1. Week 5 Introduction to Web-Based Mentoring and Distance Education
Taking Accessibility and Learning Styles Into Account While Designing Activities
Week 5
Introduction to Web-Based Mentoring and Distance Education

2. Week 5: Taking Accessibility and Learning Styles Into Account
Discussion Questions:
What types of activities work better with adult learners? What are some examples of these kinds of activities?
What are the components that make these activities engaging and effective?
Share some “recipes” for activities that you have found useful in the past and that could be adapted for either yours or a teammate’s final project.

3. Table of Contents Trends in Professional Development
Developing Activities
Developing Activities – Whole Group
Developing Activities – Team
Developing Activities – Individual
Developing Activities – Encourage Critical Thinking

4. I. Trends in Professional Development
As we have begun to touch on the previous weeks, the new trends in professional development are:
Building and sustaining Communities of Learners
Providing Job-Embedded Professional Development
Moving away from workshops and In-service days and moving towards continuous learning with follow-up
Aligning PD School Improvement Plans, District Plans, and Professional Development Standards
We are moving away from professional development that is disjointed, misaligned, stand-alone, and disconnected from practice.

5. II. Developing Activities
Throughout your online course learners will engage in a variety of learning activities.
Some assignments require that students collaborate in small teams; while others can easily be completed individually, and still others necessitate that the whole group is involved in the learning activity.
The key is to effectively match course objectives with learning activities that embrace all three structures for learning.

6. III. Developing Activities - Whole Group Activities
Whole group activities may or may not require that all members of the class be present for an activity at the same time.
The whole group can take part in synchronous activities as well as asynchronous activities.
Online experiences MUST begin with whole group community building. Before jumping into content the community of learners must get to know one another in order to build trust and interdependence.

7. III. Developing Activities - Whole Group Activities
When writing whole group activities consider:
Course objectives and goals
Size of the group
Time
Scoring tools and rubrics
Availability of the class to meet
How to facilitate conversation when in a lull
How to redirect conversation
Final assessment
How the assignment can be adapted to include learning styles or other accommodations
Working to make class members feel connected
How feedback will be given

8. III. Developing Activities - Whole Group Activities
Ideas for Whole Group Activities:
Participation in a chat
Brainstorming sessions for a final project
Introduction to an assignment
Discussion forums
Presentation of projects/products
Display of model assignments
Course introductions
Personal introductions
Class projects
Determination of grading scale to be used
Providing feedback on the course
Participate in course reviews or summaries
Class simulations
Creating a class portfolio or ideas or projects
Discussion with a content expert

9. IV. Developing Activities - Team Activities
The collaborative aspects of team activities help students to foster a sense of belonging in an online environment.
Teamwork helps students to find online courses to be less sterile and more alive since it encourages active participation.
Furthermore, participating in team activities may increase retention and motivation for course content.

10. IV. Developing Activities - Team Activities
When designing team activities consider:
How the activity connects with course objectives
How the activity will be assessed
How the activity will be introduced to students
How will the workload within the team be balanced
How will students’ interactions and learning be monitored
How will positive interdependence be fostered
How will there be individual accountability
How will team assignments be completed when team members are absent
How will formative data be gathered on team progress
How much time do should students spend on the activity
How will students use technology to complete the activity
How will clear instructions be articulated to the students
How supplemental activities can be integrated for teams who finish early
How the activity fits in with the broad plan of the course
How will team-building activities be integrated into the course
How will the facilitator promote cooperative interactions
How the activity meets a variety of learning styles
How will feedback be provided to the team and individuals?

11. IV. Developing Activities - Team Activities
Team Activities to Consider:
Simulation
Students work on an artificial scenario of real conditions.
Role-Playing
Hypothetical situations are presented to students and they are responsible for assuming a different role or perspective for the activity/drama.
 Formal Debate
Working in teams, learners gather information on both sides of an issue in preparation for a debate. Teams may be responsible for defending or challenging a particular viewpoint.
 Professor Partnership
In this scenario students create activities and or assessments that a teacher could use when teaching a particular topic. Teams can even be responsible for writing test questions or projects that will be incorporated into their own course.
 Writing Projects
When learners are given a writing assignment they can work in a team to peer review and edit each other’s rough drafts.

12. IV. Developing Activities - Team Activities
Team Activities to Consider:
Team Projects
Teams of students can work together to create a product or a project. All or part of the grade can be assigned to the team.
 In-Basket/Out-Basket
Similar to what can be seen in a business office this activity encourages students to work collaboratively to answer the memos or instructions from the in-basket. The instructions for each assignment may all pertain to a central topic.
 Expert Conference
When working on a project that has several categories of information, teammates can be assigned one specific category to become the expert on. The experts would then meet at an expert’s conference to share each other’s expertise.
 Mystery Case Study
Here students are assigned to a case that they must solve. Working together teammates identify the solution to the mystery.

13. V. Developing Activities – Individual Activities
Individual assignments should require learners to construct meaning from the content, to interpret the information, and to extend the concepts presented.
Assignments that necessitate that the learner him/herself shares what he/she knows or has learned should be completed individually. Topics that require opinions might be ones that are covered individually.
Individual assignments are also helpful when there are time constraints since an individual can work with just his/her own schedule.

14. V. Developing Activities – Individual Activities
When writing individual activities consider:
Course objectives and goals
How much time the activity should take
Scoring tools and rubrics
How to encourage personal reflection
How the assignment relates to individual learners
How the assignment can be extended or shortened
How the assignment can be modified for a student with special needs
How will feedback be provided
How does the work reflects contributions/learning from teamwork activities
How the activity addresses a variety of learning styles
How to reduce/eliminate cheating.

15. V. Developing Activities – Individual Activities
Individual Assignments:
Posting to the discussion board
Responding to messages in the discussion board
Reading assignments
Creating a homepage
Identify course goals
Writing a paper
Keeping a Learning Log (where one records the information that he/she is learning)
Writing a Reflection in response to an assignment
ing comments

16. V. Developing Activities – Individual Activities
Individual Assignments:
Attendance in a chat
Signing up to a listserv
Final projects
Quizzes and tests
Research
Relating a given scenario to his/her working environment
Reviewing information from a PowerPoint slideshow
Answering questions from the reading materials
Preparation for a chat
Work related to the performance assessment
Evaluation of student work
Post chat assignments
Creating a graphic organizer
Designing a timeline

17. VI. Developing Activities - Encourage Critical Thinking
Where does Critical Thinking Take Place in an Online Environment?
Whenever a person is deconstructing knowledge in order to build onto it, critical thinking is taking place.
This can certainly happen individually, but as a facilitator, you will want to foster it and see it happening throughout your community.
The best place to see evidence of group critical thinking is within the chat and discussion tools. The tools offer participants the opportunity to collaborate (synchronously or asynchronously) and archive a log of their group’s cognition.
The log is key reference for the participants as they continue to build knowledge and is invaluable for you as a facilitator. You will refer to it as you reflect on and evaluate their critical thinking processes as well as the sophistication of the content they are discussing/creating.

18. VI. Developing Activities - Encourage Critical Thinking
Activities can be used to promote critical reflection:
Guiding Questions: Provide guiding questions with content presentations
Think-Abouts: Use think-about questions through activities
Templates: The use of templates to guide individual activities
Connections: Connecting content from previous weeks of the course

19. VI. Developing Activities - Encourage Critical Thinking
Communication tools can be used to promote critical reflection:
Use the Individual Reflection Forums: Each participant is provided an individual discussion forum with permissions set for just the participant and facilitator. This is a forum for reflection on learning with respect to the goals of the course. The facilitator monitors this forum and provides individualized coaching, feedback, and support through the learning process.
Provide synthesis statements: Synthesizing of the discussions at midpoint and at the conclusion of the discussion
Application: Encouraging participants to apply concepts to their work setting
Voice: Use of different “voices” to encourage participants to see other points of view
Philosophy: Having participants articulate their philosophy and values of the topic
Peer review

20. VI. Developing Activities - Encourage Critical Thinking
Feedback can be used to promote critical reflection:
Rubrics: Rubrics should be used for participant self-assessment and facilitator assessment. Constructive feedback should be provided, in narrative form, by the facilitator.
Peer review: Provide opportunities and guidelines for peer review
Individual Contributions: Allow participants to assess individual contributions through the learning experience.
Support: Support participants as they implement strategies learned. Use the individual reflection forum and s, where appropriate, to provide ongoing feedback and support.

21. Resources
All information contained in this presentation are part of CTE’s Online Learning Model.