Online Design and Quality
From LiteracyTentWiki
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1184] Friday Qs: Online Design and Quality
From: Taylor, Jackie jataylor at utk.edu
Date: Fri May 18 08:47:53 EDT 2007
PD List Colleagues:
We have had so much great discussion going on that yesterday, I did not
wish to push things by putting both online facilitation and design
questions out on the list. However, we do have key issues I'd like to at
least make the space to discuss. Think back on all of the tools we've
shared thus far. How does all of this fit together? What are some of the
key considerations when thinking about online and blended designs?
Katherine, for example, mentioned some design considerations (clear
instructions, not presenting too much at once, etc.) But what are some
other important aspects of design? How might this impact the quality of
the online professional development?
And what do we mean by quality online professional development, anyway?
Thanks,
Jackie Taylor
NOTE: Please also feel free to continue discussing any threads
already out on the list.
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1185] Re: Friday Qs: Online Design and Quality
From: James, Kathryn kathryn.james at lancaster.ac.uk
Date: Fri May 18 09:01:48 EDT 2007
Hello PD list,
on 'And what do we mean by quality online professional development,
anyway?'
The question of what is online professional development is an
interesting one. Here in the UK the adult education sector is
undergoing a lot of change, ALL teachers now have to have a teacher
qualified status (be you a yoga, pluming or literacy teacher) and even
if you teach 1 hour a month. I am not questioning the rights and wrongs
of this, but as part of these new changes all teachers in the adult
sector need to undergo 30hours a year of Professional Development. This
has not been defined and it can include surfing on the internet or
speaking to a colleague about a specific student. So what where does
online Professional development come into this? For me, put in simple
terms, it is not only reflection it is also engagement and then
reflection on the engagement......
Kathryn
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1193] Re: Friday Qs: Online Design and Quality
From: Katherine G Kgotthardt at comcast.net
Date: Fri May 18 13:00:37 EDT 2007
Friday Qs: Online Design and QualityI know I am repeating myself, but have I
mentioned the importance of interaction?? LOL Seriously, email and
discussions that are easily accessible are crucial to the learning
experience. Electronic classrooms that have links and "areas" in too many
locations confuse students and result in lower participation, especially if
the students are new users. In fact, I almost believe that email and
discussion areas should be the same public "area," with the student having
the option to choose "private message" if he/she doesn't want it distributed
to everyone.
I also think a link to the discussion/email area should be at the bottom of
every learning unit or module page. The link should produce a popup window
for writing the message, which would go to the entire class. This way, if
students come up with questions as they read, they don't have to lose their
place by going to a separate area, and the whole class receives the benefits
of reading both the question and response.
Maybe there systems out there that have such a design, and I just have not
worked with them. Anyone?
Katherine
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1199] Re: Friday Qs: Online Design and Quality
From: Steve Quann steve_quann at worlded.org
Date: Fri May 18 13:48:12 EDT 2007
Jackie and others,
I think one for the most valuable things I have learned about course
design is to make sure there is a balance of teacher, content, and
social presence. Each of us prefers a slightly different mix but when
things get out of whack my sense is that there is either too much or too
little of one of these. For example, I have seen too little social
interaction in courses but for the most part it now seems online
instructors have taken the need for social presence and community
building to heart; yet, one of the biggest complaints I hear about
taking online courses is the amount of discussion posts that people have
to wade through.
Steve Quann
World Education
44 Farnsworth Street
Boston, MA
617.482.9485
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1257] Re: Friday Qs: Online Design andQuality
From: Wendy Quinones wbquinones at comcast.net
Date: Wed May 23 08:42:45 EDT 2007
Oh, Steve, I couldn't agree more! After facilitating a couple of courses in
which participants really didn't engage with each other, I designed a recent
one with a substantial amount of group work to make sure they did. And what
did they complain about? The group work, natch.
Wendy
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1221] Re: Online design
From: Dr Elizabeth Hanson-Smith ehansonsmi at yahoo.com
Date: Sun May 20 22:08:09 EDT 2007
Katherine--
I think both Moodle and blogs meet the needs you describe. A Moodle forum
can be linked to email listservice, can't it? You could post the instructional
content to a page in Moodle with a link to the appropriate forum.
And any blog has a comment function where all can read the original post and
any additional comments other make. I just saw a presentation at WiAOC
where the presenters had a class blog--everyone got one PW and teachers
and students could make posts/comments easily. This is a nice way to
keep the discussion simple and free. (To add new threads, it's easy to
start another blog.)
I will be posting links to the recordings of the Conference presentations,
and you can see there how the online sessions were organized and what
wonderful tools were used. While most of the classes described were
blended (online and off), the potential is there to make fully distance/
online courses using the tools that are already at hand.
--Elizabeth H-S
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1205] interactions...
From: Holly Dilatush-Guthrie Holly.Dilatush-Guthrie at ccs.k12.va.us
Date: Fri May 18 15:37:29 EDT 2007
Moodle CMS can accomplish all the items indicated below -- I am not sure about WebCT or Blackboard. D2L (Desire to Learn) also has the ability to do most of this -- and there have been continual/steady improvements in the ease of so doing/using these features.
Teaching/guiding the navigation of such platforms is key to participation, for sure! (as goes back to posts from earlier this week).
I much prefer ALL interaction to take place within the CMS, not via separate emails -- or email digests. However, I can still recall the repeated frustrations I had when I was a newbie to online learning and login procedures to CMS sites -- I kept waiting and waiting for the "links" to appear in my email inbox -- not realizing that I had to actually GO to the URL each time I wanted to enter the website -- I'd become greatly accustomed to links within emails -- and that extra step initially kept me from successful participation. I'm not sure if this anecdote makes sense to you all -- but my point is top reinforce earlier discussions that the initial introductions to this (as with any?) new experience -- and to know where/how to turn for help if/as needed -- is crucial!
Holly
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1214] Re: Friday Qs: Online Design and Quality
From: Susan Kidd SKidd at sbctc.ctc.edu
Date: Sat May 19 01:17:09 EDT 2007
I think that one crucial consideration for any online component of a course is visual clarity.
Do visual cues, including bulleting, font choice, and color make the course easier to navigate?
Is each screen attractive and easy to read?
Another, easy to forget item, is that web sites are constantly changing. This means that it is crucial to re-check all web links just before a new section opens. I have even had links become invalid during a course. This means the facilitator needs to be vigilant and ready to offer an alternative (either alternative link or some other way to transmit the content) on short notice.
Susan
