Transcript Slide 1

Using Internet Effectively for Different
Types of Courses
A practical guide from almost 10 years of online
course development and instruction
By Eileen O’Connor, Ph.D.
Empire State College – State University of New York
[email protected]
Summary of Presentation
• The author presents her experiences with online
course development and implementation,
addressing a variety of approaches and
considering the merits in light of a course’s
objectives and student population. Her
presentation will include a discussion of and
links to: online discussions for encouraging
student ownership and collaboration; companion
websites for improving local community and
school relations; and, email-supported online
tutorials for skill building
Agenda & Considerations
• Introduction / welcome
• As you listen to this presentation, ask yourself:
– what has been your experience with online teaching to date?
– can the prompting questions (included in the presentation) help
you think about ways these technologies might support your work?
• The presentation will:
– begin with an overview of communication technologies in the
classroom
– address three areas that demonstrate selected uses of technology;
you should consider if these areas might possibly apply to your
work
– close with some general notes on online development.
• Many links are provided within this presentation so that
you can visit these web sites later.
• Hopefully we can continue to communicate and share
ideas long after the conference ends. Thank you for
attending this presentation.
Using Internet and courseware for teaching,
instruction, and communication
• Internet and e-technologies can allow virtually any form
of communication and interaction
– and, remember that the young are very attuned to technology
– as you can see too, it is the way the world will work in the future
• Internet & online courses can extend your geographic
and temporal reach
• In this presentation and discussion, we will consider only
a few of many possible examples
• Experiment to learn what you can do:
– Think beyond ways you are communicating presently
– Consider what technology avenues are open to you . . . but keep
on exploring new avenues as well.
To start you thinking: in what ways could
Internet & online courses support your
objectives?
• What areas require
procedural instructions,
background information,
lists and libraries?
• How are you trying to build
a learning community
among your students? Do
you think such a
community can improve
learning? (this is a
critical epistemological /
philosophical question)
• Where would you like to
have more visibility to a
community outside the
school?
Overview of approaches considered
Procedural /
skill building
Collaboration
within a course
Community /
Dissemination
Considerations with use of Internet for
instruction and/or for procedural information
• Examples will follow on next slides
• A portion of most instructional environments includes
procedures, lists, and resource links. Use Internet to
preserve this information for more than one course or
use.
• Organize these long-term website carefully:
– Consider the overall design & the ways that users will navigate
the web site
– Use searches and indexes when possible to make information
easier to find
– Realize that users are not pleased with changes to the web site,
so consider at least your front page carefully when you begin
– Develop page numbering & referencing conventions that will
work in print as well as online.
Design considerations for this largely procedural
web site used to teach computer skills
• Since technology skill building was the primary objective, the
relationship within the course was between the teacher (the master)
and the individual student (the apprentice). This was not a
collaborative relationship.
• All instructions were created by the teacher online in advance of the
course. Careful attention to instructional design was followed.
• During the course itself, the instructor sent reminders weekly to these
100% online students; a homework assignment was due each week.
• Although students could be “creative” with their technology
assignments, they had to meet the course objectives and demonstrate
certain competencies in use of the technology (PowerPoint & others)
• More than 1,000 teachers have taken these courses; they have been
well received.
• Please visit: http://www.InteractiveLearningSolutions.net/mast-power UserId - slides / password – data
Navigation within this “procedural” web site
• Multiple ways to access the course
content
Establishing objectives within each module; the
method of instruction
•
•
•
Well written instructional
objectives are critical if
you want to minimize
questions to the
instructor and stress for
the student, particularly
when you are evaluating
specific skills.
Since this course was
primarily to build
computer skills, the
objectives were
technology-related
The course
demonstrated the skillsto-be-acquired by using
creative teacher
examples from a variety
of teaching scenarios
Providing directions for the technology lessons
within each module
• To guide students
through steps at their
computer, you must be
very careful with the
instructions written.
• Proving images and
step-by-step instructions,
and downloadable
examples can be very
helpful.
Examples important to teachers were used
• In each course,
examples from a
variety of content
areas were shown
to encourage
creative thinking
about the
technology
• To the right is an
image of ways an
elementary school
teacher could use
PowerPoint to teach
about shapes
Examples important to teachers were used
• In each course,
examples
encouraged
creative uses of the
technology
• In the example to
the right, you can
see how images,
timelines, maps,
and directions were
used as a way to
illustrate
PowerPoint features
and as a way to
suggest teaching
social studies
Providing animated (audio-visual) instruction –
supporting different types of learners
• Since there are
different learning
styles, providing
audio-visual
animations can help
the learner
understand directions
• (creating these
animations is time
consuming and
requires specific
skills – these
animations were
made in Flash)
Locating information during the course and
providing ways for use after the course ends
• A search link brought
readers to an interactive
index that allowed them
to find information about
technology outside of
the tutorial itself.
• A coding system was
used so that the
materials and the
search index could be
printed and used as a
book after the course
ended.
Applications to your situation –
procedural / skill-building
• What are your information or instructional
needs that can be served with a well-designed
website (password protected, if necessary) that
can be used repetitively, easily, and over long
periods of time?
Advantages of using online discussion
boards in courses
• Can encourage student participation at times
convenient to them
– less student fatigue and improved participation
• Preserves a record of instruction and interactions
– facilitates course evaluation and research
• Allows for greater student participation
– all “voices” can be heard even when a student is quiet
in the classroom or has a different native language than
most of the class.
The relationships within this environment: teacherstudent & student-student
Building collaboration within a course
• Determine what types of assignments can serve for these
discussions; can they be:
– A reading? A project? A group project?
• Consider your educational & instructional philosophy:
– Articulate communication and writing expectations for discussion
groups:
• allow informal language if you want honesty and often better quality
work than you might expect; you may want different standards for
formal papers
– Consider allowing the posting of all works, even before review:
• Pros: Encourages better work; supports collegial development
• Cons: Some student postings may not be good; you need a
disclaimer & a way to address errors in a tactful manner
• Determine how much presence you want as an instructor
– Recommended that “some” presence should always be
asserted; discussion boards with no faculty presence at all can
become problematic.
Online discussions with students can support
many objectives – consider these areas:
• Students can:
–
–
–
–
discuss / debate readings, postings, news articles
post and discuss original works and projects
reflect on common experiences
(an example of a discussion where students chose
their own topics is shown on a later slide)
• Suggestions:
– Encourage the use of good subject headings; no one
wants to open a file if it is not relevant to their
interests.
As an instructor you make “authority” decisions
that influence communication within the course
Teacher as
primary voice?
When respectful, informal
conversation is allowed
student commentary may be
more thoughtful and honest
What voices
prevail?
Students &
teacher
together?
Students as
an unedited
voice?
An example of procedural considerations within
a discussion board
Online discussion with students – an example
of building a collaboration within a course
• Objectives of this course:
– To build a collaborative of teachers who will generate their own
understanding of teaching and learning through:
• examination of their own learning experiences
• readings and study
• observations in school districts; discussion of observations.
• Types of students in this course:
– In this program, the students are adults from non-teaching
disciplines that are making a career change into teaching.
• Ways that students are considered within this course
– Respect of the student and student ownership of his / her work is
critical
– Students must be active participants in developing their own
understanding (constructivism)
– In many parts of the course, students choose their own topics
with approval and guidance from the instructor.
Another course where students selected
discussion topics
• These future teachers in math and science chose the
topics that they discussed online.
• These students were asked to consider supports and
impediments to technology in schools in choosing topics.
Applications to your situation – collaboration
through discussion boards
• Where could you use a discussion to
encourage student ownership and genuine
participation? What parameters do you want to
establish to ensure quality participation?
Establishing relationships outside the course,
classroom or institution
• Areas for communication and dissemination to a
larger community
• Ways to herald the work of students
– Students will work more diligently if they know there is
a possible public forum
– Students can take ownership of the website
development and website standard setting – as part
of their assignment
– Some authoring software allows you to easily
incorporate student work as a design element
(example shown on a later slide)
Establishing relationships outside the
classroom – example of an urban community
• This website (shown on the next few slides) was
designed initially as a way to engage classroom
teachers in uses of technology
– Many school events were photographed and posted
daily
– Images were used largely because of the elementary
school audience
– Web authoring software (FrontPage by Microsoft) was
used to allow easy update of content and the link
structure.
Establishing relationships outside the
classroom – design / navigation considerations
• The design should be somewhat stable – a
viewer should be able to return and navigate in
approximately the same way
– Consider the opening page quite seriously; get as
much critical information on this page as possible –
without being too “wordy”
– Find a metaphor or image if possible or simply use a
large list of links
– Create a site map & multiple ways of navigation if
possible
– (see the next few slides)
• Secure permissions for use of individual
identities and names, particularly with minors
Establishing relationships outside the
classroom – student work / multiple navigation
pathways
• More student
themes –
• The opening
page highlights
main activities
• Site map
provides
alternative
navigation
The background was created by student artists
within the elementary school
This raindrop
pattern & the
umbrella were
created by a
sixth grade
student
Original backgrounds can
be easily created in
Microsoft Front Page
Consider the information for the homepage –
a page of logically-organized links is useful
Consider the information for the homepage –
is a metaphor or visual image possible?
• However, good
metaphors can
be very difficult
to create
• Often, lists of
links (as on the
previous slide)
are easier with
new web sites
Website can alert parents, other institutions and
community to internal events -- example
Establishing relationships outside the
classroom – proven interest
• People return – to
see the school / to
see their children
• This site is still
being viewed
although no
entries have been
made in three
years (see the site
statistics to the
right).
Establishing relationships outside the
classroom – proven interest
• The image to the
right shows some
of the pages still
being visited, three
years after any
entries have been
made.
Applications to your situation – community
building / community informing
• What information or activities would you
want to broadcast a larger audience?
How could you use a web audience as a
way of encouraging better learning?
Considerations when developing an online
course (or part of a course)
• Follow appropriate design considerations . .
. as with any teaching
• Define your objectives for the online or
Internet portion; do you want:
– To deliver information and procedures?
– To develop a collaborative community among the
course participants during the course timeframe?
– To inform individuals or institutions outside the
school, heralding student work in the process?
Technology considerations when developing
an online course (or part of a course)
• Although the design should be based upon the
relationships you want to build and your educational
philosophy, consider these tech tips to get you started:
– use trial and error at the start; it is easy to change after you see
the effectiveness; read books too – but don’t be afraid to try; this
is still a new medium of expressing and the technologies
available are changing too
– don’t expect that you will be an expert with the technology – it is
OK for things to go wrong; have non-technology backup plans
– you do not have to be perfect in front of your students ; have
your students help you – they will appreciate the opportunity
– think outside the box, you can do things you have not done
before
– consider the support that is reasonably available to you; you can
work in a quick development mode (such as PowerPoint) to
allow you to test what you want to do.
Example uses of Internet in instructional
support
• A web site of student projects with technology -http://www.learn-with-tech.net ; domain name and server
supported by the instructor (approximately $150 per year
(USA dollars))
• Community website – http://www.ils-courses.net/toast2
• Opening to an information website with a visual
metaphor – http://www.InteractiveLearningSolutions.net
• Online, primarily skill-building course with email
communication:
http://www.InteractiveLearningSolutions.net/mast-power
- UserId - slides / password - data
Disclaimer – Ways of Working
• The work you have seen was created by Dr.
Eileen O’Connor to serve her university students
in teacher education and to serve professional
clients (school districts)
– The work with web sites was created by O’Connor
and, although reasonably well designed, does not
represent the caliber of work possible with the help of
technical support staff.
• These materials are shown as a demonstration
of ways to work and represent a constantly
emerging understanding of O’Connor in website
design for instruction, collaboration, and
communication purposes
References to Supportive Studies
• Bransford, J..D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. (eds) (1999). How
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• Brownlee, J., Purdie, N. and Boulton-Lewis, G. (2001). Changing
epistemological beliefs in pre-service teacher education students.
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• Chickering, A. & Ehrmann, S. C. (1996). Implementing the Seven
Principles: Technology as Lever. AAHE Bulletin, October, pp. 3-6.
• Coppola, B. (2006). Balancing Theory, Practice, and Technology in a
Graduate Teacher Education Class. Proceedings from Opening
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• Kuriloff, P. (2005). Breaking the Barriers of Time and Space: More
Effective Teaching Using e-Pedagogy. Innovate 2 (1). Retrieved
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• McCombs, B. L. & Vakili, D. (2005) A Learner-Centered Framework
for E-Learning, Volume 107, Number 8, pp. 1582 – 1600. Retrieved:
2/19/2006 from Teachers College Record.
References to Supportive Studies
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Palloff, R. M. and Pratt, K. (1999). Building Learning Communities in
Cyberspace: Effective Strategies for the Online Classroom (1st edition).
Jossey-Bass.
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http://elrond.scam.ecu.edu.au/oliver/2002/Reeves.pdf
Rodgers, C. (2002). Defining Reflection: Another Look at John Dewey and
Reflective Thinking; Volume 104 Number 4, 2002, p. 842-866. Retrieved :
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with Education World.] Retrieved March 2, 2006. http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat152.shtml .
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