1. Principles and Practices for Online Courses That Engage Learners Campus Technology M02 July 25 2011 Judith V. Boettcher Designing for Learning University of Florida judith@designingforlearning.org 1 2011 Boston 2003

2. BECOMING GREAT ONLINE INSTRUCTORS Developing expertise in any field takes time and is accomplished step by step, experience by experience, skill upon skill 2011 2 Where are you on the novice to expert scale of online teaching? What kind of engagement strategies do you find useful? Guiding principles: Presence, Community and Personalization

3. F REQUENTLY -A SKED Q UESTIONS FROM ONLINE FACULTY How can peer review and collaboration work online? But wait, how will I lecture? How do I give tests? How do I know if they understand? How do I get to know my students if I never see them? What are the secrets for being a great online instructor? What activities really engage my online students? Do I really need to be on my course site every day? What do I do when a student gets behind?

4. 1. WHAT IS YOUR TOP QUESTION/CHALLENGE IN ENGAGING YOUR ONLINE STUDENTS? 2. WHAT TOPIC WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO DISCUSS ON KEEPING STUDENTS FOCUSED AND SUCCESSFUL? Starting our thinking…. Where are we now? 2011 4 Directions: Get into groups of 2 or 3 based on proximity. Write your questions/challenges on a color stickie and also in your packet on p.3. We’ll post the stickies on the wall for sharing and for reference.

5. Social Media Research  “Learners are particularly engaged when they experience feelings of "autonomy, competence, and relatedness.”  Katherine Hayles, 2007  Feelings enabled by web 2.0 – 3.0 applications creating, generating and organizing  Apps are more about creating, generating and organizing information and content rather than reading or listening to content 2011 5 Foundational feelings for engagement – “An independent person who is developing skills while connected to others…”

6. Environment for Engagement 2011 6 Who are the members of a course community? The learners and faculty mentor and any content assistants. Why does building a community support learners and learning? Shared experiences, overlapping goals, mutual support, trust and presence*** Core Learning Principles Active, involved, doing, zone of proximal development, personalizing Online Best Practices Presence, balanced dialogue, core content, continuous assessment Grouping & Teaming Strategies Informal small to medium groupings, collaborative work, peer review Elements of community

7. Core Learning Principles and Best Practices That Matter and That Work 2011 7 Neurons -P Z Myers A Selected Set for Today

8. 8 Sources of Ten Learning Principles and Ten Practices Inspired and derived from research, instructional design and theory Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky - My personal favorite Also inspired by J. Dewey, J. Bruner Current researchers, writers, such as Daniel Schacter (Memory) John Seely Brown (Cognitive apprenticeship) Roger Schank (Schema theory, knowledge structures Instructional design theory and practice Friends, colleagues, many faculty Ten CLP 2011

9. Ten Core Learning Principles 9

10. Ten Best Practices for Teaching Online 10

11. EVERY STRUCTURED LEARNING EXPERIENCE HAS FOUR ELEMENTS WITH THE LEARNER AT THE CENTER Core Learning Principle 1 2011 11 LEFramework stage Simplifying a complex process…. only four elements of design Simplifying a complex process…. only four elements of design

12. Learning Experiences Framework Learner Mentor-Director Knowledge-Content- Problem Environment-Context Inspired by Lev Vygotsky… All the world’s a stage… and learning happens on it. 2011 12

13. GOING DEEPER: LEARNER, MENTOR, KNOWLEDGE AND ENVIRONMENT Core Learning Principles Two through Five (2-5) 2011 13 CLP Learner When designing for engagement, need to consider all four elements of instructional experiences – what is the role, function of learner, faculty, content and context?

14. LEARNERS BRING THEIR OWN PERSONALIZED MENTAL MODELS, SKILLS AND ATTITUDES TO LEARNING EXPERIENCES Core Learning Principle 2 2011 14 Learner's mind What are learners’ baselines? Where are they coming from? Where do they want to go?

15. VERY IMPORTANT DISTINCTION In course design, we design for the probable, expected learner; in course delivery, we flex the design to the specific, particular learners within a course. 2011 15 “I didn’t know that anyone cared.”

16. Impact on Learning and Engagement Learners will lean forward, step forward when they are reasonably confident that they can build on what they already know Learners volunteer to lead, write, speak, if they have a reasonable expectation of success and not look stupid Learners ask questions if they feel safe within the atmosphere of trust and community 2011 16 Move from listening and reading to “participating in the flow of action.”

17. FACULTY ARE THE DIRECTORS OF THE LEARNING EXPERIENCES AND MENTORS OF THE INDIVIDUAL LEARNERS Core Learning Principle 3 2011 17 Faculty functions

18. Roles and Responsibilities of Mentors/Directors Designing and structuring the course experiences Can often be accomplished with a team of faculty and designers for tutors Directing and supporting learners through the instructional events Absolutely! Assessing and certifying student learning outcomes Normally the case Robots (automated systems) and rubrics can help Also integrate and leverage peer and expert reviews 18 2011

19. Impact on Learning and Engagement Faculty time is best invested in designing, “teaching presence”, mentoring, coaching and guiding As a mentor, they step back and let learning happen, step in when appropriate Watch for difficulties Watch for frustration Watch for success and innovation Support thinking, assess with focus on growth and success 2011 19

20. ALL LEARNERS DO NOT NEED TO LEARN ALL COURSE CONTENT /KNOWLEDGE; ALL LEARNERS DO NEED TO LEARN THE CORE CONCEPTS Core Learning Principle 4 2011 20

21. Core Concepts and Principles Core Concepts and Principles Applying Core Concepts Problem Analysis and Solving Four Layers of Content Customized and Personalized 21 2011

22. Content: Impact on Learning and Engagement Provide core content experiences as basis of shared experiences Provide range of choices for initial applications and problem sets, scenarios Design personalized, customized experiences allowing for wide range of content choices and exploration of wide-ranging content 2011 22 Shift from “knowing about” things to “knowing how to be” John Seely Brown and others

23. EVERY LEARNING EXPERIENCE OCCURS WITHIN A CONTEXT OR AN ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THE LEARNER INTERACTS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE, CONTENT OR PROBLEM Core Learning Principle 5 2011 23 Context Examples

24. Core Learning Principle 5 - Environment Design for the when, where, with whom and with what resources… All of these elements make up the environment within which learning occurs 2011 24 Holodeck

25. 25 The Holodeck — Rapid Learning and Entertainment Reflection 2011 For authentic, situated learning Dr. Christoph Sensen in the CAVE

26. 26 Reflection – Engaging Possibilities Stop and think Putting the learner at the center of the design Consider learner as independent, competent, member of community Identify one or two impacts of these principles for your thinking? For your colleagues? Find a colleague right next to you…(Pair up ) Share ideas…actions… 2011 Let’s think

27. 27 CLP #6 Zone The Reflection Process Sharing the ideas and actions 2011 Be sure to “use your voice”

28. Core Learning Principle 6 A very core, very basic idea from Lev Vygotsky (1978) Enhanced by later work on situated cognition and cognitive apprenticeship by John Seely Brown and others (2006) Extended by research on embodied cognition (Shapiro, 2010) 2011 28

29. EVERY LEARNER HAS A ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT THAT DEFINES THE SPACE THAT A LEARNER IS READY TO DEVELOP INTO USEFUL KNOWLEDGE Core Learning Principle 6 2011 29 ZPD Definition

30. 30 Using the Zone in Design A student’s zone of proximal development is… “the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving …and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” Vygotsky, 1968 Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development 2011

31. Implications of ZPD for Design Concept of ZPD is similar to “readiness” principle Suggests the likelihood of a fairly narrow “window of opportunity” or “teaching moment” What kinds of problems can students solve independently? Or with help? What is the "task model" that produces the evidence that demonstrates proficiency? When can you design in choices and options so natural learning can meet requirements? How is guidance provided? “Just enough help so that students feel as if they did it all by themselves.” 2011 31 Stages of the zone When learners are ready they want to ”do it themselves”

32. Stages of a Zone… 2011 32 Assistance provided by more capable "others” Teachers, experts, peers, coaches Assistance provided by the self From R. Gallimore and R. Tharp, 1992 Internalization, Automatization Fossilization De- automatization Recursiveness through prior stages Continued assistance… can be disruptive and irritating… Stage 1Stage 2Stage 3Stage 4 Using references, job aids, automonous

33. 33 Growing New Concepts Important what you know now…these are “receptor cells” Growing flowers, bushes, thickets, with sticky “stuff” More you know, the more you can know… Maybe fast learners are fast because… they have ready templates and receptor cells Similar to “mind melds” Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni 2011

34. CONCEPTS, MENTAL MODELS AND LEARNING ZONES Customizing learning means designing learning experiences for the learner. To do this we need to know the learner and what the learner knows and thinks 2011 34 Each brain is its own world… (Adapted Mexican Proverb)

35. Getting to Know Learners – How do you do it? How do I know my learners? What is your favorite strategy for finding out what learners know? Automated quizzes Pretests at course beginnings Open discussion on concepts Project proposals Informal questions Analysis of their questions, comments 2011 35 Crowd-sourcing – have students develop the tests and suggest key concepts

36. How Do You Know Your Learners’ ZPDs? (1) Listen to what they think Get them talking and writing about what they know, think they know, might know Why do they know what they know? What evidence or data supports that "knowing?" Structure task scenarios Ask questions “Fire” their brain cells Find their point of knowledge, find their weeds, plants, nodes on which to grow, extend their knowing… 2011 36 Bloopers Let’s brainstorm a few ideas and what works and doesn’t work for you

37. How Do You Know Your Learners’ ZPDs? (2) Have them “do” things — evaluate and create Work through processes Adopt different perspectives Suggest solutions Modify problems Role play, assume different identities Develop metacognitive skills Get them thinking and discussing and asking questions about how they are learning Ask them to plan their next steps on making the knowledge useful to them 2011 37 Bloopers

38. Peeking inside the Brain Most of the houses in France are made of plaster of Paris Parallel lines never meet, unless you bend one or both of them The death of Francis Macomber was a turning point in his life… Definitions A vacuum is a large, empty space where the Pope lives A virtuoso is a musician with very high morals One horsepower is the amount of energy it takes to drag a horse 500 feet in one second To keep milk from turning sour, keep it in the cow. Republicans are some of the sinners featured in the bible. 2011 38 Statements such as these can reveal the state of concept development

39. CONCEPTS ARE NOT WORDS; CONCEPTS ARE ORGANIZED AND INTRICATE KNOWLEDGE CLUSTERS Core Learning Principle 7 2011 39 Concpt Principle 8

40. Core Learning Principle 7 Concepts are more than words. Concepts are organized and intricate knowledge clusters. Concept formation occurs as a series of intellectual operations between the general and the particular with ever-increasing differentiation. (Vygotsky) Words, words, words…(Hamlet) only symbols, where is the meaning? Practice of “making a learner’s thinking visible” helps to determine the state of maturity, richness, completeness of a concept. This practice can show/reveal how the concept formation is progressing... "One-minute summary" 2011 40 Flash of Insight… event

41. Concept acquisition is a journey, not a one-time event 41 Concept Words Meaning Useful concept Osmosis, diversity, mediation 2011

42. Concepts vs. Words "Words take over the function of concepts and serve as means of communication long before they reach the level of concepts characteristic of fully developed thought." Russian Georgian psychologist Dmitri Uznadze 42 Kozulin, Alex. (1990) Vygotsky's Psychology: A Biography of Ideas It’s easy to be misled into thinking students have developed useful concepts. They can often use the words, but they do not understand or know what they mean. 2011

43. Concepts are Building Blocks of Mental Models "Mental models are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures or images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action.” 43 Peter Senge www.solonline.org Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline 1990 Mental Models – also called frames, scripts, patterns 2011

44. Processes for Creating Mental Models Case-based reasoning research suggests… Learners iteratively apply what they are learning with real feedback and persist until they are successful Learners reflect on their experiences, extract what they are doing and articulate it for self and others Useful resources and activities include Well-indexed libraries of expert cases and ideas and lessons of other learners Writing, reading and preparing cases 44 Kolodner, J. L. 2006 2011

45. Summary: Knowing Our Learners Understanding our learners means understanding What they know, what they think they know and what they are able to express What they think they want to know Their understandings are encoded in their brains (Jungle or Tundra) In their concepts, representations and perspectives of the world Learning is growing and shaping those encodings and representations 2011 45

46. Knowing Your Learners Learners Goals - Grow personalized and customized knowledge; not standardized brains… Consider their brains — a jungle, a tundra or prairie, a small garden, a flowering plant? How complex is their network of neurons and dendrites? How complex and intricate are the images and patterns of their knowledge? How are their life experiences expressed in their knowledge structure? What are their “zones of proximal developments?” 2011 46 Fish is Fish

47. Challenges in Designing Engaging Learning Design learning experiences where learners are apprenticed to experts and can engaged in "doing" within a cognitively rich and stimulating environment fit to their zone of proximal development. It may be that simple and that difficult. Challenges - What are the future skills and where are the experts? 2011 47

48. 2011 48 Have we answered any of our questions? What potential insights on our challenges? What do you expect of your learners? Reflections and Questions That’s why XXX works or might work!

49. Let’s Collaborate and Innovate… 2011 49 Next Session – Session 2 — Linking Principles and Practices to the Questions/Challenges

50. Appendix Slides 2011 50

51. THREE (OF TEN) BEST PRACTICES Practices 1, 2, & 3 2011 51 Presences – Social, Teaching and Cognitive Really, really clear expectations and directions – “Teaching presence” Build a learning community

52. For Today — Practices 1, 2, & 3 Be present at the course site Being there” for your students — your social, teaching and cognitive presence Create a supportive online community where learners are responsible for each other Build and use community with learner support and dialogue Develop a set of explicit expectations for your learners and for yourself Being very very clear regarding expectations and reinforcing core concepts, and teaching with discussion wraps and a weekly rhythm 2011 52 Garrison Brookfield Anderson

53. Best Practice 1: Be Present at the Course Site Launch a course with a strong social presence Become a 3D person, not just “the expert voice” to your students Liberal use of tools — announcements and discussion board postings – Communicate that you Care about who your students are Care about their questions and concerns Be generally "present" to do the mentoring and challenging that teaching is all about. 2011 53 BP1 - Be present 2 RULE OF THUMB All communications – except confidential messages — are visible on the course site! RULE OF THUMB All communications – except confidential messages — are visible on the course site!

54. Policies on Presence Be very clear about how often you and your learners will be "in" the course site/classroom You — posting/reading/being there every day if possible; "obviously, significantly present" by posting three-four times a week Learners — minimum of three-four days a week, although highly variable Be specific about how learners are to "be" present in discussion postings, supporting learning and each other Institutional policies Responses within 24/48 hours Students’ presence in the course site FAQ Forum, place for peer questions and help 2011 54 Note: "Teaching Presence" refers to the design, direction, facilitation and feedback, from a faculty in a course. Have a forum for questions to diversify dialogue and extend responsibility for learning support A Good Practice

55. LOTS ABOUT PRESENCE - THE THREE PRESENCES The three presences are based on Online Collaboration Principles by D. R. Garrison (2006) and Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education by Garrison, Anderson and Archer (2000) 2011 55 Social Presence Teaching Presence Cognitive Presence Social Presence Teaching Presence Cognitive Presence

56. 2011 56 How do you “make yourself known” to your students? As an expert, as a mentor, as a 3D person? Being a person, being "real" to your learners Social presence - the ability to project oneself socially and affectively in a virtual environment Some Ideas Picture — in context Short bio Favorite food Interesting stories How you relax… Social Presence - Faculty

57. Social Presence – Learners …Launching Your Course Community An initial get-acquainted discussion forum for learners to get acquainted Have learners share… “My favorite movie, or book, or meditation or relaxation is….” Post one/more of their favorite pictures Share a pix of where they study/work/learn Describe their morning commute.. :-) Where they are in their program, where they work, their strengths, weaknesses, needs A significant or favorite life experience related to the course to come 2011 57

58. Teaching Presence – Ready for Action Materials prepared in the design and development of the course Syllabus Assessment plan with assignments and rubrics Course framework Mini-lectures, tutorials, concept introductions, using text, YouTube, podcasts Posting questions Project description Bibliographies, resources, selected texts Week-by-week overview 2011 58 Note: "Teaching Presence" refers to the design, direction, facilitation and feedback, from a faculty in a course. Syllabus

59. Teaching Presence – Suggesting, Guiding, Challenging Showing the Way Group presences Announcements, reminders, guideposts Supportive, monitoring, questioning, affirming comments in the discussions and forums and blogs etc. Q&A sessions Individual presence Encouraging and shaping of individual and small team projects Individual feedback, support as may be appropriate 2011 59 The three presences “ebb and flow” over the phases of a course (Akyol and Garrison, 2008) https://voicethread.com/?#q+http:voicethread.comq.b3352.b3352.i28616

60. COGNITIVE PRESENCE "Cognitive Presence" refers to the construction of meaning through sustained communication in a climate of trust. 2011 60 What works for you in getting “inside” your learners’ heads?

61. Creating a Climate for Building Meaning - "Cognitive Presence" Get to know your learners "cognitively" as well as socially Get to know what learners know now; In Vygotsky's terms, what are their zones of proximal development? What are they ready to learn? Identify the knowledge and skills they want to develop One strategy - Entry Statements 200-300 words Personal goal statements Adapting, making personal course outcome goals 2011 61 Entry Statements — Why are you here? What do you want to learn to do? What difference will this make in your life?

62. Best Practice 2: Create a Supportive Online Course Community Design a course with a balanced set of dialogues Faculty – learner; learner to learner; learner to resource Design phases of community Getting acquainted and sharing goals Accessing, researching and discussing content activities Collaborative work on problems, projects, products Peer-to-peer review and support 2011 62

63. Best Practice 3: Develop a Set of Clear Expectations How you will communicate, how often and response times and methods How students should be communicating and participating How much time approximately students should be working on the course each week. Weekly guide and overview Set up a "weekly rhythm" for your course 2011 63 How many hours per week is an average expectation in your institution?