Unit 5 – Communication/Discussion and Activities Online

 

Unit Overview

This unit is a bit of a collection of several different pieces around wrapping up some teaching focused activities, moving tools into assignments, and communicating online. Our discussion for the week will center on creating discussion activities. 

Topics/Class Activities

  • Activities For Active Learning In Online Environments
  • Designing Well Rounded Assignments Online
  • How do we think about communication online?
  • How do we write for the web?
  • Assessing Student Work – (How) Does It Change Online?
  • Academic Dishonesty

Objectives

  • Know how to use web-based & software-based tools to create online activities
  • Understand the importance of tying assessment to real-world goals – Revisit Dr. Yelon’s videos if you need to!
  • Be able to write course and module objectives
  • Describe student-centered and active learning methods useful in online courses
  • Understand more about academic dishonesty problems in online courses
  • Know what some options are for dealing with academic dishonesty in online courses

Readings

Active Learning

Active learning is a general approach to teaching and learning activities that focus on placing learning in the hands of the learners (sometimes also called “learner centered”). Below is a short comparison of active versus passive learning.

Passive approaches emphasize:

  • Lectures
  • Readings
  • Watching video
  • Listening to audio
  • Observing demonstrations

Active approaches emphasize:

  • Interaction through discussion
  • Student<->student / faculty<->student interactions
  • Student presentations
  • Group projects
  • Simulations
  • Problem solving

Giving Students Feedback in Online Courses

Giving feedback is important from a learning standpoint whether we are looking at face-to-face or online courses. Below I’ve compiled a few basic suggestions for giving feedback and some readings that might be helpful. What I find is most useful for considering feedback though is discussion, so let’s try to focus a few posts on the blog this week and see what conversation we can have come out of it.

5 Easy Tips for Offering Feedback in Online Classes

  1. Constructive feedback comes via different media.Far too often online teachers are tempted to see the asynchronous email account or the message board as the only means of providing feedback in online classes they teach, but the personal touch that comes from a phone call or text chat(1) must not be underestimated. Online instructors should consider setting office hours on a weekly basis, during which time they will be available by telephone or live chat to their students. This is also the time to schedule telephone conversations with students who may require just a bit of personal encouragement.
  2. Feedback in online classes needs to be predictable. Constructive feedback by the instructor should be an expectation of students at online universities. Online teachers may incorporate feedback milestones in their syllabi. This may take the form of regularly scheduled evaluations of submitted work and may occur in the aftermath of exams and at the midway point of the online classes. Consider the Rosetta Stone software for language learners, which utilizes an automated progress feedback that students receive in the language course. This is shown as greatly enhancing not only student motivation, but also the sense of empowerment.
  3. A successful online education setting relies on proactive feedback. Feedback in online classes has the power to counteract the alarming trend of a skyrocketing dropout rate in the online education system. In the Bright Hub series entitled Examining the Distance Learning Drop-Out Rate, it was revealed that a failure to actively make online education a personal calling of an instructor could lead to the alienation of students. Proactive feedback in online classes prevents not only the alienation, but also catches problems or concerns early on.
  4. Feedback in online classes involves peers and achieves socialization. It is a common misconception that constructive feedback can only come from the instructor. Instead, a carefully devised framework for peer interactions can provide the socialization that online education students frequently lack.
  5. Constructive feedback in online classes is a two-way street. Online universities frequently provide their students with a questionnaire at the end of a session to evaluate the class they took, the instructor, and their overall online education experience. Instructors should go further than this and actively solicit student feedback in online classes they teach. This kind of feedback may be continuous and encourages the two-way process of open communication. (from http://www.brighthub.com/education/online-learning/articles/35429.aspx)

Some Readings

Brookhart, S. (2008). How to give effective feedback to your students. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/108019.aspx

Illinois Online Network. (2012). Strategies for providing feedback in online courses. Retrieved from http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/tutorials/communication/feedback.asp

Communication Policy for Your Course

Begin putting together a communication policy that communicates your expectations to students. For example:

  1. How often will you be checking the blended course site?
  2. How soon can students expect a response to an email question?
  3. When do you expect papers will be returned? How will they be returned?
  4. Should students expect detailed comments? Written? Voice?

Use this communication policy in your course documents.

Other resources which may be useful