References:
Grant, M. R., & Thornton, H. R. (2007). Best practices in undergraduate adultcentered online learning: mechanisms for course design and delivery. Journal of online Learning and Teaching, 3(4), 346-356.
Fish, W. W., & Wickersham, L. E. (2009). Best practices for online instructors: Reminders. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 10(3), 279.
Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G. (2011). Distance education: A systems view of online learning. Cengage Learning.
https://youtu.be/syETssn3RBY
Erica,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your video blog post. It has been a pleasure working with you during this course. All of your hard work is greatly appreciated. It seems like a long journey to this last week, but here we are at the end.
The information you gathered from your references was useful in comparing to our actual online experience. I now Dr. Dunn has discussed the revamping of some of the classes within the educational technology program. This is good to hear, and shows Liberty is striving to focus on many of the points you found in your references. I feel Liberty does a good job with providing opportunities for collaboration, peer reviews, and evaluation.
I agree with your statement about online education being difficult. Motivation is a big key, if you don't utilize your time wisely, and plan accordingly, it is very difficult to complete the work as necessary. This is the end of a year long process for me, and there were some times which I had to really struggle through to find time to accomplish the necessary assignments. Thank you again for the information you provided, and good luck with any future classes you may be taking!
Jason
Thank you Jason! I enjoyed working with you in our group. Most of you all had more teaching experience than me, so it was great to learn things from you all! I even learned how to create a Google Classroom from our project of teaching others how to do it! I hope that you have continued success with your educational journey! Thanks again!
DeleteErica you said it all, Online education can be frustrating if one do not know little little things like navigation tool, how to reply and initiate discussion.
ReplyDeleteA sound communication procedure has to be put in place by instructor for example videoconferencing, audio conferencing, instant messaging etc to reach out to his student to answer some questions their might have. Is through sound communication that will reduce the student's proximity anxiety most specially among K-12 education settings.
Samuel,
DeleteIt is so frustrating to have a question and you cannot get in touch with the instructor. I believe that we had great communication with each other and with Dr. Dunn! I enjoyed working with you in our group! I wish you much continued success in your educational journey!
Course design is so important in an online course. It is important that students know what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. If they don't know this, it is frustrating. Not being able to interact readily with your peers and your instructor can make online learning much more complicated, which I agree can make online learning more difficult.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Lee Ann
Thank you for sharing Erica. The articles that I reviewed supported the same concepts that you mentioned in your video. This is nice to see that 'best practices' are rooted in the same concepts and it is not a collage of theories that leave a developer guessing and continually re-evaluating (these being: quality in course design, a high level of instructor presence, and challenging interactivity regarding content that hopefully is culturally relevant to all students).
ReplyDeleteOne thing that is so important is the evaluation system. There are many forms of evaluation from exceedingly generic to overwhelmingly finite. I would like to see what the research shows regarding recommendations for the best evaluation systems for students when addressing on-line education. The institution that I work for has a generalized evaluation for courses but it has not been adapted to on-line classes. I had to create a modified version to obtain beneficial information from my students.
You mention the level of work and commitment that on-line courses require, and I would agree that many people feel, and therefore take, online classes because they are "easier", when in reality (and research supported) they take substantially more time and work then a face-to-face counterpart.
Thanks again for your post and good luck in all your future endeavors.
Thank you Mark. I did not realize until this class that the type of assessments you use make a difference in your course planning. I was so used to yes or no questionnaires, I thought they were all the same! Our readings every week taught me a lot. I cannot leave out the group work! The team really motivated me to learn! It was a pleasure working with you and good luck on your educational journey!
DeleteHello! I enjoyed watching your last post of the course. Like you mentioned finding in your articles, course design is very important to a online class being successful from both the students' and the instructors' standpoint. Courses need to be designed with discussion opportunities from both parties. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Erica,
ReplyDeleteEvaluation is by far the most important part of distance education, in my opinion. Students are going to encounter content in a different and personal way, which means they need ways to show their understanding which is relevant and current to their growing need. This means that the course design has to consider how they are going to evaluate that students deeper understanding of the course objectives. I believe collaborative learning groups, allowing the student freedom to choose the topic they research or evaluate, and then creating a rubric that has clear expectations is idea in the distant education classroom.
Great take aways, you captured the most important and relevant points in distance education
Thank you Sharee! And thank you for your hard work during these eight weeks in our group! I learned a lot from you all and you all motivated me to learn and be better! Continued success is wished to you in your education journey!
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