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invitational online learning environment, artistic pedagogical technology, arts-based teaching, reflective poetry

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Authors

Beth Perry, RN, PhDAssociate ProfessorFaculty of Health DisciplinesAthabasca UniversityCanadabethp@athabascau.ca

Katherine J. Janzen, RN, MNAssistant ProfessorFaculty of Health and Community StudiesMount Royal UniversityCanadakjjanzen@mtroyal.ca

Margaret Edwards, RN, PhDProfessor and Associate DeanFaculty of Health DisciplinesAthabasca UniversityCanadamarge@athabascau.ca

Creating Invitational Online Learning Environments Using Art-Based Learning Interventions

Effective online learning environments are inviting; infused with respect, trust, inten-tionality, and optimism (Purkey, 2007). Arts-based learning interventions like Reflec-tive Poetry, Minute at the Movies Analysis, “Our Community” Soap Scenes, and Theme Songs facilitate invitational online classes. These inexpensive, adaptable interventions enhance learning environments by encouraging human connections and creativity.

1. IntroductionOnline learning environments should be inviting. Arts-based learning interventions enhance human connections in online classrooms, and help create an invitational atmosphere infused with respect, trust, intentionality, and optimism (Purkey, 2007). Artistic pedagogical tech-nologies (APTs), learning strategies founded in the arts, (Perry & Edwards. 2010) include lit-erary, visual, musical, or drama elements. The worth of the arts as teaching tools has been recognized in face-to-face education (Kleiman, 2008). Paintings, photography, literature, po-etry, music, and drama have contributed positively to the in-person classroom educational experience. Outcomes include reflection, (Darbyshire, 1994) , safe learning environments, (Calman, 2005), dialogue (Calman), and engagement of affect (Mareno, 2006). Perry, Ed-wards, Menzies, and Janzen (2011) found APTs increased quality of interactions, enhanced sense of community, furthered application of course content, and helped learners establish group identity in online courses.

This report describes APTs that we developed and used in online graduate courses to create invitational learning environments. Reflective Poetry, Minute at the Movies Analysis, “Our Community” Soap Scenes, and Course Theme Songs are described. Analysis, based on invita-tional theory, concludes the article.

2. Arts-Based Learning InterventionsThe arts-based learning interventions described include elements of literature, drama, and music.

2.1 Reflective Poetry

Online learners are invited to create poems that distill a complex or abstract course concept into a few carefully chosen words. Poems provide unique avenues of expression of emotion, feeling, and attitude. van Manan (1990) noted that poems do not require a summary as they are the summary. In this way poems allow, even force, writers to be concise and precise. Creating a poem requires the poet to engage in reflection regarding the topic of the poem.

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Students share their poems with the class in a virtual poetry reading, and instructors invite comments furthering reflective thinking.

We have trialled different types of poems; parallel, reflective, and Haiku. With parallel poems instructors provide learners with a poem (written by the instructor or selected from published poetry) on a course theme. Students are challenged to write a poem that parallels the instructors’ poem in topic, rhythm, form, and cadence. With reflective poems instructors provide students with a course theme and ask them to create a poem of any style related to their experience with this theme. Another poetic intervention, “Haiku it!,” invites students to condense a course discussion or reading into a Haiku –a poem of seventeen syllables– in three lines of five, seven, and five.

One student response to the “Haiku it!” challenge condensed a discussion of organizational change:

In change fear lives largeNo one knows what comes for themTomorrow quivers

2.2 Minute at the Movies Analysis

This activity uses a video trailer from a movie related to a course topic. Students view the trailer and are provided questions that aid them in their reflection regarding the actions of a movie character that illustrate the topic. For example, in a course on effective leadership students might be encouraged to review movie clips from Twelve Angry Men –a movie demonstrating in-fluence as one man’s “leadership” causes the opinion of a whole room of people to change, or Dead Poet’s Society where one teacher-leader demonstrates various leadership strategies with a group at a boys’ school. These clips provide starting points for discussion of leadership approach and style. YouTube offers instructors a searchable library of movie trailers.

Movie clips introduce stories that may help students under-stand related theory. A movie story may teach principles and theories, helping students gain both knowledge and attitudinal shifts. Actors’ actions also provide role-modelling. Using movie trailers provides manageable sized content for downloading, and the short highlights help to focus discussion around specific stories/theories.

“Our Community” Soap Scenes. This learning intervention com-bines the drama of soap opera scenarios with Facebook-like

Figure 1: Example of a Community Member Facebook-like Profile

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profiles of created characters. The instructor creates profiles of approximately 10 individuals who are members of the imagined community. For example, if the graduate course was targeted at grade school teachers learning about collaboration, the commu-nity of characters created might include grade school teachers, parents, students, and school administrators. Each community member has a Facebook-like profile. (see Figure 1) The profiles are part of the course materials. Throughout the course, various community members are featured in scenarios that illustrate course concepts or create a storyline to stimulate class discus-sion. The often melodramatic nature of scenarios reflects the title of the learning activity “soap scenes.”

As the course proceeds and community members are integrat-ed into class discussions, students begin to regard the fictitious community members as part of the course and refer to their actions and attributes in other course discussions. Students may create additional member profiles, and blank profile templates are provided to facilitate this. Some students create self-profiles adding themselves to the community.

2.3 Course Theme Song

Using course theme songs adds music to online courses. Music evokes emotion, and a theme song (used strategically during the course) may provide learners with a community-building commonality. A link to the theme song can be offered at the beginning or end of course units and/or at challenging junctures as a means of motivation and focus.

Choosing an appropriate theme song is difficult as people ap-preciate different genres of music. Avoiding potentially distract-ing or offensive lyrics is important. Up-tempo, instrumental songs are safer choices. Online open source (royalty free) data-bases of music such as www.jamendo.com are available. Alter-natively, students may choose the theme song which can be a team-building activity. A theme song used in an online graduate course is “Destiny” available at http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/702401.

3. ConclusionsLearning environments affect student learning (Haigh, 2008). Arts-based learning interventions may help create invitational learning environments, infused with trust, respect, optimism, and intentionality (Purkey, 2007). Trust recognizes humans as interdependent. Respect recognizes people are able, valuable,

and responsible. Optimism focuses on the limitlessness of hu-man potential; intentionality recognizes that deliberate actions are required to create invitational environments (2007).

Why do the APTs of Reflective Poetry, Minute at the Movies Analysis, “Our Community” Soap Scenes, and Theme Songs positively influence the invitational nature of the classroom? We propose the following:

1. Before trust and respect can be established participants must become acquainted. Sharing self-authored poems, and movie choices and insights reveals personal qualities, values, biases, and priorities. APTs provide an acceptable avenue for self-disclosure that allows familiarity to be en-hanced. People get to know one another. As students take risks, participate in challenging activities, expose vulnera-bilities and emotions, and find sharing received non-judge-mentally by class colleagues, the sense of trust and respect is heightened.

2. Group optimism gives rise to a sense that anything is possi-ble. This optimism is fueled by success. With APTs students are told there are no right or wrong answers; all participa-tion is embraced as valuable. Diversity and creativity are encouraged. The class community gradually develops opti-mism (evidenced as confidence) that furthers participation and individual and collective learning.

3. Utilizing APTs, online course designers/instructors can eas-ily, inexpensively, and intentionally take action to enhance learning environments. APTs do not require additional soft-ware or programming. APTs can be adapted for multiple course topics, cultures, and teaching and learning styles.

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from http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/702401.

Haigh, M. (2008). Coloring in the emotional language of place.

Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice, 14, 25-40.

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Copyrights The texts published in this journal, unless otherwise indicated, are subject to a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivativeWorks 3.0 Unported licence. They may be copied, distributed and broadcast pro-vided that the author and the e-journal that publishes them, eLearning Papers, are cited. Commercial use and derivative works are not permitted. The full licence can be consulted on http://creativecommons.org/licens-es/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Edition and productionName of the publication: eLearning Papers ISSN: 1887-1542Publisher: elearningeuropa.infoEdited by: P.A.U. Education, S.L.Postal address: c/Muntaner 262, 3r, 08021 Barcelona (Spain)Phone: +34 933 670 400Email: editorial@elearningeuropa.infoInternet: www.elearningpapers.eu

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