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Mirror, mirror…time to Reflect!

My big takeaway from completing the first OTL course is that the theory that was presented didn’t come from research from online learning environments. This gives me confidence that all I know and have learned about teaching and learning is transferable to an online context – good teaching is good teaching!

The most important ideas that I can take away are:

  • The importance of establishing cognitive presence in an online course is a given, but how I’m going to do this is still a bit of a mystery;
  • The importance of feedback in both summative and formative modes.  Again, I wonder how I’m going to be able to achieve effective formative feedback when I don’t have the familiar F2F environment.

I will be meeting with an experienced OLFM tomorrow, and I look forward to learning some strategies and tools for navigating the online environment effectively.  I know that there is additional support for OLFMs, so as soon as I can figure out exactly what I don’t know, I’ll be utilizing all of the resources available. I would also like to do some reading on best practices for online learning in cohort-based courses.

A few goals that I will set for myself for this term…

  • Read at least 2 articles on effective online learning for cohort-based courses;
  • Give timely and specific formative & summative feedback to all students during the course;
  • Maintain a consistent daily schedule for responding and participating in discussions in order to facilitate the development of cognitive presence of all students.
  • Take a few hours to read and comment on the blog posts of others (I’m still a bit tentative about engaging in this way)

In conclusion, I have had many of my theories about teaching and learning confirmed through the material in the course, and as I mentioned in my first post (“I don’t know what I don’t know”), I have been able to identify some of my knowledge gaps when it comes to creating and facilitating effectively in an online environment.

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Post 4: Feeding it Forward

I find the whole area of feedback very intriguing. I have spent a lot of time developing and delivering workshops on effective feedback for teachers. I found my own research on the topic of feedback to confirm the findings in the Hattie chapter.

Most importantly, I  have found that if feedback (positive or negative) doesn’t confirm the expectations, beliefs, and ideas of the student, it is common for the result to be defensiveness. Once a student takes a defensive stance, I believe that the usefulness of feedback decreases and may have a negative affect on performance.

I’ll address the two questions presented in Lesson 3, but I have yet to offer feedback in my online course, so I will ponder various ways that I might offer feedback as I begin instructing tomorrow.

Are there any gaps between your practice of offering feedback to students and what Hattie recommends?

I feel that the majority of the feedback that I will be giving will fall into the process and self-regulation levels. I will try to give this feedback as immediately as possible in order to maximize the effectiveness. I have spoken to students who have taken MEd courses online, and they really feel that feedback and engagement of the instructor in the online community is critical to the success of the course. I plan to give as much formative feedback as possible.

Not much feedback will occur at the task level; however, I will use rubrics to give some task level summative feedback for assignments.

In terms of gaps, I feel that I need to create opportunities to receive and incorporate feedback from the students on a regular basis. The students in this course are primarily working professionals, so I feel that I need to listen and respond to their needs and currently there is no formal mechanism for collecting feedback during the course.

In what ways can you improve the effectiveness of the feedback that you provide for your students?

I feel that it’s important to be specific in my feedback. I also think that it’s important to engage the learner in dialogue through my feedback by asking questions about conclusions that have been reached that may differ from those I expect. I need to dig deep through my feedback to understand the process each student has used to reach their conclusions. I need to be prepared for diversity in responses and be able to recognize the extent of learning through different modes (eg. students have choice in some assignments about the way they respond; they can write, use video, or other visual representations).

I need to avoid gratuitous positive feedback and give specifics related to what has been done well.

A final comment…

Giving feedback is a complex and important activity for a teacher. I appreciated the mention of cultural differences in Hattie’s chapter. I have worked for decades with international students, and I have definitely noticed differences in the types of feedback that students from various cultures expect and learn best from. I think the most important lesson I’ve learned from experience and this was confirmed by the article is that when it comes to feedback, one size doesn’t fit all.

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Constructing Constructive Alignment

To begin this post, I feel that I need to situate myself in the learning of this lesson. First of all, I will be teaching a graduate course in Education on the topic of “Curriculum, Teaching & Learning”.  In addition, I am also the course developer. As a result, my learning in this course is primarily confirms my prior knowledge and experience related to various learning theories. Concepts such as constructive alignment are familiar and with the expert guidance of the Instructional Designer who worked on the course with me, I feel that the tasks and assessments have been developed mindfully to support and evidence the learning outcomes for the course.

Regardless of the care and expertise that went into the development of the course I will begin teaching next week, there is always a purpose in reflecting, so here goes…

What are the intended learning outcomes of the course? Do the learning outcomes reflect high-level cognitive skills or low-level skills (pay attention to the verbs)?

The learning outcomes for the course represent higher order thinking as described in Bloom’s Taxonomy. Attention has been paid to use the type of verbs that represent analysis, synthesis, and application when drafting the learning outcomes. Also, careful attention has been given to creating assessments that will represent the attainment of the learning outcomes while giving students latitude to apply the content to their specific context.

How is student learning assessed in the course (essays, quizzes, journals, machine-gradable tests, portfolios)?

Learning is assessed throughout the course rather than being based on high-stakes assessments (ie. exam, final major essay). This was done deliberately in order to engage students early and throughout the course. By giving students feedback early in the course, they will hopefully feel that they are seen and heard. The lifeworld of each student is the starting point for the first assignment in order to establish the context for the learning journey that will be undertaken during the course.

Learning will be assessed using reflective writing tasks, group writing tasks, a relevant curriculum re/design project, and a theoretical paper that explains & justifies choices made in the curriculum re/design project.

In what ways are the intended learning outcomes and the assessments aligned or not?

All of the intended learning outcomes and assessments are aligned and this is clearly demonstrated through the blueprint of the course which mapped each course-level learning outcome with the tasks and assessments of each unit in the course.

Identify 2-3 items or assessments that are worded in such a way that they limit students to a unistructural or multistructural response at best and re-write them so that they require a relational response at worst and include the results in your post.

Due to the graduate level of the course (EDUC5031) and the content of the course (Curriculum, Teaching & Learning), when I reflect on the assessments, I can confidently say that everything in the course involves some kind of deeper thinking and integration of knowledge with prior experience; however, this wasn’t the case during the development of the course.

Even knowing what I know about learning, I was tempted to write “comprehension” questions for students to complete after a reading. I think I did this as a form of accountability. My Instructional Designer was able to catch these and make suggestions to change these types of activities into more integrative and reflective ones. As a result, throughout the course, students are encouraged to critically grapple with the content through reflection and engagement in dialogue around the ideas presented.

I would be surprised to find a graduate course that is focused on unistructural or multistructual responses. I do realize that while the course is structured to encourage critical thinking, some students may respond to assessments such as reflective postings with lower level responses that merely repeat key ideas from the readings and avoid personal integration or questioning of the material. This is where my job is critical to support the “Roberts” to engage in meaningful learning!

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Effective Teaching: Benefits & Limitations of Models

The notion of Cognitive Presence is critical for the development of critical thinking processes and products; however, as I read and listen to the material, I’ve been reflecting on how much higher education (online or f2f) fails to facilitate the type of environment where it cognitive presence can flourish.

The “lecture” and large class sizes remain the norm for many courses on many campuses, particularly at the undergraduate level. I question how the development of cognitive presence can possibly be a goal in these kinds of environments.

I have been reminded of a few things through lesson 1. The importance of dialogical encounters, as I mentioned in my first post, has been reinforced. This leads me to have a strong commitment to explore as many ways as possible to facilitate and moderate these encounters.

I have also been reminded of the usefulness and limitations of models. The deconstructivist nature of a model for critical thinking is useful as a way to analyze human experience. Models can provide a door into a complex phenomenon and give us a common discourse to work with.

However, I find that models are limited by the use of certain terms (ie. creativity, imagination) that may be culture-dependent. I have conducted research that  unpacks the term “creativity” from a cross-cultural perspective (Densky, 2015). Also, the notion of critical thinking and inquiry-based learning is not a universally-accepted mode for teaching and learning. This doesn’t mean the model is not useful; it simply reminds me that not all learners will be comfortable or familiar with a learning environment that focuses on the development of cognitive presence. Some learners are used to being passive, and these learners will need time and support to “learn how to learn” in this way.

Being new to teaching online, I am looking forward to the challenge of creating opportunities for my students to learn with and from each other. My question at this point is “how can I achieve this?” and “how can I support learners in an online environment who may be reluctant to participate?” Without the cues that are available in a f2f environment, I question my ability to engage all learners. It seems that it would be easy to disengage as a learner, and it is my understanding that online/distance courses have a high attrition/non-completion rate. I also question the constraints of time, both mine and the students. I have always been the type of teacher to make time for students, and I’m curious about how much time an online course will require. I’m not concerned here about the time for marking and assessment, but the time required to effectively create the type of learning environment that will support critical thinking.

As I read through a few other posts, I realize that others share the same concerns and some are able to provide solutions (Faulkner, October 7, 2018) from their experiences. I am also experiencing reluctance towards leaving comments or engaging with the other bloggers. I feel disconnected from the others who are completing these courses, and this confirms my belief in the power of the cohort. The course I will be teaching is a cohort-model, and I realize that I will need to model the frequency and style of interaction that I hope the students will engage in.

Lots of learning at various meta levels!

Karen Densky, January 5, 2018

 

Densky, K. (2015). Conceptualizing Creativity and Culture in Language Teaching. Creativity and Language Teaching: Perspectives from Research and Practice. R. Jones. & J. Richards (Eds). UK: Routledge.

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Effective Online Learning: New Tricks for an Old Dog

I am embarking on a new frontier of personal learning and teaching after 28 years in the classroom and a PhD in Curriculum Theory & Implementation.  I am definitely the “old dog” who is attempting to learn some “new tricks”.

The most important characteristics of effective online learning will be the ability for dialogical encounters.  I believe in learning with and from others, so I feel compelled to use whatever strategies and technologies available to provide students with opportunities for interaction. I also feel that students need dialogical encounters with the material that is presented in a course, and I’m excited about the various ways that an online course can provide opportunities for these encounters.

One significant moment of learning related to teaching & learning in the past year has been the realization that context is key. I have always felt the importance of knowing my students and really understanding what each one needs to get out of a course. Being able to steer students towards meaningful content and provide a bridge between theory and practice (praxis) leads to deeper learning.

At this point, I don’t know what I don’t know. I know that learning to navigate and use the technology to maximize the effectiveness of the teaching & learning will require some time and effort, but hey, it’s never too late to learn a few new tricks!