Tag Archives: online

Engaging Students in an Online Math Course During the Pandemic

Assessment, Educational Technologies, Online Learning, , ,

Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part blog series on choosing the right technology for your teaching needs. In this blog post, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Moira Chas, discusses her experience with finding a way to engage her students during synchronous online lectures. Look for the second blog post by CELT Instructional Designer and Technologist, Jennifer Jaiswal, who will describe how to select the appropriate technology. Email CELT@stonybroook.edu to get a consultation with an instructional designer who can work with you to choose the right tools for your teaching goals.

Dr. Moira ChasMoira Chas, Associate Professor, Mathematics 

Image courtesy of Moira Chas, who is seen in her office with some of the crocheted models she has created to illustrate ideas in topology.

Before the terrible pandemic that turned our worlds upside-down and inside-out, (or better said, outside-in), I used to teach by walking incessantly around the classroom, asking many questions and trying to read in the faces of the students whether they had arrived at the answers. I peeked at the pages they were writing, and if I found cell phones on desks I would point out how unproductive these gadgets can make us. I often brought to the classroom as many “math toys” as possible to make mathematical ideas tangible.  

Chinese abacus
A Chinese Abacus/Shieldforyoureyes from Wikimedia Commons

I remember the last class I taught in person in March 2020: It was about Mathematics in Ancient China. (I was teaching a course in History of Mathematics.) I distributed a few abaci and advised the students not to share them. (It felt terrible to have to recommend such a thing. Normally, I would have them working in groups with all hands on the abacus). The week after, we entered the Zoom-universe. It was hard to lecture there, but at least I was talking to students with whom I had established a connection before becoming a face on their screens. 

The next semester, for reasons that I will spare you, I decided to be a virtual instructor. A significant challenge I experienced was in replicating the immediate interaction of physically being in the same room with my students as they solved problems. I needed a tool that would allow me to conduct polls and to pose open-ended questions in real time while I conducted synchronous online lectures for my courses, which typically have an enrollment of 35 students.

I investigated several platforms, including Slido, Mentimeter, TurningPoint, and Poll Everywhere. In all these platforms, students can type written answers to questions through a web browser. Instructors can see the answers and share them, if they so desire, with the whole class during a synchronous online meeting.

Stony Brook University supports the use of TurningPoint, where each student pays a fee for a license. Currently, the cost is about $10 for a five-month term. One benefit of using TurningPoint is that the student responses can be connected to the Grade Center in Blackboard. For options that result in no extra cost to students, Stony Brook instructors can use Google Forms, but I found this a bit “less interactive.” Google Docs and Google Slides are platforms where students write in a “live” document (In Slides, the instructor can prepare a set of identical slides and assign a group of students to each slide for a problem-solving activity in real time). Zoom also has a polling tool that instructors can use for real time interaction during a meeting. Lastly, Zoom has the chat tool, which also allows for immediate interactivity during a synchronous meeting. 

After exploring all the options, I decided to pay for my own subscription to Poll Everywhere. This tool helped me simulate the real time human interaction of being in the same physical space with students. In fact, this tool proved so valuable that I am planning to keep using it after the pandemic is behind us.

This is how I used it. When teaching during a synchronous meeting, I started a typical lesson with a greeting and  a word cloud that was generated by the students’ answers to a question like, “write down a word that describes how you feel”, or “tell us something you gained and something you lost because of COVID”  I tried to acknowledge the hardship of the moment and, to remind us of hope. 

During the rest of the lecture I would never talk for more than 10 minutes without having the students participate in some way. For instance, when we studied how Ancient Egyptians measured geometric figures, I asked students to answer one of the following questions: “What does measuring a segment mean?” or  “How do you measure a segment?”   At that point in the course, Egyptians were discovering mathematical concepts and I wanted my student to put themselves in the experience of discovery. After reading some answers, I gave my own, or shared some of the students’ responses. I explained why certain answers were inappropriate. Then I asked, “What does it mean to find the area of a plane shape?” Finally, I gave concrete examples of Ancient Egyptian problems where shapes are measured. 

The School of Athens
File:Scuola_di_atene_23.jpg, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Another frequent activity was having the students read a paragraph and explain what it means. For instance, it is said that when the ruler Ptolemy asked Euclid whether there was a way of learning geometry faster than reading The Elements, a 13-book mathematical treatise, Euclid answered: “There is no royal road to geometry.” Then I asked students to write what they thought Euclid meant. 

Sometimes I asked for educated guesses on topics where students were unlikely to know the answer. After a discussion, I would pose the same question again. I tried to use Zoom breakout rooms for group activities, but I did not manage to do it in a productive way. I would often visit a breakout room and find the students in complete silence. Some students expressed frustration at the lack of participation by their classmates.

Every time a beautiful math idea appeared in front of us (and there are so many!) I would point it out and emphasize how lucky we were to be studying such wonders. 

At the end of each lecture, students wrote up a short summary of the lecture and submitted it through the Poll Everywhere tool. However, this could be done with another tool or through Blackboard, which is the learning management system supported by Stony Brook University.

Overall, I think all of us learned about math history and about each other. Reading the students’ answers to my open-ended questions was like visiting their minds, in a way sometimes more effective than my “face reading” during the in-person lectures. Mostly because I could read the answers one by one, (and when reading a whole bunch of faces it is easy to miss a few), and also because all students answered (and words are often more explicit than faces). 

Two books have helped, taught, and inspired me during this time of teaching during the pandemic: James M. Lang’s Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning and Dan Levy’s Teaching Effectively with Zoom: A Practical Guide to Engage Your Students and Help Them Learn. Lang has also many useful essays in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

While I write these last words, the students of last semester come to my mind, and I find it hard to believe that I miss them even though I never met most of them in person. This was my first all-virtual teaching semester, and despite all the turmoil of the time we are living in, to my surprise, I enjoyed almost every minute of the experience.

Dr. Chas and Dr. Alan Kim are facilitating the SBU Faculty Writing Group, which meets on Fridays from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. starting on Feb. 5 through April 30, 2021. Register at this link. The Faculty Writing Group is sponsored and supported by the CELT’s Faculty Commons.

Tools for Engagement in Online Courses

Instructional Design, Online Learning, ,

 Kimberly BellKimberly Bell, PhD., Postdoctoral Associate

Online engagement may look different from what you are used to in your face-to-face classes, and perhaps even different from your previous online courses. If you are teaching on Zoom to a sea of black boxes with names on them, it is impossible to see facial expressions or body language – those cues we may be used to looking for in a physical classroom. The same is true for asynchronous courses, where you may not have video interaction with students. To determine if students are engaged in your online courses, you might ask: Are they submitting their work on time? Are they posting thoughtful replies in the discussion forums? Do they ask questions? Do they reply to quick polls in Zoom? How are their weekly quiz and exam grades?

→ Asynchronous Engagement 

If you make your presence known in your asynchronous online course up front, it will be off to an engaging start. A welcome video shows your students who you are and lets you speak to them more directly about course expectations. Post announcements frequently in Blackboard, and give students timely feedback. You can record videos to the cloud in Zoom for quick and accessible summaries or feedback. A clear and detailed syllabus, a variety of activities, frequent formative assessments, open-ended questions for discussion, opportunities for group work, and a careful choice of tools all make for an engaging asynchronous course. 

→ Synchronous Engagement 

Use synchronous sessions for interactive lectures, office hours, recitations to follow up on asynchronous lecture material, review sessions (try a trivia game!), group projects, and other active learning activities. Make eye contact with the camera, allow time for your students to become familiar with engagement features, wait after you pose a question, plan structured breakout activities, and check in often making sure your students are engaging in your synchronous sessions. If time allows, you can start your Zoom sessions 10 minutes early and stay around 10 minutes after, so students can chat with each other and ask you questions, as they would before and after an in-person class.

*The pandemic is an ongoing challenge*

I mentioned teaching to a “sea of black boxes” above. Does that sound familiar? Teaching remotely can be challenging, but there are many engagement options in both the synchronous and asynchronous space. It may be tempting to convince yourself that none of your students are paying attention in Zoom and that you need to require a webcam. Or it may be easy to give up if students become disengaged in asynchronous discussion forums a few weeks into the semester. At this time, when it remains hard for many of us to stay engaged, remain flexible and understanding. Reach out to struggling students. We are all doing our best!

Tools and Tips for Engaging Students in Online Courses

VoiceThread

VoiceThread is an asynchronous discussion tool designed to enhance student engagement and foster presence in online courses. You can upload media in various formats and both you and your students can add comments (video, audio, text). Read our previous blog post about VoiceThread. Try using VoiceThread in the following ways: 

  • Assign a lecture to watch and allow students to comment using guiding questions 
  • Have students create their own VoiceThread presentations and comment on each other’s for peer feedback
  • Assign a group presentation – students can add individual comments and/or slides
  • Upload a case study or other document for students to comment on and ask questions about 
  • Have students critique or discuss creative works (audio, video, or text!)
  • Use in small asynchronous classes for introductions/ice breakers             

Blackboard Discussion Board

Discussion forums are commonly used in online courses. Questions that encourage critical thinking, forums for purposes other than homework, and clear expectations help to ensure your students stay engaged in the conversation. Try out the following forum ideas: 

  • General Question or “Water Cooler” forum: students can ask questions about course administration and help each other (fewer emails!)
  • Introduction forum: you and your students can get to know each other (fostering student connections is a key to success!)
  • Study Hall forum: to use prior to exams for specific questions (a TA can moderate!)
  • “Muddiest Point” (what is still unclear) forum: students can post questions after synchronous or asynchronous lectures 
  • Student Generated forum questions: to use for class discussions 
  • “Key Terms/Vocabulary” forum: generated by students 

Zoom Breakout Rooms 

Breakout rooms in Zooms can help you incorporate small group engagement in your courses. You can assign them randomly, manually, or let students choose (Zoom may need to be updated). You can assign TAs or student leaders co-host status to help manage your breakout rooms.

 Assign random pairs to breakout rooms for a quick think-pair-share. In large classes, combine with Google Docs or have only a few pairs share

  • Pre-assign small groups for a structured, 20-minute in class activity 
  • Utilize synchronous class time for groups to work together on a long-tern project

Polling & Quizzing 

In both synchronous and asynchronous learning environments, frequent quizzing and polling can help keep students engaged. Zoom polling is already built in!

  • Add multiple choice polls to your Zoom meetings Use other polling tools such as Kahoot or PollEverywhere (limited free usage)
  • Create weekly quizzes in Blackboard for asynchronous classes 
  • Use TurningTechnologies “clickers” remotely

Google Docs

Google Docs are a great way to foster collaboration in your courses. Think of creative ways to incorporate docs, sheets, slides, and other Google apps.

  • Have students produce work together such as an infographic or concept map
  • Ask your students to share their “muddiest point” at the end of class

Echo360 

Echo360 is a lecture streaming/capture/recording/active learning tool you can use to record lectures and foster student engagement.

  • Add a variety of quiz questions to your lecture
  • Students can indicate which parts are unclear with “flags”

What has worked well in your courses?

Contact CELT and request a consultation if you would like to discuss with us how you can best incorporate engagement tools and strategies. 

 

References

 

 

Strategies for Shortened Terms

Instructional Design, Online Learning, , , ,

 Linda UngerLinda Unger, Senior Instructional Designer

Preparing your online course for winter term? Worried about how to maintain the academic rigor without overwhelming yourself and your students?

Here are some strategies for shortened terms that might help.

Course Design Tips:

  • Organize your content into topical modules, rather than “weeks.” For example, in the fall semester each week might consist of 1 topic, but you can easily double or triple up on topics to teach in winter or summer. 
  • For modules with more than one topic, you can provide students with a choice in topics and have them present to the whole group so students are learning from each other and covering more than one facet of the course.
  • If you use Blackboard’s Date Restrictions to reveal new content in stages, consider overlapping dates so students can work slightly ahead. For example, if module 2 normally ends on Sunday night, you can open module 3 on Saturday instead of Monday.
girl looking at laptop chewing pencil
Image by Jan Vašek from Pixabay

Assessment/Feedback: 

  • Consider using frequent quizzes, short one-paragraph “checks for understanding,” or discussion boards  to help students gauge their own progress.
  • Grade assignments quickly so that students have the benefit of your feedback before it’s too late  to improve their performance.

Workload: 

  • Use an online workload calculator to get a handle on how realistic your expectations are, especially for a winter or summer term. Then think about whether you can trim anything while keeping the essentials of the course. 
  • The New York Department of Education has some guidelines for determining time on task.

Does everything in a regular 14-week term need to be identical in a 6- week or 3-week? Might it be counterproductive in an accelerated term? Can anything be omitted? Try this filtering process for examining the course content*:

Filtering Content

One to two weeks before the course starts:

  • Prepare and send out your syllabus as a Word/PDF attachment. This gives students a chance to buy books and get a jump start on the readings. It also sets the tone for an accelerated term.
  • Send out a link to a welcome video where you briefly introduce yourself and your course. Here’s an example. 
  • Allow students to post an introduction in the discussion board or VoiceThread so they can get to know their classmates.
  • Open the Blackboard site early** so students can access your lectures and other materials. Make the assignment dues dates explicit. You’d be surprised to know that experienced online students will take advantage of this.
  • Cheerlead! Use the Announcements tool in Blackboard to encourage your students to log in early and often. Post an announcement and send it to students’ email addresses. Tell them how much you want them to succeed in the course.

 

*Description of Filtering Content image

**Note: Blackboard will be down for critical system maintenance from December 27, 2020 – January 4, 2021. Consider emailing some readings, etc. to the students with your syllabus so they can get started prior to Blackboard’s availability. While Blackboard is unavailable, you can download a list of your student’s emails from SOLAR. 

 

Online Assessment, Through an Equity Lens

Assessment, Equity and Inclusion, , ,

Carol Hernandez  Carol Hernandez, Senior Instructional Designer

Online assessment is an equity issue. Right now, the majority of us are doing some, if not all, of our teaching and learning online while at the same time, all of us are living through a global pandemic. But we are not all facing the same barriers. COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting people in low income groups and those who are members of racial and ethnic minorities (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). In addition to facing an increased risk of becoming ill, and experiencing job, food, and housing insecurities, these circumstances have also exacerbated the digital divide–the gap in technology and internet access that already existed between wealthy and poor households (Ramsetty & Adams, 2020).

person typing on laptop in the dark with a mask
Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay

What does this have to do with assessment? Everything. Oftentimes we hear the word assessment, and immediately think of multiple choice exams and grades. This may lead to assuming that exams must be synchronous, proctored, timed, or otherwise “controlled” to prevent cheating and to ultimately ensure academic honesty (Hubler, 2020). However, we may not be aware that these approaches could also place extra burdens on already marginalized students. How? If a student does not have access to technology, Wi-Fi, and other resources, such as a private, dedicated workspace with a video camera and an open schedule that does not include working or caring for family members, a synchronous proctored online exam could be out of reach (if not impossible). A recent Pew Research study found that low-income parents of school-aged children expect to experience at least one of these three digital obstacles: having to complete schoolwork on a cell phone, having to use public Wi-Fi, and not having a computer in the home (Vogels, 2020). 

When designing assessments, it’s important to remember that the types of controls that can be enforced in a physical setting may not be ideal for an online setting. This challenges us to think in new ways about how to conduct assessments that take into consideration not only the online environment, but also the associated factors that result in COVID-19 disparities in the lives of our students. Earlier this year, Montenegro and Jankowski (2020) discussed the need to embed equity into the assessment practice. Now that we are all living through the pandemic, this concept has taken on a greater sense of urgency. 

According to Singer-Freeman, Hobbs, & Robinson (2019), “timed tests that use closed-ended questions and are completed in groups [synchronously] have the greatest potential to reveal false achievement gaps,” and fail to reflect a student’s true competence (p. 15). This points to less equity for students. However, assessments that use open-ended test questions and projects with real-world applications, such as reflective writing, ePortfolios, and research experiences, increase equity for students.  

One way to bring equity into the process of designing assessments is to reframe them as a way to see how students have transformed as a result of learning what we are teaching (Ambrose, Bridges, DiPietro, Lovett, & Norman, 2010). In doing so, we open the door to more creative ways to document student progress. Furthermore, in an online environment, there are arguably an increased number of opportunities for students to show or demonstrate their newly acquired knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Students can create, present, write, problem solve, and collaborate via the tools that are already available to them through Blackboard or Google Suite. 

Here are three approaches to keep in mind when designing equity-minded assessments for the online classroom.

  1. Asynchronous. This avoids having students all try to take the same exam at the same time (Cohn & Seltzer, 2020). Is there a way to keep it open for a period of days so students are able to log in when they have the time and access to Wi-Fi or the technology they will need? Better yet, is there a way to randomize the questions or provide choices of assessment questions or types so that students are not all taking the same assessment?
  2. Open-ended, reflective, relevant to real-world applications. This option takes into account the different challenges that students may be facing and invites them to make the course concepts relevant to their own professional or academic goals. For example, students may interview a practitioner already in the field, may create a plan for addressing a case study, or work with a partner to solve a problem or create a presentation for their peers.
  3. Frequent, low-stakes, iterative, scaffolded. Is it possible to break up a project into a series of low-stakes chunks that students submit steadily throughout the semester? In this way, both you and your students can see their progress increase steadily rather than waiting for one or two high-stakes exams that may not reflect their true competency.

For more ideas and strategies, watch this presentation, Assessment Through a Lens of Inclusion in Times of COVID-19, or email us at CELT@stonybrook.edu and set up a consultation.

References

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Jossey-Bass.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, July 24). Health equity considerations and racial and ethnic minority groups. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-ethnicity.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fneed-extra-precautions%2Fracial-ethnic-minorities.html

Cohn, J., & Seltzer, B. (2020). Teaching effectively during times of disruption, for SIS and PWR. Retrieved from bit.ly/stanfordteachingdisruption

Hubler, S. (2020, May 10). Keeping online testing honest? Or an Orwellian overreach? The New York Times. Retrieved from https://nyti.ms/2LcnKz7

Montenegro, E., & Jankowski, N. A. (2020, January). A new decade for assessment: Embedding equity into assessment praxis (Occasional Paper No. 42). National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA). Retrieved from https://www.learningoutcomesassessment.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/A-New-Decade-for-Assessment.pdf

Ramsetty, A., & Adams, C. (2020). Impact of the digital divide in the age of COVID-19. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 27(7), 1147-1148.

Singer‐Freeman, K., Hobbs, H., & Robinson, C. (2019). Theoretical matrix of culturally relevant assessment. Assessment Update, 31(4), 1-16.

Vogels, E., A. (2020). 59% of U.S. parents with lower incomes say their child may face digital obstacles in schoolwork. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/10/59-of-u-s-parents-with-lower-incomes-say-their-child-may-face-digital-obstacles-in-schoolwork/

 

Using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework to Reflect on Online Course Design

Instructional Design, Online Learning, , ,

Troy Priest  Troy Priest, Senior Instructional Designer

Over the past few months as courses have moved from face-to-face to remote online, both faculty and students have had to –  for better or for worse –  adapt to the new format. Whether moving to remote, synchronous classes or to fully online, asynchronous courses, the transition has many faculty rethinking their course design. Many are reevaluating how they teach their courses and what they need to do to engage students when they may no longer meet at a scheduled time or in a physical space. 

Shifting your course from face-to-face to online requires more than just using technologies to move your content online. It requires reflection and careful consideration on how you might adapt and redesign elements of your course to engage students as a community of learners. 

One useful model for informing our course (re)design is the Community of Inquiry Framework (CoI) (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2000; Garrison & Arbaugh, 2007). A Community of Inquiry is a group of learners who through collaboration and discussion construct meaning and understanding. The CoI framework lays out a collaborative-constructivist approach to the learning experience which consists of three essential and interdependent elements – teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence (Community of Inquiry Framework, n.d.). 

Community of Inquiry
Matbury, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Teaching Presence

Within the CoI framework, teaching presence can be established by thoughtful and evidence-based instructional design principles. Careful course design, active facilitation, and direct instruction work together to promote social and cognitive processes to achieve meaningful learning. This requires us to rethink our assumptions about how our courses should be designed and delivered in the online space to engage students. We have to ask ourselves, will what I do in the face-to-face course work well in my online course? 

Some factors to consider in the design and implementation of the online course are:

  • Facilitating student learning through discussion boards/VoiceThreads – giving consideration to the ways you want students to participate and how you will moderate those discussions
  • Providing students with frequent, timely, and formative feedback
  • Determining the layout of the course in Blackboard or Learning Management System (LMS) – thinking about how will students engage in the content, where they will find pertinent information, and being explicit about what students need to do to succeed

Social Presence

Garrison (2009, p. 352) describes social presence as “the ability of participants to identify with the community (e.g., course of study), communicate purposefully in a trusting environment, and develop interpersonal relationships by way of projecting their individual personalities.“ With careful consideration and intentional instructional design, we can create and facilitate social presence in an online learning environment. 

Some ways we can create social presence are by: 

  • Projecting our teaching persona via regular Blackboard announcements, welcome video and/or course or module overview videos (using  Zoom, VoiceThread, or Echo 360) thus modeling behavior for our students
  • Developing course activities that allow the class to establish trust and rapport facilitated through the use of icebreakers, discussion boards, and group and collaborative assignments and projects
  • Offering virtual office hours via Zoom

Cognitive Presence

Cognitive presence relates to the extent that learners are able to construct meaning through discourse and reflection. By conveying the big ideas we want students to know and carefully designing activities and assessments around those activities.  

Ways to develop cognitive presence are by:

  • Providing frequent formative assessment and meaningful feedback
  • Articulating clear and measurable learning objectives for the course and modules
  • Using a variety of teaching methods, media, and modalities with multiple opportunities for practice and reflection to achieve the learning outcomes
  • Encourage critical and creative thinking where students question their own assumptions, consider diverse perspectives, and respond to open-ended questions through online discussions and reflections

The CoI can be a useful framework when thinking about (re)designing your online course. If you would like more information about the CoI or you would like to consult with one of our instructional designers to talk about your courses, please contact us at CELT@stonybrook.edu

 

References: 

Community of Inquiry Framework (n.d.) Purdue University Innovative Learning. Retrieved November 3, 2020, from https://www.purdue.edu/innovativelearning/supporting-instruction/portal/files/4_Community_of_Inquiry_Framework.pdf

Garrison, D. R. (2009). Communities of inquiry in online learning. In Encyclopedia of Distance Learning, Second Edition (pp. 352-355). IGI Global.

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (1999). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The internet and higher education, 2(2-3), 87-105.

Garrison, D. R., & Arbaugh, J. B. (2007). Researching the community of inquiry framework: Review, issues, and future directions. The Internet and higher education, 10(3), 157-172.

 

Remote and Blended and Flipped…Oh My!

Instructional Design, Online Learning, , , ,

Jennifer Jaiswal  Jennifer Jaiswal, Instructional Designer & Sr Instructional Technologist 

yellow brick road with grass and trees to each side
“follow the yellow brick road” by kinseikun is marked with CC0 1.0

With COVID-19 shaking up education, we struggle with the means to express what learning experiences we are creating for our students and identifying the type of learning

experience we are looking to create. Some of the terms have multiple meanings and may leave you feeling like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz lost in the Forest of Wild Beasts. Let’s start to identify some of these terms and find our way towards the Emerald City.

  • Distance learning/education is when learning takes place and the instructor and the students are not physically together. This can take place in many forms and the style of learning dates back to the 18th century where students would be sent packets of readings and send back completed tasks to be graded (Holmberg, 2005). These university correspondence courses were in extension programs as a way to engage students that were not near the campus. In modern times, distance learning and education is an overarching term that encompasses many different styles of learning and is a way of addressing the field as a whole.

 

  • Online Learning is when students interact with instructors and students through the use of online technologies including, but not limited to Blackboard, Echo360, VoiceThread and Zoom. Online learning is not a specific style of learning but describes that the students are not together and that the learning is taking place using online modalities. One of the key features of traditional online learning is that all content needs to be more planned, designed, and more fully developed prior to the start of term, especially in asynchronous courses. Having the course as a whole completed prior allows time to focus on delivery, creating engagement in the course, and addressing student concerns. The courses are built to follow a consistent format and layout so that students have an easier time finding where all the content is and navigating the course sites. Online learning breaks into two main styles, synchronous, where learning is focused around a set of scheduled meetings, and asynchronous, where learning takes place at the learner’s pace.

 

  • Synchronous courses are online courses where students and faculty meet at set times using a technology like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet to communicate with each other. Many synchronous classes provide students with the opportunity to ask questions of faculty and teaching assistants. They can also interact with their peers live in the chat or in breakout rooms. Synchronous gives the closest experience to a face-to-face class since it has scheduled dates and times, the instructor can present content from their computers, and there can be live discussions with the students during the session. Synchronous courses can also have asynchronous components where students are engaging with content outside of the active course time or participating in activities that take place over a period of time.

 

  • Asynchronous courses do not have required scheduled live meetings. All content is posted online through a technology like Blackboard and the students interact with content at their own pace with a weekly style schedule to encourage them to stay on pace together as a community. Typically, these courses are completely built prior to the course start to allow the instructor to focus on the delivery and student engagement while the course is running. In planning these courses faculty may use: readings, videos, and discussions to introduce topics and foster student engagement. Asynchronous courses can include synchronous components like optional live sessions where students can interact with students and the instructor and are recorded for students who are not able to attend.

 

  • Blended learning is a combination of face-to-face and online learning techniques. Blended courses have a specific set of days where the instructor and students are meeting in person to discuss topics related to the course. These in-person sessions may be less frequent then a traditional face-to-face course and may use online asynchronous activities during the weeks that course does not meet face-to-face. Blended learning can also be referred to as Hybrid. 

 

  • Hybrid learning can also be used to define learning where some students are in the classroom and some are connecting virtually. Since the start of the pandemic, many in person courses have turned into hybrid so that students can still attend class even if they are quarantined or remote.  

 

  • Flipped learning is an approach that can take place in face-to-face classes or online synchronous sessions. Traditional classes are framed so that the in-person class time is when students gain content and knowledge and the out of class time is when you work developing your proficiencies and applying the knowledge learned in class. Flipped uses the opposite model where students are provided with readings, videos, and content to help frame the learning activities that will take place during the in-person sessions. This gives the faculty the opportunity to engage with the students synchronously, either virtually or in-person, and students can learn problem solving and application skills. It allows the students to get immediate feedback from peers and faculty on their process and make changes early to how they are engaging with the content and applying it.

 

  • Remote Emergency Instruction or Emergency Remote Teaching is a term that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. While Remote Emergency Instruction can take advantage of synchronous and asynchronous components, the main difference is the planning. Many courses are only partially complete, and the instructor is building the course while they are delivering it. This is not a recommended method for teaching as it can be difficult to build and deliver the course at the same time. Pre-pandemic, some faculty used the same strategies when campuses closed due to snow. 

Do you feel as though you have made it through the forest and see Oz in the distance? If you have questions please reach out to CELT and let us know how we can help with the delivery of your courses.

References

Holmberg B. (2005). The Evolution, Principles and Practices of Distance Education. Bibliotheks- und Informationssystem der Universität Oldenburg. 

Sener, J. (2015, August 17). E-Learning Definitions. Retrieved November 06, 2020, from https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/updated-e-learning-definitions-2/