I am currently enrolled in a MOOC, short for Massive Open Online Course. The instructor, Scott E. Page, recently asked students in an open discussion forum to ponder whether or not universities will be around in 100 years, or if online learning will bring about the end to the lecture model. Predicting trends even five years out is a fool’s errand, but the question does point to the changes in progress for education.
For background, the free course is Models of Thinking and 92,000 people from around the world are enrolled. It is offered through Coursera. Professor Page is an engaging instructor, even despite the limitations of video, and embraces alternative delivery systems. I have earlier seen Professor Page through another course I actually purchased that was offered through The Great Courses, which sells courses that are delivered as audios, DVDs, and Internet downloads.
When pondering, Professor Page’s question, I find the Coursera model limiting in terms of effectively delivering instruction. Having said this, let me be clear that I have discovered a number of new concepts and am very pleased that instructors of Prof. Page’s quality are delivering content that I otherwise would never have access to as a learner. I am also already enrolled in other Coursera courses.
Still, when one thinks about it, the Coursera model is nothing more than an extended delivery system of the lecture model that universities have not otherwise enhanced in hundreds of years. When I was an undergraduate at The University of Iowa I remember sitting in lecture halls with at least 500 other students as we listened to various professors lecture. We took notes. We attended weekly meetings with Teaching Assistants. We took tests. What Coursera does is to present almost the same model, only with a recorded video rather than an instructor who is live and present within the moment. The lecture hall now is the computer screen and speaker, and I sit with 92,000 classmates viewing a video in our home offices and convenient coffee shops that have Wi-Fi access. Plus, there are no Teaching Assistants, no way to clarify concepts with an instructor or tutor.
Having taught community college students for 30 years, it is very easy to see what the Coursera model is not contributing to the educational process, which may be the better question. How is it assuring the individual student is learning? At the community college we offer tutors, campus activities, face-to-face interaction with instructors, career connections, and remedial development. That is just to name a few of the major differences. Each of these advantages is also part of the online instructional design I and my colleagues have included into online courses over the past decade.
What I think is the biggest difference is that my community college students receive strong assessments and individualized learning plans. How can Coursera ever match these advantages, with 92,000 people enrolled? It is not possible, especially since the courses are delivered free of charge. Coursera would have to start charging or tweak its funding model in to match what the community college instructors are doing now for students. To extend the point, I and my 92,000 Coursera classmates have a wonderful set of lectures to view, but the assessments fall short of the mark.
I also find myself wanting to be able to consult a resource. No textbook is required for the course, although there are readings provided. Many can be downloaded. I also find no bibliography, which I think is a must to help me make connections not only to the course topics but also for applying concepts in my own world. Ironically, despite having 92,000 classmates I am still alone in my individual learning process. I am not connected to this community, and one thing I know about online learners is that we want to feel connected. Even in answering this question online I am not able to cope with the possibility that 92,000 students could respond. In comparison, the courses I teach have online discussion groups that are designed so that no more than eight or nine students are in one group. As a teacher, it is so much easier to guide learners when the focus is more on quality than quantity.
Finally, it is possible to receive college credit through these MOOCs. Certificates can be earned and turned into college credits that can be transferred to home colleges. I am not so interested in the certificates myself and not pursuing them. Thus, I am skipping the quizzes and tests. I do see the certificate option as a challenge, though, to the college campus model and the value of the degree awarded. I also wonder how different colleges will address this. Will they accept the certificates as proof of course credit that should be counted toward a degree?
To conclude, I am thankful to have the MOOC option as I am finding through Coursera a diversity of ideas to learn. I see value. However, I think that the MOOCs have limitations when it comes to assessing learning. As an educator, and student, I want a stronger guarantee that the certificate earned has merit, when applied to a degree.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Working together students see the light
Each summer, the Smoky Mountain Synchronous Fireflies create a spectacle of light, so much so that people come from miles around to view the show in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. While other fireflies in other parts of the world sparkle individually, for some reason Smoky Mountain Synchronous Fireflies are in sync with each other. This creates flashes of light as the fireflies work in unison. Oohs and Ahs follow, of course.
How does this apply to the classroom? Well, think about what can happen if all of the students experience a “flash of light” together as they move through the lessons. Rather than blinking separately, one at a time, they work together for that brilliant flash of light to shine. For the classroom student, of course, the brilliant flash is the idea being taught.
How can this happen? Consider how the instructor can set up the classroom experience so that the students are pulling together. Before moving along any further, I am indebted to Doug Lemov, author of Teach Like A Champion, for his many basic approaches worth applying to the classroom.
One of Lemov’s ideas is to tell students the teacher has a 100 percent rule. That is, everyone in the class is included in the learning process, 100 percent. Everyone is expected to learn, 100 percent, and we learn together, 100 percent. Thus, in any classroom everyone is expected to participate, no exceptions. We are all in this together. If someone fails to learn, then we as a class have not succeeded in our goal.
With my 100 percent rule expectation established, I then move on to two important elements in making the rule a reality. First, if teaching an online class, I establish an agenda for the unit. If am in the classroom, an agenda is written on the board. Second, I also prepare my worksheets and have them ready when students enter the classroom. They are on a desk at the front of the room, and students are expected to pick them up the moment they arrive. I do not hand the worksheets to the students. This is a little more difficult with the online student. I can easily supply the worksheets. Working with the Softchalk design tool, I place the worksheets in the sidebars, but it is more difficult to know for sure that the students are reviewing them.
Since I put the 100 percent rule in place, I also have found that I had to be better organized. For the classroom student, this means that I arrive ten minutes ahead of the class starting time to not only write my agenda on the board but also place the day’s worksheet on a table in the front of the room.
What then happens is wonderful. Students also arrive early for the class and complete the worksheets early, as I had directed. Thus, when class was actually to start, students were ready. I also see fewer students straggle into the room late. I now am able to start the class right on the dot. In fact, I tell students that I will start on time and they are not to be late. If they are late, I ask them why, privately, and remind them of the 100 percent rule.
Interestingly, should an instructor ahead of me go long, and it happens, my students become annoyed, because they want my worksheets in their hands. Quite often the moment the previous class ends I see my students hustle into the room and grab for their worksheets. This is one reason the earliest morning classes recently became more successful as I did not have to wait upon another instructor to relinquish the room. Even more the reason, though, is that students know what I expect, and they know I am serious about applying the 100 percent rule. They know they will be called upon in the classroom, and they know that they are expected to contribute.
The worksheets include concepts to be reviewed as well as new ones to be discussed. When discussions are on the agenda, the questions I want answered are included on the worksheets. This means students who come early then have more time to reflect upon their answers. With that said, students who had before been quiet, now have time to think through the questions and are able to contribute when called upon to do so. And call upon them I do. If nothing else, I can ask the student to read what he or she had written to answer the worksheet question. By the way, I walk the room to be sure students answer the worksheet questions, and I also collect the worksheets at the end of the hour.
To set up the discussions, I also provide weekly progress reports to the students, which, by the way, are also easy to do for an online classroom. The successes and challenges are noted. I always give students the major concerns of the moment to address, both individually and as a group. For the online students, I also provide tips on how to address discussion questions within the lecture. These tips direct them to areas of the course where the ideas to be discussed previously have been presented.
Thus, all the students are “blinking” together and in this way they learn, review, discuss, apply concepts, and solve problems. I believe focusing upon one or two ideas at a time helps us all to see the brilliant flashes of light – together.
How does this apply to the classroom? Well, think about what can happen if all of the students experience a “flash of light” together as they move through the lessons. Rather than blinking separately, one at a time, they work together for that brilliant flash of light to shine. For the classroom student, of course, the brilliant flash is the idea being taught.
How can this happen? Consider how the instructor can set up the classroom experience so that the students are pulling together. Before moving along any further, I am indebted to Doug Lemov, author of Teach Like A Champion, for his many basic approaches worth applying to the classroom.
One of Lemov’s ideas is to tell students the teacher has a 100 percent rule. That is, everyone in the class is included in the learning process, 100 percent. Everyone is expected to learn, 100 percent, and we learn together, 100 percent. Thus, in any classroom everyone is expected to participate, no exceptions. We are all in this together. If someone fails to learn, then we as a class have not succeeded in our goal.
With my 100 percent rule expectation established, I then move on to two important elements in making the rule a reality. First, if teaching an online class, I establish an agenda for the unit. If am in the classroom, an agenda is written on the board. Second, I also prepare my worksheets and have them ready when students enter the classroom. They are on a desk at the front of the room, and students are expected to pick them up the moment they arrive. I do not hand the worksheets to the students. This is a little more difficult with the online student. I can easily supply the worksheets. Working with the Softchalk design tool, I place the worksheets in the sidebars, but it is more difficult to know for sure that the students are reviewing them.
Since I put the 100 percent rule in place, I also have found that I had to be better organized. For the classroom student, this means that I arrive ten minutes ahead of the class starting time to not only write my agenda on the board but also place the day’s worksheet on a table in the front of the room.
What then happens is wonderful. Students also arrive early for the class and complete the worksheets early, as I had directed. Thus, when class was actually to start, students were ready. I also see fewer students straggle into the room late. I now am able to start the class right on the dot. In fact, I tell students that I will start on time and they are not to be late. If they are late, I ask them why, privately, and remind them of the 100 percent rule.
Interestingly, should an instructor ahead of me go long, and it happens, my students become annoyed, because they want my worksheets in their hands. Quite often the moment the previous class ends I see my students hustle into the room and grab for their worksheets. This is one reason the earliest morning classes recently became more successful as I did not have to wait upon another instructor to relinquish the room. Even more the reason, though, is that students know what I expect, and they know I am serious about applying the 100 percent rule. They know they will be called upon in the classroom, and they know that they are expected to contribute.
The worksheets include concepts to be reviewed as well as new ones to be discussed. When discussions are on the agenda, the questions I want answered are included on the worksheets. This means students who come early then have more time to reflect upon their answers. With that said, students who had before been quiet, now have time to think through the questions and are able to contribute when called upon to do so. And call upon them I do. If nothing else, I can ask the student to read what he or she had written to answer the worksheet question. By the way, I walk the room to be sure students answer the worksheet questions, and I also collect the worksheets at the end of the hour.
To set up the discussions, I also provide weekly progress reports to the students, which, by the way, are also easy to do for an online classroom. The successes and challenges are noted. I always give students the major concerns of the moment to address, both individually and as a group. For the online students, I also provide tips on how to address discussion questions within the lecture. These tips direct them to areas of the course where the ideas to be discussed previously have been presented.
Thus, all the students are “blinking” together and in this way they learn, review, discuss, apply concepts, and solve problems. I believe focusing upon one or two ideas at a time helps us all to see the brilliant flashes of light – together.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Start Here - Small things help organize students
“Start here” …
When designing course content, we must remember to help students find their way. That is, we need to help them to logically move through our lessons. Often, it is something very simple we can do to help the student.
Those two simple words – “Start Here” – are now included on every lecture link in any course I design to help organize online students through their learning efforts. I use Softchalk (http://www.Softchalk.com ) as a design tool and feature those words not only on the link to the lecture but also on the first page of the lecture menu. I started using “Start Here” after completing a Quality Matters (http://www.qmprogram.org) course a few summers ago. That was one of the many organizational tips the Quality Matters course suggested.
The advice of using “Start Here” also seems so simple and so logical. Having said this, I do not think I will always keep student eyes from wandering or their fingers from clicking in every direction, but using “Start Here” at the beginning of the lecture sure gives them a clue as to where to begin.
I have also begun to place other organizational cues for students in other places with the courses I design. Most recently in my Composition I class I added the words “How to Improve Your Next Essay Score” on my rubric sheets. For so many years only the word “Rubric” flew across the top of the page, which was highlighted with scores from 1 to 4, depending upon the student’s degree of proficiency for an evaluated area of the essay. That word “Rubric” means more to me than it does to the student. For them, I want to see improvement, so now I more clearly shape the message toward that end. I also added a note about studying the rubric for strengths and challenges, and I summarize the challenges into a list of bullet points.
My overall challenge to students is to focus on only a few items at a time and to earn a few more points for the next essay. In addition, within the rubric, I have added hyperlinks that provide the student with explanations of terms. For example, the thesis section on a rubric has a hyperlink out to a website that provides an explanation for writing an acceptable thesis. It is another little thing that can be done to help students right at the moment of learning. In my course, I also make use of Smarthinking’s online tutors to support student writing through the rough draft phase. Here clicking on the hyperlink thesis will take the reader of this blog to an explanation of the concept, as an example.
Also, at the start of each lecture, I list all activities that need to be accomplished in the unit, thus giving the students one place for organizing themselves. Otherwise, I find many students scanning rather than reading a lecture. I also guide the eye with sub-heads over sections that are chunked around one topic so that the scanners can at least gain the gist of the lecture’s content. However, I do state my expectations as to what needs to be accomplished and estimate how much time is needed in the unit. I hold students accountable through quizzes and again on the rubric assessment when the ideas I introduced to them in the lectures do not show up within the essays.
Another nice tool within Softchalk’s gallery is one that allows me to send students forward or backward within the lecture. That is, there is a way to link the students to an area previously discussed within the lecture. This helps the student if he or she finds a need for a review, after reading deeper into the lecture. I also think it useful, as well, to then link the student back to where he or she was previously. It is just another “little thing” to do to organize student learning.
To end the lecture, I offer a summary, a review activity (of which Softchalk has several types from which to choose), and a friendly wish for success. As I now close this blog, I am reminded of the need for a way to signal to the blog reader that the conclusion has been reached. With that being said, when I was a newspaper sports writer I was trained to end all of my articles for the typesetter with the number 30. Newspaper type was set in lead when I started as a reporter. The use of number 30 goes back to the Civil War when reporters ended telegraph communications with the number to signal they were done sending. So, we have seen the need to organize the reader for decades. We just sometimes forget to do so.
- 30 -
Those two simple words – “Start Here” – are now included on every lecture link in any course I design to help organize online students through their learning efforts. I use Softchalk (http://www.Softchalk.com ) as a design tool and feature those words not only on the link to the lecture but also on the first page of the lecture menu. I started using “Start Here” after completing a Quality Matters (http://www.qmprogram.org) course a few summers ago. That was one of the many organizational tips the Quality Matters course suggested.
The advice of using “Start Here” also seems so simple and so logical. Having said this, I do not think I will always keep student eyes from wandering or their fingers from clicking in every direction, but using “Start Here” at the beginning of the lecture sure gives them a clue as to where to begin.
I have also begun to place other organizational cues for students in other places with the courses I design. Most recently in my Composition I class I added the words “How to Improve Your Next Essay Score” on my rubric sheets. For so many years only the word “Rubric” flew across the top of the page, which was highlighted with scores from 1 to 4, depending upon the student’s degree of proficiency for an evaluated area of the essay. That word “Rubric” means more to me than it does to the student. For them, I want to see improvement, so now I more clearly shape the message toward that end. I also added a note about studying the rubric for strengths and challenges, and I summarize the challenges into a list of bullet points.
My overall challenge to students is to focus on only a few items at a time and to earn a few more points for the next essay. In addition, within the rubric, I have added hyperlinks that provide the student with explanations of terms. For example, the thesis section on a rubric has a hyperlink out to a website that provides an explanation for writing an acceptable thesis. It is another little thing that can be done to help students right at the moment of learning. In my course, I also make use of Smarthinking’s online tutors to support student writing through the rough draft phase. Here clicking on the hyperlink thesis will take the reader of this blog to an explanation of the concept, as an example.
Also, at the start of each lecture, I list all activities that need to be accomplished in the unit, thus giving the students one place for organizing themselves. Otherwise, I find many students scanning rather than reading a lecture. I also guide the eye with sub-heads over sections that are chunked around one topic so that the scanners can at least gain the gist of the lecture’s content. However, I do state my expectations as to what needs to be accomplished and estimate how much time is needed in the unit. I hold students accountable through quizzes and again on the rubric assessment when the ideas I introduced to them in the lectures do not show up within the essays.
Another nice tool within Softchalk’s gallery is one that allows me to send students forward or backward within the lecture. That is, there is a way to link the students to an area previously discussed within the lecture. This helps the student if he or she finds a need for a review, after reading deeper into the lecture. I also think it useful, as well, to then link the student back to where he or she was previously. It is just another “little thing” to do to organize student learning.
To end the lecture, I offer a summary, a review activity (of which Softchalk has several types from which to choose), and a friendly wish for success. As I now close this blog, I am reminded of the need for a way to signal to the blog reader that the conclusion has been reached. With that being said, when I was a newspaper sports writer I was trained to end all of my articles for the typesetter with the number 30. Newspaper type was set in lead when I started as a reporter. The use of number 30 goes back to the Civil War when reporters ended telegraph communications with the number to signal they were done sending. So, we have seen the need to organize the reader for decades. We just sometimes forget to do so.
- 30 -
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Would you want you as a student in your course?
Would you do well as a student in the online course you are teaching? I have decided I could well be a poor online student and a teacher’s nightmare, even though I enjoy teaching online and am very familiar with the tools of courses I design.
This week I started a course featuring online learning techniques. Because the course is taught using ANGEL as a platform I decided to enroll in order to gain experience with a delivery system different than the one I have taught with for 10 years – eCollege. I was invited to participate free of charge because I was told my experience as a online teacher would be seen as helpful for those new to online teaching. I also like tossing myself into new learning experiences, just to gain a fresh perspective – this time as a student with no experience working with a new delivery system.
Wow, I found that ANGEL was more new to me than I expected. I began to ask some of the same basic questions my own students ask of me. I had seen the questions before, but this time I was the one asking them. First, I really did not understand how to access the course, and the password I was sent did not work for me. Frustration! Second, I could not understand the Help Directory directions as to what to do next. Frustration intensified! Third, I wrote the administrator and the instructor and was sent a new password that never arrived. I had no idea at the time, but my own server was having problems with attacks and nothing was coming through to my computers as email. Frustrated and confused and then some! Finally, I called for help. and a patient administrator took me step by step through the process of signing into the course after even another new password was provided. Then I had access. Great! Oh, but then I read that the password was only temporary , and I would need to change it, which led me to even more confusion, and more frustration.
Administrators and the instructor all were always very nice, which is what one wants, but I was so very lost. The experience sure has given me a new perspective as to what students go through in trying to access a course.
Once in the course I will say that the newness to me of ANGEL continued to confuse me. I find some of the tools similar to what I currently know through eCollege, but many are not and it has taken me several hours to understand how to use them. I am thankful that there were useful tutorials available.
All in all, my objective to totally confuse myself has been a success. I will also add that I now see the value of a very good orientation. I also see the value of letting students test drive the course, using the same tools they will use in the course and offering the orientation weeks ahead of the course start. I am glad also that I am the teacher and not my own student.
This week I started a course featuring online learning techniques. Because the course is taught using ANGEL as a platform I decided to enroll in order to gain experience with a delivery system different than the one I have taught with for 10 years – eCollege. I was invited to participate free of charge because I was told my experience as a online teacher would be seen as helpful for those new to online teaching. I also like tossing myself into new learning experiences, just to gain a fresh perspective – this time as a student with no experience working with a new delivery system.
Wow, I found that ANGEL was more new to me than I expected. I began to ask some of the same basic questions my own students ask of me. I had seen the questions before, but this time I was the one asking them. First, I really did not understand how to access the course, and the password I was sent did not work for me. Frustration! Second, I could not understand the Help Directory directions as to what to do next. Frustration intensified! Third, I wrote the administrator and the instructor and was sent a new password that never arrived. I had no idea at the time, but my own server was having problems with attacks and nothing was coming through to my computers as email. Frustrated and confused and then some! Finally, I called for help. and a patient administrator took me step by step through the process of signing into the course after even another new password was provided. Then I had access. Great! Oh, but then I read that the password was only temporary , and I would need to change it, which led me to even more confusion, and more frustration.
Administrators and the instructor all were always very nice, which is what one wants, but I was so very lost. The experience sure has given me a new perspective as to what students go through in trying to access a course.
Once in the course I will say that the newness to me of ANGEL continued to confuse me. I find some of the tools similar to what I currently know through eCollege, but many are not and it has taken me several hours to understand how to use them. I am thankful that there were useful tutorials available.
All in all, my objective to totally confuse myself has been a success. I will also add that I now see the value of a very good orientation. I also see the value of letting students test drive the course, using the same tools they will use in the course and offering the orientation weeks ahead of the course start. I am glad also that I am the teacher and not my own student.
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