Mara,
Great point. You really don't know when the students is going have their question answered. I haven't really thought about that. . . .
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
David,
Do you find that your students know how to participate in the Socratic Method of learning? Several people in this discussion have mentioned it.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Cynthia,
You are correct! There are tools that can help students engage in the online environment. Many of them I now use in my f2f environment now!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Dawn,
Wow, what a wonderful environment. You are truly lucky. One point that will have to be addressed in many institutions is that the federal government is cracking down on schools that are saying courses are online and have an online fee but are delivered in more of a correspondence course delivery. This is costing institutions millions.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Lori,
It may not only be detailed but change in delivery. Chunking the material may help in the conversion.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Yolanda,
I had never thought about how to managing teaching a "skill". You do have to really "read between the lines" for problems. Interesting.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The word "can't" does not sit well with me. In essence it is saying that "content" created for F2F cannot be used in Online.
I disagree. Content is content, ideas, principles, models, concepts, etc., regarding course material is the same whether "taught" online or in-class.
I do agree with others that point out that how we use it may differ, and that greater clarity of communication may be needed in the online mode of teaching.
I think that some of the info is appropriate but it is difficult at times to get students to understand when non verbals are more difficult to detect in an online environment. At times, students might get offended with what you write in their gradebook when you did not intend for it to come across that way. Writing emails limits the intonation in your voice as well. I try to select my words very carefully but that can be a challenge.
Because online learning can be done in an asynchronous environment, that immediate feedback is not always there because the student and instructor do not have to be engaged at the same time.
Howard, I agree that it is difficult to tell if the lecture or the online environment is capturing the student's attention.
Course content may be used for on-line courses as well as F2F. The problem is, it must be modified to meet the needs of the method being used.
Text books have materials, in depth, regarding subject materials. Power Points summarize these materials, bulletizing the concepts.
Lectures in a F2F class may be very detailed, using examples/stories with detail to convey concepts. On-line our lectures are more truncated, highlighted, and our examples are not as detailed.
In a classroom, we have as others have pointed out visual contact and can watch non-verbal clues. Online we must rely on the written word, very formal communication.
These things being a model, could we use the same "exams" "quizzes" in both?
It depends. But general speaking, the environment is different. The environment and the audience must be considered when developing a course. For example: A student may choose an online course because of the flexibility (the do it at your own pace principle). Whereas a student may choose a f2f course because they need the f2f atmosphere (seeing and being in the same place as their instructor; and other students).
Course content can not be created for a face-to-face course because with an online course you can be synchronous or asynchronous. You don't have that face to face contact to answer your questions immediately. That's why it would be appropriate for an online course to have discussion boards,engaging students with topic, concepts, videos to communicate the content knowledge necessary for improved, more advanced performance in the course.
When I teach I try to give real life examples of what they might encounter with clients or examples of progress or periodization with my athletes. I also always explain the why behind what I do or why I want them to do that assignment a particular way.
Course content created for a face to face course could not be appropriate for an online course. This is because an online course would have to have discussion boards, course documents, and communication. In the class room instructor can use lectures but on the web, the linear presentation of materials like that of face to face is not effective.
I like your thoughts here about the results being the same, just the delivery is different.
I really like how you talk about the online class as if it is an actual classroom, because I feel the same way. It is important the students feel connected, just as they would if they were sitting in a classroom with other students.
I think that parts of it can be, such as the content and overall learning objectives, however, the way you deliver that content has to be adjusted based upon the means by which the student is able to access the information. The content delivery has to be adjusted and developed around the environment and the student needs.
Michael,
This is an excellent observation. It has been estimated that almost 70% of communication perception is from non-verbal communication. This requires a greater amount of effort to clearify the communication so that it is not misinterpreted.
Jim
Kelly,
I want to start by changing this question to Why may course content created for a face-to-face course not be appropriate for an online course. I believe that depending on the content, it may be appropriate. The content needs to be analyzed to determine this. However, one reason it may not be appropriate is if it is meant for a synchronous learning environment but being presented in an asynchronous environment. For example, the content may be structured to generate a spur-of-the moment discussion. This is not possible in an asynchronous environment.
Jim
The main reason is that not all courses have the advanced asynchronous resources and other software applications for illustrations.
Amir Toosi
Course content created for a face-to-face course may not be appropriate for an online course, because an online venue might not include live interaction, as some question require an immediate response. Some questions and content of an online platform might not be an open forum, unlike a traditional classroom setting.
-TWB
