My journey in my Blended Learning MOOC course continues.
In my second week, I read about research that indicates that
many younger students prefer an appropriate balance of technology and face to
face contact with faculty (referring to a National Survey of Student Engagement
from 2007). Although I agree with this
statement, I’m not convinced that adult students would not prefer the same
thing. I think that all students benefit
from a combination of instruction because each students learning style is
different. From my personal experience,
I have had students that barely said a word in class, however, they produced
excellent scholarly discussion online. I’ve
also had students that did not ask questions in class but watched video clips
many times for specific lessons.
Therefore, my conclusion is that a blended approach can be beneficial
for all students.
I am currently the coordinator for online education for the
school of business at Point Park University.
I have done extensive research on online learning. I have found that there are multiple ways
that online courses can be developed.
Some online courses (although few in higher education – due to accreditation
standards) offer minimal guidance in learning.
In our online courses, we recognize the importance of faculty and peer
interaction. However, I can see how many
MOOCs must be more loosely guided learning due to the significant number of
students enrolled.
John Seely Brown created the atelier model (as discussed in
BlendKit2015). In this approach, students
are not limited to just the expertise of the professor. The students can guide, direct and influence
each other. In my courses, this would be
our discussion board. It is led by the
professor. However, peers are required
to read and respond to one another.
Often times, the students go above and beyond the minimum requirements.
The next model discussed in BlendKit2015 is the Network
Administrator which was developed by Clarence Fisher. In this model, the teacher acts as the
network administrator. The primary purpose
of the professor in this model is to assist students with creating connections
and learning networks.
The following model discussed in BlendKit2015 is Concierge
Learning crated by Curtis Bonk. In this
model, the teacher acts as a “concierge”.
They provide soft guidance providing both lectures (at times) and
letting the student explore (at other times).
This model is the shift from prescribed learning to more student driven
learning.
Curatorial Learning (Siemens, 2007) allows the professor to
serve as the expert learning. Rather
than “dispensing knowledge, he creates spaces in which knowledge can be
created, explored, and connected”.
As you can see, there are numerous models regarding
different methods of teaching.
One of the best things that I learned in this lesson was the
suggestion to allow students to state their own expectations for the
course. In this assignment (that could
be completed by a threaded discussion or wiki) students review the syllabus and
then write about what they would like to get out of the course and how the
material could help them achieve their goals.
Another suggestion is to allow students to talk about themselves. In all of my hybrid and online courses, I
have an initial discussion board that allows students to introduce themselves
to the class and begin interaction. This
is very similar to what would occur in an initial class meeting face to face.
There was also a good debate over asynchronous and
synchronous activities. In asynchronous activities,
students have the opportunity to ponder the information (and conduct research)
before responding. However, many
students feel disconnected. Many
students will discontinue participating or drop out of classes that they do not
feel connected to. In synchronous
learning, there is a sense of community.
However, in online education, many adult students are taking the class
due to their hectic schedules.
Therefore, requiring participation at a particular time can be
difficult. Additionally, students online
can be from around the world. Therefore,
there could be time zone differences.
So far, we acknowledge that courses can be taught using
several different models and can be delivered asynchronous and
synchronous. Regardless, what delivery
format, this course encourages students to express themselves. This can be to the instructor, peers,
experts, employers, or public. By allowing
students to express themselves, students should begin to make their case and
answer follow up questions. This type of
experience can help students prepare for interviews or work experiences. So, we have to determine how we are going to
have our students express themselves.
This must be determined when designing the course. A faculty member should look at the course
objectives and ask themselves what the best way to achieve the objective
(discussion, blog, ePortfolio, podcast, vodcast, wiki, etc…). If the course is online, it is important to
consider what type of technology that you are going to require you students to
have. For example, if you are going to
ask students to submit a vodcast, the student must have access to a video
camera and a way to upload it.
Some other good advice for all courses that BlendKit 2015
provided was:
Provide students with clear instructions regarding assignments,
policies and procedures. You may also
want to consider providing students with a sample of work so the students can
understand what you consider a good assignment.
In the U.S., we must consider the FERPA (Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act). This can have
an influence on the course design and assignments.
Stay tuned for more suggestions on blended (hybrid) and
online education.
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