1. REDUCING COGNITIVE OVERLOAD IN THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM Sylvia Reeves EDU697 Capstone: A Project Approach Instructor Dennis Lawrence February 1, 2013

2. Overview Getting Started in the Virtual Classroom (VC) Define Outcome, Method and Media Engage your Students Package your Virtual Classroom Course

3. GETTING STARTED IN THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM (VC)  Define the knowledge and skills sets needed to achieve objectives.  Plan your VC Training.  Consider “instructional methods” (Mertler, 2009) needed to obtain instructional goals.  Demonstrate software skills if needed.

4. GETTING STARTED IN THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM (VC), CONT’D. Allow hands-on practice. Select a delivery medium. Effectively display demonstrations and provide practice. Outline learning goals and topic to the VC.

5. GETTING STARTED IN THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM (VC), CONT’D.  Take advantage of several types of instructional methods. It is learning in the 21 Century. Mobile Devices Chatting Smart- boards

6. Define Outcome, Method and Media Select a variety of media. Select the best method for the VC course. Align your goals and objectives to the specific VC course. The virtual classroom can be designed for question and answer session.

7. Define Outcome, Method and Media, CONT’D Select the Best Blend: Instructional methods cause learning, not the delivery media. Not all instructional methods can carry media. Determine the main instructional methods needed Focus on instructional methods to help design program goals.

8. Define Outcome, Method and Media, CONT’D A virtual classroom should consist of the following: Students Virtual Classroom Functioning Components Chat Room Updated Technical Equipment Message Board

9. Engage your Students Think outside the box, be creative. Think of ways to be innovative. Be encouraging. Develop opportunities for students to interact with each other.

10. Engage your Students, CONT’D Engagement with Instructional Content is Synonymous with Learning: Interaction is the lifeline for e-learning. Interaction should be very frequent. Interaction must be done in the proper content or the instructor run the risk of attention span overload. Use a variety of questions to develop healthy interaction.

11. Engage your Students, CONT’D Explain Visuals with Audio and Direct Attention with Specific Tools. Learning is better when complex visual are explained. Use software with audio rather than text. Too much text can create memory overload Learning becomes less effective with too much text.

12. Engage your Students, CONT’D Select Visuals for Specific Learning: Use visual to foster communication. Use visual to increase psychological function learning. De-emphasize colorful graphic that may distract learning. Use visual to promote and deepen understanding.

13. UTILIZE MOBILE DEVICES  Chat Room  Instructor and student “interaction/participation” (Clark & Kwinn, 2007)  Engaging

14. UTILIZE MOBILE DEVICES, CONT’D Instructor can display visuals. Participants can “interact” Elden, Reason &Rowan, 1981) with other visuals.

15. PACKAGE YOUR VIRTUAL CLASSROOM COURSE Provide Solid Information to help Students with Technical Issues and Inform them of the Logistics: Develop course “expectations” (Horton, 2012) and assignments. Develop a welcome message and introduction in the VC to engage students immediately. Utilize meet and greet options. Posting photos adds a personal touch.

16. PACKAGE YOUR VIRTUAL CLASSROOM COURSE, CONT’D Design working aids for handouts. Use step-by-step procedure guides, checklists, examples and templates. Participate in free webinars. Look for training that goes beyond tool features in ways that will help explore and teach effectively. Collaborate with “experience trainer” (Elliott, 1991) to develop meaningful interaction.

17. REFERENCES Clark, Ruth & Kwinn, A. (2007). The new virtual classroom: Evidence-based guidelines for synchronous e-learning. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc./Pfeiffer. ISBN: 9780787986520. Elden, M., Reason, P., & Rowan, J. (1981). Human inquiry : a sourcebook of new paradigm research. Chichester Eng. ; New York: J. Wiley. Elliott, J. (1991). Action research for educational change. Milton Keynes England ; Philadelphia: Open University Press.

18. REFERENCES Horton, W. (2012). E-Learning by design (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Wiley. Mertler, C.A. (2009). Action research: Teachers as researchers in the classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.)