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The Online Revolution From e-books to MOOCs: Coping, adapting, embracing. Intro. Frank Vahid UC Riverside. Smita Bakshi Zyante CEO. Systems. Diane Rover Iowa State Univ. Research. Yacob Astatke Morgan State Univ. Experiences. Options. FV. Cope, adapt, embrace.
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The Online Revolution From e-books to MOOCs: Coping, adapting, embracing Intro Frank Vahid UC Riverside Smita Bakshi Zyante CEO Systems Diane Rover Iowa State Univ. Research Yacob Astatke Morgan State Univ. Experiences Options FV
Cope, adapt, embrace • Online learning and MOOCs are increasingly entwined with the future of STEM education.
Cope, adapt, embrace • What can we learn from education research?
Cope, adapt, embrace • Selected research on effective strategies for the online classroom, teaching, and learning: • MIT’s first MOOC, “Circuits and Electronics” (6.002x) • The Excellent Online Instructor, R. Palloff and K. Pratt • Teaching Alone, Teaching Together, J. Bess et al. • Virtual Learning Communities, R. Palloff and K. Pratt • Peer Instruction, J. Spacco, J. Parris, and B. Simon
Cope, adapt, embrace • MIT’s first MOOC, “Circuits and Electronics” (6.002x) • 6.002 is a required undergraduate course for majors in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. • 6.002x, offered March-June 2012, was the first MOOC developed by edX, the consortium led by MIT and Harvard. • 54,763 students from 194 countries enrolled in the online course. • 7,157 students completed the course. • Instructional team: • Lead instructor: an MIT professor who taught the on-campus version of the course for a number of years. • Three other instructors: two MIT professors and edX’s chief scientist, who were responsible for creating the homework assignments, labs, and tutorials. • Five teaching assistants and three lab assistants.
Cope, adapt, embrace • MIT’s first MOOC (continued) • 6.002x consisted of video lectures, interactive problems, online laboratories, and a discussion forum. • Set of videos, called lecture sequences, released weekly; narrated by the lead instructor, averaged less than 10 minutes each, composed of illustrations, text, and equations • Online exercises to let students practice the concepts covered in the videos • Tutorials similar to small-group recitations that often accompany MIT lecture courses • Textbook accessible electronically • Discussion forum where students can have questions answered by other students or the teaching assistants • a Wiki to post additional resources
Cope, adapt, embrace • MIT’s first MOOC (continued) • “Studying Learning in the Worldwide Classroom - Research into edX’s First MOOC” • Research study: • Students’ use of resources by time spent on each; • How student background and capabilities related to their achievement and persistence; and • How their interactions with 6.002x’s curricular and pedagogical components contributed to their level of success in the course.
Cope, adapt, embrace • MIT’s first MOOC (continued)
Cope, adapt, embrace • MIT’s first MOOC (continued) • Among the findings: • On average, with all other predictors being equal, a student who worked offline with someone else in the class or someone who had expertise in the subject had a predicted score almost three points higher than someone working by him or herself. • This finding reflects what is known about on-campus instruction: that collaborating with another person, whether novice or expert, strengthens learning. • 2.5% of the students “did collaborate offline” with someone else taking the course, or with “someone who teaches or has expertise in this area.” • Only 3% of all students participated in the discussion forum. • Certificate earners used the forum at a much higher rate than other students.
Cope, adapt, embrace • The Excellent Online Instructor: • Understands the differences between face-to-face and online teaching and can effectively implement them into development and facilitation of online classes. • Is committed to this form of teaching and uses the online environment to his or her advantage in delivering an online class. • Is able to establish presence early in the course and encourages students to do the same. • Is highly motivated and in turn is a good motivator for students. • Understands the importance of community building and devotes time at the start of the class to that function. • Promotes interactivity between students through development of good discussion questions that engage them and encourage them to seek out response material on their own. • Incorporates collaborative work into the design and delivery of an online class. • Respects students as partners in the learning process. • Is active and engaged throughout the course, providing timely, constructive feedback throughout. • Is open, flexible, compassionate, responsive, and leads by example. http://www.onlineteachingandlearning.com/tip-defining-excellent-online-instructor/
Cope, adapt, embrace • Teaching Alone, Teaching Together (2000) • Typical teaching: Instructors independently teach courses and collaborate intermittently to plan curricula or establish evaluation and accreditation procedures. • Traditional team teaching: • Faculty have different disciplinary knowledge and come together to teach a complex subject. • Bess’ model of team teaching: • Faculty from the same discipline form teams of specialists based on process knowledge, i.e., the process of teaching. • Seven major domains in the process of teaching: Pedagogy; Research; Lecturing; Leading discussions; Mentoring; Curricular and co-curricular integration; Assessment.
Cope, adapt, embrace • Teaching Alone, Teaching Together (2000) (continued) • Preparatory Roles • The Pedagogue: Creating Designs for Teaching • The Researcher: Generating Knowledge for Team Teaching • Direct Student Contact Roles in Classroom Settings • The Lecturer: Working with Large Groups • The Discussion Leader: Fostering Student Learning in Groups • Facilitating Roles • The Mentor: Facilitating Out-of-Class Cognitive and Affective Growth • The Integrator: Linking Curricular and Co-curricular Experiences • The Assessor: Appraising Student and Team Performance
Cope, adapt, embrace • Virtual Learning Communities • The learning community is the vehicle through which learning occurs online. • Online students learn from each other. • Facilitators help students take responsibility for their own learning through inquiry, collaboration and self-reflection. • The following outcomes are indications that an online community has formed: • Active interaction involving course content and personal communication; • Student-to-student collaborative learning; • Socially constructed meaning; • Sharing of resources among students; and • Students supporting and evaluating the work of others.
Cope, adapt, embrace • Virtual Learning Communities (continued) • Incorporating collaboration in online learning is accomplished through various techniques: • Developing a shared goal for learning • Negotiating course guidelines by engaging the group in discussion • Posting introductions and learning expectations • Encouraging comment on introductions • Forming teams and posting guidelines for their performance • Encouraging a search for real-life examples • Developing assignments related to real-life situations
Cope, adapt, embrace • Virtual Learning Communities (continued) • Collaboration techniques (continued): • Facilitating dialogue among students • Encouraging expansive questioning • Sharing responsibility for facilitation • Promoting feedback • Promoting intergroup collaboration via online technologies, i.e., with groups outside of the course • Allowing students to share resources • Allowing students to write collaboratively • There is a need to focus on creating community, either by virtue of or in spite of technology.
Cope, adapt, embrace • Peer Instruction • Can a CS0 course designed around Peer Instruction (PI) produce greater learning gains than a “traditional” lecture approach covering the same content? • PI is a student-centric instructional technique developed by Mazur in which students discuss and analyze challenging questions in small groups. • Students must complete work before class. • In class, students answer a question individually. Small groups share and discuss answers. Students update their answers. Students participate in a class discussion. • Finding: Students in a PI-designed offering of a non-majors CS0 course performed statistically significantly better than students in a concurrently offered traditional, lecture-oriented course. • PI reinforces the value of student-student and expert-student interaction.
Cope, adapt, embrace • References to cited resources: • MIT’s first MOOC, “Circuits and Electronics” (6.002x): • L. Breslow, D. E. Pritchard, J. DeBoer, G. S. Stump, A. D. Ho, and D. T. Seaton, "Studying Learning in the Worldwide Classroom Research into edX’s First MOOC," Research & Practice in Assessment, vol. 8, Summer 2013, pp. 13-25. URL: http://www.rpajournal.com/dev/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/SF2.pdf • edX, MITx: 6.002x – Circuits and Electronics, Spring 2013, https://www.edx.org/course/mit/6-002x/circuits-and-electronics/578
Cope, adapt, embrace • References to cited resources (continued): • The Excellent Online Instructor, R. Palloff and K. Pratt • R. M. Palloff and K. Pratt, The Excellent Online Instructor: Strategies for Professional Development, Jossey-Bass, 2011. • R. M. Palloff and K. Pratt, “The Excellent Online Instructor,” Podcast, Oct. 2010. URL: http://www.onlineteachingandlearning.com/podcast-palloff-pratt/ • Approximately 15 minutes • Available for download from iTunes
Cope, adapt, embrace • References to cited resources (continued): • Teaching Alone, Teaching Together, J. Bess et al. • J. L. Bess and Associates, Teaching Alone, Teaching Together: Transforming the Structure of Teams for Teaching, Jossey-Bass, 2000. • D. T. Rover, “Taking Our Own Advice: Team Teaching,” Academic Bookshelf, ASEE Journal of Engineering Education, July 2002, pp. 265-266. URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2002.tb00702.x/abstract
Cope, adapt, embrace • References to cited resources (continued): • Virtual Learning Communities, R. Palloff and K. Pratt • R. M. Palloff and K. Pratt, Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace: Effective Strategies for the Online Classroom, Jossey-Bass, 1999. • D. T. Rover, “Closing the Distance,” Academic Bookshelf, ASEE Journal of Engineering Education, April 2006, pp. 175-176. URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2006.tb00888.x/abstract • Building Online Learning Communities: Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom, 2007(updated revision) • R. M. Palloff and K. Pratt, Collaborating Online: Learning Together in Community, Jossey-Bass, 2004.
Cope, adapt, embrace • References to cited resources (continued): • Peer Instruction, J. Spacco, J. Parris, and B. Simon • J. Spacco, J. Parris, and B. Simon, “How We Teach Impacts Student Learning: Peer Instruction vs. Lecture in CS0,”Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE '13), 2013, pp. 41-46. URL: http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=2445196.2445215
Cope, adapt, embrace • Discussion questions • What aspects of effective teaching and learning are intrinsically supported by online learning? • From your own classroom experience, what effective strategies do you use that might work well or possibly even better in an online learning environment? • In what ways does online learning present obstacles to effective teaching and learning? • From your own classroom experience, what strategies may be difficult to use in an online learning environment? How might you adapt these?