This article is very helpful in defining the difference between true feedback, advice, and evaluation. The specific characteristics of feedback provide a means of evaluating your feedback to students prior to providing it. The could be adapted to a rubric for student peer assessment very easily, with fields of goal-oriented, timely, actionable, tangible, and user friendly. It also could easily be the basis for a PD exercise or brown bag.
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept12/vol70/num01/Seven-Keys-to-Effective-Feedback.aspx
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Teaching Adolescents How to Evaluate the Quality of Online Information | Edutopia
This is an excellent and very accessible article on helping middle school (and I daresay any other level) students evaluate online resources for relevance, bias, accuracy, and reliability. If you are experienced in this area then you will find little in this article that is not familiar, but Julie Coiro's approach was useful to me in thinking about how to structure a lesson plan on this topic.
Teaching Adolescents How to Evaluate the Quality of Online Information | Edutopia
Teaching Adolescents How to Evaluate the Quality of Online Information | Edutopia
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Reading a lot of iconoclastic writing about instructional design this week.
Today was sort of a watershed for me in terms of coming to grips with instructional models. I'm out actively looking for employment again, having been a "house Dad" for a year and a half. Earlier today. Many, if not most of the positions out there in distance education are citing the need for deep understanding of a model of one sort or another. ADDIE comes up frequently, as does ARCS and some variation on Merrill's component display theory (or at least some portion of it) in the advertisements. I'm familiar with, and have used these. My problem with them in the past is that they are fairly rigid and do not necessarily account for the organic nature of the teaching and learning processes, or with the individual idiosyncracies of the instructor or the content? So I have been pondering whether or not I am the only person finding these inadequate for the way I work.
So I am reading the materials in BLENDKIT2014 and I run across this statement:
"Brent Wilson (1995), a pioneer in e-learning, has been cautioning online course designers about the downside of a systems approach for the past decade: An environment that is good for learning cannot be fully prepackaged and defined A more flexible approach will open the doors to more possibilities based on learner goals and needs. However, as pointed out by Bates and Poole (2003), “a flexible approach requires a high level of skill to be effective”."
Yes! That's it. A model is simply a set of guidelines, and a set that may not be completely applicable in every situation. So what can we do to make the model more closely fit the organic nature of the educational process?
So I am reading the materials in BLENDKIT2014 and I run across this statement:
"Brent Wilson (1995), a pioneer in e-learning, has been cautioning online course designers about the downside of a systems approach for the past decade: An environment that is good for learning cannot be fully prepackaged and defined A more flexible approach will open the doors to more possibilities based on learner goals and needs. However, as pointed out by Bates and Poole (2003), “a flexible approach requires a high level of skill to be effective”."
Yes! That's it. A model is simply a set of guidelines, and a set that may not be completely applicable in every situation. So what can we do to make the model more closely fit the organic nature of the educational process?
Canned feedback in online courses. What educational theory does that?
I just ran across an example of a means of feedback that I found a bit disturbing, but perhaps necessary in some cases.
In the past when I have needed to give feedback on assignments in classes I am am teaching, I have individually crafted responses. I will admit to having reused phrases when running into the same issues in essays over and over. I tend to treat these opportunities as "teachable moments", and so there is a requirement on my part to address the issues in a personal manner reacting to the individual and what I know of them instead of just the question or issue.
My experience is based upon class sizes that were never in excess of 50 individuals. That is my caveat.
But what do you do when you are dealing with the work of say, 150 individuals and you only have so many hours in the day?
Apparently a popular answer to this is to create a document with canned responses to assignments or problems. It is simple enough to copy and paste from the document into the feedback section of the assignment or the discussion and then customize with student name and any other information that is pertinent. In addition some instructors use macros to insert specific feedback into documents. These are interesting ideas, though I am hoping to never be in a situation where I need them. In an online course that is built on a basic constructivist model the primary role of the instructor is that of guide and/or curator and/or facilitator and/or concierge, which demands individually tailored interaction with the students.
Given that the ideal class size (the last time I looked) in an online class was something in the late 20s to low 30s, I wonder if these larger class sizes can meet the definition of constructivist, or are they constructionist, or something else?
In the past when I have needed to give feedback on assignments in classes I am am teaching, I have individually crafted responses. I will admit to having reused phrases when running into the same issues in essays over and over. I tend to treat these opportunities as "teachable moments", and so there is a requirement on my part to address the issues in a personal manner reacting to the individual and what I know of them instead of just the question or issue.
My experience is based upon class sizes that were never in excess of 50 individuals. That is my caveat.
But what do you do when you are dealing with the work of say, 150 individuals and you only have so many hours in the day?
Apparently a popular answer to this is to create a document with canned responses to assignments or problems. It is simple enough to copy and paste from the document into the feedback section of the assignment or the discussion and then customize with student name and any other information that is pertinent. In addition some instructors use macros to insert specific feedback into documents. These are interesting ideas, though I am hoping to never be in a situation where I need them. In an online course that is built on a basic constructivist model the primary role of the instructor is that of guide and/or curator and/or facilitator and/or concierge, which demands individually tailored interaction with the students.
Given that the ideal class size (the last time I looked) in an online class was something in the late 20s to low 30s, I wonder if these larger class sizes can meet the definition of constructivist, or are they constructionist, or something else?
Monday, May 12, 2014
Using Audio and video in the online course, some recent observations.
I am currently taking four MOOCs at the moment and finding some very interesting applications of video in these classes. To start off, video introductions and lectures seem to be quite common in the MOOCs that I have been associated with. That is not my mode when teaching, but that is partially due to my own preferences in mixing content. I'd prefer to use video by professional speakers and of ideas and concepts introduced by something other than a talking head. However I do understand how this might be valuable based upon your teaching and learning styles. It is particularly valuable when illustrating something highly visual, such as math or science.
After having spent several weeks with a variety of different approaches to video I have a few observations for what I consider to be best practices in the area. The suggestions below are equally applicable to regular online courses. Here is the list:
1. Chunk. A 40 minute video followed by a 15 question quiz is not a good way to avoid cognitive overload. I can understand this approach if the video cannot be edited for some reason, but at that, there should be some attempt at reinforcement prior to trying to assess. My approach would be to either break up the video into minimum of half a dozen segments, each reinforcing a concept or related objectives, followed by some sort of exercise to reinforce, and then followed by a short quiz for each segment. Give students an opportunity to interact with the concepts introduced and deep process them prior to the quiz. A single long video forces students to take notes in order to make certain that they record each point. While this is similar to what happens in the classroom, it is without benefit of being able to interact with the instructor. In effect it is the worst of a lecture format.
2. This is actually related to the above. If you are going to use a classroom lecture or a conference presentation for your course, make sure that it is miked properly. If it is difficult to hear, then that compounds the difficulty students will have in understanding and engaging in the materials. Most video editing programs allow you to modify the sound in a video. Modify the content to be easier on the ears.
3. If you must narrate a PowerPoint or series of PowerPoints as content, there has to be some creativity in the presentation. Two most common problems that I have seen so far have been using the same bank of a dozen background slides for numerous presentations and allowing computer screen items to pop up on the screen while narrating. The former gives the impression that little thought went into the presentation. By this I mean that even in a series of short videos designed to create a 60 minute presentation you need some variety. Using the same dozen slides over and over again doe not build student engagement. In my case it breaks concentration while I wonder where I have seen the image before. I suspect that I am not alone here. The other issue is having something like an Adobe acrobat update notification pop up in the middle of the recording. It is distracting and does not lend itself to a professional looking content piece. Also it takes little time to correct, just pull your video into an editor and replace the popup with the slide for the duration.
4. Do use closed captioning. In a MOOC, many of your students will be taking your class outside of the normal work day. Your students will thank you if they can watch your videos with the sound turned down while sitting with a baby or significant other sleeping next to them.
5. Do use a transcript. I'm thinking of how much easier it would be to review for a quiz or test (see number 1 above) if there is a transcript to read rather than having to scan through the 40 minute video in order to locate a concept that you would like restated. At the very least, if possible, make the outline for your lecture downloadable from the course.
6. Make your lecture video available as audio in MP3 format. It is not difficult to use a video editor or Audacity to strip the audio portion from your video. Making this available for your online students gives another means for them to access the lectures. Again, many students will be non traditional, and allowing them to listen to your lecture while driving to work or working out at the gym is just another way to help make them successful. It is also a much smaller file size and can easily be downloaded even with a slow Internet connection.
7. Allow your video lectures to be downloaded. Again it gives students more opportunity to view the videos away from the computer. It is easy enough to load a lecture in the proper format onto a multimedia device or cell phone and the view it at leisure.
8. Do use video in your online class, but be sure that your audience can access it. Use common formats and always be aware of your audience. I realize that high speed internet seems ubiquitous to those living in highly populated areas, but if your audience is rural, or low income, there is a chance that they will not be able to view streamed video of high quality.
After having spent several weeks with a variety of different approaches to video I have a few observations for what I consider to be best practices in the area. The suggestions below are equally applicable to regular online courses. Here is the list:
1. Chunk. A 40 minute video followed by a 15 question quiz is not a good way to avoid cognitive overload. I can understand this approach if the video cannot be edited for some reason, but at that, there should be some attempt at reinforcement prior to trying to assess. My approach would be to either break up the video into minimum of half a dozen segments, each reinforcing a concept or related objectives, followed by some sort of exercise to reinforce, and then followed by a short quiz for each segment. Give students an opportunity to interact with the concepts introduced and deep process them prior to the quiz. A single long video forces students to take notes in order to make certain that they record each point. While this is similar to what happens in the classroom, it is without benefit of being able to interact with the instructor. In effect it is the worst of a lecture format.
2. This is actually related to the above. If you are going to use a classroom lecture or a conference presentation for your course, make sure that it is miked properly. If it is difficult to hear, then that compounds the difficulty students will have in understanding and engaging in the materials. Most video editing programs allow you to modify the sound in a video. Modify the content to be easier on the ears.
3. If you must narrate a PowerPoint or series of PowerPoints as content, there has to be some creativity in the presentation. Two most common problems that I have seen so far have been using the same bank of a dozen background slides for numerous presentations and allowing computer screen items to pop up on the screen while narrating. The former gives the impression that little thought went into the presentation. By this I mean that even in a series of short videos designed to create a 60 minute presentation you need some variety. Using the same dozen slides over and over again doe not build student engagement. In my case it breaks concentration while I wonder where I have seen the image before. I suspect that I am not alone here. The other issue is having something like an Adobe acrobat update notification pop up in the middle of the recording. It is distracting and does not lend itself to a professional looking content piece. Also it takes little time to correct, just pull your video into an editor and replace the popup with the slide for the duration.
4. Do use closed captioning. In a MOOC, many of your students will be taking your class outside of the normal work day. Your students will thank you if they can watch your videos with the sound turned down while sitting with a baby or significant other sleeping next to them.
5. Do use a transcript. I'm thinking of how much easier it would be to review for a quiz or test (see number 1 above) if there is a transcript to read rather than having to scan through the 40 minute video in order to locate a concept that you would like restated. At the very least, if possible, make the outline for your lecture downloadable from the course.
6. Make your lecture video available as audio in MP3 format. It is not difficult to use a video editor or Audacity to strip the audio portion from your video. Making this available for your online students gives another means for them to access the lectures. Again, many students will be non traditional, and allowing them to listen to your lecture while driving to work or working out at the gym is just another way to help make them successful. It is also a much smaller file size and can easily be downloaded even with a slow Internet connection.
7. Allow your video lectures to be downloaded. Again it gives students more opportunity to view the videos away from the computer. It is easy enough to load a lecture in the proper format onto a multimedia device or cell phone and the view it at leisure.
8. Do use video in your online class, but be sure that your audience can access it. Use common formats and always be aware of your audience. I realize that high speed internet seems ubiquitous to those living in highly populated areas, but if your audience is rural, or low income, there is a chance that they will not be able to view streamed video of high quality.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Building faculty participation in blended learning: Scaffolding the experience to create more interest.
Right now, as I go through BlendKit2014, I am thinking about
how one entices faculty into using the LMS and then eventually teaching
regularly in it. I actually started thinking about this a few weeks ago when a
friend of mine, who is an instructional designer/other duties as assigned type,
told me that her university required all faculty to upload their syllabi into
the LMS for student access. It initially didn’t kick in as to what that might
accomplish. It occurred to me that doing so requires that all faculty have at
least the basic training to be able to accomplish that task.
It was sort of an AHA!! moment for me. The first step toward
acquainting faculty to the LMS had been accomplished.
This week in the readings for BlendKit2014, I am faced with
the same idea. To get faculty to start looking at blended learning as an
opportunity, you can simply start with the syllabus. Let’s think about that for
a moment. As a teacher, I have always put my course syllabi in a prominent
place in the course online. The benefit there is that no student can claim to
have not had access to the syllabus. I make it available in Word and PDF
formats for download, and also an HTML version to read online. It is actual a
bit freeing knowing that you will not get the excuse that the student did not
see the assignment or deadline in the syllabus. If they have access to the LMS,
they have access to the syllabi.
So making faculty put syllabi on the LMS, even if they use
it for nothing else, provides a great perk. It also potentially opens the way
for other time saving additions such as posting class materials and other
content that insures that students can get to the assignments and lecture
materials anywhere, again creating a situation where the responsibility for
providing the content is moved from the instructor.
So now we have a very positive slippery slope. As
instructors rely more and more on the LMS, they may be more and more tempted to
see how it can not only simplify their teaching but also provide different
means of teaching. At that point we begin to leave the realm of web-based
course supplement into the realm of blended learning.
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