Online Learning: Is it right for you or your institution?

1. Online Learning: Is it right for you or your institution? Research

2. If you are a teacher, this is probably you

3. These are your students

4. The question is not… …if we have to change to keep up with the free, informal, immediate, open, and portable world of learning, but when.

5. New Research and Trends • Recent systematic meta-analysis of the research literature from 1996 through 2008 by the U.S. Department of Education found for the first time that “…on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.”

6. New Research and Trends Current Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said of the report: “This new report reinforces that effective teachers need to incorporate digital content into everyday classes…” Where is the disconnect?

7. New Research and Trends American school systems were never designed to support open, collaborative learning. They were designed to serve the needs of a society and not to support personalized, learner-centered instruction. Technology is changing this paradigm.

8. New Research and Trends • Three basic types of schools are emerging: Brick, Click, and Brick and Click. Arthur E. Levine • Education is becoming more individualized; students, not institutions, will set the educational agenda.Arthur E. Levine

9. New Research and Trends • The state of public education is in crisis and it “will either propel or crash the future aspirations of the American workforce.” James Canton • The current classroom model is the educational equivalent of Ford’s Model T automobile.

10. New Research and Trends Every person now has an educational passport. The world of education is being radically altered and that change is driven by technology, openness, and unprecedented access to knowledge.

11. New Research and Trends “Virtual schooling is driving the same sorts of transforming changes in public education as Apple’s iTunes has been producing in the way people collect and listen to music.” Bill Tucker Education Center Think Tank.

12. New Research and Trends “…the data suggest that by 2019, about 50% of high school courses will be delivered online” Christensen, Horn, & Johnson in Disrupting Class.

13. Wave of technological change

14. Moral? We are at the “tipping point” and while there is no reason to fear a changing educational world, there is every reason to understand it and prepare for it.

15. Online Learning Myths But, I heard this somewhere….

16. MYTH: Online Learning is a fad. FACT: • Online enrollments have continued to grow at exponential rates…--Sloan Consortium, 2008 • For K-12, supplemental online learning is growing at a rate of about 30% a year! ---eSchool News

17. MYTH: Online Learning is a fad. FACT: • Over 3.9 million students were taking at least one online course during 2007. • That’s a 12% increase over the number reported the previous year. --Sloan Consortium, 2008

18. MYTH: Online learning will save money. FACT: • Probably not…at least not initially if done properly. But, there are potential cost savings for everyone.

19. MYTH: Online Classes Are a Joke. FACT: • All things being equal, both methods of instructional delivery are equally rigorous.

20. MYTH: An online course is just words on a screen. FACT: True for REALLY bad courses. False for well-designed ones. Advances in technology allow for an immersive learning experience not just a textbook or notes on the screen.

21. MYTH: You can “convert” a F2F course and put it online. FACT: Online and F2F are not the same thing. You cannot simply cut-and-paste your way to a new class.

22. MYTH: Online learning will replace traditional learning. FACT: Doubtful. There is nothing inherent in the delivery medium that makes it superior to F2F learning. There should always be room for the formative, brick-and-mortar learning experience. Most studies currently show that modern students favor blended learning environments.

23. MYTH: Online teaching takes less time. FACT: Studies about faculty perceptions of teaching online consistently show they believe it to be MORE work and take MORE time.

24. MYTH: Online classes lack interaction. FACT: Well-designed online courses can offer more and better interaction opportunities on all levels when compared to F2F.

25. MYTH: Cheating is rampant in online courses. FACT: Studies have shown that cheating is no more prevalent than in F2F courses.

26. MYTH: Future employers won’t accept online degrees. FACT: Possibly true but only for proprietary fully-online institutions. However, this is changing.

27. MYTH: Online students lack social interaction. FACT: The nature of learning and social interaction has changed. The biggest growth market is currently for blended model approaches.

28. MYTH: You can teach anything online. FACT: Maybe. But, just because you can doesn’t mean you should!

29. So what is the origin of most of these myths? FEAR!!!

30. Surviving to thriving…

31. Online Learning: Administrative and Academic Concerns The Big Picture

32. The Most Important Question: What is Your VISION? V: Vision. Clear and consistent from the top down putting everyone on the same page. I: Infrastructure. Are you committed to providing the necessary infrastructure for online programmatic success?

33. The Most important Question: What is your VISION? S: Support. Dedicated to serving and training faculty, staff and students. I: Incentives. Give everyone reasons to participate.

34. The Most important Question: What is your VISION? O: Operational Costs. Have you really considered all economic considerations? N: Needs of the Students. This should drive your program development and growth.

35. Portrait of a successful online teacher (according to eSchool News) • Has the right professional credentials. • Has the prerequisite tech skills. • Plans, designs, and incorporates strategies for active learning, participation, interaction, and collaboration. • Gives regular, prompt, & consistent feedback and clear expectations.

36. Portrait of a successful online teacher (according to eSchool News) • Models and encourages legal, ethical and safe online behavior. • Has experience with online learning themselves. • Understands the special needs of online students. • Creates and implements valid and reliable assessments.

37. Portrait of a successful online teacher (according to eSchool News) • Meets standards-based learning goals in a variety of ways. • Uses data and research to modify instruction. • Collaborates with colleagues and others involved in online education.

38. Teaching Strategies 3 Things to Remember: • Establish expectations and limits for your students and for yourself. • You are not tech-support! • Expect students to take responsibility for their own learning and actions.

39. Teaching Strategies • Develop and encourage a routine. • Create a “buffer zone” between you and students. • Use group work sparingly and only where appropriate.

40. Teaching Strategies • Use your student resource. • Set boundaries & expectations (netiquette). • Deemphasise testing where appropriate. • Schedule course “downtime.”

41. Teaching Strategies • Include a needs assessment or course questionnaire to become familiar with your students. • Build in assessments to determine how the course is going and any needed adjustments.

42. Teaching Strategies • Faster is better: period! • Be flexible and creative. • Keep a record of needed changes. • Simulate and improve upon class presence by creating the illusion of omnipresence.

43. Revision Strategies • Pat yourself on the back. • Give yourself a break. • Trust your gut. • Resist the “neato-factor” for emerging tech. The latest “bells and whistles” are not always “better.”

44. Revision Strategies • Create a revision cycle (easier said than done). • Survey students regularly and filter good suggestions. • Use good initial design to facilitate revisions.

45. THANK YOU!!! • Jason B. Huett: jhuett@westga.edu • Kim C. Huett: khuett@westga.edu • Elizabeth Bennett: ebennett@westga.edu • http://jasonhuett.wikispaces.com