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Posts tagged ‘elearning’

Using Zoom for Online Debates and eLearning Events

Thanks to Regis faculty members Tom Yagosor and Bob Spagnola for their presentation, “Let’s Debate: Active Learning in the Online Classroom” at Friday’s eLearning Consortium of Colorado (eLCC) meeting. Tom and Bob teach both online and face-to-face courses at Regis and they shared how they recently started using Zoom in their online classes for debates.

This was my first eLCC meeting for over a year and it was great to see both old and new members. We were also treated to a tour of the Innovation Center which is located in the middle of faculty offices in Regis University’s College of Business and Economics.

Innovation Center

The room was designed so that the technology is always on to avoid needing to connect. The walls are writable and markers are stored in the ottoman chairs. eLCC meets monthly and is hosted by member campuses each month. Thanks to Regis for hosting a great meeting!

eLCC Conference in Breckenridge, CO

eLCC’s annual conference will take place Wednesday April 17 – 19, 2019 at Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge, CO. The Call for Proposals for the conference has been extended to March 18, 2019. Special hotel rates are valid until March 8, 2019.

The eLCC conference draws people from across the nation and is a wonderful opportunity to connect with peers in higher ed who are using technology and online learning to provide opportunities for students.

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Online Education

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Video

10 Commons Myths about Teaching Online #InsideDigitalLearning

Members of the academic community have very strong opinions about online education. These opinions are often negative and based on myths, not evidence. Some like to share their negative perceptions in the comments section of articles or blogs about online education.  Here is an example from the comment section of a recent Inside Higher Ed article entitled, “Online Education Ascends.”

Are we really ready to accept that the students are the best judges of the quality of an education they are just starting? And all kinds of things are here to stay, and most of them are horrible. That’s hardly a selling point. And maybe this is the heart of the problem. Online education for most administrations is a selling point and has very little to do with educational quality. (By: 3rd Tyrant)

I think 3rd Tyant’s comment was in response to Stewart Sutin’s comment that online education is here to stay.  Sutin shared some well researched tips about how to ensure the quality of online education by:

  • Carefully selecting online instructors
  • Providing instructors with adequate training and access to course design specialists
  • Providing adequate budgets to support faculty and quality programs
  • Providing ample tech support
  • Ensuring institutional objectives extend beyond enrollment growth

I agree with all of the above. I also appreciated Chris’s reply to 3rd Tyrant’s comment,

“Why the assumption that in-person is high quality but online is not?”

I’m guessing 3rd Tyrant has bought into the common myths about teaching online and hasn’t done research on the subject.  3rd Tyrant and other online education naysayers need to take time to learn the facts about teaching online.  The video below does an excellent job of responding to the ten most commons myths about teaching online.

This video is one of the many excellent resources from Open SUNY Center for Online Teaching Excellence.

Written

on November 11, 2018

VoiceThread Syllabus Overview & FlipGrid Intros #MagnaTWT #voicethread #flipgrid

I had a great experience using VoiceThread in my online class last Fall and this year I’m using it for my Syllabus overview.  This is a super easy way to provide students with a personalized syllabus summary in an online course. I’ll be using the FREE version of VoiceThread again this year.

I’ll be sharing my experiences teaching with VoiceThread at the Magna Teaching with Technology conference in St. Louis on Oct. 7, 2018.  The title of my presentation is “Supporting Effective Teaching and Learning Principles with VoiceThread.”

VoiceThreadBlog

I’m using FlipGrid for the first time this year starting with class introductions. We will use both tools during the course to move beyond text-based discussions. FlipGrid and VoiceThread give us asynchronous opportunities to hear and see one another, and build a sense of community within the course. I have approval to do a study to explore how  using FlipGrid and VoiceThread impact proven principles of good practice.

I decided to add FlipGrid as a required participation tool after hearing from a few  faculty who tried it out in their online course and claimed their students loved it!  I also like the fact that FlipGrid is now part of the Office 365 suite so educators can now take advantage of features only previously available be a paid license.

Finally, giving students an opportunity to explore these technologies supports several outcomes for a course about teaching, learning & technology.  I can’t wait to give them a try!

 

 

 

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Online Education

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6 Benefits of #Teaching Online #edtech, #elearning

One of the most exciting benefits of learning to teach online is that it positively impacts pexels-photo-245132_Diversityface-to-face (FTF) teaching by:

  1. improving the use and integration of digital media and technology in face-to-face classes;
  2. making more extensive and better use of the Learning Management System tools;
  3. moving faculty from the “sage on the stage” to the “guide on the side”;
  4. offering professors more flexibility of how, when, and where they teach their class;
  5. motivating professors to learn more about pedagogy and course design for all courses;
  6. promoting the alignment of learning objectives to content, assessments, interactions, and activities in all courses.

Empirical research from faculty who participated in an intensive 4-week Teaching Online Workshop (TOW) at a private, non-profit university, supports external research findings (McQuiggens 2012, Sener 2012) that learning to teach online has a positive impact on F2F teaching.

The vast majority of TOW faculty agreed that learning to teach an online course has positively influenced how they teach their on-campus courses.

ImprovedF2F

Learning Management Systems like Blackboard, Canvas, and BrightSpace often get a bad rap in higher education.  The key is how faculty members leverage these systems to support student learning.  Below are testimonials from Teaching Online Workshop graduates about how teaching online has impacted their LMS use in face-to-face courses

Testimonials about more extensive use of LMS

These findings are good news for students and higher education overall. When instructors apply what they learn about effective online learning practices to their face-to-face classrooms, it is a win-win for everyone!

References

Keairns, Kathy, & Tobin, Heather (2015). Faculty as Students: One Model for Preparing Faculty to Develop and Teach Online. Distance Teaching & Learning Conference. Madison, WI.

McQuiggan, Carol A. (2012).Faculty Development for Online Teaching as a Catalyst for      Change. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, Volume 16: Issue 2.

Sener, J. (2012). The Seven Futures of American Education: Improving Learning and Teaching in a Screen-Captured World. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing.

 

 

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Online Education

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Colorado Learning and Teaching with Technology Conference #edtech

Are you ready to network with colleagues and LEARN strategies that support project-based learning, flipped learning, universal design for learning, and more?  Mark your calendar for August 1 & 2, 2018, and then register for the 2018 COLTT conference. COLTT Flyer

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Online Education

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Faculty concerns about teaching online

One of the first things we ask faculty to share in the Teaching Online Workshop (TOW) is their apprehensions and concerns about teaching online. The Teaching Online Young people at table with laptopWorkshop is an online course for faculty new to teaching online. Participants experience online education first-hand as students in this intensive four- week course.

The Prompt

Teaching online can be very different from what most of us have experienced in the traditional classroom. Many instructors have apprehension and see great challenges with this method of education.

After reading through module 1.1 about online learning and taking the faculty preparedness for online teaching self-assessment, what are your main thoughts or concerns about teaching online? What potential benefits might you expect?

Faculty Concerns (from 2013 TOW)

“My first concern is that I gather much feedback from the nonverbal communication between myself and the students during class regarding their understanding, interest, previous knowledge, etc.  I am hopeful that I can still receive feedback to tailor my course for the students I will be teaching.”

“My concern is how to determine the optimum number of bells and whistles (news stories, blogs, wiki’s, video links) to include in order for students to stay engaged?”

“First, I am concerned about the fact that students who struggle with time management and/or have procrastination problems typically don’t fare well during an online course because some of the students who enroll in our class will undoubtedly fit into this category. Second, I have heard many students talk about how they just need to post something to a discussion board for credit rather than because they have a really thoughtful point they are intrinsically inclined to share, so I’m trying to think through how I can manage that issue. Finally, I’m nervous about how well I will do with creating an online classroom feel in which students engage in meaningful dialog with one another.”

“The challenge I see is keeping a balance of social chatter vs. specific assignment discussions, I have seen this get out-of-hand per some online classes. I always appreciated the online facilitator who encouraged more specifics from students who generalized;  they also minimized extremely long posts by reminding students to stay on point and the importance of being succinct when discussing a point or adding a relevant comment.”

“I am also apprehensive about being organized enough to pull this off effectively and in a timely way. I always meet deadlines, but I tend to procrastinate up to those deadlines.”

I appreciate the honesty and variety of responses to this prompt and understand that these are all valid concerns for faculty new to online teaching.  I will share more concerns later but my next blog post will highlight this groups’ perceived benefits of teaching online.

 

 

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Online Education

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Online Courses: The Quality Question #TLTGfrlv

This is a quick summary of a FREE professional development webinar I attended from Young people at table with laptopthe Teaching, Learning and Technology (TLT) group. This FridayLive session was about good practices for online education, esp. those encouraged by accreditors, states, et al.

Session Description

Courses and educational programs that have on-line or distance components have existed long enough to have a history. Scholars and accrediting agencies are sincerely interested in promoting good practices that improve student learning. What are the good practices that have emerged, where did they come from, how are they implemented by individuals and by programs, and what are the interests taken by external agencies such as states and accreditors?

Guest:  David McCurry, Director of Distance Education at University of South Carolina Upstate
Interviewer:  Doug Eder, emeritus assessment scholar and faculty member
Moderator: Steve Gilbert, TLT Group

Summary & Resources

It was a good conversation and lots of great resources were shared (see below).  The TLT group is a great organization with a long history of promoting effective teaching practices.  Dr. McCurry shared the attributes of good practices in online education from “National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements” (NC-SARA).  We also discussed the 2018 CHOLE Report findings and the role of the Chief Online Learning Officer (COLO).

UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

ICT –  Information and Communications Technology

There is no such thing as educational technology (Dr. McCurry’s blog)

A Concierge Model for Supporting Faculty in Online Course Design (MuCurry & Mullinix)

Leading & Managing eLearning (Book Recommendation)

Take advantage of upcoming Friday Live Sessions to learn more about Teaching, Learning and Technology. Keep up the good work TLT!

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Online Education

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Misconceptions, challenges, and benefits of going online

I just returned from LA after giving a talk at the beautiful Loyola Marymount University (LMU) as part of their Speaker Series.  The Speaker Series is a very cool program that is:

Poster of Kathy's Talk

Poster@LMU

“intended to help LMU faculty explore and understand the possibilities and potential challenges involved in online and hybrid teaching. Speakers are invited to facilitate an honest discussion of the opportunities, challenges, and pitfalls of online and hybrid teaching and to offer some lessons from their own institutions’ experiences.”

Abstract

Like other organizations, higher education has been disrupted by the Internet and technological innovations over the past 20 years. The college classroom is changing as online and hybrid education become commonplace at many institutions today. Although there has been tremendous growth in online and hybrid learning, there is still a lot skepticism and resistance, especially from those who have no direct experience with these new learning formats.

Faculty resistance to online education is one of the challenges I highlighted during my talk.

Faculty Resistance

Faculty resistance is a major challenge faced by traditional higher education institutions considering moving online.  Many faculty are skeptical about online education and believe that:

  • online courses are less rigorous
  • there is more cheating in online courses
  • online teaching is more time and energy intensive
  • online courses are inferior to face-to-face courses

Faculty who haven’t taught online may assume online courses are self-paced with little opportunities for interaction with students.  They may associate online education with correspondence or televised courses from the past that were much less interactive. They may also be skeptical about the quality of online courses.

Another reason for faculty resistance is the lack of rewards, especially related to tenure and promotion decisions. In many institutions, faculty who teach online are often looked down upon by colleagues. Although online education is more common today, there is little prestige for faculty who teach online.

If university leaders want faculty buy-in for online education, they need to acknowledge and address faculty resistance.

I was honored to be part of this wonderful series to talk about online education.

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Online Education

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Supporting Effective Teaching & Learning Practices with VoiceThread #edtech #elearning

I used the “free” version of VoiceThread (VT) in my online course this fall, EDU 261 – Teaching, Learning & Technology, and based on that experience, I will definitely use it again. VoiceThread is a VoiceThread Screenshotpopular Web 2.0 tool used to foster learner engagement and increase instructor and student presence in online and hybrid courses.  It is basically an online discussion on steroids, but it can also be used to create presentations and tutorials. Learners can add audio comments, video comments, or text comments to VoiceThread slides.

This is the second time I’ve used VoiceThread in this course. The first time VoiceThread was optional, and I only used it a few times during the course.  This time I required students to use it as part of their course participation and discussion grade.  I created a Voicethread almost every week to share mini lectures/announcements. Then bi-weekly, I required students’ to comment/respond to questions using VoiceThread in lieu of a traditional text-based discussion.

What I liked about teaching with VoiceThread

  • Easy to re-record VoiceThread comments compared to other screencast/video recording tools.
  • Flexibility for adding comments (text, audio, or video).
  • Opportunity to both see and hear student comments
  • Basic license free for students and instructor
  • Very few technical issues

How I will use VoiceThread differently next time

  • Use VoiceThread for ice breaker instead of threaded discussion
  • Purchase license for VoiceThread to fully leverage the technology
  • Use VoiceThread for Peer Review Assignment
  • Share/post student tech projects
  • Include Voice Thread discussion requirements on VT slide
  • Require everyone to post at least one video VT comment early in the course

In addition to supporting several of the principles of good practice on the slide included in this post, VoiceThread also supports the following UDL principles:

  • presenting content in a variety of formats
  • keeping learners motivated by offering choices
  • providing multiple means of engagement

I was able to teach the entire course using the FREE version of VoiceThread.  The free account is available for anyone who is at least 13 years old and has a valid email address. It allows you to create up to 5 VoiceThreads, comment by microphone and text, and share or embed VoiceThreads via a shared link or embed code.

Register for FREE Voicethread account

  • Go to http://voicethread.com
  • Click “Register” in the top-right corner of the page.
  • Fill out and submit the short form.
  • Check your email for the confirmation message, and click on the verification link in this message.

Visit the link below to compare the differences between the Free account and the Single License here.

https://voicethread.com/howto/whats-included-6/

Give it a try!

 

 

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Online Education

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Teaching in the Digital Age and more words of wisdom from Dr. Tony Bates

I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Tony Bates, the author of Teaching in the Digital Age at the World Conference on Online Learning in Toronto. Tony is a leader in the field of Dr. Tony Bates with Kathy Keairns at book signingonline education and I was thrilled to receive an autographed hard copy of Teaching in the Digital Age at the conference.  I use this as the textbook for my Teaching, Learning & Technology online course.  Although the book was written 2015, it is still very relevant and worth checking out.

Dr. Bates is an outspoken advocate for preparing faculty members in the art and practice of teaching.  In his 2017 end of year blog post, he laments:

“Without a grounding in pedagogy and a knowledge of the research into how people learn, it is impossible for most instructors to see the real potential of digital technology for improving their teaching.”

Tony’s stance on this important problem (lack of faculty training in pedagogy and how people learn) is similar to other critics of higher education in the US like D. Fink, John Sener, and Richard Felder.

I’ll end my blog post with a recent quote from Tony:

“Technology is best used when it helps solve an actual teaching problem.”

Learn more about this issue, OER, Innovation, and Online Learning in Tony’s “That was 2017 in online learning” blog post. Also, check out his FREE digital book for guidelines about teaching & learning in the digital age.

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Online Education

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