EDTECH 512: Reading Summary # 12

Article 12: Orellana, A., Hudgins, T. L., & Simonson, M. R. (2009). The perfect online course: best practices for designing and teaching. (pp. 463-473). IAP.

In this chapter, Northup conducted a study that investigated the types of interactions that students perceived to be an important part of online learning.  Fifty-two masters degree students took part in the study that used Online Learning Interactive Inventory instrument to measure four interaction attributes: content interaction, collaboration, intrapersonal skills and the need for support.  Results for the four interaction attributes found that in regards to content interaction, participants preferred partial individualized courses with some instructor direction and content delivered via audio-narrated presentation.  Participants also indicated they get frustrated with having to participate in too many interactive assignments.  Collaboration interaction results indicated that participants rely upon other learners and their instructor to form the online learning community with online debates a high preference.  For intrapersonal skills, the results indicated that self-directedness and embedded cognitive strategies were most important to participants.  This enables students to control their time and engage in learning as fits their schedule.  For support the results indicates that participants value timeliness of responses was a major indicator of support in an online course.

Understanding the importance of interactions to students helps to provide an engaging and positive learning experience.  From my own experience as a student I agree that being able to self-direct is most valuable to me.  The ability to manage my work/school/life balance is crucial to my success in learning and being able to lead a normal family.  As the author states, the whole reason why many students choose online courses is because of the convenience and flexibility.

EDTECH 512: Reading Summary # 11

Article 11: Smith, R. M. (2009, October 1). Conquering the content: A step-by-step guide to online course design (pp. 93-101). (Vol. 25). John Wiley & Sons.

In this article, Smith looks at the specifics of navigating, upload and making updates to future versions of an online course.  They state that making all components of a module available to students on one page is helpful so learners are not searching around the Learning Management System (LMS) to find out what tasks need to be completed.  Grouping the same components under an icon will also assist in easy navigation for the learners.  The author goes onto state that inevitably a designer will be making updates to their course based on feedback that highlights areas that did not work as expected.  They suggest keeping several documents to aid in capturing these updates in one location so at the end of the semester these updates can be done easily.  One idea is to keep a call log of phone calls from students and capture the topic and/or issue and the time spent with the student.  This will provide metrics for the end of semester to calculate the time spent on these issues and help to identify trends.  Other items to document are FAQ’s for your course and adding any new FAQs to this document for updating later, keep a list of issues and revisions, and also a list of suggestions students have provided.  If rolling out a new course it might also be helpful to solicit feedback from students about their experience to further refine the course.  Journaling or blogging about your teaching experiences will also help instructors to see their professional development and capture ideas in the moment to reflect upon later.  Documenting certain items such as concepts that were difficult, items that needed clarification such as discussion questions, assignment instructions and quiz questions will provide the designer with valuable feedback for revisions.  Preventing link rot is also crucial, and the author suggests keeping an inventory of links used in the course and their module location so these can easily be checked and updated as needed.  Finally, instructors need to understand the policies and processes specific for the LMS used at their institution.  To what extent they are able to have access to perform certain tasks, will be determined by the system administrators.

These suggestions are great practical ideas for ensuring instructors are efficient and use their time wisely when designing and updating courses.  Inevitably there will always be some issue that is raised in a course, so having the documentation set up from the start and easily accessible in one place will be of great benefit to make an instructors life more stress free.

EDTECH 512: Reading Summary # 10

Article 10: Smith, R. M. (2009, October 1). Conquering the content: A step-by-step guide to online course design (pp. 83-91). (Vol. 25). John Wiley & Sons.

In this chapter, Smith examines how to develop a plan so that learners can easily progress through the designed program.  They share some best practices when designing the process of administering an online course.

• Develop a schedule of due dates and stick to it – communicate this up front and don’t change it, so learners can manage their time effectively and fit school work around family life.
• Keep scheduling convenience a priority for your students – don’t schedule synchronous sessions and tests with limited access times for students. 
• Have due dates the same day each week – keep assignments due the same day so students are able to establish a routine with their work/life balance.
• Be consistent about navigation – make each module consistent so students become familiar with where to go for different components of the course.
• Be consistent about where to turn in assignments – Resist the urge to ‘change things up’ to make things interesting.  Students will appreciate that they are not searching around trying to figure out where to submit assignments.
• Be consistent about your availability – let learners know up front the times you are available to answer questions to set expectations
• Prioritize and honor the order in which you will answer messages from students – outline at the beginning of the course the different methods of communication and which ones you will respond to in order.
• Create a ‘coffee shop’ forum for social interactions among students – encourage interaction of non-content related topics
• Communicate an appropriate pace for working through the course – set due dates in advance and allow students to work ahead
• Discussion assignments must give students a specific item on which to comment – Provide a discussion where you might have learners present different views or ideas.
• Design using someone else’s mind – make sure you have someone peer review and look over your course to clear up any areas that may not be clear to a learner.

The ideas presented are valuable to help instructional designers look beyond the content and activities to how a learner is going to progress through the course.  It helps to clarify items and provide a clear roadmap for the course.  Implementing these ideas will make administering the course easier for the instructor and a better learning experience for learners.

EDTECH 512: Reading Summary # 9

Article 9:  Conrad, R., & Donaldson, J. A. (2011, March 23). Engaging the online learner: Activities and resources for creative instruction (pp. 81-91). (Vol. 38). John Wiley & Sons.

In this chapter, Conrad and Donaldson outline some reflective activities that can be used during different stages of an online program.

• Aha! – Ongoing activity where the learners share transformative experiences
• Bumper Sticker – At the end of the course learners reflect on their experience in the class and sum this up in 10 words or less
• Critical Insight – Activity in the middle of the course that provides learners with an opportunity to explore an area of interest
• I Didn’t Know That – During the middle of the course this discussion activity asks learners to share something new they have learned in the program
• Insights, Resource Sharing, and Applications (IRAs) – Activity at the beginning of course modules that encourages learners to actively delve into the content and share knowledge and insights
• More Words to Lead By – This activity can be used throughout a course to provide a break from the content.  It could be a positive story, poem, or fun activity.
• Picture – Activity for the end of the course that asks learners in a group to find or create an image that represents a part or whole of the course content and to express how their view of the image has changed during the course.
• Summary Words – Asks learners at the end of the course to reflect on completed class and identify a word or expression that represents their experience in the class.

I like how these reflective activities go beyond the standard journal of reflections, but approaches it in a more creative way.  The selection of the reflection activity needs to be balanced with other activities and assessments in each module as you would not want to load learners down with a labor intensive reflective activity with a similar or equally challenging activity or assessment.

EDTECH 512: Reading Summary # 8

Article 8: Shank, P. (2011, July 26). The online learning idea book: Proven ways to enhance technology-based and blended learning (pp. 149-152, 235-240, 250-252). (P. Shank) (Vol. 2). John Wiley & Sons.

Reduce OnScreen Text – David Anderson

In this chapter, Anderson shows ways of reducing the amount of text in narrated self-paced courses.  Typically online courses often have too much text for learners to easily consume and understand, and also have the narrator repeating exactly what is written on the screen.  Because the narration provides context to what is on the screen, this means that less and the most crucial information can just be displayed on the screen to highlight the main points for learners to know and understand.  The author also indicates another way to reduce the amount of text on a screen is to use a graphic that illustrates the concept or information.  Progressive reveals or animations can also help to reduce text on a screen as only the information being narrated would display for the learner. 

This is a constant struggle with many Subject Matter Experts who want to make sure they are bombarding learners with information, yet don’t understand how adult learners actually learn and retain information.  Reducing the amount of text on a screen does mean designers need to be more creative, however, the pay off is an interactive and engaging online program that learners will be happy to view. 

Who Are You?  Alternative Online Meet-and-Greet Tactics – Joanna Dunlap

In this chapter, Dunlap shows ways of creating different meet and greet interactions other than the traditional sharing of a learner’s biography.  Some alternatives the author suggests are getting learners to create a playlist about songs that represent their past, present and future.  Another is to share superhero monikers and powers that help them in their lives, or creating an animated avatar, or virtual photo album, or using word clouds or music videos. 

Some of the ideas presented by the author also help the learner to think about themselves differently than just their resume.  I especially like the superhero idea and the virtual photo album as they ask learners to be more creative which in a corporate setting is not always part of their regular role and therefore something different and interesting to undertake.

Lose the Worn-Out Images, Up the Creativity – Dave Anderson

In this chapter, Anderson looks at the overuse of images especially in corporate online courses.  The author suggests the use of more playful images that represent the same message.  For example replacing a thumbs up image with a fist bump image that is more modern and fun.  Depending on the circumstance, introducing some playful images will create more interesting trainings.  However, in some settings these playful images may not be appropriate.  Anderson suggests looking at the advertising industry for inspiration and how to look at different ways of presenting content rather than the standard dull images that have been overused.

Over the years there has even been an evolution from clip art and word art for text.  To me the use of these usually indicates the age of the designer and their limited experience in designing online courses.  In our company we have an image library that marketing has selected and contains approved images that can be used in marketing materials, reports and online trainings.  However, we are always searching for more than is available because of the different concepts we want to present.  This though allows all of our resources to be consistent across the company.  And yes…clip art is banned!