Session 6- Nov 2. Instructional Design for Online Learning

Engman’s Answers for Instructional Design for Online Learning

1. What is the nature, of the dichotomy between use of the Internet as a content delivery mechanism or as a communications medium?

Newberry discussed traditional versus a modern style of online learning where traditional deals with the Internet being the primary source for delivery with this such as a Podcast (audio, video, or with a presentation like a Power Point) this style of delivery leads to more of a regurgitation style of learning, whereas I would say the modern method includes the traditional method and adds the realm of communication being the main component. Mentioned in the articles was that distance learning courses will typically fail if treated like a traditional method whereas distance learning done with the modern style must be well thought out to keep in mind communication and the mediums for delivery. Additionally with the traditional classroom or quite possibly a modern approach allows the teacher to adjust on the fly but a traditional style does not allow this freedom.

2. Mentorship
Your discussion should include:
2a. Mentorship deals with drawing out what the learner already knows like the old ‘Guide on the side’ instead of the ‘Sage on the stage’ method of teaching. Technologies that can be used to assist online would be discussion boards, Podcasts, presentations focusing on specific skills, instant messaging, Skype, and video conferencing to mention a few strategies that would work.
2b. A few strengths of mentorship include: that you build the depth of your students via teamwork and communication, you build the community of the online class, and rapid learning can take place. A few weakness of mentorship include: time lost to off task communications, plagiarism, the mentor completing the work for the student indirectly or directly, and slow responses from the mentor.
2c. Implementation of mentorship in ETEC 674 could be on the Study on the Beach forum having a section for help; students could check the forum for help. Also there could be an optional sign up for students to be a mentor and Newberry could post that below the blog or Skype list, students needing help could feel comfortable to contact the mentors. An idea from another ETEC class would have a student to moderate a forum like a discussion board for a week at a time to assist students, students could post questions and the moderator for that week could assist, but this would be more of a mandatory versus volunteer basis.

3. Newberry mentioned online courses could be evaluated via summative or formative evaluations. Some pitfalls of using only student evaluations like “what did you think about the class?” could lead you to reduce the course work load and make your class too easy for the next time you teach it. Combining personal reflection, student reflection, and research on best practices help strengthen your online courses. For example in my classroom I always have a “the good, the bad and the ugly” reflection paper at the end of each quarter that the students fill out. If I only went by what they requested, I would let them listen to music, watch online videos or play online games, unblock MySpace, and so on, but used in conjunction with my own thoughts and my own research allows me to help keep the work load manageable in my classroom. This idea can easily be adjusted to an online course and almost parallels what Newberry said in his podcast.