Inside-out Outside-in: Teaching and Learning Online

Reem Al-MahmoodRMIT Seminar30 July 2004

Faculty of EducationUniversity of Melbourne

© 2004 Reem Al-Mahmood

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Outline

Reflective Practice

1. Who 2. Why

3. What students say

4. So what?

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Who and Why?

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Online Learning In Australia

Australia is a leader in online learning with many international prizes

90% online courses offered at PG level (Bell et al. 2002)

AUTC has called for a National Centre of Excellence for E-learning Research (DEST 2002: section 219 “Striving for Quality: Learning, Teaching and Scholarship”)

Initiatives on accessibility and access….

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Universities in Change

Globalisation (Edwards & Usher 2000)

Mass educationTeaching and learning paradigm shifts ICT knowledge transformationsMultimodal literacies (Kress 2003)

Life-long learningPostmodern university (Raschke 2002)

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Leading to Changes in

Student/

Lecturer

Being

Knowing Acting

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Main Research Focus

Student

Identities

Empowerment Engagement

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Some Paradigm Shifts

Visibility

Privacy

Globalisation

Space

Place

Pedagogy

KnowledgeSelf

Identity

Em

pow

erm

en

t

Engagement

Online Learners

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Research Sub-ThemesIDENTITIES

Mediated, Negotiated, Multiple, Created, (Re)shaped, Professional…

NEXUS between Knowledge/ Power/ Identity…

ONLINE EXPERIENCE

Enabling

Empowering

Inspiring…

Spatiality Temporality

Formal/ Informal learning places/

spaces…

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In essence my aim is:

To ENRICH understanding of online learner experiences in terms of identity,

engagement and empowerment

To REFLECT on having lived life “From both sides now” (online educator & online

student)!

To CONTRIBUTE to national/ international global talk on online

teaching & learning

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Through the looking screen!

“Curiouser and curiouser!”

Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).

17http://www.horacek.com.au/topic.htm

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Some student issues

PresenceAccess & equityEmpowermentMetacognitivePedagogical

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Presence/ Visibility/ Invisibility

I wish you wouldn’t keep appearing and vanishing so suddenly; you make one quite giddy!” “All right,” said the Cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone.

I shall be too late!”

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CMC issues- The mad hatter’s tea party

"Nobody asked your

opinion."

"This is the stupidest tea party

that I ever was at in all my life!"

"There's plenty of room! I didn't know it was your table;

it's laid out for a great many more than three."

"You shouldn't talk."

"You should learn not to make personal remarks; it's very rude."

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I'm glad they've begun asking riddles."

At least I mean what I say; that's the same thing, you know."

"Come, we shall have some fun now!

Come back!” the Caterpillar called after her. “I’ve something important

to say!”

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Metaphors

… it’s totally addictive.

Far away on the very far end of a

long string.

It’s like being in charge of things…working in

my space.

Invisibility – do you know who I

am?

A Cold dark cell! You don’t know

what’s going on in the outside world

with very little interaction except

for the ‘guard’ coming along to

feed you your meal!

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Information overload!!

“...a huge river flowing... it's like riding the rapids, you've got to get in a boat and you've gotta keep going – you have to keep that boat moving along the river of information because

if you ever stop you're going to go down (G:I.5.1)”.

Burge (1993)

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“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?' 'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat 'I don't much care where-' said Alice 'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the

Cat '-so long as I get somewhere,' Alice added as an explanation. 'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, 'if only you walk long

enough."

Alice

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Some staff stances

Neutral?Booster?Oppositional?Sceptical?Transformational?

Fox & Hermann 2000

Where are you?

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http://www.curlyflat.net/website.gif

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Gilly Salmon’s

5-Step Model

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DEVELOPMENT evaluating benefits

INTERACTIONlooking for purpose

INTERACTIONlooking for purpose

INFORMATION EXCHANGEseeking and giving

ACCESS AND MOTIVATIONsetting up and getting started

ON-LINE SOCIALISATIONfeeling comfortable

SUPP

OR

TM

OD

ER

ATIN

G

LEARNING

http://www.atimod.com/presentations/download/mod2a.ppt

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spark

invitation

interaction

From Salmon

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What will our roles be? E-moderator Online negotiator Online host Personal learning trainer Convenor Conductor Online manager E-police Online chair Online leader E-teacher E-Master Faceless facilitator Tele-tutor Online Gardener…..

What skills will we need?

Interpersonal Technical Communication Content Expertise …..

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1. Move beyond the comfort zones Look at what is possible! Consider the full potential of the web beyond

‘glorified text’! Explore blogging and wikis! The danger is to stay within the boundaries of

how we were taught online! Explain things from an outsider’s perspective! Consider the local and the global! Deal with the unexpected!

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2. Inspire, interact and establish presence Communicate inspiration and enthusiasm! ‘Walk the talk’! Show commitment! Learn through conversations! Be more visible to students! Make it socially rewarding! Engender fun! Establish student web presence through web

publishing and web pages! Ask for feedback and be proactive! Pause before responding to any written text and

assume the best intentions! Remember the person at the other end of the text! Welcome students online!

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Ethics in computinghttp://ethics.csc.ncsu.edu/

Move beyond ‘glorified text’!

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3. Assessment issues

Be explicit and clear about expectations! Use more reflective and formative assessment! Provide individual private weekly feedback! Create a synchronous event(s) to get people to

feel they belong! Address different learning styles! Use constructivist approaches! Make discussion forums compulsory! Pedagogy should drive the technology!

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Beyond lecture notes! Web casts Debates Discussion forums Problem-based learning Guest lectures Link-ups to other uni’s/ conferences International guest lectures Games/ Conferences Personae Metaphors See Hudson e.g. Beyond the Jungle Syndrome Peer feedback Paired responses/ interaction …..

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4. Technical aspects

‘Find’ all the online students in the first few weeks. Be proactive, so as not to lose anyone!

Get it absolutely right!Anticipate!

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5. Learn about your own practices & preferences! Stretch these comfort zones Gunawardena (2001: 119) highlights that

“teachers reflections on facilitating online learning experiences provide an excellent means of engaging in practitioner evaluation and understanding the successes, frustrations, and messiness of online projects….one technique that has worked well for me is to work collaboratively with colleagues who have participated in online projects to reflect on and write about our own experiences”.

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It’s all about INTERACTION and NOT the technology!

“…. The role of technology is not to be delivery system but rather to be an environment that enables learning. The role of teaching is not simply to convey information but rather to engage students in actively constructing knowledge.”

(Olgren, 2000: 15).

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Essentially…

“… effective teaching requires two-way communication, not one-way ‘broadcasting’.…”

(Ballantyne et al., 1999: 248)

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Essence of Constructivist principles

“I can define teaching in one word: teaching is ‘conversation’. This is a very basic concept for me so when I structure my learning activities, they revolve around engagement and conversation. Even independent learning takes place in social context…”

(Ballantyne et al., 1999: 248).

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“The teacher, or if you wish the facilitator, plays a key role throughout the e-learning experience – even when the discourse and activities are controlled by the students. The teacher is an ever-present and key person, managing and monitoring the process. We suggest that teacher presence is a necessary part in both formal and non-formal learning contexts.”

(Garrison & Anderson, 2003: 75).

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“We learn, I believe, not from texts or other resources, but from someone. The best online resources take account of this: you have the feeling that there is somebody there, that the writers have taken care to put themselves into the production process at the level of some detail … this is produced by people who have a deep love of knowledge which is expressed not just intellectually but aesthetically. The choice of font, the layout of the pages, the use of graphics are all consequences of a deep sense of purpose. ..”

(Walker 1997 cited in Johnson 2003: online)

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Explore and evaluate!-1

Examples of the web used for learninghttp://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tl/about.htmlhttp://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/

Teaching and learning on the webhttp://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tl/index.html

Advanced Computer Systemshttp://www-ist.massey.ac.nz/~crjessho/comp_arch/

World Lecture Hall (Free Online Course material)http://www.utexas.edu/world/lecture/

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Explore and evaluate!-2

Higher-Ed Webquesthttp://edweb.sdsu.edu/Courses/ED810/wq3.htm

What is really true? A lesson in constructivismhttp://www.nowhereroad.com/gallery/simschool/constructlesson.html

Culture Gramshttp://www.culturegram.com

Australian Flexible Learning Frameworkhttp://

www.learnscope.anta.gov.au/LearnScope/home.asp

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Explore with the online energy!

It’s crazy to say that there’s chemistry in an online course, but there is!