Week 3: Chapter 4 (Instructor Presence) and Chapter 5 (Delivering the Package)
Good day from almost-Spring-like Missoula, Montana! My name is Jason Neiffer, and I am your facilitator for this week. I am the Assistant Director/Curriculum Director of Montana Digital Academy. If you are a Twitter person, I'd love to connect with you there!
I am very excited about these two chapters, as I think they get to the heart of where otherwise well-designed online courses can be seen as unengaging, rote, or downright dull. Even though courses, content, and assignments are often handed to teachers as part of most VLLA school models, some new to the environment vastly underestimate how vital the day-to-day teacher role is to success for students in this environment.
I have three topics for you to think about this week:
Topic 1 (posted 24 March): Novak and Thibodeau argue something that I can confirm from my own experience helping lead MTDA and teaching online in both K-12 and higher education environments: Attitude matters! Distance learning teachers are much more effective when they believe in the model.
From your experiences, what day-to-day steps can you take to show students that distance learning is an effective way to learn?
Have you seen evidence in your or other classrooms of the opposite? What impact did that have on instruction?
Topic 2 (posted 26 March): There is reference throughout these two chapters to discussions in the online environment, the original "interactivity" if distance learning. Discussions are an easy to add interactive components to any course, however, as Novak and Thibodeau note, they can so easily become dead zones where little meaningful action happens and interaction can become feigned, as best.
This is one (of many) areas where I believe K-12 distance learning tends to be ahead of our counterparts in higher education. Having been a distance learning student for a good portion of two graduate degrees, I am used to the lightly/poorly moderated "post once, respond twice" style of discussion that doesn't usually engaged the masses with engaging, inspiring conversation.
In addition to the Paideia Seminar cited in this text, I would also recommend you take a close look at the "Community of Inquiry" framework that also seeks to make discussions more interactive and educational.
Specific to discussions... please share:
1.) Do you have experience with a model of more proactively moderated discussions, like Paideia Seminars or Community of Inquiry? Please share your experiences.
or
2.) If you have yet to experience one of these models, share ways that you as an instructor can help make discussions more engaging and relevant to forward motion in a course. Please speak from your experience as either a student or a teacher.
Topic 3 (posted 28 March): Last... in this (and other weeks), direct, specific feedback has been listed as a strategy to help meet digital presence and other needs from students in the UDL model. This topic is important here and elsewhere, but, let's focus on the distance learning space. What does specific feedback mean to you? Does every assignment get specific feedback? If not, where is that line?
This blog is the home of the Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance Book Study. This spring we will be focusing on the book UDL in the Cloud! How to Design and Deliver Online Education Using Universal Design for Learning by Katie Novak and Tom Thibodeau. The kick off date is March 3rd, 2019.
I love this question and I also really loved the "be enthusiastic" mandate in the text! I very much agree that the teacher's enthusiasm and energy for the course can be communicated online. I think this is linked to the "attitude matters" - teachers do need to believe in order to authentically share that belief with students.
ReplyDeleteI would say that teachers of online classes can show students that online learning is effective by really engaging in the discussions, providing meaningful and personalized feedback, and using other tools within the LMS (for example private messages or news/announcements) to personalize the course for students. Of all of these, I believe that feedback that make explicit reference to the student's individual work is the most important, as it helps the student to feel known.
I agree by engaging in the discussion and bringing in some personal connections that relate. Make the discussions less about must text info and more about how it applies to daily life or making connections to other parts of the course, prior knowledge or things relevant in a teenage life.
DeleteI think a teacher's passion for his/her subject and for students is pivotal in any teaching arena. It is certainly true in f2f classes, and it may be doubly so in online classes where classmates and teacher can feel remote or even nonexistent. Like you, I loved the "mandate" in this chapter and the reminder to me to directly communicate enthusiasm. I liked the nudge to be intentional about our teacher presence.
DeleteTopic 1:
ReplyDeleteI share many of the same thoughts as Laura articulated in the above post. I truly do think enthusiasm and attitude matter. Students can sense when an instructor is disengaged from the learning community and the course content even if it is not overtly apparent. Adding depth to discussions, responding to "orphan" posts while encouraging the participation of all students, and presenting new angles to course content or relating current happenings to course material through news items also help to demonstrate instructor enthusiasm. In addition, I like to periodically remind students of and reinforce the notions that online learning skills honed in my course will benefit them in their future academic careers, especially in a digital world where effective online communication is essential.
Over the years, I have encountered colleagues who do not value online learning, and their cynicism and negativity have an impact on the students' performances as well as attitudes toward online learning. A negative instructor attitude can be damaging to both the online learning community and the dynamic within that environment.
Side question: This chapter, like some of the others, mentions planning for virtual snow days. I think that is a great idea, but I'm wondering how teachers can plan for that when they don't know exactly when a snow day could hit during a semester. Do you just plan for a related lesson to your course that is not in your direct sequence and have that lesson "ready to go"? Kind of like when I was in school, we'd have a "movie day" or watch a documentary or something like that.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't an issue at VHS, since we're always online, but I'd still love to hear from others if you've dealt with this or heard about it from other places or articles etc. We do allow a little flexibility to work around the different spring breaks that our students have.
Hi Sarah, I teach for both VHS and a blended learning program. With regard to our virtual snow days at my own high school, teachers are required to have two emergency lesson plans per course. As a history teacher, I typically construct these as review assignments to refresh students' knowledge of material for midterms and final exams or as essay templates for which I can easily plug in a current topic on short notice. Most teachers with whom I work do something similar.
DeleteOn the other hand, I now have my courses set to the point where even lessons for my blended classes are self-contained just as they are at VHS. Consequently, most daily assignments are ready to go if a snow day is called or if I have a substitute fill in for me on a day off.
Thanks for sharing, and nice to "meet" you.
DeleteHello,
DeleteI my f2f school, many of our "alternative learning days" have included choice assignments. Like a bingo chart style, assignments are provided the kids are asked to choose a number assigned by their teacher. The assignments are supplements or reviews of material covered.
That is an interesting idea. How have students reacted to it? I could see some students being engaged by the variety and others feeling like "oh no, I got stuck with this assignment I don't like..."
DeleteHi Sarah--Thinking about your snow day topic...I know in our on-line courses, we have a list of resources to use in case there is some downtime issues or technical problems over the weekend, etc. They are activities that tie in with the course, but can work through out the course, not necessarily chapter specific.
DeleteThat's a great idea! As a tech-oriented person, I appreciate planning for unexpected downtime. We try really hard to migigate tech issues, but there are always things that can happen outside of our control.
DeleteFrom your experiences, what day-to-day steps can you take to show students that distance learning is an effective way to learn?
ReplyDeleteI have found in hybrid environments that literally walking through a website can help give students a sense of what the website can do and where to find things. If you sit with someone while they make their account, I have noticed that they feel more supported. Some of this can be replicated with screencasts for fully online courses and our Site Coordinators help students at our member schools.
When working with faculty, I found that taking a distance learning course and sharing my experiences helped them understand online learning better. For example, I might say something like: "When I was an online student in a larger course, our professor broke us up into discussion groups and assigned one person to summarize the discussion each week. This made it easier for us as we had fewer overall posts to read, and helped our instructor get an overview of the discussion when grading posts."
Have you seen evidence in your or other classrooms of the opposite? What impact did that have on instruction?
Oh, the evidence I have seen! My first jobs in distance learning were working with university faculty to get their courses online when online learning was still relatively new.
They were being forced to teach online by their department which wanted to put courses online for "easy money," were not given any additional stipend or release time, and many were afraid that online learning would replace them.
This fear, like the fear of water in swimming mentioned in the book*, is still true today, and I still hear this myth being spread nearly 20 years later.
* I have found some of the Benjamin Franklin analogies to go a little too far for me in this book, even though I generally appreciate puns and some goofy references. ;)
However, I thought the swimming one in this chapter was helpful and didn't go "off the deep end" in terms of explaining scaffolding and learner support. This is a good one to keep in mind for when I need to explain instructional design concepts to non-designers.
Hi Sarah,
DeleteI'm a history teacher by training and I found the Franklin reference a bit much myself, and in some cases, incorrect. :)
I wanted to comment about your notion of distance learning as "easy money" for a program. I agree that can lead to some less-than-desirable implementations of distance learning models. I feel for teachers that get shoved into teaching in ANY format where they aren't trained, or even want to work in that capacity. I have seen that particularly in higher education.
jn
Fortunately the "easy money" idea seems to have mostly died down, but administrators still get occasionally get that idea in their heads without realizing what it really takes to make good online courses that will retain students. You can make running a course and the technology to support a course more efficient but you can't force good teaching or content development.
DeleteIn my online experience, timely feedback is one way to show students that distance learning does work. When a student turns in an assignment, then I try to grade it within 2 days. If I notice that a student has struggled with the assignment, I will provide feedback and the opportunity to revise and resubmit the assignment. Sometimes, a student will preface the assignment with, “I wasn’t really sure how to do this --” and those are the assignments, I am sure to make clarifying comments so that the students knows what was “right” or “wrong.” Timely feedback also relates to replying to student messages. If a student feels like his/her questions are being addressed quickly and that there is an exchange between the instructor and student, the student often feels more invested in the learning and its process.
ReplyDelete~Christine K.
I strongly believe that the ability for students to redo assignments helps with online learning. I always encouraged students who even received good grades to begin with to redo assignments if they did not "like" their grades. Redoing assignments forces students to critically analyze what they did first, and what it would take to redo the assignment for a better grade. I think that this is important cognitive engagement with learning. I remember learning more from my struggles and mistakes as a student than I ever did from my easy successes.
DeleteSandra, absolutely -- our struggles and mistakes teach us quite a bit. I love when students ask to revise work, as long as I have not already given answers in my grading comments (which has been known to happen). Also, as some schools move to proficiency / competency based learning, revising work is a huge part of that process, and we need to realize many students will expect that as an option.
DeleteThe timeliness of feedback is the "gift" of online teaching and learning. In f2f classes, where entire sets of major assignments are submitted on one day, the turnaround time is much longer than for the way they come in online. I make it a point to not go to bed until all posted work for the day is scored and responded to. As a traditional student, I never got timely feedback like that (and I longed for it).
DeleteSo, I'm not going to respond directly to one of the March 26th questions, but I'd love to get people's thoughts on something that I've talked with some VHS colleagues about: student facilitation as a mode of engagement. The basic thinking is that after some initial modeling by the teacher, students would sign-up for, or be assigned, a week where they become the facilitator of the conversation.
ReplyDeleteWe would, of course, outline expectations for the student facilitators and make those expectations clear to all students. One thing to note is that our students are high school students.
In my face-to-face teaching I usually asked students to facilitate formal in-class discussions, and I saw that they were quite able to do so effectively. I wonder if that skill would transfer as well online, and if it might engage all students. Something along the lines of "if I know I'll be in the 'hot seat' at some point, I want to help out and make the discussions great every time."
What do other think about student facilitation as a way of increasing discussion engagement? Thanks!
Laura,
DeleteI love this idea! While I was thinking of my response to the second prompt, I started to write about having smaller discussion groups each week, where one student would be responsible for sharing out to the whole class. Perhaps students would feel more comfortable facilitating smaller groups of their peers, and then only the facilitator has to share out to the larger group. This would also ensure that they facilitate more than once a semester.
Another idea which may tie in here is around student choice. I am imagining that those students facilitating the smaller groups could choose the question they are going to explore together (picking from a list of pre-chosen questions of course). The hope, obviously, is that there is more buy in on the discussion topic.
Jen
I was able to have success with student moderated discussions in a high school level AP Literature and Composition course. I found it to be similar to Socratic Seminar in the traditional classroom, as you have to front load the expectations and model more than in teacher-directed activities. However, my students responded strongly in both environments (through end of course surveys) that the student-led discussions were their favorite activities.
DeleteThe only obstacle I had was when my school loosened the expectations on completing assignments by a specific due date. Kids procrastinate, so if there is not a post and response deadline to keep students on the same page, the discussions become frustrating to everyone--especially the student leading without engagement.
I loved giving students the facilitator role and hope you find a way to make it work in your class! The rewards of student learning and engagement are worth the front-loading!
I have found that in a face-to-face school, discussions are often governed by the confident students, the out-going students. I think students who would never speak in a face-to-face discussion feel more at ease taking part in an on-line discussion. They have that confidence.
DeleteLaura, I love the idea of students-facilitated discussion. VHS already has posting deadlines in place, as Meg pointed out that without them, it is difficult. Marva's point about students being willing to take a risk in an online class may be the perfect opportunity for some of them to gain confidence in this type of activity. I'm willing to work with your through my next VHS class to try it.
DeleteThanks, all, for the positive reception of that idea! You are giving me some confidence around trying to work it into some of our classes - and Christine, thank you for the offer to do it in tandem with you - I would love that! We'll have to talk "off line" (or really, just in another online forum - or maybe by phone!).
DeleteI use Socratic Seminars in my traditional classroom and having students facilitate the discussions is a great way to "sort-of" use in for my online course. It may be easier for students to risk putting themselves out there in a student-facilitated discussion rather than a teacher led discussion. It may be harder to do with a larger class to make sure every student participates, but collaborating with pairs and/or groups will add yet another level. (Just thinking out loud. This is something I will definitely try out when designed next year's course.)
DeleteI think some students would be great at facilitating a discussion. In written form, I feel all students could participate in this, in f2f, video chat,etc... I would make it optional. You will have some students who will dread this all term worrying about it.
ReplyDeleteFor the high school level, I wonder if modeling a couple discussions yourself first would work, so the students have a worked example to reference, and nobody has to be the "first" one to run the discussion.
DeletePairing students up with a "buddy" might help with students who are nervous about the assignment, but could also potentially backfire. Do we ever use pair or group work at VHS?
Hi Sarah - Yes, we do use pair and group work at VHS! I think that the idea of a paired facilitation might work well - this is actually a format that we use in our professional develop course for teachers (Online Teaching Methodologies - or OTM). The one challenge that I see is that the paired model requires additional collaboration in an already collaboration-heavy assignment. Due to the asynchronous nature of the class, that can be a barrier to some students.
DeleteYeah, I could see that. I'm also thinking a pair assignment could be more of a challenge at the high school level across time zones. It's generally less of an issue in higher ed with traditional college students tending to stay up late anyway, and adult students generally having more experience negotiating schedules for work, childcare or other commitments, but I expect younger students would have less flexibility there.
DeleteI feel being present and enthusiastic about what we are teaching to the students through our news, emails, and effective feedback instead of as mentioned above "post once, respond twice" style of discussion that doesn't usually engaged the masses with engaging, inspiring conversation".
ReplyDeleteI have this type of discussion in my online classes (pre made curriculum) and I feel the students just do it because it's expected, in robot like fashion. Supplementing the content with a student's real world experiences/daily life will help make connections and apply their content. Make learning exciting, motivating and then your discussions will want to be answered.
For grading purposes, the "post once, respond twice" method is useful because it gives a quantitative marker to reach. It would be hard to get past that unless someone has some great idea of how to grade fairly in a way that bypasses that. One thing I would do with my discussion boards which helped at least some students put in a response to replies made to them was to push for students to ask each other questions about each other's posts and give extra credit when they did this. It wasn't very much, but it did help many students to come back and see what others had said to them and respond.
DeleteHi Sandra,
DeleteI think you make an important point about grading regarding the assignment.
I believe both of the models I mentioned in the prompts help answer concerns of grading, but, it is going to take dramatically more time to manage and assess.
From my view, I would prefer a class forgo the discussion all together rather than push something that doesn't really create the interactivity that I think engaged students in the content.
We have worked with a few of our instructors and said that 1-2 GREAT discussions beats 10-12 rote discussions every time.
Topic 1: One way to really show students that on-line learning is an effective way to learn is to be sure you are interacting with them, not only as a whole group, but individually as well. When providing feedback on a piece of work, students would really benefit by the teacher following up with a message to the student to be sure they understand the feedback and the expectations, and to see if the student has any further questions. This opens the door for a student who may be reluctant to start this conversation, but needs the support. This is especially important at the beginning of a course when students may not know where to look for feedback or may be unsure of how they are supposed to get their questions answered.
ReplyDeleteTone. The tone of a message, whether it be a private message, a message in the feedback of an assignment, or some other form of text, is extremely important to pay attention to as an online instructor. I have seen the break down of communication happen many times because of a message that came across wrong, and a student is left to sit for hours in an asynchronous environment with a message they interpreted incorrectly. I have seen a student shut down and not want to engage because of one sentence so this is an easy way for the distance learning model to break down.
Your comment about a student shutting down from a miscommunication reminded me of this article I just came across about attachment styles and work, but could also apply to online learning. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/smarter-living/attachment-styles-work-life-balance.html
DeleteThank you for this link, Sarah. This is the kind of thing I like to reward in my online discussions. I love it when students make connections from the "outside world" with our units of study.
DeleteYou're welcome! I am an interdisciplinary person by nature and love finding connections to other things.
DeleteTopic 1: In order to demonstrate to students that online learning is effective, it is important to have a positive attitude, provide consistent and timely feedback and display social presence. In accomplishing each of these, having an attitude that reveals an enthusiastic demeanor toward the course is important. This includes having assignments that are engaging and providing autonomy on assignments, where applicable. Similar to a traditional classroom, feedback guides student learning. If work is submitted in a timely manner, then feedback should have the same standards. I provide feedback in 24-48 hours. It begins with providing students with what was done properly and then address the areas of improvement. This helps to build relationships with students and demonstrates that effective learning can take place online. Finally, social presence helps to build relationships with students, therefore,it is essential to effective learning. "...and also encourage students to do the same to increase interactions between students, differentiate the modes of expression, and set the social presence tone for the online learning experience," (cited in Novak and Thibodeau 2016). Overall, to create the mindset that effective learning is plausible online, teachers must set the tone and create a healthy learning environment. This is accomplished with having a positive attitude, providing timely and consistent feedback, and developing social presence in the course.
ReplyDeletePost 2: As an instructor I use discussions in my online English course. I teach high school English and the discussions are used as a means to develop discourse in the class, as well as, a means for students to use their critical thinking skills. Each discussion is intentionally created for a particular lesson and requires students to analyze a topic, use evidence to support their ideas, and discuss the importance of the ideas in current society or connect to another text. The discussions at times have videos or artwork to reference and other discussions require students to upload audio or video of themselves delivering their responses. Also,each discussion requires peer responses so that students engage with one another. There are specific requirements for each discussion and a rubric provided so students understand how they are being assessed. Based on the reading, I need to include the Paideia Seminar, the pre and post seminar portions into my discussions to allow for student reflection. Reflection opportunities assist students in thinking about and applying their learning which increases engagement.
ReplyDelete1. I think attitude shows up in online courses in a variety of ways. Part of this is using the tools that we have to our advantage. For example, if I’ve given a student part of a primary source to read for an assignment, and they are really into it, I’ll send them the full thing and a note about how the source fits into the bigger context of the period they’re studying in history. I’ve had fantastic interactions with students in this way, showing them how to extend their content knowledge, or how something from the past connects to current events. Being able to communicate this way builds good relationships, and shows kids we know more than how to grade what they’ve been assigned.
ReplyDeleteI do think some of this is LMS specific, but we have the ability to insert an assignment or task for one or a small number of students at our discretion.. We have used this in the past for kids who are struggling with a skill or assignment - sometimes it’s as easy as slipping them a new video that explains the skill they’re having a hard time with, or assigning an extra practice set on grammar from our English teachers.
2. Interactivity is so difficult in an online environment! You miss out on the facial/spatial/body language from a face to face classroom and have to rely only on what they write. I think that a big part of course design has to be how to use a DB effectively. I’ve seen discussion “prompts” that really are asking a simple question that’s impossible to debate - those tend to be the dead zones for interaction where a discussion becomes busy work to check off and move past.
While I’ve never formally used either framework, I do have course design that sort of mimics the ideas. For example, in my US History courses, during a unit on the Civil War, students learn about secession and how it happened, then are asked to read excerpts from a few primary sources about secession and how people felt at the time and answer some basic reading questions. This is followed by a discussion board where they develop a set of standards for when/if it’s ok to leave the Union and then apply that standard to the “Calexit” movement. (Making the past relevant is sometimes hard, but so rewarding!) I’ve found that structuring DBs in this way lets students do the research, understand the historical period, but them apply the past experience to something that’s happening presently. This structure creates an environment where students are armed with knowledge and can have actual debates about things, and often keep coming back to post on the DB weeks later when something new occurs to them or they have another point to make!
I agree that writing the right kind of discussion board prompt is key to a successful discussion board. I am the kind of person that likes a lively, and friendly, debate. Learning how to disagree in a friendly manner is a skill that our society seems to be losing, so anytime our students can practice this is good. I like your idea of combining a current debate with one from history. It helps to make the issues real for the kids and encourages a real and meaningful debate. If the answer for a discussion board question is black and white, with one answer being clearly wrong, students would not engage. It might as well be an essay question. One of the hardest things to do is to help the students feel comfortable disagreeing with each other. I think once they learn to do that in a friendly way (no personal attacks), then they would really enjoy the discussion boards and look forward to the next debate.
DeleteTopic 1:From your experiences, what day-to-day steps can you take to show students that distance learning is an effective way to learn?
ReplyDeleteHave you seen evidence in your or other classrooms of the opposite? What impact did that have on instruction?
My situation is somewhat unique as I teach at an online HS that does not provide on-campus instruction. Students have selected our program for a variety of reasons: medical issues (anxiety, cancer, etc.), an alternative from traditional school (bullying at previous school, home school, or a desire to try something new), or ability to travel (professional athletes, models, actors, or their parents travel extensively and online keeps the family as an intact unit).
Our assignments and assessments are connected to standards, so students and parents are able to see the mastery of learning.
However, even though students are online solely with no face to face interaction, their is still the danger of them checking out. My husband teaches for an online charter school, and his biggest struggle is getting the less motivated students engaged in their learning. Just because they are in an online school does not automatically assume that they find it an effective way to learn. Do you have students that seem to drag their feet when it comes to completing their lessons? How do you help these students become excited about taking their classes online and believing that this a good way to learn? As a parent of an online student, engaging my daughter to believe that she can learn from her online classes is difficult. I see progress, but helping her see that is different.
DeletePrompt #2:
ReplyDeleteI have struggled with the concept of discussions in my online courses for years. As I continue to revise my courses, I have created specific guidelines for peer responses. 9th graders needed specific expectations: length and content. I also found that including some discussions in which students post their work and are required to post audio replies are helpful. The posts including their work allows students to see others' ideas, but also helps them measure their work against others. If a concept is spiralling throughout the course, it can be helpful for students to see other's ideas because the concept is presented differently from the way I showed it. Posting work in discussions allows students to see multiple ideas which can lead to challenging their own or supporting their ideas.
Also, most students submit stronger assignments when the task is presented in a discussion (rather than simply submitted to me): peer pressure in a positive manner!
Ha, yes I have had to say "I agree" does not work.
DeleteMeg, one of my courses has students post a short story power point in the discussion for other kids to review. It's a project they work on for a few weeks with me in individual assignments first before posting the final for all to see. I think you're right -- there is more of a push for quality work if students know their peers are going to see it and comment on it. I also used lots of wikis for peer reviews of essays, and they knew their comments to their peers were going to be important in the final essay, so I saw quality peer comments in that venue too.
DeleteI once took an online course where we had a peer review "buddy" that we shared online drafts with at pre-determined intervals using a rubric. I found it helpful and got to know my classmate a bit better, too.
DeleteI have made the same observation as you noted in your last paragraph with regard to students submitting stronger assignments when they know their peers will see them. In addition, my students become more competitive in their research and the likelihood of adding more depth to their responses increases in comparison to simply submitting responses to a regular assignment box.
Delete
ReplyDelete#1 Post: From your experiences, what day-to-day steps can you take to show students that distance learning is an effective way to learn?
My day to day steps that I can take to show students that learning online can be effect and fun is by being quick to respond to their emails or assignments with enthusiasm and by gently pushing them in the right direction if they have skewed off course from being able to locate the correct answer. I think this is crucial, especially since our main communication is through text that can be easily translated negatively by our students if we do not word our responses correctly! I also like using other multimedia aspects such as voice feedback or avatars so the students can hear my excitement about the material being covered and engaged in more depths conversations.
I am interested in using the recording option for providing feedback this term. How do students respond to your recordings? Do they then reply to you in kind? When you say you use Avatars, do you use a program like Voki?
Delete#1 Post: I think the most important thing to do to engage students into the course starts with the first call home. With an online course, I think a lot of first time online students are actually surprised their class is taught by real-live teacher. So much in our society is automated - including robocalls where the person on the other end sounds like a real person asking you questions until you realize they do not really respond to the answer you gave them. We have to let our students know that they have someone that is really there to help and wants to see them succeed. The more personal we can get in that first phone call, the better. If we can make a connection there, the students will be more motivated to see what their course is all about. Subsequent calls to those students who are struggling sometimes bears fruit as well.
ReplyDeleteThe ways that this can fall flat is when the student is naturally reticent talking to teachers to begin with. It is hard to engage a student who only grunts on the phone. Another problem is if you have so many students and so little time at the start of the course. The sooner you connect with the your students the better. After two weeks the calls become less effective because now you are already dealing with students who have not engaged, and now are behind. This adds a stress element to the conversation that makes it harder to build that initial relationship.
Post #2: The typical discussion format in my VHS classes has been the original post / reply to 2 peers. What I find discouraging is that most students don’t read the replies they receive from their peers and reply to those, and that’s what would keep a “discussion” going. (Maybe make this a requirement as well?) I set up some standards for timing of an original post and replies on different days, and there are grade points connected to these. I also make it a priority to post my own discussion answer and respond to every student who has posted an original post on time. This is where I ask questions or make connections to material. I seldom receive an answer/response when I pose questions. I also model what I expect a student’s reply to look like (more than “good job”). In my grading of discussions, I have points specifically broken down so students know where to improve in a discussion, and I will comment on quality of work. While I think original posts are often thoughtful and well done, I can’t say the same for replies and students’ ability to develop a true discussion. Maybe an incentive like: “Whoever keeps the discussion going with quality on-topic responses will earn bonus points” would work?
ReplyDeleteWhat I have found in our own discussions in this book study is that I don’t like the multiple day topic/postings. I find I need to read and respond within a few days, and I don’t always have the time to sit and compose thoughtful answers mid-week. Plus, if I have limited time, I need to compose a new response, which takes time away from me reading my peers’ responses. So even this exercise was helpful.
~Christine K.
Week #3 March 24th-30th
ReplyDeleteWeek 3: Chapter 4 (Instructor Presence) and Chapter 5 (Delivering the Package)
Topic 1 (posted 24 March): Novak and Thibodeau argue something that I can confirm from my own experience helping lead MTDA and teaching online in both K-12 and higher education environments: Attitude matters! Distance learning teachers are much more effective when they believe in the model.
From your experiences, what day-to-day steps can you take to show students that distance learning is an effective way to learn?
I teach an on-line accounting class. I mark papers with different colors and have students make corrections. Using this type of feedback, I meet with the student 2-3 times a week on-line. I hope this makes them realize I am engaged with their daily/weekly on-line activities.
From another’s post…timely feedback shows a student you are present….I agree. I answer the same day, at least within 24 hours.
Have you seen evidence in your or other classrooms of the opposite? What impact did that have on instruction?
The only thing I can think of right now, is, I had a student who had taken a course from the same on-line school I work at. He was shocked when I answered him right away. I guess that had not happened in his other class. So I’m thinking when something like this happens, the student also becomes less involved.
Topic 2 (posted 26 March): There is reference throughout these two chapters to discussions in the online environment, the original "interactivity" if distance learning. Discussions are an easy to add interactive components to any course, however, as Novak and Thibodeau note, they can so easily become dead zones where little meaningful action happens and interaction can become feigned, as best.
This is one (of many) areas where I believe K-12 distance learning tends to be ahead of our counterparts in higher education. Having been a distance learning student for a good portion of two graduate degrees, I am used to the lightly/poorly moderated "post once, respond twice" style of discussion that doesn't usually engaged the masses with engaging, inspiring conversation.
In addition to the Paideia Seminar cited in this text, I would also recommend you take a close look at the "Community of Inquiry" framework that also seeks to make discussions more interactive and educational.
Specific to discussions... please share:
1.) Do you have experience with a model of more proactively moderated discussions, like Paideia Seminars or Community of Inquiry? Please share your experiences.
or
2.) If you have yet to experience one of these models, share ways that you as an instructor can help make discussions more engaging and relevant to forward motion in a course. Please speak from your experience as either a student or a teacher.
I liked the video of Dr. Vaughan introducing himself. I think this would let a student know there is someone on the other end. With that said, videos or audio participation might make students more interested, let student know there is a teacher/facilitator presence in the discussion room.
I always provide feedback, but I don’t know how engaging it is for students. I try to comment on their thoughts, but I think I need to engage them more.
Prompt #2: Topic #2
ReplyDeleteIn my own work, I have worked with faculty using case study style discussions to get students to react a reality-based scenario, sometimes using role-playing where students take on a specific persona.
At my previous job, a course my colleague worked on used a custom in-house developed tool called THREADS. This tool allows for pseudononymous discussion around sensitive or politically charged topics. The tool automatically assigned each student a pseudonym, for example, one student is listed as "Purple Elephant" and another is "Orange Kumquat." This way, everyone is anonymous but you still know which comments came from the same person. The professor and course staff know who the students are from the admin panel, so they can get credit for grading and hold students accountable if someone misbehaves or breaks the ground rules. In conventional LMS discussion boards that allow anonymous posts, this wouldn't work.
I wasn't able to find any publicly available current material about this tool, but here is a short video presentation about an earlier version of it with the professor discussing his use of it and some screenshots.
This presentation was part of a panel with other faculty sharing discussion strategies if you want to explore further.
Post 3# Specific feedback is provided on each assignment. Specific feedback provides feedback on every portion of the rubric. I begin with what the student did well and then areas of improvement. I also provide feedback on grammar and convention errors. Feedback not only builds presence, but provides an opportunity for students to grow in their learning experience.
ReplyDeleteIn our courses, discussion boards have a two week time limit and then it is on to the next unit and discussion board. However, I can see that doing a "pre-seminar" in the first unit, would be a good way to set up expectations for discussion boards for the rest of the course. Usually in my courses, I make a presentation in one of my early announcements about what my expectations for discussion boards are, including responses to each other. By linking that to the first discussion board and having students reflect on what they think would make a good discussion board may be a good way to start a culture of engagement in the course. In each unit test, a short essay question where students reflect on what they learned from the discussion board would add relevance to their discussion board as well. These simple changes could possibly add to this element of the course. As far as my current engagement with discussion boards, though not required, I always respond to every student's post. In my responses to them, I always use PIN - saying something positive about what they have said, adding new and interesting information to the topic they are writing about (this could be either academic or personal), and finally I always end with a "nice to know" which I interpret as asking the student a question that furthers the discussion and exploration of the topic. As I expect my students to respond to each other in this same manner, it also helps to model how I want them to respond to each other.
ReplyDeleteTopic #3 - Though it would be nice in a perfect world to have specific feedback in every assignment, it is not practical for both the teacher or the student. The work load would be too great for the teacher, and the student may get overload as well. However, students should have feedback on the major assignments in each unit. I know for myself, it is tempting to just leave feedback on what needs to be improved in an assignment and miss reinforcing the strong points. However it is important to also make sure that students know what they did right as well. I have seen students who struggled with writing, but had good ideas, work hard to improve both when their ideas are validated and they feel like the teacher thinks that they are smart and have something to contribute. It is also important, especially for students who struggle, not to overload them with improvements that need to be made. In those cases, one must look for only one or two things that they can do that would significantly improve their work. However, even with good students who have a "perfect" assignment, I try to find something that they can improve in their feedback, even if they get 100% on the assignment. I find that teaching with a rubric is very helpful with consistency and helping students know expectations. Usually only the good students look at them, but it can help those students who have anxiety about grades to know exactly where they will be assessed. For both the teacher's sake and the student's sake, it is good not to make a rubric with more than 4 or 5 areas of evaluation. I know I groan when I see a rubric with 8 or more areas of evaluation so I am sure my students do too.
ReplyDeleteI really like that you try to comment on "perfect" assignments too. Even the "good" students need our feedback. You are right in that there is always room for improvement on all submissions. Providing feedback does take a lot of work and time. One thing we're trying at Illinois Virtual School is using feedback banks. You can collect feedback based on assignment, content, unit or however you want to organize your feedback. You can draw from your feedback bank when grading submissions and personalize them as needed. It takes time and effort to create, but will help save you time in the long run. It also helps your feedback to be more consistent with all of your students. I know that by the time I get to the end of my grading session, my comments are not as detailed and specific as they were when I started grading. Anyway, I'm just starting to form my feedback bank, but if you have any questions about creating one, let me know.
DeleteI agree Sandra, it would be nice to provide specific feedback on almost every assignment, but that is just not realistic. I do also agree with you that most of the feedback we should give back should be on the more lengthy assignments that the students had to study or take time researching a topic. For these assignments I like to provide voice feedback so the student knows that I do care about their opinion and voice and or knowledge about the content. I also sometimes use educational videos on specific content to redirect a students thinking or reiterate the content.
DeleteI agree with Sandra, too. Realistically, I think it's best to focus the bulk of direct feedback efforts on the most difficult assignments, or ones that students struggle with the most. This can vary by discipline.
DeleteFor example, in STEM courses, some adaptive tools can give the student immediate feedback on math problems or coding exercises, but that can be trickier with advanced assignments or other fields.
A self or peer-evaluated rubric can sometimes help students in the "middle space" between automated and full instructor feedback to reflect on their own work in a guided way for lower stakes or introductory assignments.
Topic #2
ReplyDeleteMy discussion boards for VHS as well as my blended learning classroom typically follow the "seminar" portion of the Paideia Seminar. I always require the students to cite sources in their responses or, when responding to a classmate, to reference what he or she wrote in a comment. In addition, I facilitate using open-ended question when I respond to students. Making topics relevant to the students' world in 2019 is also helpful in creating a social presence in the discussion area and enhancing student engagement. I also encourage students to pose questions in their comments to further the depth of the discussion.
The Pre-seminar and Post-seminar portions of Paideia involve more student self-reflection than I currently integrate into my discussion board assignments. While we do review standards, objectives, and background material prior to posting in a discussion, students are not directed to establish an individual goal for each discussion. This is something will work on. It seems to me this would have the added benefit of providing students nore ownership of their learning. Accordingly, I will follow up with the Post-seminar portion of paideia that asks students to reflect on those goals in the form of an activity. Here again, I see that UDL stresses the "choice" element for submissions, which is another area of mine that needs attention. I do provide choices for some assignments, but I need to be more consistent in doing so.
Topic #3 Feedback
ReplyDeleteIn responding to students' work, I strive to be educative and give examples demonstrating the ways in which a student can improve. I find that rubrics are essential for essay submissions as they help students not only understand the standards by which they are being graded but also that they are being graded along the same as their classmates. This helps establish the elements of both fairness and transparency. I also find that it is important to be cognizant of individual student's sensitivities. Often, the feedback "sandwich" works well: open with a compliment, provide constructive criticism, conclude with a compliment.
I agree with many of my colleagues who have noted that it is difficult to provide detailed individual feedback for every assignment. However, I believe it is essential when the students are working on specific skill-building assignments, particularly essay writing.
Topic 1
ReplyDeleteFrom your experiences, what day-to-day steps can you take to show students that distance learning is an effective way to learn?
As a learner and instructor I believe online meetings and frequent feedback or communications have tremendous impact. When students are able to share their experiences, questions, thoughts and information there exists a sense of community either with a group or 1:1. Communication is key, it can be validate students knowing they are not the only one not grasping a topic. Conversely they may shine in the ability to share ideas and express deeper interests in a particular topic.
Frequent student : teacher feedback also gives teeth to a syllabus and may assist students with pacing/time management. Often time students can wait for the last week to submit tons of work. As an instructor it can be a little sad reading how much a student missed by not holding themselves accountable to a time table and what a class could have afforded them. Presuming each submitted assignment allowed for instructor comment, support or redirection.
Have you seen evidence in your or other classrooms of the opposite? What impact did that have on instruction?
Last year my building had one English teacher for grades 9-12, approximately 200 students. The number of students was enormous for a blended learning experience. The challenge the teacher was presented with was teaching and reteaching a single lesson dozens of times. Without a cohort meeting this slowed the entire english completion rate to a stand still. Grading stalled as did communication between students and teacher, very frustrating as well.
When students did not receive quick feedback they would shelve their english work in favor of more quickly ‘graded’ classes. Ultimately students lost interest and concern for their english credits causing a lack of progress across all grades. As a school we went to Tuesday and Thursdays as intensive english only work days where all instructors got on board to revive our english students. It was a lot of time and work to get kids to ‘care’ about their class again.
This year the load is split between two teachers with frequent feedback, communication and class meetings.
Jeannine,
DeleteI have a great story for you and YES, I need a study buddy! Let's get together this week! Call or text 208.869.7008 Teri
Topic 2
ReplyDelete1.) Do you have experience with a model of more proactively moderated discussions, like Paideia Seminars or Community of Inquiry? Please share your experiences.
I’ve had the good fortune to have taken handfuls of online classes. Most recently I’ve taken a two, Teaching History in Place and Introduction to Co-teaching. Both classes afforded opportunity for discussion forums, research, reading and application. My favorite activity by far was a synchronous video meeting. Personally it strung together the social community aspect of the class. Most of my cohort met with the instructor and education specialist of the Boise museum. It was really kind of neat to put faces and voices to the names I’d been ‘reading’ on our discussion boards.
Initially I was flummoxed by the aspect of signing in/onto a live video but with the help of my instructor and another student I was able to log in. From the student perspective it was enjoyable to have the pre-seminar reading which made the meeting all the more informative and valuable.
Another valuable tool for me is to be able to read / hear/ see what other students are working on within a course framework. The social/community aspect can not be used enough to encourage learners, particularly my high school kiddos.
Topic 3
ReplyDeleteWhat does specific feedback mean to you? Does every assignment get specific feedback? If not, where is that line?
From my perspective every assignment should be acknowledged as received and does not need to have specific but rather general feedback. Simple acknowledgement may motivate students to work towards specific feedback. Using assigned readings as a guide toward specific feedback can be a proactive way to encourage readings as well as promoting possibilities of higher order discussion boards/forums.
Perhaps having several discussion boards running simultaneously, for different questions, presents itself as a natural forum for specific feedback both from cohort and instructor. As an instructor you would be able to read the depth of understanding a student has based on their interactions and responses or lack of in the forum. This could open a student centered, 1:1 dialogue where specifics could be discussed. In this instance the instructor can then guide a student towards the megatopics specifics and help a student fine tune their experience.
I chose topic 3:
ReplyDeleteTo me, specific feedback means communication that relates to understanding of the key learning concepts at the time the student is working on them. I don’t think that every assignment would necessarily require feedback. It would depend on the nature and sequence of the assignments. If each assignment dealt with a single key concept, then I guess feedback would be warranted after each one. I suspect that type of rigidly sequential class would not be very engaging. Obviously, in the distance learning environment, everybody is not in the same room at the same time, which takes away a some of the quick check for understanding techniques in the teacher toolkit. Maybe the online teacher needs to borrow from the target marketer, providing, for example, confirmation to those who appear to be getting the key concepts, encouragement for the group showing growth but not yet there, and redirection or clarification for those who need more help. Focusing on the concepts rather than the assignments could head off the issue of tedious or nit-picky feedback. Yes, a student may need a gentle reminder to double check their work, but arithmetic errors do not indicate a misunderstanding of the algebraic concepts needed to find x.
Another important component of specific feedback is that it needs to be delivered in a relevant time frame. If students are left too long without encouragement or assistance they, naturally, might give up. I think direct specific feedback has two simultaneous contexts. There is the subject area/content learning target/goal oriented context of course. Then there is the learning how to learn context where persistence and effort is highly valued.
ReplyDeleteTopic 3 (posted 28 March): Last... in this (and other weeks), direct, specific feedback has been listed as a strategy to help meet digital presence and other needs from students in the UDL model. This topic is important here and elsewhere, but, let's focus on the distance learning space. What does specific feedback mean to you? Does every assignment get specific feedback? If not, where is that line?
To me, specific feedback means saying something about that particular assignment. I have to do this when looking over accounting assignments, provide something specific about right or wrong of the problem.
Lots of times, I do use something in general, something I share with everyone. It can be an experience or a news item relating to the assignment I just read about.
"Attitude matters!" Wow do I ever agree with that simple but power statement. In the traditional education setting this is a given, but it's easy to neglect that idea that it still holds true with Distance Learning. People that do business over the phone are always told to smile while they are talking to the party on the other side of the line, as their message will be better received. There is much more to communication than our words. I have experienced Distance Learning courses that felt so clinical and "distant." At the time I couldn't figure out why I felt this way, but know I am wondering if it was due to their lack of excitement and enthusiasm about the course. In the future, if I am an instructor of a Distance Learning Course this is such a critical insight. If I'm not excited, find a way to get excited about it. It will make a difference to the students I am teaching.
ReplyDeleteFrom your experiences, what day-to-day steps can you take to show students that distance learning is an effective way to learn?
(FYI:It was our Spring Break and we were blessed to be able to visit Capitol Reef National Park in Central Utah. I highly recommend this hidden gem in Central Utah, but be prepared there is not internet in the area. So it was unexpected, but much appreciated "Unplugged" week. Enjoying catching up and reading all of your great comments.)
Hi, Laura! I had never heard that "People that do business over the phone are always told to smile while they are talking to the party on the other side of the line, as their message will be better received." Cool!
DeleteIn my welcome letter to new online students, I always tell them to smile when they log into class (and assure them that that is what I do). Thanks for the affirmation that this is good practice. lol (I am smiling now.)
Topic 1: For me, just trying to let the students know that I'm a human, and not a robot. I try to share about myself and their 1st assignment is an extra credit "introduce yourself" assignment to help me get to know them. Luckily I have not seen evidence of the opposite.
ReplyDeleteTopic 2: I have been a participant in a moderated environment but it is not an activity I have incorporated in the classes I teach. The classes I teach have many assignments, and the pace is rigorous. I hesitate to add more to the students' "to-do" list. Instad I try to be personal, use their names when I give feedback and always begin with something positive!
Topic 3: To me specific feedback is personal, uses the students's name. Points out what they did well and make suggestions for how to improve.
ReplyDeleteTopic 1: I emphasize learning in my course by showing them that they have more chances to demonstrate mastery of material in my online course than they may get in their face-to-face classrooms by allowing a chance to re-do assignments in response to my feedback. I want the students to be focused on how they can improve.
The evidence I have seen of the opposite is the temptation students have to find answers to questions on Google. I teach a vendor-based course, so I did not design any assignments. This also means that students across the country take the same class, so responses to questions from the course appear many places online. I wish that there were more choice offered in my course so that all the products weren’t “Google-able.”
Topic 2: As I mentioned above, my course is written by a publisher, and they utilize the "post once, respond twice" style of discussion. To make matters more complicated, I tend to have low enrollment. The small numbers combined with the fact that we have various start dates often means that students are not in the same place in the course at the same time, which makes discussions difficult, and Paideia Seminars would be impossible. The book did mention the instructor’s role in facilitating discussion. Sometimes I respond to students in the discussion board itself, and I always respond via individual feedback. It seems to help students meet the expectations of the discussion assignment, but it really is hard to get true engagement happening.
Topic 3: I do try to give specific feedback to every assignment regarding what a student did well and what might need to be improved. I often download the documents and make comments on individual responses in a different color. Sometimes I just comment with added information I think the student may find interesting. One initiative that IVS is currently promoting is a feedback bank to save time in this regard.
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ReplyDeleteTopic 1: Attitude definitely matters. In another online workshop, teachers were encouraged to always respond/write emails with a smile. As a retired marketing person, I insisted that all staff answered the phone and responded to any and all comments with a smile on their face. It makes a difference. Twenty years later with most correspondences through email, the same applies. Even when delivering unpleasant news, the email is better written with a smile. Not only does this help the teacher maintain a positive attitude throughout the course, it also comes across as a positive tone for the student.
ReplyDeleteI have noticed that the quicker you respond to students’ emails, the better. Montana Digital Academy’s teachers are also face-to-face teachers so immediate response is difficult. However, a quick check between classes can alert me to any email that may need my immediate response; even if the response is “I am in class right now, but I will email you at lunch or after school.” I receive MTDA emails on my phone which allows students access to me almost anytime.
I have seen more success for at-risk students in classes that have some online presence as to those classes that none. Chronic absenteeism is a big problem for some students, usually for reasons outside their control. All my classes have a blended element that allow students to complete assignments online and in some cases receive instruction online. In these classes, students with chronic absences tend to be more successful in my class than in classes with no online presence. Specifically, some students have only passed my class for the semester. Our school is in the process of implementing an LMS system to add to our blended classrooms.
Topic 2: I have no experience with either Paideia Seminar or the Community of Inquiry framework for discussion boards. However, I do have a favorite discussion board or table talk in which students seem to be very engaged. Students select at topic from the text, in this case Frankenstein, and in a well-developed persuasive paragraph, argue the merits of the topic they choose. The topics range from the “throw away child syndrome,” the purpose of education, or the effect of cultural roots and human attachment can help form a person into who they are. Students are asked to reflect on the person they are and the person the Creature became in the novel. It is truly one of my favorite discussion boards as students tend to be extremely reflective and honest. It is some of the best writing I get all semester.
ReplyDeleteAnother favorite assignment which requires students to interact is the Poetry Slam. I have students write and read a reflective poem using Flip Grid (flipgrid.com). This allows me to literally see my students read their poems and comment on the video. Other students can also comment on their performance. As an online teacher I love seeing students; putting a face to a name; an attitude to writing assignment. I think that both options allow for multiple ways of engagement for my students.
Hi Diane,
DeleteIs Flip Grid free and available to all students? Do you provide a tutorial for creating a Flip Grid product? Are you willing to share that tutorial if you do?
Thanks!
Kathy
Topic 3: Feedback is an area that I am constantly trying to improve. And I do believe I am getting better. As I am very timely in answering emails, my feedback is not as immediate. The more attention I give to make the feedback more meaningful, the slower I am at grading. Again, I do believe I am improving, but as with everything, I can be better. It never occurred to me to give group feedback. Individual feedback is probably the most important part of an online classroom and I wouldn’t feel comfortable just giving group feedback for any assignment. Students need to know how to grow in their learning and they all do that differently. One of the ways that has made my timing better is that I have figured out that not all assignments need a lot of feedback. Some not at all. It took several years to figure out which ones were which, but basic assignments where students need to answer in one to two sentences a specific question don’t need as much feedback. Major assignments that require more work by the student need detail feedback that help students improve. Also, not all students need the same level of feedback. Some students will continually make the same mistakes and need additional help in correcting assignments; whereas some students will immediately make the corrections and rarely repeat the mistakes. It takes time and a relationship to understand what each student needs.
ReplyDeleteHi Diane,
ReplyDeleteDid you read Jen Elwell's comment above about the feedback bank concept for IVS? You may want to start developing one for specific assignments in your class. I have found that there are often common comments I find myself repeating from student to student. I began my feedback bank with those kinds of comments. There are also common errors that I want students to face (like the direct address comma -- or comma use in general). I now have a host to online resources that address those problems at the ready to include in my feedback.
While I agree with you that feedback must be individual, I also think this feedback bank idea can help assure that each student gets the same thorough response that the first student received.
Just an idea. :-)
Topic 3: I think that feedback is essential in the online learning space. Sometimes, it’s the only communication you may have with a student during the course of a semester. Without being able to see their faces when they’re confused, we can only go off the work they turn in… but the same goes the other way. Without seeing OUR faces, students don’t get feedback on their work that they might otherwise receive in a face to face classroom. By giving students specific feedback - both positive and negative - we can help them understand what they’ve done well at the same time as we show them where they can get better. I
ReplyDeletealso think it falls well into the category of “your teacher is not a robot”, which is a danger in the online classroom. Feedback is a place where we can connect and communicate with students and help them grow - sometimes, when students turn in work that’s perfect, I use the feedback space in my grading area to extend a student’s knowledge - giving them an article or fuller picture of what they studied. In my history class, sometimes i simply give them a link to the whole of a document or speech if they’ve only been required to read an excerpt.
I absolutely agree that teacher enthusiasm can be and is displayed through teacher response, NEWS items, reactions with emails and such. I am focusing on improving my FEEDBACK for my students. When students do not see us face-to-face, I believe that we have to display our enthusiasm in these other creative ways.
ReplyDelete