1. Reflecting on the information covered in this module so far, how might your instructional methodologies need to change in an online or blended learning environment?
2. What skills and strategies might you improve or expand upon in order to best support student learning in a blended or online environment?
Teaching online requires a whole new set of skills in order to be successful. Whereas the basics such as designing assessments and some form of lesson and unit planning pull from some of the skill sets necessary for traditional classroom teaching, it's just the tip of the online iceberg.
PLANNING - You have to have the whole course planned in advance. No more use of incremental teaching and planning. Online environments require you to have every assignment, every detail, every module, resource, etc. planned in advance in order to allow for student success. Whereas in a traditional classroom you may be able to adapt the pace or change your schedule to adapt to where students are in the learning process, with a blended/online class you have to be way ahead of the game. In the blended environment, you can make some of those mid-course corrections, but in the more student driven, online environment, this is not so much the case. Since you will have students working ahead at their own pace, you have to have all assignments and due dates established well in advance, taking into account your ability to get work returned before the next assignment is due so that students can also receive the necessary feedback.
This is a big area for me as I tend to adapt based on the face-to-face interactions with my students. Planning a whole year in advance, before getting to know the personality and academic skills and challenges that my students will be bringing with them to the table, not to mention the ever-changing historical landscape when dealing with economics (one of my courses), committing to a specific plan of action is really difficult for me. Traditional teaching allows for more easy mid-course corrections. For truly serving the needs of my students, having all my teaching ducks in a row all at once, is a daunting task. I like big picture and the minutia needed to truly serve the online needs of students is challenging. Having been through a few courses myself where the planning and grading were not well done, it was extremely frustrating.
INSTRUCTIONAL ITEMS - I tend to be best at coming up with items organically. An inspiration for a lesson or for delving deeper into a topic that seemed to interest the students seems to some about naturally in the course of discussions with the students. This aspect of seeing the enthusiasm (or lack thereof) and using those social cues to then adapt instruction the next day is something that I cherish. With the online requirements, I would need to front load a lot of my instruction and translate it into digestible chunks. I am also a big story teller and that is how I get points across to my students, I would need to find a way to adapt that to the online environment. I know that when I have taken courses online, that I often just head to the assignments and get them done, then go back and if I have time, or an interest, will then go back to the source material. It's one of the drawbacks, I see to the online teaching model -- that loss of interacting with the students/instructors on a more personal basis. Nothing replaces that interaction, and I know that many of the students in my face-to-face classes relish that interaction and connection, especially at my level since I teach mostly high school seniors.
GRADING - You have to make the rubrics and criteria available day one and this is an area that I have always struggled with. I do really well at creating real-world, relevant assignments, but getting the rubrics on paper so that students know exactly what I am looking for has always been a challenge. Telling someone what it's not, is always easier than articulating exactly what to look for. This part is imperative for successful online teaching and an area that I really need to work on.
TIME - With the availability of content and assignments 24-7 in the online world, pacing and time for grading and responding daily to emails for questions and student concerns is imperative. This aspect is something that I also struggle with. In my traditional classes I set aside one night a week for grading work from students for summative assessments. Formative assessments and checks for understanding are done on an as needed basis, but for the longer assignments and make up work, I have a standing rule to update on Thursday nites. If you don't have your work in by 4pm on Thursday, it may or may not make it into the gradebook until next Thursday. Somedays I may have some extra time to review items, but Thursdays are set aside for cathing everyone up.
In the 24-7 world of online learning, I would need to be able to set some commitments with regards to time and place so that I would be able to honor the needs of my students. Unlike traditional, online students often will need immediate feedback before being able to respond so if I miss a day from checking emails, etc. I could cause a cascade problem for a student who maybe had only that evening set aside to be able to complete the work. If I miss checking in, they may miss the chance to complete the assignment well. That puts a lot of pressure on the instructor. Then, how do you hold someone accountable if you are the reason they could not complete their work?
INSTRUCTIONAL MODALITIES - (1) more unit/long term planning including providing detailed rubrics and expectations, including due dates; (2) adapting my storytelling to the online world -- something that I really miss with my independent study students; (3) figuring how to somehow get the ideas of the simulations that we do to show specific key concepts translated to the online environment; and (4) organizing materials in an easy way for students to find the information. Moodle is limiting in this area, and still working on how to get it to be a bit easier for students to follow what they need to do.
WHAT I NEED - (1) that long/range planning practice -- just hate to commit to items before knowing the students. I have to learn to accept that much of online learning lacks that personal touch and personality that is unique to the face-to-face experience. Not sure that I like the stripping of that aspect of learning/teaching and worry that too many students will start to equate this "just the facts" just tell me what I need to get a grade mentality that can develop with what learning is all about. If this also becomes the norm, then the teaching profession itself may become nothing more than automated classes with no face-to-face and that would be a shame. Watching a teacher on video is not the same as being there in person. One of the downfalls of the online push.
(2) grading and rubrics. I need to work on getting the assignments thought out and planned in advance so students know exactly what to expect and being willing to slog through the online grading process. Grading online takes so much longer than traditional grading - count the clicks it takes vs. just reading and moving to the next paper- it's a commitment and does require more work on teacher side; (3) willingness to be on 24-7 for my students. This boundary is something that I will need to work on. As a student, I know that I would get frustrated if my questions were not answered immediately when I was struggling with something online. I believe setting expectations and online office hours is something that may be needed so that students understand that there have to be some limits. Right now, it's usually assumed that if you are taking an online course, that you have more access to the instructors online but thinking about it from the teacher's perspective, you still should have some boundaries. That may be the next pushback in online work, although that also some what negates the 24-7 aspect.
I love the opportunities for blended and online learning, however there are some aspects of the traditonal classroom that I hate to see lost in the translation. Nothing will ever replace a teacher interacting with students in the classroom, sharing ideas and discourse, learning from each other in the process. The side conversations and connections made really are priceless and need to be remembered and cherished. Whereas the online and blended models can help students just get through the material, that is not truly what education is all about and I hope that people take some time to remember that just because we can be more "efficient" by moving to online and blended models with regards to what some aspects of the process, we need to remember that education is more than just getting an "a" or covering the curriculum. That other aspect of the process is one that needs to be factored into the equation as well.
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