Setting Up An Online Learning Experience

Setting Up An Online Learning Experience

“Who dares to teach must never cease to learn”

John Colton Dana taken from Carmean & Friedman (2014)

            One of the best ways for an instructor to set up an online learning experience is to be ready on time and to be adequately prepared to take along the learners. The facilitator/the instructor need to plan the content to be taught with the learners in mind. Preparation of all the necessary tools before the course begins, and active presence to direct the learning process during the course are two important points to consider in setting up a successful online experience.

            Technology ensures connection throughout the learning process. What happens when all of a sudden a light is switched off in a room? One reaction is that: everyone stops whatever they are doing and waits for a resolution. During the waiting period, anxiety, frustration and confusion take effect. This is the scenario with technology when the connection with the instructor is cut off. The learning process is interrupted with the result that students experience frustration, anxiety and confusion. A positive learning experience requires an active instructor who works with the main tools of the online classes, such as the Course Management System offered by the institution. An example of a passive instructor is one who cannot even post material in their course, write announcements and/or send emails to students about the course. The instructor needs to be familiar with the basic technology tools such as emails, uploading content, posting announcement and sending emails as to keep the class warm and communication among the learners.  Oblinger (2013) posit that “Technology enables pervasive and continuous access, not only to information and ideas but also to resources, tools, people, and communities”. It is therefore important for the instructor not only to know what technology is available for the course but also how to use it to keep the learning community actively engaged in the learning process.

It is important to communicate clear expectations at the beginning of class because that “makes a significant contribution to ensuring understanding and satisfaction in an online course” (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010, p.55). This can be done by letting the students view the expectations even before the class starts so that they can organize their life around them. It is not good practice to keep on adding work to be completed randomly in an online class, as students may be located all over the world with different time zones and commitments. Ragan (n. d.) argues that “a course with a predictable pattern of operation and sequence of events provides the online learner with the structure they need to succeed” (p.10).  The expectations of the program need to be stated during orientation and at the beginning of each course so that learners can play on  how  fit their online studies with the rest of their lives. It is also the responsibility of the instructor to inform the online learners about his personal expectations and to further clarify university expectations, such as the policies on late submission, marking rubrics, preferred methods of communication and about the expected office hours. Hess, Falkofske and Young (n.d.) state that the more accurate the expectations; the less anxiety the learners will experience at the beginning of the course. Clear expectations communicated to learners as early as possible before online classes create a positive learning environment.

A well-planned learning environment is the key consideration for engaging and delivering effective online learning experiences. The ingredients include a clear set of expectations, the use technology tools available, and advance planning for all the events in the course such as the syllabus, rubrics, assignment and discussions. Once all activities are planned and included in the syllabus, it is important to prepare all the tools that will be used to ensure a smooth online learning environment.  Boettcher & Conrad, (2010) posit that “presence is the most important best practice for an online course” (p.53). When the expectations are stated clearly and the technology is available, then the instructor/facilitator/mentor should be ready to drive the learning continuously with his/her presence in the online learning environment.

References

Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Carmean, C. & Friedman, D. (2014). Conjecture, Tension and Online Learning. Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/conjecture-tension-and-online-learning

Hess, K., Falkofske, Young (n.d.). Syllabus template development for online course success. In R.Kelly (Ed.) 11 Strategies for managing Your Online Courses. Retrieved 10 March 2014 from http://www.facultyfocus.com/

Oblinger, D.G. (2013). Higher Education in the Connected Age. Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/Higher Education in the Connected Age

Ragan, L.C. (n.d.). 10 Principles of Effective Online Teaching: Best Practices in Distance Education. Retrieved 10 March 2014 from http://www.facultyfocus.com/free-reports/principles-of-effective-online-teaching-best-practices-in-distance-education/

Getting Acquainted Posting

This week assignment required that we post our two-part of Getting Acquainted Posting for the online orientation course designed in EDUC 6135: Distance Learning course.

Part 1

Title: Mrs
Surname: Jita
Name: Thuthukile
E-mail: Thuthukile.jita@waldenu.edu
Skype: thuthukilejita1
Office hours: 7:45 – 16:30

Office Building: Sasol Library, Level 3, Room 337
The URL: http://onlineeffectivestrategies.blogspot.com/

Description:

During my spare time, I like to read biographies of well-known people such as Nelson Mandela, Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton etc. These books usually give background details about a person’s history, which is always interesting to explore and relate to present day circumstances. I usually share what I have read with my family. At work I use The technology toolbelt for teaching as my first source of knowledge on technology tools.  I often recommend it to new staff members in our e-learning unit as a good start-up kit for any person who is new into with the field of technology.  For more information and for my further reading, I like “The Professor’s Guide to Taming Technology: Leveraging Digital Media, Web 2.0, and more for learning”.

The garden I helped to cultivate in my village house in the Eastern Cape

On TV, I enjoy watching reality shows, singing and dancing shows such as IDOLS, Gospel Alive, MTV, not that I can even sing along but watching people singing is good for the soul. It is always interesting to see people give it their all in the name of excellence in such dancing shows as “You think you can dance”. As a youngster, I did “Ballroom and Latin American” dance but never went further than local competitions. I still dance for fun though. Gardening (Figure 1: The garden I helped to cultivate in my village house in the Eastern Cape) is the one activity I also like, because it brings me closer to nature, and serves as a décor for the house and a source of food.

The beach in Durban during the summer holidays

I like travelling during holidays, mostly between three provinces, viz. Gauteng province (Johannesburg, Vereeniging and Pretoria); KwaZulu-Natal (Durban) and the Eastern Cape (Tsolo). We often visit my mother-in-law who lives in Vereeniging and from time to time we go shopping  in one of South Africa’s big city, Johannesburg where traffic in unbearable. I once took 3 hours to drive between Pretoria and Johannesburg – a trip that normally takes about 1hour and 20 minutes. Durban in KwaZulu-Natal is a popular coastal city, which we visit almost every summer holidays in December to play and swim in the sea. I grew-up in Durban and my family still lives there. We also love travelling to the Eastern Cape where my husband originates from, which is also my mother’s place of origin.  Visiting this part of the country connects my children with distant family members and they get an opportunity to learn about family history through story-telling, observing and participating in the community activities. We also perform all our cultural ritual in the Eastern Cape. When I am in the Eastern Cape, I feel like a real African woman which is captured in the way I dress and engage in the activities that other village woman perform such as cooking, plowing and helping other families in need. During the school holidays, we visit home to connect with other people who either remain in the village to take care of farming or others who also return to the village for holidays. Another aspect of the village life that I enjoy is doing a lot of walking which keep people healthy. In the pictures below I was walking with my children to a neighboring village. I love the village lifestyle!

My son drinking traditional bear

Walking in the village

 Part II

The main purpose of this course is to prepare you as a student to get ready for your future online courses, with the main goals focusing on technology skills, attributes of an online learner and resources for online learning. This course offers complete online training that is necessary to reduce student confusion and frustration in all the upcoming courses in the online program.  As a student you can assist the facilitator to achieve the purpose of the course by reviewing the course goals.  As you review the course performance goals and outcome, think about both the negative and positive impact the course goals might have on your studies. The course is structured so as to “be accountable to the goals, be at least as effective as alternative approaches and have a positive impact” (Simonson et al, 2012, p.361). Pointing out negatives would assist the facilitator to work towards reducing any negative impact the course might have on your studies. Begin by writing your own performance goals. Where would you apply the knowledge and skills learned in the course?

Fish & Wickersham (2009) posit that “meaningful interaction that motivates students to think critically is dependent upon effective course content presentation” (p.280). For an instructor/facilitator of the course to be able to create an environment that stimulates and encourages active learning, he or she would need to know the learning styles of students so that information can be presented in ways that are useful to all learning styles (Smith, 2008, p.9). By the end of the week, please complete the Vark learning styles inventory (http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire) and submit the feedback on learning styles with your own course goals and the context in which your goals will be applicable in the real-world.

References

Fish, W. W., & Wickersham, L. E. (2009). Best practices for online instructors: Reminders. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 10(3), 279-284. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th Ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Smith, R.M. (2008). Conquering the Content: a step-by-step guide to online course design. San Francisco, CA. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Online Learning Communities

Online learning communities are groups of people who are working together to attain the same goal, through a certain process. Wikipedia (2014) defines “An online learning community as a public or private destination on the Internet that addresses the learning needs of its members by facilitating peer-to-peer learning”. Sharing of knowledge is therefore a critical activity in an online community with the goal of empowering people to make meaning with one another. It is therefore everyone’s responsibility within the group to create a successful learning community. How can participants in an online learning community play their role in developing an effective and efficient online course?

Dr. Pratt and Dr. Palloff in Laureate Education (2010) mention that online learning communities are shaped by students and faculty who explore content together to bring meaning to learning. The instructors are responsible for facilitating learning and enabling students to interact with the content and concepts among themselves. Conrad and Donaldson, (2011) point out that “engaged learning stimulates learners to actively participate in the learning situation, thus gaining the most knowledge from being a member of an online learning community”(p.5). Learners become actively involved in the learning process when the facilitator’s presence is strong from the start of the online course and when there is constant motivation for them to participate throughout all the activities. Laureate Education (2010) posits that “the power of learning communities is learner-to-learner engagement”. Therefore, the instructor has an important role in shaping students’ learning and their satisfaction in the course through the kinds of activities he or she assigns for the students.

The three essential elements in building a sustainable online learning community are “people, purpose and process” as stated by Dr. Palloff in Laureate Education (2010). The number of people in the online courses is critical for building engaging courses. It does not matter how well prepared the purpose of the course is and whether the processes are in place or not, if there are no students to interact and exchange ideas, that online course is doomed to fail. Wilcoxon (2011) states that “the goal is to have a sufficient number of members to encourage on-going interaction without having so many that individual voices disappear”. For instance, a class with students less than three has less chance of having diverse views developed during the process of engagement. The purpose is also important in determining the direction of the course and destination.  The instructor has the responsibility to guide the entire learning process by making students comfortable in the learning process. According to Laureate Education, (2010), the facilitator is responsible for setting up and maintaining an active learning community by “making the course easy to navigate, and making the class feel warm”. The lesson learned is that an effective instructor has to establish a positive environment for learning by playing a leading role in the online course. Otherwise, the lack of involvement by the instructor can lead to a dismantled community with low or no learning at all.

References

Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Conrad, R., & Donaldson, J. A. (2011). Engaging the online learner: Activities and resources for creative instruction (Updated Ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Laureate Education, (2010). Online Learning Communities. [Video]. Retrieved from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/Walden/EIDT/6510/01/downloads/WAL_EIDT6510_01_B_EN-CC.zip

Wilcoxon, K. (3, October, 2011). Building An Online Learning Community. Retrieved from http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/761/building-an-online-learning-community

EIDT 6150 Welcome Note!

Hi everyone,

Thanks for visiting my blog. 

Let us explore and learn together in this learning community.