Week 3 - Way to be!

 

1.    Reflect on the topics discussed by the guest speaker. What was most interesting to you and why? Be sure to provide links to additional resources and sources of information about the topic.

While many of the things that Dr. Monaghan spoke of were interesting, I think that the most personally interesting topic was when he spoke about the meta-analysis done by the US Department of Education concerning which of the following three provides the best education: face to face instruction, online learning, or the hybrid classroom. Dr. Monaghan said that the very short summary was that online learning and face-to-face instruction were found to be comparable, while the hybrid classroom seemingly had the best results as it was able to combine the best elements of both teaching styles.

Looking at the meta-analysis itself, I found that while they completed (as expected for a meta-analysis) an exhaustive search of the available literature, very FEW experimental or quasi-experimental research studies had actually been completed and of those ninety-nine that were used, only nine involved K-12 learners. (At least the Beatles would be happy…)

I found this to be intriguing because we are, at my site, encouraged on a monthly basis to consider in what fashion we might be able to bring technology into our classroom. I’ve seen teachers using (or attempting to use) Edmodo, Schoology, or Class Dojo. I’ve seen students creating videos for French, Social Science or Mathematics. I’ve seen teachers attempt flipped classrooms (attempted it myself, even) and work to have students construct and maintain their own blogs in English and Digital photography. And school wide, we’ve worked (or been asked to work) toward students maintaining constant, needful use of their gaggle accounts so that we may have better access to them, via email, and so that they might learn to use a common interface and gain from that experience over time.

And while it is lovely that we are being encouraged, and that we are trying new things, I always wonder, should we be using common tools in a more designed and particular manner? Would that be better, in that students affective filters will be lowered as they have comfort with the tools, or would it be worse, as students consumption and abandonment of interesting technology tools is legendary. (When was the last time I saw a student play Temple Run or Flappy Birds? These games both had their heyday, but have since all but disappeared…) And, it seems, that the answer is yet to be determined for K-12, at the very least, because I’m just not convinced by the evidence found in nine K-12 studies.

What do you all think? What experience do you have at your school sites? I’d love to hear from you!

2.    What is a "standard' or "typical" online course at CSUSB according to the guest speaker?

According to Dr. Monaghan, a standard or typical online course at CSUSB is delivered through a course management system (either Blackboard or Moodle). This course is typically constructed following a modular model, usually consisting of 10 modules as that follows the 10-week quarter system of CSUSB.

Each of these modules has several components to help deliver the content; these components most typically consist of a powerpoint with audio or perhaps a video which tends to be around 5 minutes or less. In addition to these inputs, students are generally expected to conduct some sort of independent research (See above in regards to finding more information on flipped classrooms, webinars, etc. and their use in the K-12 educational setting) and then some sort of structured discussion with peers (visited any blogs lately? ;-D).

Finally, most courses employ multiple assessment methods to both guard for academic integrity and give feedback to students. (Discussion boards again here, solo or group projects, low stakes quizzes and very occasionally, high stakes tests.)

3.    What tools does CSUSB provide to support online learning?

CSUSB’s office of distributed learning will assign an instructional designer to instructors working to build their online course. This instructional designer works with the, usually, new instructor to a) help them understand that they cannot just film their lectures and put their tests online and then call it good and b) help instructors identify what their goals and objectives are, how they work these in a traditional face-to-face course, look at available materials and then help them make their course the best it can be. (ADDIE anyone?)

Additionally, at their Academic Technologies & Innovation site, they maintain blackboard support, online tutorials, designer tips, how-to’s and general resources to both faculty and staff to help them in all things eLearning.

4.    Describe the Talkshoe experience and discuss how it can be used to support online learning.

The Talkshoe experience has been nice whenever I have worked with it. While I’ve never made it to a live call, tracking down the podcasts that I have needed has never been difficult (thanks Dr. Newberry!) and, likely due to Dr. Newberry’s organization, I’ve even been able to explore his previous talkshoe recordings when fancy strikes.

Talkshoe is nice in that it allows students that are spread far and wide to come together in a synchronous (if their schedule allows for it) setting and be able to speak with their professor, classmates, and as setup, guest speakers from the location where they usually complete their asynchronous work. This even extends to those users driving or away from their typical class interface as they can call in from anywhere so long as they have a phone, and can log in from anywhere so long as they have access to a computer/tablet with the Internet.

Like discussion boards, it still allows for multiple users to interface as questions can be either typed or called in directly to the professor/speaker/moderator.

I particularly like the recorded, saved and posted aspect, because I can take it with me anywhere and listen to it AND I can listen to it as often as I have need to make sure that I understand.

My only question is, what support is there for auditory learners? I had a discussion with a colleague about how much I’ve been enjoying these online courses and she shared that she hates online courses. She said that she’s an auditory learner and that she likes to be able to get answers to her questions on the spot. I am a visual learner, so it’s no surprise to me that I’ve liked being able to see everything so much. How do you all feel?

Till we meet again!

Michelle