RSA #4

Teachers Make the Move to the Virtual World

Katie Ash

Education Digest January 2011

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One of the most essential elements to successful learning in an online or “distance” class is that the student feels a sense of belonging to a community.  The topic of module 7 is this crucial component of community engagement.  How are these relationships  amongst students and teachers formed in a way that self-reflective, or transformative learning occurs?  Palloff and Pratt (2007) suggest that expansive questioning can help engage learners.  “Questions posed in the online environment need to be the jumping off point of a discussion promoting deep exploration of a topic and the development of critical thinking skills.” (p. 171).  Another method of making the students partake in an integral way is the use of feedback.  “The ability to give meaningful feedback, which helps others think about the work they have produced, is not a naturally acquired skill.  It must be taught, modeled, and encouraged by the instructor.” (Palloff & Pratt, 2007, p.177)  Other forms of collaboration my include resource sharing and collaborative writing.  “Consequently, it is important that the instructor on an online course pay close attention to ways collaboration can be incorporated and facilitated throughout the course.” (Palloff & Pratt, 2007, p.183)

In her article from Education Digest, Katie Ash reports on how a few online teaching pioneers dealt with the issue of community engagement. Jim Kinsella, who first began teaching at what is now the Illinois Virtual School in 2001, feels that making the transition from a regular to an online class is about more than technology. he”requires students to initiate contact with him by phone or through Skype at least once a week.” (Ash, 2011)  Matt Lozano, who works with the Virtual High School (VHS) Global Consortium, says the way his online courses are structured, the students are “being required to express themselves more than a lot of my kids in the fact-to-face classroom would.” (Ash, 2011) Liz Pape, who is the president of VHS, claims that her new online teachers “reported a greater emphasis on higher-order thinking skills in online discussions” as the “teacher is helping and fostering community, communication, and collaboration.” (Ash, 2011)  Pape recommends the use of open-ended questions for more active engagement in online assessment.

As a science teacher, I was at first taken aback by Lozano’s comments on self-expression in the online class.  How could those students possibly need to express themselves more than they would in my class by performing an experiment, documenting results and synthesizing a conclusion?  As I read through the article, however, and linked it to this weeks readings, I see how that idea is logical.  The types of questions posed by an online instructor can indeed push the students’ responses into higher level thinking, as Pape and Palloff & Pratt, believe.  Additionally, the feedback given and received in a distance class is crucial to success.  Having gone back and read comments and postings made by me and by other members of this class truly makes me think we were not taught how to respond to each other in ways that could actually launch a discussion.  Again, as Palloff & Pratt say, “it is not a naturally acquired skill.”  Perhaps we need to be saying less, “I really like...” and more “Have you considered...”

References:

Ash, K.  “Teachers Make the Move to the Virtual World.”  Education Digest, January, 2011.  Vol 76    

Issue 5, p32-34.

Palloff, R., and Pratt, K. Building Online Learning Communities: Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom. (2nd ed.) San Francisco:  Jossy-Bass.

Resource Sharing Blog #3

Resource Sharing Blog #3

Encouraging social presence and a sense of community in a virtual residential school

Kathleen Robinson

ISSN: 02680513

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Online Learning-Benefits & Challenges

This week’s reading introduces the less technical and more social component of online learning communities. The differences between traditional and distance learning are explored, with a great deal of emphasis placed on the interactions among faculty, students, and collaborative learning that takes place.  Psychological and physical limitations, such as internet addictions, lack of visual and verbal cues, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other physical ailments are discussed. Social presence, which is basically an online learner’s portrayal of themselves as a ‘real’ person (Pallett & Pratt, 2007) is explored in great depth.

Can Social Presence Be Measured?

In her article, Kathleen Robinson reports on a study held at The Open University in the UK.  Through its research the school found that traditional residential schools obtained high ratings for helpfulness  and impact on educational goals.  Faced with the comments of “lack of motivation for face-to-face contact”(Robinson, 2009) the school attempted to measure an increase in social presence by adding an optional feature to one of its virtual residential school (VRS) classes. Students in a psychology class were given the chance to download interviews with working psychologists in the field and then participate in online asynchronous discussions.  Out of the nearly 600 students enrolled in the class, almost 200 took part in this optional activity.  While 23 participants engaged in the online discussion, 110 students read the posts.  

Using a social presence model which takes in to consideration the affective, interactive, and cohesive factors of online or distance learning, (Roarke et al, 1999) the activity logs of the detailed analysis of the First Class software and Moodle platform, indicate that although the elements of social presence were consistently present, more students were listening rather than contributing to the chats.  Those who participated in the extended interview activity generally found it interesting and helpful, and the survey data  indicated the students benefitted.

Analysis

In both our assigned reading and in Robinson’s article, the concept of social presence is explored.  The social components of online learning, collaboration, and community are seen as the contributing factors to success in distance learning.  It is not just what you learn but how you learn.  I was absolutely fascinated by the readings, not only because the material is so new to me, but also by the thought, preparation, and research that goes into online learning.  Virtual learning has come quite a distance since I took an online physics class in 1989,  when internet accessibility was the exception, rather than the norm.

References

Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building Online Learning Communities-Effective Strategies for the Virtual 

     Classroom. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.(Jossey-Bass).

Roarke, L., Anderson, T., Garrison, D>R>, & Archer, W. (1999) Assessing social presence in    

     asynchronous text-based computer conferencing.  The Journal of Distance Education, 14(2), 50-71.

Robinson, K. (2009) Encouraging social presence and a sense of community in a virtual residential school.  Open Learning, 24(2), 127-139.

Module 3 RSB#2


Writing SMART Objectives and Strategies That Fit the ROUTINE
Lee Ann Jung


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When a professional learning community agrees upon SMART(O'Neill & Conzemius, 2005) goals to narrow their focus they have taken the steps to become more results orientated and ensure that they are meeting the learning needs of all students, as well as aligning district goals to state standards. SMART goals "provide clarity regarding why the work is to be done,"(Dafour, Dafour, Eaker, and Many, 2010) and successful teams will be supplied with the means to achieve and assess their goals.  I was intrigued by the use of SMART goals and decided to research articles that show their implementation in the real teaching world.  I came across an article which used the SMART acronym and used similar terminology, but had different components for some of the words. 


Six-year-old Masie is a special needs student in a rural area.  One of the goals on her IEP involves improving communication skills.  Using her version of SMART goals, Jung enables the resource team and Masie's family to work together to write an effective goal. While the goal is specific, measurable, and attainable it is also "routine-based(R) and tied to a functional priority(T)." (Jung, 2007)  A goal that establishes functional priority uses phrases such as "so that" and "in order to."  Once the goal is established, a plan must be created to delineate the specific things people will do to support the objective. This is her ROUTINE, which stands for:


          Routine-based
          Outcome-related
          Understandable
          Trans-disciplinary
          Implemented by teachers and family
          Non-judgmental
          Evidence-based


In "Writing SMART Objectives and Strategies That Fit the ROUTINE," Lee Ann Jung creates her own SMART acronym and puts the focus on the "micro" rather than the "macro" approach to goal setting. She applies the PLC goal setting to an individual student and takes those goals a step further by creating ROUTINE, an acronym whose elements support her SMART goals. The goals and objectives indicate the routines while the "strategies explain what everyone will do during those routines to support the goals and objectives."(Jung ,2007) Both applications of SMART goals are useful in PLC and individual student use and can be adapted for many educational and professional purposes.  Jung's version can be applied to both exceptional and regular classroom children as well as to a PLC. Her use of ROUTINE strategies seem to be more useful in a resource setting since she concentrates on the interaction and shared mission of the school and home settings.


References:
DaFour, R.,  DaFour, R., Eaker, R., Many, T. (2010) Learning By Doing, Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press, p.158
Jung, L. A., Writing SMART Objectives and Strategies That Fit the ROUTINE TEACHING Exceptional Children March/April 2007 p. 54-58
Lazarus, A. (2004) Reality check:  Is your behavior aligned with organizational goals? The Physician Executive, 30(5), p. 50-52.
O"Neill, J., & Conzemius, A. (2005) The power of SMART goals:  Using goals to improve student learning.  Bloomington, IN:Solution Tree Press

RSA#1 Module 2

Coherent Instructional Improvements and PLC’s:  Is It Possible to Do Both?

David Jacobson

Phi Delta Kappan, March 2010.  Vol 91 Issue 6.  p36-45

ISSN#00317217J

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While the first module lays the groundwork for establishing professional learning communities, module two argues the need  for a commitment to the learning of each student for the PLC to be successful.  Essential questions such as “What is it we want our students to learn?” and “How will we know when each student has learned it?” are asked(DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, and Many 2010).  The case for the use of common formative assessments and essential learning to drive curriculum is made.  In “Sustaining School Improvement:  Professional Learning Community (McREL, 2003) “the dynamic interaction of shared practice and collective inquiry is perhaps the most essential aspect of a professional learning community.”

In the March 2010 issue of Phi Delta Kappan, David Jacobson argues that although both approaches have their merits, they also have their faults.  “The strength of each approach is the other’s weakness,” he writes in “Coherent Instructional Improvement and PLCs: Is It Possible to Do Both?”(p.38).  He explains that the advantage an inquiry-based approach is that the educators develop their own questions and teaching strategies.  While it is easier for the teachers who use this model to have more of a sense of ownership, the downfall is the lack of leadership and direction.  On the other end of the spectrum, the PLC that focuses on grade-level teams, content-area teams, vertical curricular teams, and common formative assessments tends to have “a tighter, more structured, and more top-down feel”(Jacobson p.39).  He asserts that the “results-oriented concept (like the one proposed in Learning by Doing, DaFour et all, 2006) can easily become too assessment driven.” (Jacobson p.40.)

The case is made for a PLC model that takes the best of both approaches, creating a Common Priorities Synthesis.  It gives the inquiry-based approach the direction and leadership it lacks while giving the results-oriented approach the freedom and ownership it lacks.  Jacobson’s model allows the educators to both collaboratively design effective lessons and assessments. It “provides support for inquiry-oriented projects within a structure of vertically aligned essential standards and common assessments,” while honoring “resident expertise and (creating) ample opportunities to build on that expertise by incorporating effective practices and strategies into everyday classroom practice.”(Jacobson p.41)

As a complete newcomer to the concept of a PLC, I feel like a sponge.  As I read Learning By Doing it seems like such a common sense approach to teaching.  What could be simpler than knowing what you want to become, what you want to teach, how you want to teach it, and describing how you’ll know you have succeed or not?  I never thought of what was lacking in the argument until I read Jacobson’s article.  He gives validation to both PLC models in this module’s readings by highlighting their strengths, while pointing out their weaknesses.  He cleverly gives them both praise and criticism as he synthesizes their best attributes while forming his own Common Priorities Instructional Improvement PLC model.  He fills the gap in what is wrong with both the inquiry-based and results-based PLC models.  Personally, I thought Richard DaFour seemed like the PLC guru. After reading Jacobson’s article, his model seems to be the more complete and comprehensive approach to a professional learning community.

References

DuFour, Richard, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, and Thomas

Many. Learning By Doing: A Handbook for Professional

Learning Communities at Work. Bloomington, Ind.: Solution

Tree, 2010

Jaconson, David,Coherent Instructional Improvement and PLCs:  Is It Possible to Do Both?

Phi Delta Kappan,March 2010, Vol 91 Issue 6, p38-45

Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McRel) (2003)

Sustaining School Improvement:Professional Learning Community p1-4