Module 2 SoftChalk
Instructional Design Methods, Strategies and Platforms
This Soft chalk lesson will supplement your reading of Vai and Sosulski's (2011) book, and provide you with some of my additional insights. You'll have quiz questions from both the book AND this soft chalk, so it's important to study both closely.
In this Soft chalk, I'll discuss and provide activities for the following topics:
The modality of a course can be categorized as follows:
This modality of instruction is characterized as "instructor centered", in which the delivery of information happens verbally from the instructor, and the student listen passively. There are dynamic and engaging lecturers who use Socratic questioning techniques to liven up the lesson (think Robin Williams in Dead Poet's Society); however, technology is not typically used with this modality.
The use of technology to augment instruction and engage learners is known as educational technology. Teachers, faculty, and trainers now have options such as computers/projectors, document cameras, tablets and mobile devices, interactive white boards, audio/video, and access to the web via wireless access to provide Web 2.0 experiences for students. Check out the standardized technology your own professors have access to at Tarleton at:
http://online.tarleton.edu/tech_support/Technology_Enh_Classrooms.htmThis modality of instruction may include supplemental materials online (ex. course syllabus, schedule, and mail), but not typically learning materials or activities. The lecture portion of the class remains the same, and may or may not be integrated or aligned with the online portion.
A hybrid (also known as blended) course fully integrates online materials within the structure of the face-to-face course. The face-to-face meetings of the class may or may not be reduced, but the idea is that the instructor conducts lessons during scheduled class sessions and students are assigned independent and collaborative study online outside of class. Hybrid instruction has grown as online tools and Learning Management Systems have become more readily available.
Examples of hybrid learning include:
With online instruction, there are typically no face-to-face meetings, and students are presented with content and expected to apply it and demonstrate mastery in some form or fashion. The benefits of online instruction for students are likely why it has expanded, and include flexibility (real-time access that is not time or place bound), and savings (in terms of time, tuition, and travel costs). Teaching students in a fully-online format means that you need a platform/system to house and present information, communicate with students, and build in interaction opportunities - the LMS.
A Learning Management System (also known as a Course Management System) is a software application in which students and teachers engage virtually with online content and each other. Behind the scenes, it provides administrative tools for managing users, content, courses and enrollments. You'll notice my definition is worded a bit differently than Vai & Sosulski, because I want you to see both the 'front-end' and 'back-end' functions of an LMS.
Open websites can serve as online course teaching environments; however, they often do not provide the organization, administration and structure that an LMS can provide. In an open web learning environment, communication, assessment and presentation of content is fragmented across different sites and tools. Learning Management Systems solved this dilemma by blending together critically needed administration and structure with Web 2.0 tools. Watch this short video for an explanation of what I mean:
You will read more about the basic teaching/learning tools found in a LMS next week, but it is important for you to understand that most LMS' include tools like:
Think about each of the tools from both a student's and an instructor's perspective in terms of how it's used. For example, for an instructor/designer, creating an assignment means typing instructions, setting availability, due dates and settings, testing from a student view, and then grading and providing feedback for each assignment that is submitted. The student views instructions (that are hopefully explicit in what the instructor is looking for), completes the assignment, and likely uploads the finished product and submits the assignment. Then she/he awaits feedback from the instructor.
As an instructor/designer, it's critical that you be able to view your course and it's components from the learner's vantage point. Luckily for you this semester, that won't be a tall order since you all are students! ;-)
On the 'back-end' of the LMS , there are administrative tools for helping the institution or organization do things like:
Take a few minutes to google the terms below to get a feel for what they mean. Then, see if you can complete the drag-n-drop activity.
Here at Tarleton, we use one of the most popular platforms, Blackboard Learn. Blackboard is a powerful player in the LMS market because of several buy-outs of it's competitors, including not only LMS', but ancillary tools that integrate with the LMS (such as web conferencing software, student information systems, and business/analytics systems). Wikipedia provides a comprehensive overview of the company and it's rise to the top of the market. Other examples of popular platforms include Moodle, Epsilen, and Canvas.
If you're building or teaching an online course, you will hopefully be able to rely upon a great support staff who will tend to administrative/infrastructure issues like loading your students and making sure the server doesn't go down, as well as assisting you with system errors or functionality quirks (we are lucky at Tarleton to have a WONDERFUL Bb helpdesk for faculty and students). This way, and you can concentrate solely on using the teaching/learning functions of the LMS (tip - make friends with your support staff; you WILL need their help at some point in the development or teaching process).
If any of you plan to take EDTC 554 in the Spring (Teaching in Online Learning Environments), we will cover these instructional strategies in greater detail. It's important for you to understand the basics of these strategies as you develop an online course/module.
Without standards for design and teaching, we might still conduct online learning as simple text-based correspondence courses. Standards emerge from innovations and research on effective techniques and design. We now have almost a decade and a half of research for determining what makes for a effective online learning environment. Your text lists the underlying principles/theoritical framework from which the standards for online course design have been derived. Out of this research, standards have emerged that instructional designers, instructors, and administrators should use during the development and evaluation phases of creating online learning environments.
Besides the standards listed in your text, take a moment to look over the following resources related to standards and underlying principles of online course design:
Now that you have completed your assigned reading and gone through this SoftChalk, start to think about what 'key point' stands out or has special meaning to you. The KeyPoint wiki is where you will report this key point of knowledge, and provide us with a related resource, as well as a discussion for implications for designing online and hybrid courses. Don't wait until later in the week to do this, because 1) someone else may 'take' your key point, and 2) the wiki can only be edited by one user at a time, and all 21 of you waiting until the last minute will mean someone won't get it in on time.
You'll also be taking a 10 question quiz over the information from your assigned reading and this SoftChalk lesson. Good luck!