Online Roles of Faculty and Students: Changing the Way We Teach

1. Online Roles of Faculty and Students: Changing the Way We Teach Curt Bonk, Indiana University (and CourseShare.com) cjbonk@indiana.edu http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk

2. Are You Ready???

3. Administrators and faculty members at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are debating what could become a $100-million effort to create extensive World Wide Web pages for nearly every course the university offers. Jeffrey R. Young, March 1, 2001, The Chronicle of Higher Ed

4. Faculty Entrepreneurship Douglas Rowlett has turned his English-department office into a virtual radio station that broadcasts continuously on the Internet, offering a mix of poetry readings, lectures, and popular music. He plans to deliver entire courses over the Internet radio station. Jeffrey R. Young (Jan 8., 2001). Chronicle of Higher Ed.

5. Faculty Entrepreneurship? Santa Clara University has fired an adjunct instructor who sold his students thousands of dollars worth of stock in an online-education venture that appears to never have gotten off the ground. Sarah Carr, The Chronicle of Higher Ed.

6. What Percent of Time Teach Online?

7. To Cope with the Explosion, We Need Instructor E-Learning Support!!!

8. Administrative: “Lack of admin vision.” “Lack of incentive from admin and the fact that they do not understand the time needed.” “Lack of system support.” “Little recognition that this is valuable.” “Rapacious U intellectual property policy.” “Unclear univ. policies concerning int property.” Pedagogical: “Difficulty in performing lab experiments online.” “Lack of appropriate models for pedagogy.” Time-related: “More ideas than time to implement.” “Not enough time to correct online assign.” “People need sleep; Web spins forever.” Problems Faced

9. TrainingOutside Support • Training (FacultyTraining.net) • Courses & Certificates (JIU, e-education) • Reports, Newsletters, & Pubs • Aggregators of Info(CourseShare, Merlot) • Global Forums (FacultyOnline.com; GEN) • Resources, Guides/Tips, Link Collections, Online Journals, Library Resources

10. Certified Online Instructor Program • Walden Institute—12 Week Online Certification (Cost = $995) • 2 tracks: one for higher ed and one for online corporate trainer • Online tools and purpose • Instructional design theory & techniques • Distance ed evaluation • Quality assurance • Collab learning communities

11. http://merlot.org http://www.utexas.edu/world/lecture/

12. Inside Support… • Instructional Consulting • Mentoring (strategic planning $) • Small Pots of Funding • Help desks, institutes, 1:1, tutorials • Summer and Year Round Workshops • Office of Distributed Learning • Colloquiums, Tech Showcases, Guest Speakers • Newsletters, guides, active learning grants, annual reports, faculty development, brown bags, other professional development

13. Four Key Hats of Instructors: • Technical—do students have basics? Does their equipment work? Passwords work? • Managerial—Do students understand the assignments and course structure? • Pedagogical—How are students interacting, summarizing, debating, thinking? • Social—What is the general tone? Is there a human side to this course? Joking allowed? • Other: firefighter, convener, weaver, tutor, conductor, host, mediator, filter, editor, facilitator, negotiator, e-police, concierge, marketer, assistant, etc.

14. Study of Four Classes(Bonk, Kirkley, Hara, & Dennen, 2001) • Technical—Train, early tasks, be flexible, orientation task • Managerial—Initial meeting, FAQs, detailed syllabus, calendar, post administrivia, assign e-mail pals, gradebooks, email updates • Pedagogical—Peer feedback, debates, PBL, cases, structured controversy, field reflections, portfolios, teams, inquiry, portfolios • Social—Café, humor, interactivity, profiles, foreign guests, digital pics, conversations, guests

15. How to Combine these Roles?

16. E-Moderator • Refers to online teaching and facilitation role. Moderating used to mean to preside over a meeting or a discussion, but in the electronic world, it means more than that. It is all roles combined—to hold meetings, to encourage, to provide information, to question, to summarize, etc. (Collins & Berge, 1997; Gilly Salmon, 2000); see http://www.emoderators.com/moderators.shtml.

17. Other Hats

18. Online Concierge • To provide support and information on request (perhaps a map of the area…) (Gilly Salmon, 2000).

19. Personal Learning Trainer • Learners need a personal trainer to lead them through materials and networks, identify relevant materials and advisors and ways to move forward (Mason, 1998; Salmon, 2000).

20. E-Police • While one hopes you will not call yourself this nor find the need to make laws and enforce them, you will need some Code of Practice or set procedures, and protocols for e-moderators (Gilly Salmon, 2000).

21. Online Conductor • The pulling together of a variety of resources as people as in an orchestra to produce beautiful integrated sound or perhaps electrical current conductors if your conferences are effective and flow along, there will be energy, excitement, and power (Gilly Salmon, 2000).

22. Convener • A term that is used especially with online conferences and courses where there is a fairly sizable audience (Gilly Salmon, 2000).

23. Online Negotiator • Where knowledge construction online is desired, the key role for the e-moderator is one of negotiating the meaning of activities and information throughout online discussion and construction (Gilly Salmon, 2000).

24. Online Host • The social role of online working is important so there may be a need for a social host or hostess. They do not need to run social events online (though they may) but ensure everyone is greeted and introduced to others with like-minded interests (Gilly Salmon, 2000).

25. Other Hats • Weaver—linking comments/threads • Tutor—individualized attention • Participant—joint learner • Provocateur—stir the pot (& calm flames) • Observer—watch ideas and events unfold • Mentor—personally apprentice students • Community Organizer—keep system going

26. Assistant Devil’s advocate Editor Expert Filter Firefighter Facilitator Gardener Helper Lecturer Marketer Mediator Priest Promoter Still More Hats

27. Sure…but Cat Herder???

28. Reality: ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ Ideal World: ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ Activity: Pick a Online Instruction Metaphor from 40 Options

30. Online Mentoring and Assistance Online Twelve forms of electronic learning mentoring and assistance(Bonk & Kim, 1998; Tharp, 1993; Bonk et al., 2001)

31. 1. Social (and cognitive) Acknowledgement:"Hello...," "I agree with everything said so far...," "Wow, what a case," "This case certainly has provoked a lot of discussion...," "Glad you could join us..."

32. 2. Questioning:"What is the name of this concept...?," "Another reason for this might be...?," "An example of this is...," "In contrast to this might be...,""What else might be important here...?," "Who can tell me....?," "How might the teacher..?." "What is the real problem here...?," "How is this related to...?,“, "Can you justify this?"

33. 3. Direct Instruction:"I think in class we mentioned that...," Chapter ‘X’ talks about...," "Remember back to the first week of the semester when we went over ‘X’ which indicated that..."

34. 4. Modeling/Examples:"I think I solved this sort of problem once when I...," "Remember that video we saw on ‘X’ wherein ‘Y’ decided to...," "Doesn't ‘X’ give insight into this problem in case ‘Z’ when he/she said..."

35. 5. Feedback/Praise:"Wow, I'm impressed...," "That shows real insight into...," "Are you sure you have considered...," "Thanks for responding to ‘X’...," "I have yet to see you or anyone mention..."

36. 6. Cognitive Task Structuring:"You know, the task asks you to do...," "Ok, as was required, you should now summarize the peer responses that you have received...," "How might the textbook authors have solved this case."

37. 7. Cognitive Elaborations/Explanations:"Provide more information here that explains your rationale," "Please clarify what you mean by...," "I'm just not sure what you mean by...," "Please evaluate this solution a little more carefully."

38. 8. Push to Explore:"You might want to write to Dr. ‘XYZ’ for...," "You might want to do an ERIC search on this topic...," "Perhaps there is a URL on the Web that addresses this topic..."

39. 9. Fostering Reflection/Self Awareness:"Restate again what the teacher did here," "How have you seen this before?," "When you took over this class, what was the first thing you did?," "Describe how your teaching philosophy will vary from this...," "How might an expert teacher handle this situation?"

40. 10. Encouraging Articulation/Dialogue Prompting:"What was the problem solving process the teacher faced here?," "Does anyone have a counterpoint or alternative to this situation?," "Can someone give me three good reasons why...," "It still seems like something is missing here, I just can't put my finger on it."

41. 11. General Advice/Scaffolding/Suggestions: "If I were in her shoes, I would...," "Perhaps I would think twice about putting these people into...," "I know that I would first...," "How totally ridiculous this all is; certainly the “person” should be able to provide some..."

42. 12. Management (via private e-mail or discussion):"Don't just criticize....please be sincere when you respond to your peers," "If you had put your case in on time, you would have gotten more feedback." "If you do this again, we will have to take away your privileges."

43. What About Student Roles???

44. Participant Categories • Web Resource Finder • Starter-Wrapper • Researcher • Online Journal Editor • Expert Resource Gatherer • Technology Reviewer • Mentor/Expert • Instructor • Seeker/Questioner

45. Role 1: Starter/MediatorReporter/Commentator • Summarizes the key terms, ideas, and issues in the chapters, supplemental instructor notes, journal articles, and other assigned readings and asks thought provoking questions typically before one’s peers read or discuss the concepts and ideas. In effect, the starter is a reporter or commentator or teacher of what to expect in the upcoming readings or activities. Once the “start” is posted, this student acts as a mediator or facilitator of discussion for the week.

46. Role 2: Wrapper/SummarizerSynthesizer/Connector/Reviewer • Connects ideas, synthesizes discussion, interrelates comments, and links both explicit and implicit ideas posed in online discussion or other activities. Here, the student looks for patterns and themes in online coursework while weaving information together. The wrapping or summarizing is done at least at the end of the week or unit, but preferably two or more times depending on the length of the activity.

47. Role 3: Conqueror or Debater/Arguer/Bloodletter • Takes ideas into action, debates with others, persists in arguments and never surrenders or compromises nomatter what the casualties are when addressing any problem or issue.

48. Role 4: Devil's Advocate or Critic/Censor/Confederate • Takes opposite points of view for the sake of an argument and is an antagonist when addressing any problem posed. This might be a weekly role that is secretly assigned.

49. Role 5: Idea Squelcher/Biased/Preconceiver • Squelches good and bad ideas of others and submits your own prejudiced or biased ideas during online discussions and other situations. Forces others to think. Is that person you really hate to work with.

50. Role 6: Optimist/Open-minded/Idealist • In this role, the student notes what appears to be feasible, profitable, ideal, and "sunny" ideas when addressing this problem. Always sees the bright or positive side of the situation.