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Category: CAT & Mouse: E-Learning

Published on Leave a comment on Tips for Mouth-watering eLearning

by Janice Florent

In a recent 360training.com blog post Shazia Wajid writes,

Have you cooked up a delectable feast of content for your elearning course? It’s time to take a taste and analyze it. How is the pace of your course? Is it “well-spiced” with things that engage and delight—but not overloaded with elements fighting for attention? Does it leave your learners feeling satisfied after they consume it?

There are many ways to improve your eLearning content. Take a step back and consider Shazia’s five tips to fine-tune your eLearning content before serving it up to learners.

Visual appeal: Images can play an important role in learning, either as a garnish to set the mood or as the primary element served up on a given page. An image can break up the monotony of “text only” pages.
Bite-size: Split content in small pieces or “chunks.” When content is divided into small chunks (also referred to as microlectures), learners find it easier to understand.
Flavor and nourishment: Keep learners focused by asking questions, either rhetorical or integrated into activities. Involve learners with compelling stories. Grab their attention by using real-life examples and use expressive words with which the learner can relate.
Is there a fly in the soup? While writing and reviewing content, always double-check for spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes.
Is everything else as it should be? Copy and paste is convenient but it can be the source of unexpected formatting errors. Always preview your content after you copy and paste. If you’ve copied content from another course that has links to external websites, verify those external links are still working.

If you take these tips into consideration when designing your eLearning course, you will be well on your way towards developing a course learners will find tempting and mouth-watering!

For more information on Shazia’s tips read her “Top 5 Tips for Mouth-watering eLearning” blog post.

Published on Leave a comment on Building or Updating Your (Online) Course? Here’s a Resource!

by Karen Nichols

Summer is a great time to build a course for the upcoming school year or to make updates to an already existing one. As you're choosing to add new content or perhaps provide some links to Open Educational Resources, check out the educational resource site for the Illinois Online Network (ION).  The site is easy to use and is chock full of a variety of information.  Click on the Online Teaching Activity Index to find dozens of mini-lessons on such topics as brainstorming and scavenger hunts.

Picture1

The Pointers and Clickers, Podcasts and Case Studies tabs are restricted to ION members only.  However, there is a section of posted blogs on current education topics. Perhaps most useful is the section on Articles and Tutorials.  This area is further subdivided into such categories as Assessment/Evaluation, Instructional Design and Intellectual Property.  The latter is a great resource if you're not sure whether or not you can use a photo or video clip that you'd like to include in a lesson.  It also outlines your rights to your course content should others wish to use it.  So check out the ION site and give us some feedback on what you've found.  Please also share any other resources you have found useful when creating your course content.  Wishing everyone a happy and productive summer!

Published on Leave a comment on Google Cultural Institute

by Karen Nichols

In a past blog, Enhance your (online) classes with virtual tours, I provided an overview of ways to take your students on virtual tours along with some sample sites.  Well, in order to help you find just what you're looking for, Google offers the Cultural Institute and the site has already been curated for you--Art Projects, Historic Moments, World Wonders.  You can also search for works by artist, artwork, collections and gallery.  Or just do a general search on a topic to see what you can find!  At present, the home page is chock full of Asian art exhibits of various media and from a variety of countries and regions.  A personal favorite from China is on Traditional Dress from the North.  But there is also an exhibit from Ford's Theater in D.C. and one on The History of the Italian Resistance in WWII.

But what is particularly useful, is that you can create your own gallery and then send your students to it.  You can tailor which parts of various museums they see as well as annotate the pieces.  For example, the user Obraza has put together a collection of Greek sculpture from several different museums and provided information on each work.  This collection has been made public for others to use as well.  So, when searching for certain topics, you'll find not only collections from the museums themselves, but from individuals as well.

In order to assist galleries, museums and archives to put their content online, Google also has created Google Open Gallery.  Here is a video showing how a comic strip gallery in Belgium used the tool:

I find this resource quite exciting and am already searching for exhibits for my French students this summer.  Please share with us ways you are using Google Cultural Institute.

Published on Leave a comment on Online Group Work

by Janice Florent

Most students have mixed feelings about group work and usually moan and groan when they find out they are required to work on a group assignment. This is also true for students taking online classes. Group work is more challenging for online students because they may have to work with peers in different time zones, use different technologies for online collaboration, and communicate in ways that can make it difficult to understand someone’s personality or tone.

Many students cite lack of cooperation, work equity and dependency on others as major factors in disliking group work. Ironically, this is precisely why group work is essential for learning.

Online Group Projects — Yikes! You can hear the moans and groans of students echoing through your computer monitors as you start the first week of your online course. The reasons for requiring a group project vary from one discipline to another, but there are educational and career motives for requiring group projects.

Steven Johnson’s "Where good ideas come from" video gives an excellent explanation as to why group work is important.

Successful online group collaborative assignments can be a challenge in an online course. In a recent Faculty Focus article, Gregory Wells, instructional designer at Colorado State University, provided a few suggestions for improving online group work assignments. Those suggestions are:

Define the Project - the project should be integrated into the course objectives and not be viewed as an extra assignment or busy work.
Establish Milestones - the project should include specific milestones during the course.
Use the Learning Management System (Blackboard) - offer private group discussion areas, chat areas, and other collaboration tools that will encourage both communication and participation.
Simplify and Clarify Grading - it is imperative that you establish clear grading expectations for the group project.
Provide Encouragement - it is important to encourage and communicate the specific details of the project. Instructors can not assume students have the knowledge, competencies and skills necessary to engage in group work. They must prepare students for the obstacles they may face.

Following Gregory’s suggestions will not eliminate all of the potential issues that come into play with online group work, but these suggestions will certainly minimize the issues and can turn those moans and groans into excited and energized students that understand the importance of group work.

For more information on Gregory’s suggestions, read his article, “Five Steps to Improving Online Group Work Assignments.”

Additionally, you may find helpful information in these online group work resources:

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Published on 1 Comment on Synchronous vs Asynchronous eLearning
Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Classes

One decision to be made when developing an online course is the method of delivery. The method of delivery can be synchronous or asynchronous. Synchronous learning takes place in a real-time environment, while asynchronous learning takes place at the convenience of the learner.

In a recent Architela blog post, the author wrote,

It seems like a logical progression to turn traditional classroom learning into online learning by simply replicating the experience through the use of an online classroom. However reliance on synchronous delivery has advantages but also many limitations and disadvantages.

The author went on to list advantages and disadvantages of both synchronous and asynchronous course delivery and concluded with,

Choosing which mode of delivery to use should be based on the most efficacious activities for promoting learning, which in turn depend on the learning goals and objectives.

Ideally, online courses should include both synchronous and asynchronous learning activities. This allows students to benefit from the different delivery formats regardless of their schedules or preferred learning methods. This approach provides students with access to immediate help if needed, while still giving them the ability to learn at their own pace.

You can read more in the Synchronous versus Asynchronous Learning blog post at architela.com.

Additionally, if you are interested in offering virtual classes and/or virtual office hours, consider attending these upcoming Blackboard Collaborate workshops:

Blackboard Collaborate: Web Conferencing Basics
Tuesday, May 26, 1:00 - 2:30 pm
Blackboard Collaborate: Beyond the Basics
Friday, May 29, 10:00 - 11:30 am

Click on the links for more information about the workshops (including where to RSVP).

Published on Leave a comment on Questions from First-Time Online Instructors

by Janice Florent

the words who, when, where, how, why, and what as signs on a fence

Dr. Robin M. Smith, Director of eLearning at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, is typically asked the same questions each time a new instructor begins teaching online. Some of the questions first-time online instructors ask Dr. Smith are:

  • How do I know it’s the learner doing the work?
  • How do I know it’s the learner taking the test?
  • How do I know they aren’t looking at their books during the test?
  • How do I balance effort and points?
  • How do I see the lightbulb turning on or the blank stare?
  • How can I teach online and still have a balanced life?

Dr. Smith’s book, “Conquering the Content: A Blueprint for Online Course Design and Development, Second Edition” is a practical guide to creating online courses. In it she answers these questions.

The publisher’s description of the book states,

Time is of the essence in getting a course online, but it's important that pedagogy not get lost in the crush of new content. Course design is just as critical as course content when it comes to distance learning outcomes, and Conquering the Content provides a holistic and practical approach to effective online course development.

If you are new to teaching online you may find this book a great resource to help you with your online course. Even if you have taught online before you may find some useful information in this book.

We have this book in our CAT library. Contact Ms. Carla Simmons, if you are interested in borrowing this book or any other book in the CAT library.

If my blog post has piqued your interest and you want to know how Dr. Smith answers these questions, read an excerpt from Conquering the Content to find out.

Image Credit: questions by geralt from Pixabay

updated: 5/2/2019

Published on Leave a comment on Sharing from OLC’s Emerging Technologies Conference

by Karen Nichols

Actually, the above chart is an indirect find while researching, on my own, an item that came up during a few of the conference presentations I've attended virtually from the Online Learning Consortium's Emerging Technologies Conference. I hadn't thought about Personal Learning Networks (PLN's) as such but am now realizing just how much our learning landscape (Personal Learning Environment) has changed due to technology and social media. We're now learning from myriad sources that didn't exist when I was a child.

Just think of all of the interactions users of social media have with each other on a daily basis and all of the information that is shared.  Of course we can classify what we've "learned" into several different categories.  I place what my Facebook friend Marie had for lunch (fried shrimp, complete with photo) on a very low level, but found it very interesting and useful to learn what my Facebook friend who is a horticulturalist had to say about gerber daisies. (They release their oxygen at night unlike most plants so having gerber daisies in your bedroom may help you sleep better.)

In conjunction with creating your own PLN which will probably include various social networks, here are a few key points from conference sessions attended that I would like to share with you.

Bonnie Stewart (University of Prince Edward Island, CA) explained and explored the concept of many-to-many communication.  To visually illustrate the impact of using social media like Twitter to share information, she first asked us to think of our favorite color.  She then had each of us speaking to different people and those people would pass on what we shared.  While doing this, she asked us to imagine our flow of conversation as our favorite color and then to imagine all of the flows of conversation using everyone's favorite color.  She contrasted this form of learning with the old "sage on the stage" model still being used by some professors in academe.

Heutagogy or self-determined learning was the topic presented by Vickie Cook (University of Illinois Springfield, USA).  She discussed the increase in student use of mobile devices for learning and how we as educators can adapt.  In fact, here is a test sponsored by Google to determine if your website is responsive or mobile-friendly.

Much work has been done using Bloom's Digital Taxonomy.  Keeping this in mind, Ghania Zgheib (George Mason University, USA) shared with us several social media learning activities as well as the results of the student feedback.  She made extensive use of Facebook and Twitter and actually encouraged students to interact with people outside of their class.  A few audience members expressed concern about using such open social media and said they preferred more closed opportunities for sharing such as discussion boards.

So now I'm more aware of the Personal Learning Environment and the Personal Learning Network I've created for myself.  I'm paying more attention to the original source of a piece of information and the people who passed it on and on until it arrived on my desktop.  Since I'll be teaching online French again this summer, I'm thinking about my students' PLN's and hoping the social media activities I'm planning for their learning will be well-received.  I'm not quite sure if they are aware of the power they have over their own learning.  I believe we should each assess our PLN and see if there's room for improvement!

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Published on 5 Comments on Humanize Your Online Courses

by Janice Florent

student sitting and typing on laptop computer that is in her lap

Many online courses still rely heavily on text-based information and lack the rich visual context and warm human interactions that the social web offers.

In a Faculty Focus article, Rob Kelly states,

Taking an online course can be an isolating experience, but it doesn’t have to be. There are several key techniques you can employ to humanize your online courses and thus improve the learning experience as well as success and retention rates.

Rob suggests the following as ways to humanize your online courses:

  • Create an inviting space
  • Include your personality
  • Personalize the discussion forum
  • Provide ways for students to make the course their own

You can read more in his “Tips for Humanizing Your Online Course” article. Also, checkout this excellent infographic on How to Humanize Your Online Class.

Image credit: image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

Published on Leave a comment on Moving from In-Person to Online Teaching

by Janice Florent

Are you thinking about moving a face-to-face course to online? A recent Faculty Focus article suggests five steps to quickly transition your in-person curriculum into a creative and successful online course. Those steps are:

Start by Chunking: Simplify your content by breaking it up into smaller, more manageable pieces.
Decide on Overall Structure: Course design is a critical element to any course. A consistent and clear structure allows students to successfully engage with the material and meet expectations.
Select your tools: Face-to-face content can easily transition to the online classroom if you select the right tools.
Trades and Edits: Another colleague may have developed content that they are willing to share with you. Additionally, have another pair of eyes look at your online course. Feedback about your online course can prove to be invaluable.
Stay Current and Journal: Keep a journal as the class progresses. Journaling can help you to see where changes need to be made. For example, if there are a lot of student questions on the same topic or assignment, your directions probably need to be expanded or redefined.

An online course with clear structure and considered content will go a long way to support your students.

You can read more on these suggestions for moving your courses from face-to-face to online in the article, “Taking the Leap: Moving from In-Person to Online Courses.”

Published on Leave a comment on Grade Contracts With Your Students

by Karen Nichols

Have you tried grade contracts? There was a discussion about them in our POD (Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education) listserv. They've been around for several years now, but I've never tried to use them. I can certainly see pros and cons to having a grade contract, and I'm sure the subject being taught will influence how the contract is set up.

Contract clipart

After reading the recommended articles (links posted at the end), it seems the grade contracts take the essential elements of the syllabus and change the general requirements to more personal goals. So perhaps a grade contract would be an effective way to make sure the students have read and understood these course requirements.

The tricky part of a grade contract is that you are spelling out for the students what they must do in order to earn a "B" (or an "A" or a passing grade) in your course. It seems that a grade contract reinforces the emphasis so many of our students place on the grade earned rather than the material learned and I am not sure I can agree with that.

Having a set of straightforward tasks that must be completed at a certain level of competence in order to earn a specific grade also seems it will remove a great deal of subjectivity from the whole process. To some, I'm sure they would see this more objective measure as a positive, but in my French classes, I often reward effort or take into account other intangible elements so I'm not sure the grade contract would serve the students as well as no contract does.

Even though it seems I'm against the contracts, I'm really curious after reading how students' grades improved with them.  I may try them in my online French class this summer.  Check out these recommended resources and see if a grade contract may help you and your students, and let us know if you decide to try it!

Sources from the POD listserv
From Psychology:
http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/12/22/2158244011434103

From Comp/Rhet: http://works.bepress.com/peter_elbow/39/

In general:
http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/using-grading-contracts/25916