Creating Online Collaborative Student Learning Networks in Graduate and Undergraduate Education: Lessons Learned from the Trenches - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Creating Online Collaborative Student Learning Networks in Graduate and Undergraduate Education: Lessons Learned from the Trenches

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... teaching of an Issues and Problems in Health Care that literally caught fire. ... This can generate upward of a couple hundred to 450 postings per week ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Creating Online Collaborative Student Learning Networks in Graduate and Undergraduate Education: Lessons Learned from the Trenches


1
Creating Online Collaborative Student Learning
Networks in Graduate and Undergraduate Education
Lessons Learned from the Trenches
  • By Richard G. Fuller, Assistant Professor
  • Drexel University

2
Driving Questions
  • How do we foster student-to-student interactions
    through the facilitating of an online
    collaborative learning network?
  • How involved should an instructor get in the
    program?

3
Driving Questions
  • When is too much instructor input harmful to the
    free flow student-to-student dialogue?
  • What is the appropriate number of students that
    innately promote student dialogue in a weekly
    discussion board?
  • What has research shown us?

4
This research was precipitated from the online
teaching of an Issues and Problems in Health Care
that literally caught fire.
  • The students were engaged, they bonded,
    interacted and where highly productive
  • They had fun and enjoyed learning.
  • They still talk about that class.

5
The format of the class was
  • innately a discussion class.
  • We presented core material and looked at many
    sides of an issue through an activity format.
  • Students would then be assigned a weekly
    discussion board.

6
  • What I found was that students took off with the
    discussion and posted some interesting and
    thought provoking ideas with little prompting
    from me the instructor?
  • I served as facilitator

7
Need to understand why this class transcended
into a Collaborative learning network and why
others dont.
8
Online Collaborative Network
  • serves as a learning and teaching tool
  • examine critical incidents that happen as
    learning opportunities allow us to share
  • brings real world situations into the online
    classroom for to analyze and synthesize.
  • It draws upon students own critical experience
  • technique in the traditional physical classroom

9
Transactional distance (Moore 1993, 1980, 1973)
  • is the psychological and communications space
    between learners and instructors.
  • is relative and different for each person.
  • extent of transactional distance is a function of
    structure and dialogue.
  • Structure is the amount of control exercised by
    the instructor in a learning environment

10
Transactional distance (Moore 1993, 1980, 1973)
  • Additional structure tends to increase
    psychological distance and decrease sense of
    community.
  • Conversely, dialogue deals with learner controls.
  • The more dialogue that is fostered, the greater
    the sense of community is felt.

11
Transactional distance (Moore 1993, 1980, 1973)
  • To facilitate this dialogue, students should be
    encouraged to participate through course
    requirements
  • should take quantity, quality, and timeliness of
    their contributions into consideration.

12
As faculty roles change in online graduate and
undergraduate programs, we need to understand
  • the best online environment practices
  • changing dynamics of teaching online
  • as there are different face-to-face classes that
    require different techniques the same holds true
    for the online programs

13
Our goal becomes as faculty to foster and
facilitate the online collaborative learning
network
14
We know from the literature that Interaction is
vitally important Moore (1996)
  • Instructor to student
  • Student to material and
  • Student to student

15
We know that people come with life experiences
(Knowles, 1999, 1990)
  • Example the CEO taking course online can
    intimidate the instructor and other participants
    with their experience.
  • But it is the instructors job to harness this
    experience and create this online collaborative
    network through facilitation.

16
Beaubien (2002) describes the personal factors
that contribute to quality facilitation.
  • persona
  • Presence
  • Perturb the system
  • Positive feedback
  • playfulness

17
persona
  • A faculty member needs to let his values,
    beliefs, and preferences show through in his/her
    postings.
  • Students need to see that the instructor has a
    real life and that he is revealing his real
    character.
  • Accomplished through sharing of relevant
    experiences

18
presences
  • Students need to feel that the instructor is
    online regularly and participating fully in the
    dialogue.
  • The instructor does not need to be intrusive to
    the online dialogue but his presence needs to be
    known and that he is there.

19
presences
  • Short postings are good for the most part
  • Teachable moment should be capitalized upon to
    provide sufficient information and clarification.

20
presences
  • the instructor can pose questions that will
    stimulate or lead the discussion in a direction.
  • Modeling a high level of presence sets a positive
    norm for the class and encourages students to do
    the same.

21
Presence
  • too much to bad, too little too bad
  • Instructor restrain is key
  • Moore (2001) supports this instructor-limited
    intervention through establishing the culture of
    independent learning and peer participation

22
perturb the system
  • Maintain a high volume of student work
  • Requiring constant effort
  • introducing diverse and contradictory readings to
    challenge paradigms
  • Asking challenging questions that require complex
    analysis and synthesis to answer

23
Positive feedback
  • tends to bring out the best in people and
    motivate them to invest discretionary effort
    (Braksick, 2000 Daniels, 2000).
  • Positive feedback can energize the system and
    increase interaction frequency.
  • Conveying interest in the students work provides
    a reinforcing environment for students.

24
Positive feedback
  • Simple responses like good job or great ideas
    or thanks for sharing your insightful thoughts
    with the group can have significant impact on
    participation levels.

25
Playfulness
  • is a great energizer.
  • Having fun is a self-reinforcing activity that
    tends to increase levels of participation.
  • The brain is never learning more than when it is
    having fun (McCorkel, 2002).

26
Playfulness
  • It strengthens relationships and helps people to
    develop a sense of belonging and safety, which
    are part of Glasers five compelling whys (1998).
  • It lowers stress and fosters creativity as well
    as increasing energy levels. It strengthens
    identity and increases team cohesiveness.

27
Three Stage Phenomenon in Community Building
Brown (2001)
  • The first stage was making friends online
  • the second was community conferment or acceptance
  • threaded discussion on a topic which participants
    felt both personal satisfaction and kinship.

28
Three Stage Phenomenon in Community Building
Brown (2001)
  • The third stage camaraderie
  • Sense of community is an important issue student
    satisfaction, retention and learning.
  • faculty role centered around not only the
    facilitation and modeling, encouragement, and
    participation

29
Brandon and Hollingshead (1999) advise
computer-supported collaborative learning
instructors to use facilitating techniques such
as weaving to steer discussions and go around
the circle to ensure maximum participation.
30
Vrasidas and McIsaac (1999)
  • found that structure can effect interaction.
  • activities can be structured to increase
    interaction with instructor, other students and
    content.

31
  • Increased interaction can occur with Instructor
    designated interactions
  • discussing a paper outline with an instructor
  • collaborating activities with peers
  • participating in required online discussions

32
Vrasidas and McIsaac also found
  • Increased workloads contributed to decreased
    interaction.
  • Small class size inhibited the amounts and
    caliber of discussion postings
  • Students reported less satisfaction in the
    experience.

33
  • The actual number to reach optimal size is not
    clear in the literature and requires more study.
    Another factor was the level of feedback from
    instructor and peers. Both were considered
    paramount for influencing the level of
    interaction.

34
Research Methods
  • This is based upon case study, action research
    method
  • Sample was taken from courses in the online EMS
    health education and management program through
    Drexel University.

35
Findings
  • There are different types of graduate and
    undergraduate courses that are offered
  • rote memorization courses such as anatomy
    courses,
  • skills based courses such as Research or
    Accounting and
  • discussion based courses such as Issues classes
    or Management
  • and courses that represent a combination of types.

36
We required everyone in all courses to post one
main idea to each weeks discussion board
  • They then need to post at least one other posting
    to everyone elses posted idea and respond to the
    comments of each other.
  • This can generate upward of a couple hundred to
    450 postings per week
  • Allows a deeper exploration of ideas

37
Rote Memorization Courses
  • Generally we found they dont innately lend
    themselves to great online discussions.
  • Required more instructor interaction in a
    discussion board
  • More definitive questions
  • Interactive emailed assignments
  • more instructor presence for Q A.

38
Skills Based Courses
  • Example Research
  • Required more instructor facilitation and
    presence to promote dialogue
  • Care needed to be taken not to become
    authoritative but facilitative
  • Dont respond to every posting but generally to
    the concepts

39
Skills Based Courses
  • We found that authoritative postings shut down
    dialogue or they parroted instructor
  • Instructor role is to generate thinking
  • Needs to post ideas like if we did this what
    would happen or how could we do this if?
  • Great idea. Does anyone have any other
    directions?

40
Skills Based Courses
  • Students need to flesh out ideas and application
    of concepts.
  • We found that Intervening privately through email
    or phone with students who need extra care works
    best.

41
Discussion Based Courses
  • Requires the least intervention of all the
    courses
  • These are courses where core info is presented
    but there is not necessarily a right or wrong
    view.
  • Issues in Health Care
  • Ex compare the value of the Canadian versus the
    USA health systems
  • Many opinions key is to flesh out all angles.

42
Discussion Based Courses
  • Key was not to intervene too much
  • Needed to establish the culture of independent
    collaborative learning
  • Didnt respond to the majority of postings
  • Read them all
  • Responded to key ideas and elements
  • Through additional questions guide the learning
    process.

43
Discussion Based Courses
  • Example If the discussion is getting one sided
    or negative the instructor can through a posted
    thought direct the dialogue to view all sides.

44
  • That is true but what would so and so say
    regarding this and why?
  • One technique is to create an online Debate where
    students dont get to pick but defend an assigned
    point of view
  • This forces them to see all sides.

45
Students generally reported greater satisfaction
when they felt the instructor present in the
classes and part of the learning.
  • As before not only through discussion boards but
    also through personal and group emails and
    private phone conferencing as needed.

46
Class Size
  • What is too big?
  • Classes of thirty or more stretch the limits of
    what an instructor can monitor (depending upon
    their other course load)
  • Generally 20/- is good to generate this
    asynchronous learning network where students
    learn from not only the instructor and material
    but from each other as well.

47
Class Size
  • In smaller classes of say 5 and less we needed to
    take special care.
  • Instructor presence and intervention takes on a
    greater role.
  • Students can not interact as readily with each
    other as the volume is not there.
  • The instructor needs to take on a greater role in
    the dialogue posting more of his thoughts and
    ideas and experiences to add to the discussion.

48
  • Instructor needs to also be more available for
    email or phone consultation.
  • Students feel the instructor presence when emails
    are responded to quickly.
  • Faster the better
  • If going to be off line for any great time I told
    them in an email or announcement.

49
Each of these courses is facilitated in
different ways.
  • The successful online faculty needs to understand
    the differing dynamics of the courses they teach
    and facilitate.
  • For learning to occur in an asynchronous online
    course it is essential that a collaborative
    learning network be developed.

50
Future Directions
  • Should focus on expanding these to identify other
    course structures and best practices.

51
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