In my experience, I have taught an online literature course that was basically the same as the on campus course with a discussion board added in. Literature is something that requires discussion--finding a way to convey that without being with the students in person can be difficult for a beginning online instructor. I have found welcome letters and announcements to be very helpful in bridging this gap. In many of my literature courses, there is a weekly synchronous chat using Adobe Connect or Elluminate which definitely helps in this regard as well. One thing I have been toying with has been Web 2.0 tools like blogging and youtube. I am also learning Visual Basic to have a better understanding of how to create my own tools.
shane,
I am not sure that I agree with you regarding the acceleration of learning in the online environment. I think it is seen that way and that can be a recipe for failure.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kim,
You are right. There are so many ways to transform content for the online environment. I have found that changing content for my online course actually helps my face to face.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Online environments are often accelerated and therefore do not grant the luxury of simply just walking up to the desk to ask for guidance. Face to face content is also different from the online content in that the delivery is and must be different.
I have taken classes in which it is obvious that the content was for a face-to-face class and was just uploaded to an LMS for online content.
Some can be appropriate, but most is not. I think adding powerpoints, lesson objectives, and lecture notes are helpful to an online course, but an online component, such as a mini-lecture, online exams, and discussions need to be included as well in an online environment, otherwise it is just a boring presentation that is difficult for students to get through!
Kim
Jesse,
Yes, I agree. I do think that students have to realize that they have a role in the communicating.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Communication and learning styles in the online environment need to be magnified, because the student and teacher cannot communicate in the same manner as face to face. Therefore content in the online environment must be made to close the gap of distance education.
June,
Those are interesting issues. There isn't "smellavision" yet. . .
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
June,
Great solutions. Great use of technology in an efficient manner!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Michelle, as I posted just now in my original response, at one of my schools, students submit speeches including demonstration speeches that they record to Vimeo or YouTube and provide links for us to watch and critique. You could have students do a culinary presentation, but you are right, you can't taste or eat the results. Maybe part of the feedback would be having a group that works together and tries each others recipes to see how they work...
A lot of my course content for my F2F courses involves student interaction in answering questions and doing spontaneous writing exercises to show what they have learned as well asl to measure writing improvement. F2F classes may include clips of movies that we watch together and that the students discuss and then write about. Sometimes the students stand before the class to present what they learned. I often have the students go outside and describe what they see, or I pass out objects that the students describe in writing.
Not all online classes allow for such interaction although with the changing media and accessibility, things are getting more similar. For instance, at once school, the students videotape themselves giving online speeches that they upload to Vimeo or YouTube, and then the students and I watch and critique them. Virtual reality is pretty amazing!
Holly,
You can manage the communication gap. Do you want to use the phone?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Well, I think that during a F2F class instructors primarily use power point or similar methods and will just have the "basics" in the power point presentations. That way students have to pay attention during class and make additional notes. Online students miss out on additional information the instructor will just say verbally, plus drawings on a board, and even body language. Although that is not always the case if the instructor does recordings (adobe) and actually lectures during the recordings (include camera!).
Also, I think everything in an online class has to be very detailed and straight forward. Sometimes a communication gap can be present between the students and the instructor. Although that is not always the case, it may very well be the student lacking the communication with the instructor. In these case the instructor may very well have to communicate via phone, etc.
Daniel,
You are correct! You have to "encourage" students to talk online.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Daniel,
Do you really get more feedback from f2f or is it just different?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The clear communication is really the key online Michael. Its so important to have online students be very clear about any assignment. Good point!
Face to face gives you much more feedback. So designing a course for the face to face environment to use online will cut out much of that feedback. You will be flying blind in some cases to determine whether or not the student is really getting the material.
Howard,
What do you do to detect these cues in an online course? It is a change. How do you read "silence"
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Steven ,
You are correct! There has to be modifications. How will you detect feedback?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
A yawn tells a teacher a lot. This is something that is easy to detect in a conventional class yet not so easy to catch online.
