[Megan Kime]

Thanks Grainne! I would be really grateful for any peer review or general comments. My post can be seen at http://www.megankime.net/models-for-supporting-learning-salmon-octel-7-1/

 

[Megan Kime]

Thanks all for an interesting thread. I’m particularly interested in Sandra and Rachel’s comments about engaging in discussions online. It seems hard to tell whether the difficulty is with the discussion activity itself, or with the fact that it is online. I’d be interested to hear whether you think you’d feel the same hesitation about a discussion in person? Or is there something about having to write down your thoughts which makes it challenging? I run an online course which relies heavily on the use of discussion forums, and so I’m always looking for ways to help students engage.

[Megan Kime]

Thanks all for this helpful discussion, I’d second the usefulness of having an assistant/moderator to help monitor chat whilst the presenter is busy presenting. We’ve recently starting using Adobe Connect to run webinar sessions with a small group of students (about 5), and so some of these issues don’t arise so much, since there’s less problem with people talking over each other etc.

A couple of things to add:

1. We learned the hard way the importance of giving people clear instructions re: logging on and using the various tools, as well as giving people an opportunity to test their connections and microphones etc. before the session itself.

2. We’re using the software to replicate a small group seminar/tutorial session for distance learners, and although in many ways the experience is replicated there are some important differences. I’m sure we’re all familiar with the annoyance of having students in a f2f session who aren’t paying full attention, either looking at their phones, or whispering to a neighbour. As Sue points out, these things can still go on during a webinar session, but as the presenter you’ll be much less aware of them, if at all. In some ways this is good – you don’t get distracted, and nor do other students (unless of course they’re also busy with other things instead of listening). But in other ways its not so good – its harder to tell if people are engaged, since you don’t know so easily if they’re engaging in other activity. It’s also possible, in a way that it isn’t in a f2f session, for participants within the group to communicate with each other privately during the session, either within the tool in a private chat, or through some other tool. This hadn’t occurred to me at first, but once I became aware of it I must admit it’s made me slightly uncomfortable.

[Megan Kime]

Thanks all, I’ve found this exchange really helpful. I can see both sides of the debate here – consistency and clarity is really important for the students, but a little freedom is valuable for teachers. In the absence of a template I think I’d like to see mandatory training for anyone populating VLE sites – but I’m aware that would be controversial, not to mention the resource implications…

My thoughts on this activity are at http://www.megankime.net/drivers-and-constraints-octel-5-1/

[Megan Kime]

That’s really interesting Stuart – can I ask what kinds of interactions your distance students have with each other (discussion forum etc.)? And are these facilitated by tutors?

I’m also particularly focusing on how to engage distance learners in a community – we’ve found that to be crucial in engaging them with the course as a whole (with knock on effects for retention, completion, performance, etc.).

[Megan Kime]

I’d also echo these comments – a really helpful resource. I also scored high on most areas except digital scepticism – something to work on!

[Megan Kime]

I should add that we don’t see the time zone issue as insurmountable – we’ve also avoided live sessions because many of our students were accessing from dial-up connections, but this is changing as access to broadband widens and so we’re trialling live sessions from next month onwards. For the time being they will be optional and supplementary however, so that anyone who cannot participate can still complete the course. I’ll let you know how the addition of these sessions changes things!

[Megan Kime]

Hi James,

I’d second this question – finding this very salient having to think about both development of our existing ODL programme (which is very much the opposite of massive!) and the FutureLearn developments at Leeds. There are definitely big differences between the two!

[Megan Kime]

I’m not sure either to be honest Andy. I don’t know whether this group was just for the induction period or whether we’ll carry on using it for the remainder of the course, I guess that’s up to us really, and given that we haven’t really got much discussion going yet it would be a shame for it to be finished with quite yet! The more the merrier!

[Megan Kime]

I had an interesting discussion of these kinds of issues this week at the Blackboard Teaching and Learning Conference. The presentation given there on MOOCs seemed to assume that a way needed to found for MOOCs to make some money, which given the founding ethos seems troubling (although of course I recognise that resoures have to be found somewhere etc. etc.). A lot of recent talks I’ve seen on MOOCs have concentrated on this issue – how can we make money out of them? I’d agree with Niall that its not really a MOOC if thats the purpose.

Scott – I love that river analogy!

[Megan Kime]

Could you give an example of what you mean by ‘relatively simple enhancement of course material’?

[Megan Kime]

It’s tricky isn’t it – especially as individuals like to work at different times of the day. For something like this, and other MOOCs, which I guess for a lot of people is ‘extra-curricular’ they may be more likely to participat outside of work hours.

The time zone issue couple with working students is why we’ve avoided any ‘live’ sessions in our distance learning course so far, and have stuck with asynchronous communication. But webinars etc do add much needed interaction and engagment, so its a balancing act.

[Megan Kime]

To everyone asking to join – the quick answer is ‘yes of course!’ And the slightly longer answer is I don’t think you need permission – just join in! It’s really interesting to read people people working with online distance learning programmes and modules.

From a very brief skim just now, I notice that quite a few people are working on courses that are  broadly speaking access/skills/foundation level – is this because online learning is particularly suited to these kind of courses or just coincidence?

 

[Megan Kime]

Thisthesis is the firscourse I’be taken (and will hopefully complete) online. I’m finding the experience of being a student, despite it being a very different model to our online course, really helpful – it’s brough home to me the importance of clear instructions for example.

[Megan Kime]

I’d definitely agree with that characterisation – I’ve not seen anyone yet proclaim themselves an expert, even though some are clearly very experienced in the field.

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