Design Elements Discussion Summary

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Contents

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Daily Dose of Discussion Summaries

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Day 1: Getting Started in Designing Online PD

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Characteristics of Successful Online Learning Experiences

  • It is the collaboration that I seem to learn the most - (certainly this is not meant to downplay what I learn from the course facilitator/teacher).
  • Using various technology tools that allow for the collaboration to happen
  • The online teacher is tech-savvy and responsive to online learners’ needs
  • The teacher is facilitator/coach, and not the sole provider of content.
  • The real challenge is to create training that meets the learners' needs, challenges them to think and stimulates professional growth.
  • The planners/online facilitators present the goals and objectives clearly, in advance, so participants can make well-informed decisions. Ways to do this can integrate technology, such as using
    • Email to contact the presenter in advance
    • Twitter to tweet him or her up to moments before the online PD
    • Audio / video trailers of the online PD
  • Opportunities to take leadership within the online PD, such as peer facilitating sections of the online PD
  • Online instructors that have experience teaching online
  • Opportunities for online learners to express themselves to the online instructor or online facilitator “other than” written communication
  • I think a "successful" online environment is one where there is accountability and two-way communication, if not multi-way communication as in discussion forums, or group chats, etc


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"Getting Started" Questions to Ask

How does one "get started" in designing online PD for distance educators?

The following questions are Crystal Hack’s questions that she asks herself and her team when they are moving a training from F2F to at a distance or when creating a new presentation for at a distance. Others may have other ways to approach the development process. What would you add to this list?

  • Getting Started Question #1: Should you do online PD or at a distance PD or both?
  • Getting Started Question #2: How do we pick the topic that we want to move to distance PD from our traditional face to face method?
  • Getting Started Question #3: What is the best way to present the topic at hand when offering it as a PD offering at a distance?
  • Getting Started Question #4: How do I develop my content or move my content from F2F to an at a distance format?

For strategies to each question, see post #3367:
http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Getting_Started_in_Designing_Online_PD

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Demand for Distance Learning

Is the demand for distance learning increasing, thus creating a "labor shortage" of adult educators trained to do online teaching? Why should we be concerned? For example, from your perspective (local, state, or national) what factors currently, and in the near future, may increase the demand for distance learning, and thus increase the need for trained distance educators?

We believe there is a growing interest in offering distance learning to adult learners, for a variety of reasons, including:

  • The ability for adult educators to serve students who cannot or will not come to traditional classroom programs.
  • Increases in the number of adult learners with computer and internet access and acceptance of online learning as a viable alternative.
  • Distance learners can now be reported in the NRS.
  • Distance teaching is significantly different from classroom teaching. So, yes, there will be an increased need for trained distance teachers. Even a highly skilled classroom teacher will need to learn new skills to effectively teach at a distance.
  • Because of the downturn in the economy, I see evidence of increased interest from teachers who want to add "teaching online" to their repertoires and resumes.

Factors that may increase the demand for distance learning in the coming months and years:

  • The need that an increasing number of unemployed and underemployed people feel for re-training as they prepare for new “knowledge society” jobs that require higher basic – and academic – skills and knowledge;
  • The increased cost of gasoline, making people more interested in taking online courses;
  • H1N1 (Swine Flu") or "Bird Flu" viruses, that might make face-to-face classes less appealing or possible;
  • Availability of more engaging, higher quality online learning;
  • Increased interest by some in Congress to have technology solutions to reach a greater percentage of adults in need of English or basic skills.


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Distance Educators' Skill Sets

Are there unique skill sets for online / distance teachers? What must they be able to do well?

  • Frequently, the role of the teacher takes a dramatic shift, from being the content expert and primary provider of instruction to being a facilitator or coach for students working in a distance curriculum that provides the primary instruction.
  • Depending on how distance programs are established, distance teachers often take on tasks, such as recruitment and orientation of students, that typically don't fall within the realm of classroom teachers.
  • Distance teachers also need to hone their communication skills so that they're able to effectively communicate with, support and motivate students they rarely (if ever) see fact-to-face.
  • Distance teachers must be flexible, organized and willing to try something new.
  • Project IDEAL strongly urges agencies to identify teachers who are excited by the possibility of teaching at a distance rather than simply assigning someone to a distance class.

Distance teachers should:

  • embrace the idea of instructor as facilitator.
  • be technically competent.
  • make a concerted effort to "keep current".
  • have knowledge of effective online instructional design.
  • be willing to modify an online curriculum to meet learner needs as well as modifications necessary for synchronous versus asynchronous delivery.
  • They must be adept at formative assessments and place less emphasis, when possible, on summative assessments.
  • Online teachers need to be able to do most of the things that face-to- face teachers do well, and they need some other skills, knowledge and attitudes. Here are some of those additional skills and attitudes (from www.adultedonline.org):
    • Being comfortable using technology and helping online students troubleshoot technology problems
    • Using phone, email and/or IM to build rapport (in the same way you use casual conversation before and after class)
    • Providing feedback on student assignments electronically
    • "Reading" your student's reactions over the phone and through email
    • Keeping distance students engaged in course content
    • Helping distance students develop independent learning and study skills
    • Being familiar with a commercially developed curriculum and showing students how to use it (and/or)
    • Being familiar with a courseware platform (Moodle, WEBCT, Angel etc.) and showing students how to use it
    • Being willing to acquire new skills and adopt new teaching strategies
    • Recruiting distance learning students and
    • Managing intake and assessment for new students
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Differences in Online PD for Distance Educators

How does online PD for adult educators who teach online differ from that of other adult educators teaching in a face-to-face setting?

For the online facilitator:

  • Must have current, varied, reliable, and easily accessible technology to utilize communication, presentation, collaboration, etc. tools that not only help with the delivery of the course but that also help learners experience a sense of community, collaborate on projects, communicate with one another and with the instructor, etc., etc.
  • Multi-tasking takes on a whole new meaning when working with online students whose courses are available 24/7. How do you deal with students in a different time zone, who are online at times opposite of the instructor's "normal" hours, etc.?
  • Must address the more technical aspects of technology. How do you help a student who is trying to use Google Docs to make an online presentation? Do you post course documents in only a doc file format or do you give students options, i.e. doc and pdf? Do you post transcripts of audio and video files? What tools do you use to enhance learner/instructor interaction? Etc., etc., etc. How do you assure that hyperlinks are active or have not changed URL addresses?
  • Being a master of subject matter does not make up for poor online instructional design any more than it makes up for poor face-to-face instructional skills. In fact, good instructional design is even more critical in an online environment.
  • The presenter must have everything that is verbally shared in face to face ready and thought out ahead of time in the online setting so that they are able to predict and guide the learners

For the online design:

  • I think it differs in the types of modeling the online facilitator chooses to use. Often in a F2F setting we seek to model what we would like to see replicated once the participants leave the training and go back to their world.
  • We have to figure out ways to lead and facilitate that do not rely solely on visual cues.
  • The online component should integrate technology tools (like Web 2.0) based on the goals for the learning and the activity choices used to help participants accomplish those goals
  • It is harder to not pay attention and drift off in an at-a-distance setting. There are ways to monitor responses, when participants “log on”, and how often they respond in an online venue.
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