1. Best Practices Gone Wrong: Evaluating Online Courses for Success Valeriana Colón Brianne L. Moore-Adams Virginia Commonwealth University Moderator: J. Bernard Bradley, PhD (CDLT Director) Wednesday, April 20th, 2016, 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. (ET) Sponsored By: Commission for Distance Learning and Technology (CDLT)

2. Session Objectives Overview Best Practices in Online Teaching Discuss When Best Practices can “Go Wrong” Examine How to Evaluate for Best Practices Investigate Additional Resources for Best Practices

3. AAACEd It! Quick Poll #1... Multiple Choice with one response QuestionWhat is your experience with creating online courses? Response 1I have participated in the creation of many online courses. Response 2I have participated in the creation of one online course. Response 3I have not created an online course, but have taken one. Response 4I have not created an online course, but have taught one. Response 5I have no experience with any element of course creation.

4. AAACEd It! Quick Poll #2... Multiple Choice with one response QuestionWhat is your experience with conducting an online course? Response 1I have taught multiple online courses. Response 2I have taught online once. Response 3I have not taught online, but have taken an online course. Response 4I have not taught online, but have explored teaching online. Response 5I have no experience in teaching or taking courses online.

6. For the next 30 seconds jot down as many best practices for online teaching or course development that you can think of… no cheating.

7. Best Practices for Online Teaching

8. Best Practice Domain #1 - Prior Online Experience An understanding of: What it is like to be an online learner The ability to: Empathize with student experiences

9. Best Practice Domain #2 - Field Experiences An understanding of: What it is like to be an online educator The ability to: Establish one’s identity as an online educator through practicum Theory of situated cognition places educators in the authentic setting (Kennedy & Archambault, 2012), which is vital to ensuring they have the experience needed to teach in the virtual medium

10. Best Practice Domain #3 - Technology An understanding of: Constructions and organizations of course components within multiple learning management system (LMS) platforms How to deliver content through which media e.g. How to demonstrate a math equation through which software Other basic software e.g. photo/audio/video editing The ability to: Troubleshoot student computer and access issues by offering alternatives as necessary

11. Best Practice Domain #4 - Instructional/Content Knowledge An understanding of: Subject of instruction Pedagogy and instruction Online learning student assessment and evaluation in online learning Adult Learning (Merriam & Caffarella, 2004), Community of Inquiry (Anderson, Garrison, Archer, 2000), Connectivism, (Siemens, 2005), Transactional Distance (Moore, 1993) TPACK (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) Differences between face-to-face and online instruction

12. Mishra & Koehler, 2006)

13. Best Practice Domain #5 - Online Presence/Virtual Community An understanding of: How to build and maintain a virtual learning community The ability to: Establish a clear presence from onset of the course Coach students on how to build and maintain their virtual presence Manage all aspects of the online classroom Aligns with the 3 elements of the Community of Inquiry Framework (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2000)

14. Best Practice Domain #6 - Licensure An understanding of: Licensing requirements by state, locality, and level The ability to: Meet licensing requirements If none are required, develop the skills needed to be highly qualified in content area

15. Best Practice Domain #7 - Professional Development Opportunities An understanding of: Current research The ability to: Seek and request continuous professional development opportunities on virtual instruction Online education is one of the most rapidly evolving areas of research with limited professional development opportunities at schools and universities.

16. Are there any other best practices that you jotted down, which we didn’t list? Which best practice do you find imperative? -or-

18. Engagement: "When I graduate this fall, I do so with a 42k student loan debt. This wouldn't bother me so much IF the education I received was taught by the engaging "industry experts" both schools advertized in their promotional materials.” “I have not been impressed with some of the instructors … There is no communication, feedback or support. I feel I am on my own and have to learn the information myself or fail.” “…the level of faculty interaction has been, in my experience, mostly nonexistent. With the exception of one or two professors, I never saw any feedback on my discussion board postings, nor any of my comments to other student’s work.” Technology: “To sum it up: The platform is poorly organized, the protocols are not student friendly, and they take forever to fix any problems that arise.” Expectations: “There is no apparent obligation for the instructor to be timely or accountable. Some take far too long to grade while others do not make their criteria for grading evident before assignments are due or even after they are done and graded.” Course Design: “The course lessons generally consist of reading about a particular subject and doing a few short exercises within the text … Honestly, you could probably get the same instruction from a book.” “The courses are poorly constructed and inconsistent. The projects are not derived from the textbook, but the tests are!” “In program you will be studying outdated information. One assigned reading was published in 1980. You will be thrown questions in a midterm exam that were not a part of the information present in the class or readings” Student Feedback

19. When A MOOC makes you feel like a Kook! GREAT idea, backed BY theory, but too overwhelming for students, especially first time online learners! Too many required options for students. MOOCs offer these elements to aide students, not as part of a grade.

20. Hyper!inks Interactive text, can help build a student’s understanding of key concepts by linking to additional information. Digital literacy (Coiro, Knobel, Lankshear & Leu, 2008) Too many or using hyperlinks with other color-coded text can be overwhelming.

21. A Pandora’s Box of Apps

22. Know your content, how to teach it and how to teach it online Be selective in your use of technologies Consider: What is the added value of the technology? How will students perceive it? Know your LMS and apps before use It’s best to be a master of a few than an amateur of all Practice! Experience builds confidence and alerts you to areas for improvement In Summary

23. Are We Doing It Right? Many respected rubrics/guidelines exist to guide programs: Quality Matters; RubricQuality MattersRubric Online Learning Consortium: Website (Search "Rubrics" and/or "Program Evaluation“)Website (Search "Rubrics" and/or "Program Evaluation“) NEA: Guide to High School Courses (Not Adult BUT can serve as a good baseline)Guide to High School Courses (Not Adult BUT can serve as a good baseline) Affiliated colleges/universities/programs often have rubrics & guidelines (modified from QM) Program evaluations can be simple as course evaluations - but DO MORE! Follow up with withdrawals Track grade trends Monitor discussion patterns Triangulate data!

24. AAACEd It! Quick Poll #3... Multiple Choice with one response QuestionWhat is your knowledge/experience with Quality Matters? Response 1I am certified. Response 2I’ve taken one or more courses to become certified. Response 3I’ve taken one or more courses to enhance knowledge. Response 4I’ve learned basics from colleagues, readings or informally. Response 5What is Quality Matters? I’ve never heard of it!

25. Quality Matters Course Overview and Introduction Learning Objectives (Competencies) Assessment and Measurement Instructional Materials Course Activities and Learner Interaction Course Technology Learner Support Accessibility and Usability

26. Additional Resources https://www.qualitymatters.org/rubric http://onlinelearningconsortium.org/ http://www.soe.vcu.edu/programs/certificate-in-online-teaching-for-k-12- educators/ http://cls.yale.edu/online-teaching-tools-resources Universal Design for Learning http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines https://ualr.edu/pace/tenstepsud/ (Online Courses)

27. References Coiro, J., Knobel, M., Lankshear, C., & Leu, D. J. (2008). Central issues in new literacies and new literacies research. Handbook of research on new literacies, 1-21. Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (1999). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher education, 2(2), 87-105 Kennedy, K., & Archambault, L. (2012). Offering preservice teachers field experiences in k-12 online learning a national survey of teacher education programs. Journal of Teacher Education, 63(3), 185-200. Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. The Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054 Moore, M. G. (1993). Theory of transactional distance. Theoretical principles of distance education, 22. Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: Learning as network-creation. ASTD Learning News, 10(1).

28. Questions ? Contact Information Valeriana Colon: colonv@mymail.vcu.edu Brianne L. Moore-Adams: mooreadamsbl@mymail.vcu.edu

29. Commission for Distance Learning and Technology (CDLT) Website: www.aaace.org/cdltwww.aaace.org/cdlt Email: dr.jb.bradley@southernmissalumni.com Email: dlt@aaace.org