Week 16 Blog

Reflection on Online Instruction, Personal Theory of Online Learning, and Future Direction of Online Learning.

It has been a great experience to interact with my peers and instructor to learn new social media like twitter for the first time along with other online tools. I strongly believe I have gone through a process which helped me to understand about online learning/teaching more deeply than before I took this course, to relate online learning/teaching to my personal online learning theory, and to develop a coherent understanding of my personal identity as an instructional designer/an instructor to design an online course. Active engagement through peer discussions and constructive feedbacks process in this course were critical and effective in constructing knowledge through developing clear understanding of both benefits and challenges of online learning and teaching.

I have realized that teaching online is not the same as teaching face-to-face. Some of my peers had different view and I completely respect that. Garrison, Anderson, & Archer (2000) suggested that learning occurs through the interaction of social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence within a community of inquiry that is composed of teachers and students. My understanding through literature search is that social presence is the most critical element that is missing in online learning if we compare it with face-to-face learning. The most important barrier for effective online learning is the challenge of bringing social presence in online class. Jones, Warren and Roberson (2009) noted, “…when learning moves from face-to-face to online, the intimacy and rapport is reduced” (p. 270). So, it is important to bring social presence into an online setting to help building interpersonal relationships as learners who do not meet face-to-face. And technologies such as asynchronous and synchronous discussions meetings help bringing social presence in online learning environment.

In addition to social presence, research shows teaching presence is a significant determinate of student satisfaction, perceived learning, and sense of community (Garrison, 2006). The attitude, practice, and expectations of both learners and teachers need to be fundamentally different in an online context compare to face-to-face. Designing instruction that encourage peer-learning/peer-instruction is a significant consideration in online learning. I have experienced the importance of peer-learning since I got in to this program. Without peer-instruction I would not have been successful in this program. Boud et al. (1999) refer to peer-learning as the use of teaching and learning strategies in which students learn with and from each other without intervention of a teacher. It is essential to design peer-instruction activities appropriately that encourages students to deepen their understanding of contents, take ownership of their own learning, enhance meta-cognitive skills, and increase motivation (Topping, 2003).

The potential of online learning lies in four factors: accessibility, flexibility, interactivity, and collaboration. Online learning environment provides flexible time for learners to think and reflect where as in face-to-face students have to response quick. Shy students engage actively in online where everybody feels comfortable to participate. In a study on improving historical knowledge and cognition through Second Life avatar role play, Warren and Wakefield (2010) stated that “LTCA theory helped to augment student learning experience through more active communication and increased content sharing among students to build a social learning community” (p. 563). McKinley and Champagne (2013) found that online discussion has the potential to increase critical thinking skills, leading to activity success. The key challenges of online learning are copyright, quality assurance, and personalized learning in social constructivism. In online learning instructor has limitation to observe learners’ body language and facial expressions to draw attentions and engage learner.

From a learning psychology perspective, individual or personalized learning (Polanyi, 1964) needs to be balanced with the social dimensions of learning. My personal theory of learning aligns more with social constructivism which is well supported by research. The goal of instruction is not to ensure that learners know the facts but rather they interpret information in a meaningful way by using discourse. According to Jonassen (1991) constructivist learning environments are most effective for advance level knowledge acquisition in the process of negotiation and dialogue. Learners learn to articulate their own understanding by discussing with peers and instructors. The strategies utilized by constructivists include situating tasks in real world contexts. Use of cognitive apprenticeships, collaborative learning, social negotiation are good example of social constructivism methods. It is necessary to provide the environment of community, collaboration, and content for successful online learning.

Educators have the opportunity to allow learners from around the world to access education globally for all due to the rapid development of mobile apps and evolution of wireless technologies. There is great potential for mobile learning in developing countries, but careful planning is required for mobile learning to be successful (Muir, 2013; Traxler, 2013). Vavoula and Sharples (2009) state that “mobile learning is a social rather than technical phenomenon of people on the move, constructing spontaneous learning contexts and advancing through everyday life by negotiating knowledge and meanings through interactions with settings, people and technology”. A mobile learning task can use augmentation which may involve learners using the text function on their phones to create a chain story in groups, which is then uploaded to a blog, with comments from other groups, classes. This adds a level of ‘functional improvement’ and enhancement: the stories can easily be shared with an audience beyond the classroom, inviting interactions that would otherwise not be as easy to achieve. I believe mobile learning will expand rapidly in future.

Reference

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical Inquiry in a Text-based Environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. Internet and Higher Education 2(2-3), 87-105.

McKinley, J. and Champagne, D.J. (2013). Promoting school based cohorts in distance/onloine learning. Creative Education, 4(8A), 9-11.

Searls, D.B. (2012). Ten Simple Rules for Online Learning. PLOS Computational Biology, 8(9), e1002631. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002631

Warren, S.J. and Wakefield, J.S. (2010). Learning and teaching as communicative actions: Social media as educational tool. Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal, 3, 17-39.

Week 14 Blog

What do you think the future of MOOCs is? What about mobile learning?Are these things you feel are going to be beneficial or will there be a backlash?

I think future of MOOCs is still hopeful and growth will be positive but steady. A massive open online courses (MOOC) is an open access online course accept unlimited enrollment for a course. MOOCs courses are generally developed by US high ranking universities and offer all over the world to have access to free higher education. Although the original purpose of the MOOC model may have been to make higher education more democratic, it is increasingly being used as a tool to foster mutual understanding between the United States and other countries, and provide an opportunity for students across the world to “test drive” a U.S. higher education experience. The US State department use MOOCs through a Collaboratory project to spreads new ways to further educational and cultural diplomacy. The design and coordination of the MOOC Camp initiative where 205 courses have been taken by 4500+ students at over 65 Embassies and Consulates around the world. Although in general the completion rate is lower on average, between 40 and 60 percent of the MOOC Camp participants completed their courses.

The rapid development of mobile apps and evolution of wireless technologies globally educators have the opportunity to allow learners from around the world to access education globally for all. MOOCs have already done that. Internet access is becoming more accessible in underdeveloped and developing countries. There is great potential for mobile learning in developing countries, but careful planning is required for mobile learning to be successful (Muir, 2013; Traxler, 2013). Vavoula and Sharples (2009) state that “mobile learning is a social rather than technical phenomenon of people on the move, constructing spontaneous learning contexts and advancing through everyday life by negotiating knowledge and meanings through interactions with settings, people and technology”.

A mobile learning task can use augmentation which may involve learners using the text function

on their phones to create a chain story in groups, which is then uploaded to a blog, with comments from other groups, classes. This adds a level of ‘functional improvement’ and enhancement: the stories can easily be shared with an audience beyond the classroom, inviting interactions that would otherwise not be as easy to achieve.

Week 13 Blog

What did you learn from your experience using social media and other open source tools? Should they be used for teaching and learning? Tell the story of what you learned.

I learned valuable experience using social media and other open source tools. I have learned that social media can play an effective role in enhancing learning outside of classroom. These tools create a flexible environment to learn in learner’s own pace and flexible time. It is an effective communicant channel between learner-teacher and learner-learner. Had I not been experienced on my own learning method I would have misconception about the benefits of these tools in learning and teaching. This is the first time I have used Twitter and have found it as an effective tool to engage with teacher and peers to enhance learning experience. Greenhow and Gleason (2012) explore the use of Twitter as a new literacy practice and suggested that it may lead to increased engagement and better interaction between students and teachers. The similar view is also shared by Fusch (2011), who argues that “the tools of the trade are as important as the learning objectives, and that tools are needed which promote social presence, create a more interactive learning environment and foster collaborative study.”

YouTube video is useful for learning. I learn many things just from your tube videos of varieties subjects about academic and also daily life’s problem solving instructional videos. One of the important educational platforms is Khan Academy video-based learning and teaching which I found very useful. YouTube plays a big role in freelance journalism and perhaps more authentic and acceptable media.

Speaking about Facebook I have reservation about its educational use. I personally think it is a big distraction and a means of wasting time. I think it is useful where other educational tools are not available. Facebook may cause some privacy issues if the users are not skilled to use it properly.

Social media provides opportunity for instructors to further engage learners in the online environment which helps learners to reflect and learn cognitive/meta-cognitive skills and critical thinking. Blaschke (2012) calls it a heutagogy-the study of self-determined learning where learners take own responsibility, and learner is “the major agent in their own learning” (Hase & Kenyon, 2007, p. 112). The combination of adult-learning focus and social media makes the heutagogy relevant to distance education. According to Pew Research Center (2014) use of different social media are increasing in all age groups.

A heutagogical educational approach emphasizes learner-centeredness and capabilities development which include knowing how to learn, working in a team, empathy, critical thinking, active learning, self-efficacy, self-confidence, active citizenship, and deliberative dialogue (Gardner, Hase, Dunn, and Carryer, 2008). We can empower or learners to find new ways of acquiring knowledge and equip them with skills for adapting to changing and complex environment like we were given the opportunity to learn these social media tools. Most of us did not use before and I believe we all enjoy learning these social media use in acquiring knowledge and skills.

From my experience and research findings I can summarize that social media can increase student motivation and engagement with course material; increase learner to learner interaction; removes barriers to self-expression and contribution; and increase levels of satisfaction.

Fusch, D. (2011) Social Media and Student Learning: Moving the needle on engagement in Academic Impressions, pp. 1

Greenhow, C and Gleason B. (2012) Twitteracy: Tweeting as a New Literacy Practice in The Educational Forum , (76). pp, 463-477

Week 12 Blog

How useful do you find the open source tools and social media for learning? Is it your personal preference that drives this or the affordances? Would they be useful for others if you find it lacking?

Use of open source tools and social media for learning is very useful. It is not always the affordance that drives the selection of open source tools but the flexibility and usability of the tools that make it popular to use for learning. One of the successful open source learning tools is Moodle. Moodle learning management system has users in 215 countries worldwide and it has been translated to 82 language for learning language (Godwin-Jones, 2012).

Most popular social media used for learning is Blogs and Wikis. The other social media used for learning is Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. The use of social media in teaching is increasingly growing from 34% in 2012 to 41% in 2013 (Person learning, 2014). Vaughan (cited in Fusch, 2011) notes four opportunities to use social media tools to increase collaborative learning, student/faculty interaction, and academic challenge. Educators can use social media tools to: “1) Integrate a sense of “play” into the learning experience, provoking collaboration, creativity, and problem-solving; 2) Foster collaborative learning in and out of the classroom; 3) Aid students in co-creating knowledge and in taking responsibility for their own learning; 4) Give students choice in how to demonstrate the learning they’ve achieved, fostering greater engagement and empowerment.”

Students immersed themselves in course related topic through connections with Twitter-using scholars. Students learn from scholars and academics from all over the world by following them using Twitter (Warren and Wakefield, 2010).

Fusch, D. (2011) Social Media and Student Learning: Moving the needle on engagement in Academic Impressions, pp. 1

Week 11 Blog

How was it to design a research study for online vs. FTF? Does it make sense to do it the way you did after reflecting on it?

Any design process involves some planning. For any planning I personally go through the Rapid Instructional Design (Piskurich, 2006) process to do the needs assessment for design, develop, implement, and evaluate any project. It was neither hard nor easy to design a research study for online versus face-to-face (FTF). Even though initially I thought it will be the same process to develop the study for both environments. Later I have realized that designing research for online bit different than FTF. Online learning requires more special attention on how to bring social presence in online learning comparing to FTF. According to my understanding it is important to understand social constructivism epistemological concept while designing online or FTF because this is most effective in constructing knowledge. So, an instructional designer has to have understanding how to apply the knowledge of learning theory to design activities into practice that will provide a community of learning for learners where they can engage in dialogue and construct knowledge.

Developing research method is the fundamental to design instructions in both online and FTF/blended that will help teaching and learning effectively. Ertmer & Newby (2013) noted that the critical question instructional designers must ask is not “Which is the best theory?” but “Which theory is the most effective in fostering mastery of specific tasks by specific learners?.” So based the needs assessment report instructional designer will choose what framework will work best to design instructions. It could be ADDIE, ASSURE, Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction, Cognitive Apprenticeship, Backward design by Wiggins, or Learning and Teaching as Communicative Actions (LTCA) by Scott Warren and his colleagues.

Regarding research design for our assignment I personally preferred to use LTCA as it promotes social constructivism learning environment for learners which is equally good for both online and FTF. I have used it to design an online course for large class in biomedical ethics course last summer and got good feedback from learners. It helps learners to engage more in collaborative works as well as some exercise in individualized learning.

Week 8 Blog

Based on your experience putting your lesson into the Canvas LMS, what do you feel are the benefits of using such a structured space for teaching and learning? How well does the structure of an LMS fit with your theory of online learning?

I am a Canvas learning management system (LMS) administrator and a student of learning technologies. I think organization and delivery of content are important to provide the environment for learning. Structured space like Canvas reduces cognitive load for learner. Canvas structured that space very well for teaching and learning. All the features in any learning management system are important and help facilitating learning and teaching. It has all methods to deliver instructions such as text, images, audio, and video to meet the needs of different styles of learning. It also provides the interactive environment for students and teachers to communicate, collaborate, and assess learning.

I personally like Canvas in comparison with other LMS because of its flexibility and customizability. It provides extensive open APLI that open opportunity for third party apps to plug into canvas. There are hundreds of LTI apps that can be used in canvas for teaching and learning. One of the great features is video recording on the go. Student and instructor can record video in canvas and link to any page. Outcomes is also an important feature to align learning outcomes and competencies with course objectives and run a report for student’s mastery of any competency which is important for accreditation purpose as well. All types of statistics and analytics are also better than any other LMS. The most advantage over other LMS is the Amazon cloud service which ensures 99.99% uptime. Also, it costs comparatively less than other LMS which are big concern for any user. It’s usability is also better than other LMS.

Having the above discussions I do believe Canvas and any other LMS has limitations too. It is a tool which facilitates learning. I think actual learning happens when students take their own initiative to participate in learning through discourse within, with other students where instructor takes part as moderator.

Week 7

This week we did not have any class. Many of us went to SITE conference in Las Vegas. I presented at SITE and also presided two sessions. It was a great experience being a presider/chair to moderate a session. I attended a key note on Education for the Future We Want: A Call for Action, presentation by UNESCO representative in Thailand. It was an eye opening for us to know how privileged we are compare to third world country. How digital divide is impacted the life of millions of people in this global community to learn and grow as an individual.

Week 6 Blog

How hard is it to develop a research method that both matches your theory and created curriculum? What was simple and what was difficult? Post a direct link to the entry

It is hard to develop a research method that both matches the theory and create curriculum. It is simple to learn different theories and instructional design frameworks. It is difficult when it comes to apply the knowledge in selecting the appropriate research method to apply appropriate theory and/ framework in a specific curriculum. It is important that an instructional designer understands how to link underlying theory into practice while designing instructions or developing curriculum. Developing research method is the fundamental to develop a curriculum that will help teaching and learning effectively. The methodology should address the problem and objectives of a research and recommended solutions should align those objectives. I echo with Ertmer & newby (2013) that the critical question instructional designers must ask is not “Which is the best theory?” but “Which theory is the most effective in fostering mastery of specific tasks by specific learners?.”

We were asked to develop a lesson plan for both face-to-face and online for same subject/materials. The underlying theory that we chose to develop the lesson is constructivism. In our group work we develop a course lesson on introduction to computer for non-computer major undergraduate students. The time was limited but we were able to finish it by the end of our class time. Although it was easy to develop a lesson for both face-to-face and online we forgot to organize the lesson by specifying time expected for each task to perform while developing the activities. All other groups in class did that nicely. I admit that we missed an important step in the method of designing the lesson. The difficult part of design is how we can provide the same learning environment for face-to-face vs online while learning basics about computer hardware and software. Students need to do hands on some of the task which is hard to accomplish in online. Most close we can get in terms of hands on is simulated demonstration for online students. This is the difficult part of the method of designing instruction.

Overall, the experience was great. We learned from our mistakes. Then each group presented their work. We discussed about each group’s work and learned from each other. It is always helpful when this type of discourses occur during the class especially in online environment. I personally have been enjoying it since I have gotten into this program.

Week Five

This week each group presented the design of a same lesson plan for both online and face-to-face course. Each group was consisted with two and the topic was chosen by each group to create the lesson plan for both online and face-to-face. After each group’s presentation other groups provided feedback on advantages and disadvantages of each learning environment. Our presentation was about introduction to computer hardware. My group-mate presented the lesson plan. My personal evaluation of our presentation was we did ok. One of our lacking according to my observation is we did not breakdown our lesson plan by minutes but all other groups did an excellent job by breaking down the lesson by specific time duration for each activities.

Based on the assigned reading of different articles and observation of class presentations I have learned that both online and face-to-face learning have their advantages and disadvantages. Every instruction can be designed either face-to-face or online. I think it is more complex and hard to design an online course than a face-to-face class. Online learning environment facilitate reflection time from learners to think critically where as in face-to-face students have limited time to think and response. Also, online learning provide opportunity for shy students to actively engage to participate compare to face-to-face participate. In online learning instructor has limitation to observe learners’ body language and facial expressions to draw attentions and engage learner compare to face-to-face learning where instructor has the advantage to observe and understand the learner’s expression. But use of technology such as video conferencing or synchronous class meeting may reduce that limitation.

In terms of course design Dana Gutman explained about six barriers causing educators to resist teaching Online are salary, promotion and tenure, workload, training, interpersonal relations, and quality.

Week Four

Is teaching online the same as teaching FTF? How? Why? Also, how did that influence your team’s design?

Teaching online is not the same as teaching face-to-face. Bringing social presence into an online setting is important to help build interpersonal relationships as learners do not meet face-to-face. The most important barrier for effective online learning is the challenge of bringing social presence in online class. Jones, Warren and Roberson (2009) noted, “…when learning moves from face-to-face to online, the intimacy and rapport is reduced” (p. 270). Technologies such as asynchronous and synchronous discussions meetings help bringing social presence in online learning environment.

In addition to social presence, designing instruction that encourage peer-learning/peer-instruction is a significant consideration in online learning. I have realized this importance through my personal learning experience since I got in to this program. Without peer-instruction I would not have been successful in this program.

In online learning environment learners get more time to think and reflect where as in face-to-face students have to response quick. Also, in face-to-face shy students do not participate and engage actively in comparison to online where everybody feels comfortable to participate. But in online learning instructor has limitation to observe learners’ body language and facial expressions to draw attentions and engage learner.

Self regulation is one of the most important characteristics need to have a learner in order to be successful in online learning. Self motivation is also key quality to be successful in online learning. David Searls (2012) suggested ten simple rules for online learning are 1) Making a plan, 2) being selective, 3) organizing learning environment, 4) doing the reading, 5) doing exercises, 6) doing assessments, 7) exploiting the advantages, 8) reaching out, 9) documenting achievements, and being realistic.

Research shows teaching presence is a significant determinate of student satisfaction, perceived learning, and sense of community (Garrison, 2006). The attitude, practice, and expectations of both learners and teachers need to to be fundamentally different in an online context compare to face-to-face.

Reference

Jones, J., Warren, S.J., and Robertson, M. (2009). Increasing student discourse to support rapport building in web and blended courses using a 3D online learning environment. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 20(3), 269-294.