Practicing What You Preach: Lessons Learned from a First Time Instructor Karen D. Oates, PhD Manager, eLearning Group University Educational Technology Services Information Systems & Technology Adjunct Assistant Professor MSIT, COE Georgia State University

The Challenge Teach IT8430: Computer-based Education – Principles & Practices Graduate course Graduate course Summer term (6-weeks) Summer term (6-weeks)

The challenge continues… Three-weeks notice Jury duty, conference, vacation Out-of-date course description No syllabus No textbook

And continues… I had never designed an entire course I had never written a syllabus I had never selected a textbook I had never taught an entire course before!

The greatest challenge of all! My position as an instructional technologist How to design courses How to design courses How to teach online How to teach online Practice what I had preached

What do I tell faculty? Conduct a learner analysis Write course objectives (Bloom) Develop instructional strategies Promote student interaction/engagement Evaluate their course; redesign when necessary to improve it Seek help from others

The Design Talk to others Take ownership of the course Ask, what do I know about myself?

What do I know about myself? I’m not a lecturer I’m a constructivist I believe… Experiences and backgrounds of students vary Experiences and backgrounds of students vary Students learn better through active engagement Students learn better through active engagement Students have various learning styles Students have various learning styles

Rewrite the Course Description Catalog description: The purpose of this course is to provide students with opportunities to study instructional design and learning principles as they relate to the use of the computer in the instructional process. Students design and implement computer-assisted instruction units and study emerging technologies that support computer assisted education. My description: The purpose of this course is to provide students with opportunities to study the state of computer-based education in various learning environments (K-12, higher education and business and industry) by examining the principles, practices, issues and challenges encountered by decision makers and instructional technologists. The course is organized around topics for discussion. Students will focus on selected topics, thoroughly explore them, share them with the class, analyze their impact, and formulate frameworks to address their effect on education at the level of interest to the student.

Learner Analysis 17 graduate students Masters, ed specialists, doctorates Varying programs Varying work environments Different points in their programs Technology experience

Course Objectives (12) Based on Bloom’s taxonomy Across competencies Across competenciesExamples Compare and contrast CBE in multiple learning environments such as K-12, higher education, corporate, government and military (Level: Analysis and evaluation) Compare and contrast CBE in multiple learning environments such as K-12, higher education, corporate, government and military (Level: Analysis and evaluation) Apply instructional design and learning principles to a CBE environment (Level: Application) Apply instructional design and learning principles to a CBE environment (Level: Application) Recommend instructional design and learning practices that work best for a specific learning environment (K-12, higher education, etc) (Level: Evaluation) Recommend instructional design and learning practices that work best for a specific learning environment (K-12, higher education, etc) (Level: Evaluation) Experience and describe emerging technologies in CBE Experience and describe emerging technologies in CBE Predict the future of CBE and draw conclusions based on current literature on emerging technologies (Level: Evaluation) Predict the future of CBE and draw conclusions based on current literature on emerging technologies (Level: Evaluation)

Matching objectives to instructional strategies Ask, how can I best achieve this objective? For example, Objective: Apply instructional design and learning principles to a CBE environment Objective: Apply instructional design and learning principles to a CBE environment Strategy: Students are broken into teams, given a problem (scenario), and have to find and present a viable solution. Strategy: Students are broken into teams, given a problem (scenario), and have to find and present a viable solution.

Determine deliverables ParticipationAssignments In-class essay Final paper and presentation

Assessment Assess student work Determine how deliverables will be assessed Determine how deliverables will be assessed Assign percentages and grades Assign percentages and grades Create rubrics Create rubrics

Select WebCT tools SyllabusCalendar Course content module Discussions Chat room Mail Student presentations Survey tools

Next… Course schedule My schedule My schedule Sequencing Sequencing Build a syllabus Add an index Add an index Build the WebCT portion of my course Get help from instructional designers Get help from instructional designers

Class Begins! Build community Student bios Student bios Small groups Small groups Engage students Student expectations Student expectations Student input Student input Give choices Give choicesTextbook Paper topics Presentation f2f or online etc

Class Experiences Technologies experienced Asynchronous Asynchronous Synchronous Synchronous Web conferencing Web conferencing Course management system (WebCT) Course management system (WebCT) Learning objects (Merlot for example) Learning objects (Merlot for example) eCore® - USG’s online core curriculum eCore® - USG’s online core curriculum Guest speakers Guest speakers

Assessing the course Midterm survey (open ended and anonymous) What is going well with the course so far? What do you like best? What has been helpful to you? What is going well with the course so far? What do you like best? What has been helpful to you? What is not working well with this class and why? This includes readings, discussions, classroom sessions and WebCT. What is not working well with this class and why? This includes readings, discussions, classroom sessions and WebCT. If you could change anything with this class, what would you change? How would you change it? Why? If you could change anything with this class, what would you change? How would you change it? Why?

Results (A few of the student comments) I find myself still adjusting to the learner-centered approach as I complete my graduate courses. I am still sort of waiting for someone to tell me the information I need to know… I worry that I'm not getting all of the content I should be in my IT classes, because they're so dependent on me! I like the interaction between business and education. I really like my textbook. I have never had the luxury of selecting my own before. I like having discussion topics. It challenges me to look at a variety of areas, many of which I would not choose on my own to read about. It pushes me from that "comfort" zone I would like feedback from the instructor on my assignments that I have posted. I would like to have more organization with the bulletin board discussions.

Assessing the course End of semester survey (multiple choice and anonymous) The course met my expectations The course met my expectations The syllabus and rubrics were easily understood The syllabus and rubrics were easily understood liked being able to select my own text liked being able to select my own text Discussions were pertinent and helpful Discussions were pertinent and helpful The chat session was organized and enjoyable The chat session was organized and enjoyable The Whatchamacallit Mfg Co Project was a good application exercise The Whatchamacallit Mfg Co Project was a good application exercise The workload was acceptable for a summer course The workload was acceptable for a summer course Feedback from the instructor was helpful Feedback from the instructor was helpful The number of sessions online and f2f were the right combination The number of sessions online and f2f were the right combination The calendar was helpful to me The calendar was helpful to me I liked having a choice between doing an online and f2f presentation I liked having a choice between doing an online and f2f presentation Would you recommend this course to a friend? Would you recommend this course to a friend? If this course had been totally online (meeting once at the beginning and once at the end), would you still have taken it? If this course had been totally online (meeting once at the beginning and once at the end), would you still have taken it? If you could change one thing in this course what would it be? If you could change one thing in this course what would it be? Final suggestions or comments? Final suggestions or comments?

Results 14 of 17 responded Ten (71%) felt the course met their expectations Students liked the syllabus, rubrics, being able to select their own text and the calendar They liked the discussions but 4 did not like the chat session Six (43%) did not like the application exercise Eight (57%) felt the workload was too great Students liked the combination of f2f and online sessions Students liked having the choice of doing an online or f2f presentation

Changes to the course based on students’ comments Syllabus – cover in class or quiz students on it before being allowed to continue Less work, at least for a summer term Discussions – limit the number of sessions or topics that a student needs to participate in More organized discussions (by topic perhaps?) Provide more feedback More time to spend on the application exercise

What did I learn? Too much work – too little time Discussions need reorganized Students need more feedback Students like having choices Teaching online is time consuming, but rewarding I love teaching, especially online!

Thank you! Contact information: Karen D. Oates, PhD Georgia State University MSC: 4B Gilmer Street SE Unit 4 Atlanta, GA /