BEST PRACTICES AND PRACTICAL STRATEGIES FOR DESIGNING & FACILITATING MORE EFFECTIVE HYBRID & ONLINE COURSES

Susan KoPenn State Harrisburg, May 11, 2011

Sloan Definitions Of Online, Hybrid

A Body of Evidence and Experience to Build On

Some Points of Consensus About Effective Online Teaching & LearningImportant elements include Orientation, training, and 24/7 support

available for both faculty and students Opportunity for interaction with

instructor, other students, content Deliberate design of course &

activities Community-building Active and meaningful presence of

instructor

More Points of Consensus

Diverse approaches to instructional activities

Coherent, consistent & logical organization of classroom

Detailed syllabus & instructions to set expectations, schedule, consistent classroom nomenclature

Clear protocols for communicating Integration of the f2f and online

elements

What are your biggest concerns and worries about teaching online?

Common Fears & Misconceptions1. Online instructors have to be

online 24 hours a day or the opposite, just parachute in

2. Online education is alienating, and it’s difficult to form close ties online

3. Techno geeks are the best instructors

Fears & Misconceptions

4. The lonely lecturer (for hybrid courses):

If I put my lectures online, no one will come to class

What do I mean by Design?

Purposeful planning with objectives and outcomes in mind

Creating structured opportunities for teaching and learning, including assignments and assessments

Arranging and organizing course elements

Integration of all the course elements

What does Facilitation involve?

It’s more than just interaction in the discussion area…

Initiating and moderating discussion Assisting student learning through

interaction with students and setting up student-student interaction opportunities

Stimulating interest of students Skillful guidance for students in

learning activities

Facilitation also involves

Providing feedback to develop student critical thinking and highlight problem areas

Providing feedback to bring awareness to strengths and weaknesses of performance and to refer students to appropriate resources

Design

Might involve a team-- Instructional designer, graphics

designer, subject matter expert, faculty, project manager, etc.

Instructional designer paired with faculty

Faculty working together

Or mainly one faculty’s efforts…

Design can engage you in a complex web of considerations

Or a rambling flow chart of actions and directions

Image: Instructional Design by Lauren Pressley

But can also be straightforward and simple planning framework

Learning Objectives, Outcomes

Content—Instructor generated, readings, Web, other

Class Interaction & Activities, Communication & Feedback Loops

Assessment—Gradedassignments & exams, projects

Design Beginnings

Start with your goals, learning objectives and desired outcomes

Special skills or competencies to learn? Audience analysis—presumed prior

knowledge, level, adult vs. 18-22, working students, military students, geographic range

Course environment—LMS, Web 2.0, predominantly synchronous/asynchronous

With some special considerations Class Size: Small group strategies,

peer review, more interactive content or self assessment, incremental assignments, fewer but strategic assessment occasions

Course Length: Accelerated, term or semester length and designing in accord with the pacing

…special considerations

Student Preparation: Online can make available resources targeted to writing, research skills, prior knowledge assumed (review materials) if needed

Other Design Principles

Purposeful use of readings, multimedia and web resources

(Why am I looking/listening to this?)

Taking best advantage of and playing down weaknesses of LMS and other tech tools

Other Design Tips

Pay attention to pacing and sequence of online and to transition between f2f and online in hybrid classes

Think through the role each type of technology tool will play

How well does that old favorite—lecture, activity, assignment, etc. fit in the context of an online or hybrid course?

More considerations

Particular skills and approaches you want to emphasize throughout the course?

(E.g., problem-based learning, collaborative projects, research-focused, etc.)

Some types of activities that would fit well into the context of your subject matter?

(E.g., role playing, scenarios, debates, case-studies)

Real-life applications that can be built into assignments and discussion?

Case Study 1

A course in English grammar and composition is to be delivered completely online for the first time. The English and writing faculty have two main concerns:

1. The course will be too boring in the online format since it will be all text,

Case Study 1

2. beyond the feedback from the instructor on the student papers, they are not sure how to promote student-student interaction since they do not want students to reinforce the errors of their classmates.

Can you think of any activities and ways of presenting material for this subject matter that could be designed to stimulate interest and promote interaction among students?

Case Study 1

If this were to be a hybrid course instead of a completely online one, can you think of any activities and ways of presenting material for this subject matter that could be designed to stimulate interest and promote interaction among students for both f2f meetings and online portion?

Case Study 2

A course in American history was delivered for the 1st time in hybrid format, with class meetings f2f every other week. (Students are not required to participate online during weeks when the class meets f2f.)

Case Study 2

The instructor, Dr. Zonzo, discovered that students are active in online discussion during the weeks that the class does not meet f2f, but have a high absentee rate at f2f meetings.

Case Study 2

This concerns Dr. Zonzo since he uses 90% of the f2f meeting time to deliver his lectures, leaves a few minutes for questions, and then posts abbreviated notes from his lectures afterwards online.

Case Study 2

How can Dr. Zonzo ensure that more students attend the f2f meetings?

What else should he be considering in regard to student participation?

Facilitation of discussion

Generally starts with well designed questions from instructor but must be continually shaped and pruned—different varieties for different disciplines

Tips for facilitation of interactive discussion Clear expectations and rubrics for

frequency and quality of participation Weekly expectations for regular

release and closing of discussion fora--keep everyone on same page

Sharing of appropriate assignments and discussion of those assignments

Rich media and Web source materials can be focus of a discussion rather than peripheral

Facilitation of interactive discussionAlong with feedback, is the most

challenging task: Provide choice in responding to

questions Don’t pounce on student responses

but remain actively engaged Don’t lose track of quiet students Use email or text messaging to remind

students to return to the classroom

Facilitation of interactive discussion Create most initial threads and post

questions that require higher level thinkingCompare: a. What does the author say

about X? b. What are the assumptions of the author

when he says X is good? Respond to students with follow up

questionsCompare: a. That’s a good example of X b. Can you describe any other situations in

which X might occur?

Facilitating Student-Student Interaction Promote student-student interaction by

requiring responses to classmates (grading) and asking follow up questions, redirect to draw others into the conversation

Case studies, scenarios and role play/debates encourage interaction

Make real-time communication tool available for students who might want to use it even if you do not use in instruction

Case Study 3

Dr. Larson has noticed that there are a few students who dominate the online discussion and an equal number who seem to “lurk,” and the latter only make the absolutely required postings in the discussion forum. He has tried appointing a different group of students each week to initiate discussion…

Case Study 3

thinking that students would feel more involved, but has not been pleased with the quality of the discussion questions—they simply do not stimulate discussion!

How can he encourage more and higher quality participation, and also foster more student-student interaction?

Facilitating Hybrid Classes

Discussion participation can be combo of f2f in-class and online

Online can be in prep for f2f meeting activity and/or follow-up to it

Lecture outline posted before f2f meeting, additional notes after

Student presentations for online or f2f or both—summary in f2f, at length online

Small Group Strategies and How to Facilitate Small groups useful for larger classes Require careful design and planning Must have clear-cut tasks to

accomplish Must have clear-cut rules and timeline Students usually need help in forming

groups Determine tools or choice of

communication tools

Facilitating groups

Address “free rider” issue—combo of individual and group grade, peer review, monitoring (direct or indirect, e.g. group log)

Pick right number for activity Pacing--allow sufficient time for each stage Hybrid—use f2f time for formation, start and key points in project

More Ways to Stimulate Student Interest Provide option for student-generated

content, projects when possible—Web 2.0 tools make this easier than ever

Make a Web resource the focus of an assignment—new open ed resource options

Use guest speakers to advantage—synch and asynch, or f2f followed by or preceded by online

Provide real-world connection to content

Facilitating by guiding

Take time to frame importance or meaning of course elements

Use early diagnostic assignments Make appropriate referrals to

student support services, library, style guides, etc.

Facilitating by guiding

Have stock of resources that can assist different learners no matter what their level—don’t assume all students have necessary background

Make sure feedback indicates how to improve

Remind students about upcoming due dates—c’mon, it’s easy to lose track online

Beyond concept of “mere” facilitation—teaching! Good faculty facilitate learning but

are more than facilitators Their enthusiasm engenders student

enthusiasm—organization and preparation aid enthusiasm

Inspire & develop student critical faculties

Students appreciate faculty sharing their expertise

Questions?

For further information, see Ko & Rossen,

Teaching Online: A Practical Guide, 3rd edition (2010) available from Routledge