Online Learning Modules

1. Online Learning Modules Filling instructional gaps and supporting meaningful, authentic student learning

2. QUESTION: What is the problem with today’s classroom? ANSWER: Traditional methods are becoming less successful every year.

3. We need to engage students in a venue they relate to and use on a daily basis.

4. Engaging students should not be limited to the personal computer. Engaging students means that teachers need to use various and innovative forms of technology to instruct.

5. Agents of Change in Education Democratization of Knowledge – every student has access to information via the internet. Participatory Learning – collaboration using blogs and wikis are essential to engage students beyond the classroom walls. Authentic Learning – increases engagement and depth of learning using multimedia technology, analysis and word processing software. Multimodal Learning – supports learning through text and visual aids using digital storytelling. (Lemke and Coughlin, 2009).

6. How do we incorporate the agents of change in education to engage our students? Augment curriculum to fully utilize our licensing with Moodle in conjunction with coursework (known as blending).

7. Moodle Video • Moodle has features that allow it to scale to very large deployments and hundreds of thousands of students, yet it can also be used for a primary school or an education hobbyist. • Many institutions use it as their platform to conduct fully online courses, while some use it simply to augment face-to-face courses (known as blended learning). • Many of our users love to use the activity modules (such as forums, databases and wikis) to build richly collaborative communities of learning around their subject matter (in the social constructionist tradition), while others prefer to use Moodle as a way to deliver content to students (such as standard SCORM packages) and assess learning using assignments or quizzes. What is Moodle? The focus of the Moodle project is always on giving educators the best tools to manage and promote learning, but there are many ways to use Moodle. (Source: http://moodle.org/about/)

8. Students taking online courses for acceleration are more likely to experience success than those taking online courses for remediation. • Learning styles play a key role in online courses. • Academic skills, motivation, discipline and course structure are all key components to student success. Online Learning: Also known as distance learning, a well-designed course can be just as effective as face-to-face instruction with respect to student learning and satisfaction. (Cavanaugh and Clark, 2007)

9. Developing Quality Online Coursework Consider student frequency of online interaction. Consider the complexity student work during online interaction. Courses should offer quality feedback to students. Courses should maintain a good balance between the significance of content and its complexity. (Johnston, 2007)

10. Student and teacher productivity are increased. • Traditional teaching methods are enhanced for maximum impact on student learning. • Pedagogy is evaluated and revised to increase student learning. • Content is viewed in a different light and changed to accommodate the diverse needs of learners. Basic Levels of Integrating Online Learning (Gillard and Bailey, 2007)

11. Gain the support of technology and opinion leaders with realistic expectations. • Mentors demonstrate how online learning can enhance the teaching process. • Exercise positive peer pressure. • Phase in changes gradually. • Keep selling online learning. Strategies to Encourage Adoption of Online Learning (Gillard and Bailey, 2007)

12. Place emphasis on online learning’s compatibility with respect to: • Teaching style • Student needs • Faculty development • Provide training and support. • Recognize and reward faculty who champion the movement. Strategies to Encourage Adoption of Online Learning (Gillard and Bailey, 2007)

13. To accomplish this task, we need faculty mentors who will: Mentor colleagues who are apprehensive to change. Develop workshops for professional development and student training. Act as a voice for IT support services for new innovations. Augment curriculum to enhance student learning. (Gillard and Bailey, 2007)

14. Are you up for the challenge?

15. References Cavanaugh, C., & Clark, T. (2007). The landscape of K–12 online learning. In R. Blomeyer, & C. Cavanaugh (Eds.), What works in K–12 online learning (pp. 5–19). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education. Retrieved from the Walden University Library using the Education Research Complete database. Gillard, S., & Bailey, D. (2007). Technology in the classroom: Overcoming obstacles, reaping rewards. The International Journal of Learning, 14(1), 87–93. Retrieved from the Walden University Library using the Education Research Complete database. Johnston, S. (2007). Developing quality virtual courses: Selecting instructional models. In R. Blomeyer, & C. Cavanaugh (Eds.), What works in K–12 online l earning (pp. 21–31). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education. Retrieved from the Walden University Library using the Education Research Complete database. Lemke, C., & Coughlin, E. (2009). The change agents. Educational Leadership, 67(1), 54–59.