique data or instance Operator symbols for Excel formula, illustration
Concept A category that includes multiple examples Excel formulas, worked examples
Process A flow of events or activities How spreadsheets work, flow chart
Procedure Task performed with step-by-step actions How to enter a formula into the spreadsheet, video tutorials
Strategic principles Task performed by adapting guidelines How to do a financial projection with a spreadsheet, simulation
Source for next 12 slides (Clark Mayer, 2008)
28
Two Types of E-Learning Goals

• Procedural, aka, near transfer
• How to logon
• How to complete an expense report
• How to insert html code for embed video
• Principle-based or strategic, aka, far transfer
• How to close a sale
• How to analyze a loan
• How to design an ice-breaker activity

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What Makes E-Learning Unique

• Practice with feedback
• Social software and collaboration
• Tailored instruction
• Simulation and games
• Other?

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Two-Minute Discussion

• Think of what you know about online teaching
  strategies.
• Turn to a partner and share your knowledge.
• Do you have anything to share with the class?

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Three Metaphors of Learning
Metaphor Learner is Instructor is
Response strengthening Passive recipient of rewards and punishments Dispenser of rewards and punishments
Information Acquisition Passive recipient of information Dispenser of information
Knowledge construction Active sense maker Cognitive guide
32
Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning
Long-term memory
Multimedia
Senses
Working Memory
Select words
Words
Ears
Sounds
Verbal model
Organizing words images
Integrating
Select images
Prior knowledge
Pictures
Eyes
Pictorial model
Images
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Four Principles in Cognitive Science

• Dual channels auditory/verbal
• Limited capacity a few pieces of information in
  each channel
• Active processing learning occurs when people
  engage in appropriate cognitive processing
• Transfer new knowledge and skills must be
  retrieved from long-term memory duing performance

34
How can e-Lesson help learning?

• Selection of the important information in lesson
• Management of the limited capacity in working
  memory
• Integration of auditory and visual sensory
  information in working memory with existing
  knowledge in long-term memory and
• Retrieval of new knowledge and skills from
  long-term memory into working memory when needed
  later.

35
Interpret Research Statistics

• Effect size (d) tells us how many standard
  deviations one group is more than the other
• Effect size1, very strong effect
• Effect size .2, .5, .8 means small, moderate,
  and strong impact
• For example, group A averages 90 and group B
  80, the standard deviation is 10. The effect
  size is 1.
• Standard deviation tells you how spread the
  scores are.

90 - 80 ----------- 1 10
Source (Clark Mayer, 2008, p. 47)
36
Probability

• P lt .05
• There is less than a 5 percent chance that the
  difference between 90 percent and 80 percent does
  NOT reflect a real difference between the two
  groups.
• There is a 95 percent chance that the difference
  in scores is real.
• Conclusion, the difference between groups is
  significant.

37
Multimedia Principle

• E-Learning courses should include
• Words
• Printed text or spoken text (e.g., speech)
• Graphics
• Still illustrations or dynamic graphics (e.g.,
  animation or video)

38
Good Example
39
Counter Example
40
Evidence

• People learn better from words and picture than
  from words alone.
• The multimedia principle works best for novices
• Use graphics for organizational,
  transformational, and interpretive functions
• Is animation better than still images?
• Depend on the subject, e.g., description of how
  to perform motor skills
• No strong research support

41
Questions?
42
Synchronous Learning

• Real-time interactions between learners and
  instructor
• Deploying training over time
• Visualization of content
• Computer application demonstrations and practice
• Collaboration among participants
• Moderate social presence
• Example http//collaborate.stthomas.edu/p12033025
  /

Clark Kwinn (2007). The new virtual classroom
43
Make It Active

• Polling
• Chat
• White board
• Audio (conversation with participants)
• Icons (status indicator)
• Breakout rooms
• Application sharing

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Four Types of Interaction

• Demographic Interactions
• Behavior Interactions (what participants have
  doen, are doing, or will do)
• Attitude Interactions (perception on certain
  issues)
• Knowledge Interaction (pre-test as lesson
  lead-ins to activate prior knowledge or assess
  entry knowledge)

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Preparations

• Conference call
• Train the trainer
• Dress rehearsals

46
Types of Online Teaching

• Contemporary online teaching cases,
  http//www.deakin.edu.au/itl/teach-learn/cases/
• Role Play, http//www.deakin.edu.au/itl/teach-lear
  n/cases/files/participants/demetrious.htm
• Simulation, http//www.deakin.edu.au/itl/teach-lea
  rn/cases/files/approaches/simulation.htm
• Blended learning, http//www.deakin.edu.au/itl/tea
  ch-learn/cases/files/participants/wells.htm
• Complete online, Graduate Psychology course,
  http//www.deakin.edu.au/itl/teach-learn/cases/fil
  es/participants/armatas.htm
• Online Teaching Activity Index,
  http//www.ion.illinois.edu/resources/otai/

47
Group Work

• Form a group of three or four
• Use the E-Learning Course Readiness Review to
  evaluate the online courses from the previous
  slide or from the Internet (20 minutes)
• Use Breeze to report back to the class your
  findings (e.g., strengths and weaknesses)

48
(No Transcript)
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Web 2.0 and the 3D internet usher in the age of
the Free Range Learner
3Di
Web 2.0
Web 1.0
Access
Find
Share
Participate
Co-Create
Collaborate
ValueProposition
PosterChildren

LearningProgression
Dr. Tony ODriscoll, E-Learn Conference, 2007
50
Videos on Future of Learning

• Virtual Social Worlds and the Future of Learning,
  http//www.youtube.com/watch?vO2jY4UkPbAc
• Student perceptions, http//www.youtube.com/watch?
  vdGCJ46vyR9o

51
Five-Minute eClips

• What is 5-minute eClips, Introduction video,
  http//archive.tltgroup.org/2007/FL20070413-5-MinC
  lipsHybridFacDev/qtmovie/5minworkshops20070409_m
  ov.htm
• RSS in Plain English, http//blip.tv/file/205570

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Two-Minute Paper

• Open a word process and summarize the most
  important points in this morning presentation.
• What are the topics that you would like to
  explore further?
• Submit the printout to me without printing your
  name.

53
References

• Bush, V. (1945). As we may think. The Atlantic
  Monthly Retrieved October 31, 2007, from
  http//www.theatlantic.com/doc/194507/bush
• Clark, R. (1994). Media will never influence
  learning. Educational Technology Research and
  Development, 42(2), 21-29.
• Clark, R. C., Kwinn, A. (2007). The new virtual
  classroom evidence-based guidelines for
  synchronous e-learning. San Francisco Pfeiffer.
• Clark, R. C., Mayer, R. E. (2008). E-learning
  and the science of instruction Proven guidelines
  for consumers and designers of multimedia
  learning (2nd ed.). San Francisco Pfeiffer.
• Gardner, H. (2000). Can technology exploit our
  ways of knowing. In D. Gordon (Ed.), The digital
  classroom (pp. 32-35). Cambridge, MA Harvard
  Education Letter.

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References (cont.)

• Ross, S. M. (1994). Delivery trucks or groceries?
  More food for thought on whether media (will,
  may, can't) influence learning. Educational
  Technology, Research Development, 42(2), 5-6.
• Sitzmann, T. (2007). Improving learning from
  web-based training courses Research evidence
  (keynote speech Powerpoint). Paper presented at
  the E-Learn Conference, Quebec City, Canada.
• Sugrue, B., Rivera, R. J. (2005). State of the
  industry Astd's annual review of trends in
  workplace learning and performance. Alexandria,
  VA American Society for Training and
  Development.
• Tallent-Runnels, M. K., Thomas, J. A., Lan, W.
  Y., Cooper, S., Ahern, T. C., Shaw, S. M., et al.
  (2006). Teaching courses online A review of the
  research. Review of Educational Research, 76(1),
  93-135.
• All images are from http//flickr.com