Learning-at-a-distance
From LiteracyTentWiki
Subject:[ProfessionalDevelopment 1082] Learning at-a-distance
From:Taylor, Jackie jataylor at utk.edu
Date:Mon May 14 10:39:35 EDT 2007
Good day or evening, All!
I have a few questions to get us started, then it's up to you to take it
from here! I am putting the questions into 3 separate emails to keep
threads distinct.
Teachers, Administrators, Online Learners
As you may have seen in last week's posts, of priority concern to
professional developers and providers is to meet practitioners' needs
for professional development in adult literacy and language learning. I
invite you to share your perspective on any of the following questions
(no need to address all, just choose one that resonates with you):
- 1) What interests you about participating in online or blended professional development, or in supporting teachers' participation in either?
- 2) What do you want from an online or blended learning experience? (consider factors like facilitated, not-facilitated, duration, interactivity, etc.)
- 3) What have been your experiences with online or blended professional development?
- 4) What features of online or blended PD have tended to be more effective in supporting your learning needs?
- 5) From your perspective, what do you consider to be high quality online professional development?
I look forward to hearing from you! Best wishes, Jackie
Jackie Taylor, Adult Literacy Professional Development List Moderator, jataylor at utk.edu
Subject:[ProfessionalDevelopment 1085] Re: Learning at-a-distance
From:Susan Kidd SKidd at sbctc.ctc.edu
Date: Mon May 14 10:56:06 EDT 2007
In Washington State, we have offered an online new teacher orientation utilizing the Blackborad platform for the past five years. One of the driving factors in selecting an online platform was the fact that so many adult education teachers work part time, evenings, and in remote sites with limited access to professional development. Our major goals include building a cohort of teachers across the state.
The single most useful tool, among the many available, is the discussion board. All assignments for out course require participants to post information on the discussion boards and respond to other postings. Another important tool is the abilitiy to link to web sites and remain "framed" by the class.
Perhaps the most frustrating tool is "chat." We continue to offer participants the option of using this tool (or e-mail, phone calls, etc) in designing group lesson plans, but it has seldom worked for all. Participants have trouble downloading the necessary software and accessing the correct chat room. This is particularly difficult for people who live in rural areas and do not have access to high speed internet (just the folks we most want to reach).
Susan
SUSAN KIDD
ABE Professional Development Coordinator
State Board for Community & Technical Colleges
509-682-6968
cell phone: 509-630-4520
Subject:[ProfessionalDevelopment 1087] Re: Learning at-a-distance
From:Marie Cora marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com
Date:Mon May 14 11:18:35 EDT 2007
HI Susan and everyone,
You noted that one of the more frustrating tools can be "chat" - I would
have to agree. The text format for chat can be rather harrowing for
both facilitator and participants. The discussion goes extremely
quickly and when you've got 8 or more people on the chat, the threads
can get all mixed up and it can be difficult to follow. It takes time
to compose a message or reply, and by the time you do the discussion
very often has moved on to the next topic. Also, when you want to reply
to various points, it gets pretty frantic trying to keep up with your
typing. And if you don't type well/fast - then that's a huge barrier.
I find that text-based chat is very difficult to facilitate because you
really can't orchestrate when people contribute like you can in other
venues (live, voice, video, etc.).
Marie Cora
Subject:[ProfessionalDevelopment 1089] Re: Learning at-a-distance - VLEs
From: James, Kathryn kathryn.james at lancaster.ac.uk
Date:Mon May 14 11:54:21 EDT 2007
Dear AALPD,
My name is Kathryn James and I run a Masters for Adult Literacy,
Numeracy and ESOL tutors from Lancaster University in the UK (with a
couple of overseas students). This blended teacher education course
uses a VLE discussion board very successfully. However we have found
that when we have tried to use it for other types of discussion, for
example this type of discussion we have found it less successful. We
had come to the conclusion that these things need moderation. Like
Susan we have found the chat discussion within the course to be useful
for 'brainstorming' rather than discussion as such. But more
importantly we think it keeps students in touch with each other, the
general chat at the start of a discussion is about weekends etc, so its
value is different, but we think none the less important.
My guess is that like your colleagues, our students are busy people and
also have to negotiate access to the computer with family members! Thus
the blended learning not only allows students to learn in a variety of
ways but also in different modes so time can be used when computers are
not available. Also not all students want to use a computer all the
time; it is tiring to the eyes and expensive on ink!
My biggest question and problem is how to advise our students to make
best use of their time. My biggest challenge with the IT people at the
university is not to change the interface too much as students do not
want to relearn all the time.....
Best wishes from the UK
Kathryn
Kathryn James
Literacy Research Centre
Institute for Advanced Studies
Lancaster University
Lancaster
LA1 4YD
Tel: 01524 510 828
Fax: 01524 592 914
E-mail: kathryn.james at lancaster.ac.uk
Website: http://literacy.lancs.ac.uk <http://literacy.lancs.ac.uk/>
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1090] Re: Learning at-a-distance
From: Wendy Quinones wbquinones at comcast.net
Date: Mon May 14 12:05:06 EDT 2007
Hi everyone,
Having just completed facilitating a blended course on Moodle, I can say I agree wholeheartedly with Susan and Marie. The discussion boards are invaluable, not only as a way for participants to interact with each other, but also as a place in which individuals post their own reflections.
I offered private chat rooms for small group work (one of the features I like on Moodle) but they were seldom used. The same reasons that push us toward online work -- crazy and conflicting schedules -- make it difficult for people to use the chats successfully. Most of the small group work was conducted by email.
The f2f that started the work was a combination of content and introduction to Moodle. The evaluations gave mixed reviews to the content portion, but all agreed that the tech part, where they were walked through registration and navigation of the platform, was, as one participant noted, "vital" to the course. I think that, plus the community that was created in the f2f, plus the small group work which demanded interaction among the participants, led to a livelier course than I've had before and much higher retention -- only one of 11 people didn't finish, and I think that was largely because she was at TESOL the first week and never quite recovered from that.
Wendy Quinones
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1104] Re: Learning at-a-distance
From: Katrina Hinson KHinson at almanid.com
Date: Mon May 14 20:20:46 EDT 2007
- 1) What interests you about participating in online or blended professional development, or in supporting teachers' participation in either?
I like this concept because it would be one way to counter the " I
don't want to give up my Saturday" syndrome I hear when we mention
having a Saturday training. Providing an online option would allow
people to still learn something new in terms of professional training
and growth. Online options allow people to participate any time their
schedule allows. This would be such an asset for night instructors or
instructors that have other jobs besides the adult education classroom.
Additionally, if there are multiple options available, instructors could
choose to participate in online training that best fits their interests
and goals professionally without feeling like they are participating in
something that is a waste of their time.
- 2) What do you want from an online or blended learning experience? (consider factors like facilitated, not-facilitated, duration, interactivity, etc.)
I like feedback, so for me, facilitated learning is preferred. At the
same time, sometimes I like having things available that I can "try" out
on my own time or schedule. All in all, I'm rather flexible.
- 3) What have been your experiences with online or blended professional development?
I've participated in one online training opportunity to learn about
technology in the classroom and it was ok. I learned a lot but lacked
any interaction with others. I would have preferred more discussion to
hear what others were doing or what worked and didn't work. I think that
when it comes to instructors, other instructors are sometimes the best
resource available.
- 4) What features of online or blended PD have tended to be more effective in supporting your learning needs?
- 5) From your perspective, what do you consider to be high quality online professional development?
I want it to be somewhat challenging and something I can use when I log
off my computer and go back into my classroom the next day.
Katrina Hinson
