Forum for Higher Learning Educational Designers

[AnnaVerges]

Dear all

I was wondering … if you had to argue with an academic colleague who is not keen on exploring the online space (defined broadly as the not face to face) as a potential learning environment, what woudl you say the value added on online learnign is?

I am after more than the ubiquotous or the 24/7 access to online resources or a VLE.

Just curious to hear what is it that makes it for you!

Thanks

Anna

 

 

[James Kerr]

Anna,

Personally, I favor blended and asynchronous environments.  For blended courses, I gravitate towards the HyFlex model. There are some distinct advantages to asynchronous course components, and they can lend themselves well to courses which require reflective thinking and discussion.

Asynchronous discussions tend to generate deeper discussions, as there is more time for students to consider their responses, and see input from peers.  There is an ongoing record of the discussion transactions that allows further reflection, and connections or threads to be made throughout the material.

HyFlex offers the best of both worlds; the synchronous chat channels allow for idea generation and brainstorming, and the asynchronous channels, as well as the recorded sessions allow for deeper reflection and review of content.

Neither of these is a panacea for all coursework, however.  Asynchronous, blended, or otherwise online courses may not work for every content area, and certainly not for every instructor.  For instructors who may not be keen to online learning, perhaps a way to ease them into it is to explore flipped classrooms, and encourage more contact interaction with their students via e-mail.  This could lead to further exploration of the online environment, as class time face-to-face can be used for more stimulating discussion or deeper exploration of topics.  Students still value face time with instructors, but they also want the convenience of accessing course content and materials online.

Jim

[Sherrie Love]

Hi Anna,

I agree with James on all points. Especially the idea of exploring a flipped classroom model for learning and teaching. Your reluctant academic could possibly take baby steps by experimenting with just one lesson. If time permits it might we worth someone exploring his course content and setting up an example lesson for him to experiment with.

Cheers

Sherrie

[macquarieOllie]

24/7 access to online resources and online communities is a big draw card. There are more implications in the statement which can be explored in many facets of Higher Learning. For example, it is possible to set up learning experiences for students to engage with in action, allowing for the ability to design out of the class activities which are experiential in nature. There is an abundance of research supporting the notin of experiential learning and online learning

Murphrey, T. P. (2010). A case study of eeLearning: Using technology to create and facilitate experiential learning.Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 11(4), 211-22).

Huang, C. D., & Behara, R. S. (2007). Outcome-driven experiential learning with web 2.0. Journal of Information Systems Education, 18(3), 329-336

Furthermore, there is the legal issue of accessibility. Some students might not be able to access the actual lecture theatres for one reason or another. Putting the content online gives access to such students. For example, one straight HD student might fall ill and cannot come to the lecture series, hence losing the potential to gain crucial information. Putting it online to watch at a more convenient time ensures that the student does not miss out.

What I am speaking of is only putting content online. When you are able to find and discover new strategies to engage a community of online learners, then there is the potential for the academic to play less of a role in directing the learning outcomes of their students. They will still be involved, but not to the point where they are spoon feeding and directing all learning opportunities.

The other argument one could put forward is, students are already engaging each other online. If you do not get in on that activity, then you risk students gaining access to inaccurate and unreliable information and failing as a result. Fear is not the best approach, but that senario is a real possibility.

By combining the possibility of increased learning opportunities with the tacit knowledge of the academic, you unleash synergistic features of all stakeholders.

[Sherrie Love]

Dear Ollie,

Thanks for your wonderful words of wisdom. Especially enjoyed the idea of unleashing synergistic features of our stakeholders. This has helped me aggregate site-based enrichment (c/o http://www.sciencegeek.net/lingo.html)

On a serious note. Nice sharing of resources. Anna here’s one on the Flipped Classroom (if you haven’t already seen it) http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7081.pdf

Cheers

Sherrie

 

[AnnaVerges]

Thank you all for your good points! Much appreciated.

So, we have

The advantages offered of asynchornous elements for authentic learning – time to reflect

Opportunities to elaborate content in your own time and asynchronously – like on discussion boards

Opportunities to use learnign designs (like the flipped classroom model) that free us from the constraints of old style face to face only contact with student

Openign to opportunities for experiential learning

Would you agree that (in principle at least) a blended or fully online delivery can pursue better than a purely fce to face model the development of metacognitive skills? I mean the need for the learner to become an active learner, to self-manage the flow of information (larger by default in our digital times).

Anna

P.S. Ollie thanks for sending those references. Sherrie: Thank you for sending that pdf. I had come across the term flipped classrooms but I did not have a clear idea in my head about its meaning.

[macquarieOllie]

Hi Anna, I would absolutely agree with the idea of a blended learning experience benefiting students metacognitive skills, especially with managing time and workloads. I saw this Video a few years back in 2011. I’m not sure if it is out of date, but it is good food for thought about the kinds of issues we face as educators insofar as instilling an understanding of the digital era in students.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-9FaJPhFxQ%5D

[AnnaVerges]

Powerful clip Ollie

Thanks

Anna

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