Terminology Tuesday

Lately I’ve been busying myself with an online learning opportunity, among other things (you know…things that pay the bills and put kibble in the dog’s bowl), and the concept of learning communities cropped up (more on that later) and subsequently the Community of Inquiry (COI) Model.

When I first came to work in Higher Education, I was reminded of the COI model when reviewing my first course – of which there was very little student engagement and participation. The faculty member was new to developing courses for online delivery, and their course reflected that; it looked like a straight ‘chalk-and-talk’ style conversion. In my review, I encouraged the faculty member to create a Community of Inquiry with their students and explained what I meant by that. Because I was providing my review in an academic manner, drawing on well-respected and understood concepts within the academic community, the faculty member was incredibly receptive to my revision suggestions, and I’m sure their students appreciated it! Maybe if I would have known of the COI Model when I was managing a Starbucks during my undergrad…maybe then my 16-22 year old staff members would have appreciated my criticism more…naaaah.

So, what is this Community of Inquiry Model you speak of?

The Community of Inquiry Model is a concept that takes two awesome things: scientific inquiry and the construction of knowledge and mashes them into one amazing conceptualization! In the context of education, COI is most often observed when an instructor facilitates topical discussions, allowing students to ask questions and engage with one another and bounce understanding of the topic off one another. The facilitator is important here, as they are responsible for guiding their students and keeping them on track with regard to the topic (e.g. ensuring students don’t generate incorrect information as being ‘true’ with relation to the topic).

What are some good ways of fostering COI in online learning?

1. Discussion forums – As an online student, I always loved the discussion forums! The instructor would prompt students to respond to a question (or several) in at least 500 words, and then respond to at least 2 other participants in at least 500 words. This method did just what it intended to do, generated discussion! And for me, it was a great approach to collaborative learning. If the instructor was unable to explain a concept in terms I could understand, another participant could often produce a tangible explanation for me.
2. Twitter chats – I talked about these last week (and I think the week before), but they’re really a great way of creating COI, because they allow users to participate in a palatable manner – especially if time is a concern.
3. Synchronous elements – Working at an institution that was really a pioneer in the broadcast television manner of providing distance learning opportunities, I always encourage my faculty members to include some synchronous element in their courses, and to make at least one session an attendance requirement. These are great! They allow participants to communicate with the instructor and ask questions. Some students can be hesitant to participate, so these sessions can be helpful as many students often have the same course-related questions or concerns.

But Ashley…where are my resources?!

The Community of Inquiry 

CIDER: The Community of Inquiry Webinars

The Community of Inquiry Model Framework Ten Years Later: An Introduction to the Special Issue by Karen Swan and Phil Ice

Utilizing Technology to Develop a Community of Inquiry by Nathan Hall and Michael Burri

Strategies for Creating a Community of Inquiry Through Online Asynchronous Discussions by Aimee deNoyelles, Janet Mannheimer Zydney, and Baiyun Chen 

This week’s term, microlearning, was inspired by several Twitter chats I’ve been lurking for awhile now. In times like these where information is constantly requested/searched, there’s a greater trend toward instant gratification – and the wonders of the Internet can do magic to make this happen!

Microlearning

Microlearning refers to learning that occurs in bite sized chunks or very short-term learning activities. For example, these Twitter chats. Each week, participants respond to questions posed and are able to read (and respond to) the responses of fellow participants. It’s really a great form of collaborative learning. Twitter chats are a great example, because responses occur within the constraint of 140 characters, and learners are encouraged to synthesize this information in bite-sized responses or presentation.

But who the heck would this benefit?!

Everyone involved! Well – maybe not everyone (there are always outliers), but most participants and facilitators. I’ll give you an example of how microlearning is working in an online course I worked on.

The faculty member came to me wanting to redevelop her course. She wanted to swap out some readings and make it more engaging for students. Her course consists of about 3000 pages of readings over a semester (they’re all children’s books), a midterm and final exam, and some written assignments. Holy crap! What a slave driver, you might think…the reality is not really, but I could see how students might balk at the workload. In any event, she was struggling with quality forum participation because the students were exhausted by the workload and couldn’t commit to writing lengthy posts and responses. She also tried a wiki to no avail (well – it worked, but not in an optimal manner). I suggested a Twitter chat for her; like the forum posts, she could incite participation out of a course requirement and she could require the student post one original response to the question and respond to at least two of their peers, BUT the student would only be required to write a maximum of 420 characters instead of potentially a minimum of 1500 words!

This approach benefits the faculty member in terms of her participation grading and it benefits the students by requiring less of their already taxing workload to obtain the elusive participation points (some students would just drop the participation grade of 5-10% as they were too swamped to participate, but 5-10% can mean a lot of the course of a course).

Confused by what I’m talking about? Here are some great examples and some resources!

• Lrnchat
• EdTechChat
• Microlearning.org
• Application of Microlearning Technique and Twitter for Educational Purposes by B.H. Aitchanov, A.B. Satabaldiyev, and K.N. Latuta
• Mobile Learning with Micro Content: A Framework and Evaluation by Peter A. Bruck

Next week I begin the OLC Teaching Certificate, and as a prerequisite I had to take a brief (1 week) workshop. There has been some discussion about the changing role of traditional face-to-face instructors when they begin teaching online, so I thought it might be relevant to provide my thoughts on these changing roles.

Instructor

The instructor of a class is often viewed as the Subject Matter Expert (SME), and while there are various delivery mechanisms this instructor may choose to use, instructors are often viewed as feeding students with information. Some call this a ‘banking’ model, wherein the instructor is depositing information into the bank of student minds. This is a traditional method of instruction for a reason: it’s been used for many moons, and it works. However, it’s not the only way teaching and learning can work.

Facilitator

Facilitators are often viewed as ‘a guide on the side’ in that they provide the subject matter/content to the students, but the students build upon the information collaboratively with one another. The facilitator facilitates discussions surrounding the content and keeps the students focused on the learning outcomes, but they operate in a more holistic approach.

How does this relate to online learning?

Well – in online learning, the instructor really needs to make a shift and adapt their teaching preferences according to the environment in which information is being delivered. For example, if you choose to continue with the traditional ‘banking’ style of approach in an online delivery format, your course will likely end up looking like a repository of information…which is not very engaging instructional design. In this example, you can see very clearly why the banking method doesn’t work that well for online as it does for face-to-face instruction; while, the facilitator role can work well in both contexts of delivery.

With that being said, the facilitator may need to adapt their role based on the environment in that they may need to provide more examples and explanations in the online format to mitigate the lack of face-to-face engagement.

Change is innately unwanted and there is always resistance to change, but in the interest of your audience, it’s a necessary evil!

Still confused? Here are some resources!

• The Excellent Online Instructor: Strategies for Professional Development by Rena M. Palloff 
• Army Instructors to Army Facilitators – Practical Considerations by Anna Cianciolo and William R. Bickley
• Transforming Online Teaching Practice: Critical Analysis of the Literature on the Roles and Competencies of Online Teachers by E. Baran, A-P. Correia, and A. Thompson
• Inquiry Learning: Instructor Perspectives by S. Vajoczki, S. Watt, and M. Vine

Having worked within the defence sector for many years, I became accustomed to (and sometimes exhausted by) taking a competency-based approach to learning. Life was spent swimming in Job Task Analysis (JTA) spreadsheets and ticking off boxes for various types of knowledge/skills/attitudes. Spreadsheets never made me want to cry more. However, these spreadsheets helped me ensure I was accommodating the learning of some very concrete and practical (mostly) tasks.

Competency-Based Learning

Competency-based learning involves breaking down learning into each individual task until that task is mastered. For example, screwing in a bolt requires many competencies, such as: Identify the appropriate screwdriver, insert the screwdriver into the bolt, turn the screwdriver in a clock-wise motion to tighten the bolt – etcetera. You might not think of each individual task because doing so would make your day a lot longer and exhausting, but each small task is part of a greater whole, and it’s essential to know how to perform each task before you can achieve the greater whole. The military uses this type of learning because everything is very structured and each task helps the individual achieve a greater goal – AND, when it comes to complex procedural tasks like installing a main gearbox, I’d like to think that the technician has mastered each task involved as this will enhance my overall safety as an individual who frequently flies on aircraft.

From my experience, competency-based learning often users a tell, show, do model. First, the instructor will explain the task to be completed and how to achieve the end goal. Then, the instructor will demonstrate what they have explained, showing the students exactly what they need to do. Finally, the instructor will allow students to complete the task on their own, providing feedback throughout.

Similar to my experience with military training, Starbucks training (unless it’s changed since I was a manger) is also competency-based. We would use the tell, show, do model and it was incredibly effective to break sach task into a sub-task. For example, when new beverage items were launched, this process worked very well at ensuring consistency among beverages made by employees. Why? Because competency-based learning is extremely measurable! This is why it’s often used for teaching concrete vs. abstract concepts/tasks.

Still Confused? Here are Some Resources:

Competency-Based or Personalized Learning

Using a Competency-Based Approach: Linking Core Competencies to your Business Strategy by ThinkWise

Competency-Based Approach

From Job-Based to Competency-Based Organizations by Edward E. Lawler III

Competency-Based Learning Models: A Necessary Future by Richard A. Voorhees

I’ve been meaning to record a bunch of  screencasts lately, and then it dawned on me that some of you might not know what a screencast is! What a perfect opportunity to let you all in on one of the most effective ways of explaining something digital to another individual.

So what is a screencast?

A screencast is a digital recording of what is on your computer’s monitor – a broadcast of your screen if you will. You can record these screencasts using many different tools; however, I prefer using Camtasia. There are also a few free options available that I’ve found fairly effective: Screenr.com and Screencast-o-matic.com.

Screenshot…screencast – same difference, right?

WRONG! Screenshots are static image captures of your screen content/the content displayed on your monitor. Screencasts are videos created of your screen content/the content being displayed on your monitor. Both are effective within the training industry, but if you’re like me, you probably appreciate screencasts more than you do screenshots. At least when you’re trying to learn something new.

Screencasts are great because the user only needs to access one resource to see a process from start to finish instead of scrolling through a series of step-by-step style screenshots. In my opinion, screencasts are most effective when it comes to learning complex (or new) software as you can pause, rewind, and fast-forward depending on the specific information you’re looking for.

Have any tips or tricks?

My only real piece of advice when it comes to screencasting is to SCRIPT YO’ SCREENCAST! Why? Because it makes for a more professional looking video!

Still confused? Here are some resources:

• Screencasting – Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Everything
• Screencast Wiki
• Mixing it Up with Articulate Replay Screencasts

This week I sat in on a celebration of teaching and learning workshop where the theme was geared toward understanding student differences and enhancing student experience, specifically in terms of sense of belonging and accessibility. The topic of Universal Instructional Design (UID) came up, and while I was nodding my head to the point of pulling a muscle, I think many of my colleagues were at a loss for words. Now that’s not saying they all were, but I was probably the only one sustaining injury during those slides of the presentation. As a result, I’m planning a workshop on the topic of UID. In any event, I figured that if 75 people in a small workshop were wondering about UID, I thought a pocket of the Internet might be curious too, so here we go!

Universal Instructional Design (UID)

UID involves the careful consideration of all potential learner needs in the design and development of a curriculum and/or course. It involves thinking about how you can appeal to all individuals, enhancing the user experience, without hindering the content and learning objectives. Part of the bigger problem might be that not all instructors know how to write proper learning objectives, but that’s a problem for another day.

There are seven primary principles of UID:

1. Equitable Use;
2. Flexibility in Use;
3. Simple and Intuitive;
4. Perceptible Information;
5. Tolerance for Error;
6. Low Physical Effort; and
7. Size and Space for Approach and Use.

Some camps differ in their explanation of principles for UID, but all of the above seem to be considerations in most, if not all.

Now, what this really means is that you want to appeal to the lowest common denominator (and no, I don’t mean ‘dumbing things down’). Meaning that when developing your curriculum and/or course, you should think about making it as accessible as possible. For example, if you’re a science teacher who wants to teach your students about the lifecycle of a bog, design your curriculum to bring the bog to the students instead of requiring students to attend a field trip to observe a bog in its natural habitat. While the latter might be a neat way to engage your students, it automatically excludes those who have physical hindrances (e.g. are in a wheelchair or have allergies). Instead, you can change your way of thinking (and possibly learn something yourself) by creating a small-scale bog lifecycle in the classroom! Fun and outside of the box.

In my world of distance education, I encounter a lot of faculty members who are getting stuck behind the technology and what it ‘can’t’ do, that they get stuck in their problem solving. Having been a distance student, I have good insight into ways of enhancing the student experience within distance education, and it really starts with UID. Students enrol in distance education for a variety of reasons, but one of the top reasons is: Accessibility. If students are enrolling for reasons related to accessibility, shouldn’t we be ensuring an equitable user experience to traditional classroom experiences? I should think so!

Some Helpful Resources:

• Introduction to Universal Instructional Design (UID) at the University of Guelph
• Historical, Theoretical, and Foundational Principles of Universal Instructional Design in Higher Education
• Seven Principles of Universal Instructional Design
• Universal Instructional Design
• Curriculum Transformation and Disability: Implementing Universal Design in Higher Education