Mind Blogging

Plagiarism Today: roots, types, detection and prevention

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 01:10:00 +0000

Cousin of a Lie

There are many definitions of Plagiarism but in its essence it is a lie, a product of dishonesty. Jeff Hancock in his Ted talk The future of lying (2012) explains that people tend to be more honest in an email than on the phone, in their LinkedIn resume than their paper CV and that written communications in general tend to be more honest than those that are not recorded. The reason behind it is the fact that a lying person leaves proof and a trace behind, something that they can be held responsible to. Hancock (2012) also demonstrates the principles of some lie detection software, which has an algorithm of detecting a lie, and is used in identifying fake reviews.

In the same way as there are different motives behind a lie (lying to a friend to preserve your relationship in its nature different to writing fake reviews), there are different types of plagiarism. In their video talk Palloff & Pratt (2010) explain that some students are unaware that copy-pasting information from the web is plagiarism, others think it is ok to plagiarise themselves and reuse their papers they wrote in a different course, which can be considered unintentional plagiarism. And can be dealt with, suggest Palloff & Pratt (2010), by educating the students about plagiarism, copyright, fair use and cheating.

My Sad Case

Extreme cases, according to Jocoy & DiBiase (2006), would include copying entire or large portions of papers written by someone else or papers purchased from term paper mills. Which when I used to be a graduate student everybody at my University did and the teachers did not consider it a crime, you just had to study the report you took off the Internet and be ready to present it. We did write our thesis the way an American student would be required to, but thinking back to that report system I do find it a strange practice to be employed in an academic environment. Also because of the compressed curriculum everyone at University tried to cheat at tests and exams even those who would be considered diligent self-motivated students. The assignments did not stimulate collaboration or original thinking like Palloff & Pratt (2010) recommend in order to prevent plagiarism. And whatever papers we did submit would be graded by a human teacher and according to Jocoy & DiBiase’s (2006) research results manual methods detected plagiarism in only about 3 percent of assignments, whereas Turnitin.com revealed a 13 percent plagiarism rate among the same assignments. So in this respect online education wins because content created by students can be run through a plagiarism detection software, unlike its paper counterpart. There is an array of services you can use for plagiarism detection: some of them free, some of them require a subscription fee, all of them targeted at a slightly different content type. Petronzio (2012) recommends at least 10 plagiarism detection tools, the most well known of which is Turnitin.com that charges a subcription fee.

TurnitIn or else!

I checked out Turnitin.com and found a great 10 question ‘How well do you know plagiarism?’ quiz that I took to find out how well I understand plagiarism behaviour. After being graded a Pro that still can benefit from learning more about plagiarism I was directed to other websites to do more exercising. Each participant according to their level of awareness is recommended a suitable remedial activity.

The punishable perils of plagiarism by D’Annunzio, Rodríguez & Espinell (2013) from Ted. edu is a more fun way to learn about plagiarism. First you watch an animation, then take a quiz and reflect. You are also recommended to broaden your perspective by looking at the White Paper Plagiarism Spectrum developed by Turnitin.com that detects 10 types of plagiarisms and explains the detection algorythm of each one of them.

One of the questions of ‘How well do you know plagiarism?’ developed by Turnitin.com identifies the following consequences of plagiarism:

Tarnished reputation;

Suspension or expulsion from school;

Loss of job;

Legal repercussions;

Monetary loss.

Sounds quite grim, don't you think? More importantly why do people who plagiarise don't think?

Watch your Attitude!

Palloff & Pratt (2010) say ‘Learners cheat online as often in an online environment as they do in traditional environments’. And Hancock (2012) adds that while pathological liars do exist they make up only a tiny portion of the population. It is a matter of attitude. When I write my paper and do my research my primary motif is not the grade it is knowledge, and my secondary motif is momentary. I pay a lot for my online course and I am determined to squeeze every drop of knowledge from it so that there is nothing left when I am done.

Hancock (2012) sums it up beautifully ‘when it comes to lying and what we want to do with our lives, I think we can go back to Diogenes and Confucius. And they were less concerned about whether to lie or not to lie, and more concerned about being true to the self’. As educators we are the ones that instill attitudes and plagiarism prevention is much more rewarding and stress free than the punishment you will have to execute if it does occur in your course. Start an initial course with an assignment that will educate your students about plagiarism. I thought of creating a fun exercise that can follow watching a tutorial and doing a plagiarism quiz. Students write papers that should be as plagirised as humanely possible and then exchange them with each other and try to detect instances of plagiarism, using available plagiarism detection software and guidelines suggested by the White Paper Plagiarism Spectrum. Paper topics might vary and off the top of my head I can come up with the following 2: ‘10 most famous plagiarism scandals’ and ‘Dangers and consequences of plagiarism’. This type of activity is both real life in its character and invites collaboration, just as Palloff & Pratt (2010) recommend.

Happy writing everyone!

References:

D’Annunzio, M., Rodríguez, H., & Espinell, I. 2013.T edEd. [Animation] Retrived from http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-punishable-perils-of-plagiarism-melissa-huseman-d-annunzio#watch

Hancock, J. 2012. The future of lying. Ted talk. [Video] Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_hancock_3_types_of_digital_lies/transcript?language=en#t-1089934

Jocoy, C., & DiBiase, D. (2006). Plagiarism by Adult Learners Online: A case study in detection and remediation. International Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning, 7(1), 1–15.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2010). Plagiarism and cheating [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.walden.edu

White Paper Plagiarism Spectrum. Retrieved from https://www2.nau.edu/d-elearn/support/tutorials/academicintegrity/pdf/Turnitin_WhitePaper_PlagiarismSpectrum.pdf

Web 2.0. Evolution of Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 04:53:00 +0000

Find more education infographics on e-Learning Infographics

Evolution of Web = Evolution of Learning

Technology creates new and exciting ways of learning. With Web 2.0 technology at our fingertips we can redefine how we learn and teach online. What web 2.0 has allowed us to do is to generate user-contributed content. Pratt & Palov (2011). The other thing, they continue, that web 2.0 allowed for is more collaboration between users, because the ‘pipe size’ is bigger, the information travels much more quickly.

The evolution of Web correlated with the evolution of learning. From “Read-Only” Web 0.0 where the average internet user’s role was limited to reading the information which was presented to them to ‘Read-Write-Publish’ Web 2.0 where the user is given the ability to contribute content and interact with other web users (Tom Fleerackers, 2011). As we observe in education a shift from traditional classroom setting with the instructor in the center ‘Talking Head’ to the online learning where the roles shift and learners receive more autonomy and responsibilities ‘Online Learning Community’.

Thou shalt not use technology in vain

Pratt & Palov (2011) warn us against incorporating technology just because its available, it should meet the objectives of your course. Technology should not be used to do what can be done without it, adds (Kathy Cassidy, 2013). Drawing a picture on an app or a computer program and labeling it is a worthwhile activity, but why bother if that activity is an end in itself? It may as well have been done on paper. Technology should allow you to do something new with that picture, such as sharing/publishing it in some way.

Technology aka Fairy Godmother

Technology should be for accessing what was inaccessible (Kathy Cassidy, 2013). In the past, she says, her teaching materials were limited to what was in her classroom and in the school’s library. Now there are a plethora of materials available online to fill any teaching need we might have, limited only by our online search skills.

Choices. Choices.

As a designer for my online school’s programs I have been actively using a range of Web 2.0 tools:

Blogs (to post new tasks to videos students are required to watch or educational games they play as part of their program);

Youtube and other free video hosting sites (to stream videos students watch as part of their learning process);

Educational Flash games;

Skype (for conducting online lessons)

Google Docs (used as collaboration space and play the role of a traditional copybook and blackboard at the same time);

New Kind of Wealth

Rheingold (2005) in his Ted talk The new power of collaboration talks about how new forms of communication and new media in the past have helped create new economic forms. Commerce is ancient. Markets are very old. Capitalism is fairly recent; socialism emerged as a reaction to that. And yet, he says, we see very little talk about how the next form may be emerging. Rheingold (2005) speaks of open source, pointing to a new form of production: peer-to-peer production. He asks us to keep in mind that if in the past, new forms of cooperation enabled by new technologies create new forms of wealth, we may be moving into yet another economic form that is significantly different from previous ones. Sites like Amazon, eBay, Google enrich themselves by enriching thousands of users. I am personally very excited about being able to introduce my students to the full potential of the Web 2.0: using Open Courses like Khan Academy to acquire other skills through using English. The mighty Open Course was enabled by Web 2.0 technology and it is here to stay and create new kind of wealth. Wealth of information, collaboration and learning.

References:

Cassidy, K. 2011. The Use and Abuse of Technology in the Classroom [Blog] Retrieved from http://kathycassidy.com/2013/01/05/the-use-and-abuse-of-technology-in-the-classroom/

Fleerackers, T. 2011. Web 1.0 vs Web 2.0 vs Web 3.0 vs Web 4.0 vs Web 5.0 – A bird’s eye on the evolution and definition. [Blog] Retrieved from https://flatworldbusiness.wordpress.com/flat-education/previously/web-1-0-vs-web-2-0-vs-web-3-0-a-bird-eye-on-the-definition/

Howard Rheingold. 2005. The new power of colloboration. Ted talk. [Video] Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration/transcript?language=en#t-699000

Video: Laureate Education (Producer). (2010). Launching the online learning experience [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Your First Online Course: Care Instructions

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 01:52:00 +0000

Setting up your first online course can be a huge challenge but equipped with the expertise of others more experienced in it and a self-assuring ‘mantra’ of your personal choice you can do it!

Technology

Boettcher & Conrad (2010) stress the importance of not overloading yourself as an instructor while designing the course for the first time and be open to accepting help from your students and just add more tools to your course when you teach it the second or the third time. Mostly what you need to get acquainted with or decide on is the Course Management System (CMS) and what components you are going to use within it. As I explained in my previous post I will be relating all the questions to the real course I am thinking of designing. My asynchronous Mnemonics course 2 weeks long will be delivered using the following technology: Blackboard CMS and an added synchronous collaboration tool like Skype or OOVOO messenger or Elluminate depending on how big the class is going to be. The tools within the CMS I am planning to use are quizzes, discussion boards and announcements. I will be delivering the content through short subtitled video lectures that will be immediately followed by taking a related quiz. For example, after learning about association method used for memorising vocabulary the students will be asked to choose the best association for a selection of vocabulary units. There also will be text material available for download but I am planning to make content interactive to suit all learners’ individual styles.

Expectations

To make sure learners feel comfortable I will present them with a set of expectations through the announcement tool. They will be informed about the netiquette, deadlines and contact information (however most of my first class for the first course are going to be the students that I have been teaching synchronously for quite some time, I will still make sure they have my mobile number as well as email and Skype contacts).

The rubric for their discussion activities with explanation for grading is another important step that will ensure participation as Boettcher & Conrad (2010) said 'if something can be done anywhere and anytime, it usually never gets done'.

Discussion

Additionally discussion questions and structure of discussion and its facilitation are at the core of my consideration in creating this course. Boettcher & Conrad (2010) describe discussion boards as the 'campfire' around which course community and bonding occur at the same time that content processing and knowledge development are happening. I am still in the process of designing the questions but I can share one already. The idea is that students will be given up to 10 words that are easy to create mnemonics for and asked to come up with mnemonics to at least 3 of them and post them by a certain day. They will also be invited to post up to 5 words that their groupmates will come up with mnemonics for. They are required to post their mnemonics suggestions to at least 3 other students’ vocabulary units. This is an open end problem solving question that is challenging and stimulating but at the same time is conducted in a game like form. This discussion activity gives students a way to describe how they are integrating incoming knowledge with their existing knowledge structure, which is coincidentally what mnemonics is all about.

Presence

This week also taught me how to establish presence for both an instructor and students in a fun informal way through ice breaking activities. You can see my Little Men and Little Miss activity that I am planning to use in my course here. Boettcher & Conrad (2010) emphasise that establishing presence is crucial to building trust between the participants of the learning process as without it it's impossible for students to be open and vulnerable about their beliefs. Also Pratt and Palloff (2010) suggest that you can refer to your students' bios throughout the course to make informed comments and responses.

References:

Boettcher, J., & Conrad, R.-M. (2010). Ten best practices for teaching online. In The Online Teaching Survival Guide (pp. 36–47). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Video: Laureate Education (Producer). (2010). Launching the online learning experience [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Go on, Have an Icebreaker!

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 01:19:00 +0000

Mr Men Books by Roger Hargreaves

I am a big believer in fun in education as are Pratt and Palloff (2010). That’s why I came up with 2 activities that tick several boxes in an Effective Icebreaker Checklist designed by Conrad and Donaldson (2011). It’s fun and non-threatening, it is person-focused, not content-focused, it requires learners to read one-another’s entries, it requires using imagination and being creative, and learners are required to read each other’s entries and respond to one another (only in one of them they do not directly respond to one another but have a follow-up quiz instead).

Black Box Recorder - Child Psychology

Activity: Mr Men and Little Miss

Method: Asynchronous

Instructions: the learners are invited to open the images of the characters from popular children’s books ‘Mr Men’ and ‘Little Miss’ which Roger Hargreaves commenced in 1971 and which since then got televised as well (See the images attached). The students and the instructor are invited to find 2 positive and 2 negative characters of Mr Men or Little Miss that best describe their personality. They are also invited to comment on at least one other student’s description that is similar to theirs or someone’s whose they find exceptionally funny or clever.

Notes: Additionally students are invited to use the picture of a chosen Mr Man or Little Miss as their avatar if they don’t feel like putting up one of their own.

The technique I described goes well with Pratt and Palloff (2010) speaking of the importance of the informal introduction that should be initiated by the instructor, they noted that many instructors’ introduction sounds like their Curriculum Vitae. They continue saying that talking more about the human aspect of their life an instructor becomes more of an equal player in the learning community. At the same time an instructor can provide their students with a visual, a graphic image that some students might want to use as their avatar instead of a photo if they prefer to stay anonymous for personal reasons (Pratt and Palloff, 2010).

Pratt and Palloff (2010) recommend to throw another icebreaking activity in the middle of the course and reenergise the course in a fun way. For the middle of the course ice-breaker I would recommend the students to use a choice of interactive software that is very easy to use and one of them (Voki) fits the description of the free software Pratt and Palloff (2010) were talking about saying you can have an animal, a person or even a plant talking with your recorded voice.

Activity: Create a Voki / Prezi / Glogster

Method: Asynchronous

Instructions: the learners are asked to create a one minute Voki / a short Prezi / a Glogster Poster introduction that is centered around a question “What are the 3 things most important to you in your life and why?” for which they will receive extra credit. The follow up activity that goes into the next week is a little fun quiz that includes questions from all the students’ Voki’s / Prezi’s / Glogster’s and those who get all the questions right will receive some more extra credit.

Notes: This activity will also get students to use a fun easy app that can be used in the future in a presentation setting. The instructor will determine how much credit the students get for doing the task but the credit system makes the activity more motivated than if it is just optional.

Examples of all the software used you can see on my school’s website (it is in Russian unfortunately)

Prezi and Voki Here

and Glogster Here

Little Miss Books by Roger Hargreaves

Here is mine: I am a Little Miss Everything really like most of us but one of the strongest in me is Little Miss Giggles (7). I love giggling over things and making people smile, I even have a ‘Whimsy’ day where a chosen friend and I are supposed to come up with whimsical ideas over a glass of cider. Thus was born an apron that has Vladimir Putin (the infamous Russian President) cross-stitched on it. Big success that was. Actually after reading what I have just written I might be assigned Little Miss Cuckoo (not invented yet).

And I think of myself as Little Miss Wise (21), too. I am a big fan of Eckhart Tolle Spiritual teachings, which is a mix of Zen and Mystical Christianity. Always and forever stopping myself from having the end of the world exaggerated reaction to things. Like when Ruble is plummeting (my business depends on that currency as it caters to Russians) I keep reminding myself that nothing in life has an absolute value and that the world of form is transient and ever changing.

My husband says I imagine myself to be Little Miss Wise but I am in reality Little Miss Scary and Little Miss Stubborn. Scary because I am Russian, all British people I know do not get tired of making KGB spy and other inappropriate jokes about me. Stubborn because I sometimes find it hard to see others’ point of view, though I am working on it.

All in all this is what my ginger half-Irish cheeky twit of a husband says, I would never say such things about myself, what a nuisance and how simply dare he (in my best British voice)! But I love him really :)

References:

Conrad, R.-M., & Donaldson, J. A. (2011). Learning in an online environment. In Engaging the Online Learner (pp. 1–14). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Video: Laureate Education (Producer). (2010). Launching the online learning experience [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Sofware:

Voki http://www.voki.com

Prezi http://prezi.com

Glogster http://edu.glogster.com

Online Learning Community: A Learner who Learnt how to Learn

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 03:14:00 +0000

Alien schoolbus illustration

Safety Net

An online community is a dynamic and safe place where a student can be who they want to be, who they can be, say Dr. Pratt and Dr. Palloff. It is true for any kind of community - we crave that feeling of acceptance and nothing is more destructive than that of rejection. For instance I come from the background of Linguistics, always and forever storytelling and digressing. My mind is not a map, it doesn’t work like that. It is more suited to creating poetry than diagrams and it is my gift and a downfall. But so is everyone else’s way of thinking and learning. It is the ability to see our shortcomings and the desire to help others and accept help from them that matter at the end of the day. That feeling of affiliation with your peers is facilitated by the sense of online presence.

Online Presence

As Dr. Pratt and Dr. Palloff explained when adult learners used to traditional learning engage in online learning they might experience a feeling of isolation and the two first weeks of a course are a critical time for an instructor - they might lose a student. Online community, they continue, begins before the class even starts. A warm and friendly instructor who relates personally to students will set the tone for the students and will affect how they relate to the instructor and to each other. Add communication tools and strategies that will facilitate students to engage with each other to create meaning together and you are almost there.

Traditional vs Online

An online learning community is where the magic of learning happens but only if the instruction was not merely moved from a book to a screen. Effective online learning shifts from an instructor to a student, and the goal of learning community is to co-create knowledge and meaning and there is no place for a ‘talking head’ instruction, as Pratt & Paloff say. However if we do not consider the concept of digital natives and immigrants there will be a huge drop out rate and without facilitating those who initially feel challenged by technology we will create unnecessary barriers.

Rules that Support

Students need to be aware of their role in online learning. It is important to inform them of what their expected conduct is, whether it is the content of the course or their behaviour within the learning community. It is no difference really to any community whether it’s a Secondary school or a corporate environment. In the first you are not allowed to bang your mate on the head with a chair and in the second people are expected to not turn up to work drunk and disorderly. Similarly school kids will have a curriculum and a company will expect its employees to do their jobs. But also both environments will provide training and support to those who needs it. At school you go through grades and have a form teacher to look after you, at work you have got training sessions and HR. An online community according to Pratt & Paloff will be most effective if it keeps it simple and gradually builds the technology skills. They do not recommended to use technology just for the sake of using technology - drop it, if it doesn't serve any purpose apart from being shiny.

Transformation

Transformation is the simplest way to explain what the primary goal of online learning is. And not just in the way that a student will be transformed into a more knowledgeable, skilled self. But a learner who learnt how to learn in an effective autonomous way. Who at that learnt it in a dialogue with others, who is now more reflective and self-directed with a developed sense of online presence. Der Überstudent.

References:

Laureate Education (Producer). (2010). Online learning communities [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

TVenglish Online School - Project Description

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:11:00 +0000

For millions of people today, distance learning provides a compelling, convenient, and enriching experience that, until recently, was not feasible. Fueled by technological advances that have made profound changes in teaching and learning possible, distance learning continues to expand as its applications and advantages to business, education, and everyday life become widely known and appreciated.

A project “TVenglish Online School – Watch TV and Learn English!” is motivated by the fact that learning a foreign language at a distance is rapidly becoming a preferred choice of many adult and adolescent learners all over the world. One of the reasons for that is a paradigm shift from the Teacher-Centered traditional model of education to Learner-Centered individualized instruction that “strongly promotes active learning, collaboration, mastery of course material and student control over the learning process” (Simonson et al, 2012, p. 123).

This document’s aim is to provide a high-level overview of the entire training solution for the online school TVenglish™ and serve as a major quality assurance checkpoint.

In this document we will consider the following questions in order to produce an instructional strategy:

• What course materials will allow achieving learning outcomes?

• How will course materials be grouped and sequenced?

• What instructional methods and tactics will be used to present material?

• How will assessments measure a learner's success?

Materials for instruction will be represented by a variety of contemporary text, audio and video content delivered via Web 2.0 technology.

1. The course will be built around an English course pack New English File™ (Basic, Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper-Intermediate and Advanced) It is a four-skills English course with engaging lessons, digital resources and strong online support. Resources include iPacks and iTools, DVDs, MultiROMs, popular websites, plus Online Skills Practice material – completely new for 2011.

2. TVenglish online school also suggests using learning materials based on popular TV shows and cartoons as a means of engaging students and providing them with an opportunity to master skills of understanding conversational English in a situation close to real life.

3. Students will also be encouraged to use the power of Web 2.0 tools to achieve their learning goals through:

• joining online language learning communities;

• downloading ESL podcasts;

• reading and listening to e-books on their computer, iPod™ or a similar device;

Content is grouped and sequenced according to the European Language Portfolio that describes “the levels of proficiency required by existing standards, tests and examinations in order to facilitate comparisons between different systems of qualifications.” The six levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2) are an interpretation of the classic division into basic, intermediate and advanced. Each level is built around a corresponding course pack and video course, suplemented by additional online resourses. The students will be placed into levels after passing a placement test and completing an Online Orientation course delivered through a Course Management System.

The delivery mode of the course is blended with most of the content delivered in asynchronous mode: reading, writing and listening. However, speaking will be essentially face-to-face and synchronous to ensure that students are engaged and have an opportunity to master their skills in a live communication with a native speaker or a Russian speaking tutor.

Students will interact with the content, instructors and faculty using the following tools:

• Skype™;

• Course Management System CourseSites™;

• Interactive whiteboard TitanPad™.

Another issue we consider is assessing the progress of learners. Assessment will be conducted in a form of informal examinations – every 6 months students will be offered an opportunity to take a mock international language exam that corresponds to their proficiency level. They will also be asked for a permission to record one of their Skype™ lessons for an academic progress report to be written by a member of faculty other than a student’s personal tutor. Assessment here enables students “to gain a sense of control and they can take greater responsibilities for their learning, if they know how well they are doing, compared with an established set of criteria” (Simonson et al, 2012).

For young learners assessment will also include progress reports directed to their parents emails every months and an online gradebook.

Reference

Kilimci, S. (2010). Integration of the Internet into a Language Curriculum in a Multicultural Society. Turkish Online Journal Of Educational Technology - TOJET, 9(1), 107-113.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Reflection on Distance Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 01:47:00 +0000

Distance Learning: Expanding Horizons

In his video George Siemens speaks of growing acceptance of distance education that is fueled by:

The increase in online communication;
Practical experience with new tools;
Growing comfort with online discourse; and
Ability to communicate with diverse and global groups (Laureate, 2010).

Despite Siemens’ optimistic vision of what the perceptions of distance learning will be in the future, currently there are some concerns, whether online education is as valuable and effective as traditional education. Moller, Foshay & Huett (2008) mention a stigma attached to distance education, poor organisation of training and shortage of instructional design professionals. Many in traditional education view distance education institutions as “diploma mills” with no classrooms, untrained or non-existent faculties, and unqualified administrators with profit as their primary motivation. Gambescia and Paolucci (2009) stress that while the flexibility and convenience factor afforded by online learning is a natural selling point, these attributes shouldn’t be much more prominent than those factors that speak to academic fidelity. Correspondingly Moller et al (Part 1, p. 70) specifically criticize economics and access as the only rationale for distance education by pointing out that "effectiveness [then] is either naively assumed or not particularly valued.”

However Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek (2012, p. 9) claim that the research proves that distance education works and provide 6 postulates directly related to its effectiveness:

Training in effective instructional strategies is critical for teachers of distant learners.
Distance education courses should be carefully designed and developed before instruction begins.
Visualization of ideas and concepts is critical when designing instruction to be delivered to distant learners
Adequate support systems must be in place to provide the distant learner with access to resources and services.
Interaction between the instructor and students and among students must be possible and encouraged.
Assessment should be designed to relate to the specific learning outcomes of the instructional experiences.

Success of online learning, as further explained by Simonson et al (2008, p.15), is enabled by technology, since it can provide optimal learning experiences for learners of diverse educational, technical, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds; in situations where classroom-based learning is either impossible or impractical.

So the future does look optimistic as “emerging technologies are changing online distance learning because they offer new solutions, add flexibility to integrate student interaction, and evoke real-life collaboration opportunities” (Beldarrain, 2006, p. 152).

Educational Paradigm: The Need for Change

In 1988 Keegan spoke about a negative impact the lack of theory had had on distance education “...there had been a lack of identity, a sense of belonging to the periphery and the lack of touchstone against which decisions on methods, on media, on financing, on student support, when they have to be made, can be made with confidence” (Simonson et al, 2012, p. 41).

Would you agree with Moller et al (2008) that distance learning ''can do more damage than good if it is not designed or implemented properly''? I think it is not only a matter of quality of instructional design but as Moller et al (2008) put it ''reconsideration by contemporary views of what constitutes instruction''. So I have discovered that my personal learning preferences correspond to the principles of Charles Wedemeyer’s Theory of Independent Study that identifies such characteristics of distance learning as communication, pacing, convenience and self-determination of goals and activities (Simonson et al, 2012, p. 43).

In the video Changing Education Paradigms (2010), adapted from his talk given at the RSA, Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert, speaks of the theoretical underpinnings that cause a clash of mainstream education and real needs of today’s students.

Make a Difference: One Online English School

My primary motivation when I started at Walden was to gain skills and knowledge for launching my own online English school. So far I have made a number of important steps towards my dream.

1. I have realized the importance of of a theoretical basis for decision making. So far my heart is in Wedemeyer’s Theory of Independent Study because of the nature of my project. However, in the process of considering the project constraints I am not going to dismiss the rest of the distance education theories presented by Simonson et al (2012).

2. Planning in distant education is crucial and though it is very time-consuming and needs a lot of effort it is well worth all the trouble, because “well-designed instruction is repeatable” (Simonson et al, 2012, p. 165). So I decided to devote a couple of years to designing and evaluating my online English school. Being a practitioner of online education I can ask my students to beta-test my course, as “learners can give feedback in lesson design and instruction delivery” (Simonson et al, 2012).

3. After completing the Distance Learning course, I can finally see the importance of identifying learners’ needs at the very beginning. Moore (1998) has noted that technologies are not critical elements in shaping students satisfaction with their distance course. Rather, student’s satisfaction is determined by “the attention students receive from teachers and from the system they work in to meet their needs”. Those needs include:

Content that they feel is relevant to their needs

Clear directions for what they should do at every stage of the course

As much control of the pace of learning as possible

A means to drawing attention to individual concerns

A way of testing their progress and getting feedback from the instructors

Materials that are useful, active, and interesting (Simonson et al, 2012,p. 169).

4. Another issue I am going to consider when designing an online instruction is assessing the progress of learners. Until recently the assessment that I have employed in my teaching practice was informal and it seemed enough to provide feedback and keep students motivated. However, unlike face-to-face synchronous private studies, an online language course catering to a bigger group of students with most of its content delivered online has different constraints. Assessment here enables students “to gain a sense of control and they can take greater responsibilities for their learning, if they know how well they are doing, compared with an established set of criteria” (Simonson et al, 2012).

5. Another important thing for me to consider is evaluation. While the notion of evaluation is not new to anyone involved in institutionally based teaching process, nowadays it is departing from a traditional quantitative approach and is increasingly incorporating “more naturalistic methodologies with holistic perspectives” (Simonson et al, 2012). These counter-approach methods include focus groups, interviews, observations, ratings and journals.

I consider AEIOU approach (Simonson et al, 2012, p. 351) to be optimal for evaluating an online language course, as it benefits both from quantitative and qualitative methodologies and examines the following important components of instruction:

Accountability (accountability data is collected);

Effectiveness (achievement and attitude are measured);

Impact (longitudinal data is collected);

Organizational Context (environmental/contextual factors that have affected the instruction are identified);

Unanticipated Consequences (unexpected positive or negative changes that occurred as a result of instruction are identified) (Simonson et al, 2012, p. 351).

6. I am currently teaching a face-to-face synchronous online course, however, I don't see this delivery method appropriate for such a big project as an online language school. I am very concerned about the quality and effectiveness of online schools in Russia. I have worked for a couple of online schools including higher education distance language courses and have done a lot of research in this sphere. It turns out there is no evaluation or assessment which I see as crucial to students’s success. I am planning for the most of the content to be delivered in asynchronous mode: teaching reading, writing and listening skills. However, in my program speaking will be essentially face-to-face and synchronous to ensure that students are engaged and have an opportunity to master their skills in a live communication with a native speaker.

My desire to explore the asynchronous realm is dictated by the fact that none of online English schools that work in Russia makes it possible for students to study asynchronously, they all heavily depend on a teacher, whereas I am looking to implement Wedemeyer’s vision. The online learning resources will be selected to help students navigate their own learning and provide them with “a wider choice of methods and formats to reach their learning goal” (Simonson et al 2012, p. 44).

Finally, the biggest selling point of my language course will be the fact that “With the growing population and advancements in technology, school is no longer seen as the only place to have the education” (Kilimci, S., 2010, p. 109). So private sector emerges with costs lower than traditional language courses, as individualized learning happens from the comfort of both teacher’s and learner’s homes and offers wider choices in courses, formats and methodologies.

Reference

Beldarrain, Y. (2006). Distance education trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration. Distance Education, 27(2),139–153.

Gambescia, S., & Paolucci, R. (2009). Academic fidelity and integrity as attributes of university online degree program offerings. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 12(1). Retrieved from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring121/gambescia121.html

Kilimci, S. (2010). Integration of the Internet into a Language Curriculum in a Multicultural Society. Turkish Online Journal Of Educational Technology - TOJET, 9(1), 107-113.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). The future of distance education [Video Program].

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 1: Training and development).TechTrends, 52(3), 70–75

RSA Animate (Producer). (2010). Changing Education Paradigms [Video webcast]. Retrieved from http://comment.rsablogs.org.uk/videos/

Simonson, H., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S., (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of education at a distance. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 03:05:00 +0000

Online Course Conversion Guide

Scenario: A training manager has been frustrated with the quality of communication among trainees in his face-to-face training sessions and wants to try something new. With his supervisor’s permission, the trainer plans to convert all current training modules to a blended learning format, which would provide trainees and trainers the opportunity to interact with each other and learn the material in both a face-to-face and online environment. In addition, he is considering putting all of his training materials on a server so that the trainees have access to resources and assignments at all times.

1. Educational Theory

Because the issue raised in the scenario is the quality of communication it is helpful to start with considering an educational theory that will guide the conversion of the course to an online format. The author of the Theory of Interaction and Communication Börje Holmberg argued in favour of a conversational approach to course development and I based this Online Course Conversion Guide on the following assumption:

“The core of teaching is interaction between the teaching and learning parties; it is assumed that simulated interaction through subject-matter presentation in pre-produced courses can take over part of the interaction by causing students to consider different views, approaches, and solutions and generally interact with a course” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 48).

Teaching methods conducive to learning according to Holmberg include mediated interaction of student-student, student-instructor and student-content character and problem oriented assignments.

2. Multimedia

I recommend revising the course activities in favour of those conducive to creating a learning community. As new technologies emerge, instructional designers and educators have unique opportunities to foster interaction and collaboration among learners, thus creating a true learning community (Beldarrain, 2006).

When selecting the technology for delivering the online component of the course it is important to keep in mind seven principles for implementing new technologies in distance education programs (Chickering, Ehrmann, 1996):

Selecting Technology Tools on Prezi by Yulia Tolstopyatova

To incorporate some or all of those tools into your course I suggest using Course Management Systems that “have become the de facto standard by which the vast majority of the asynchronous distance education courses are delivered” (Simonson et al, 2012, p. 238).

CMS tools are expected to promote power, affiliation, and achievement which according to McClelland and Burnham (1976) are basic motivators. “In an online environment, affiliation needs are often satisfied by means of an interactive discussion board or chat area. Instant messaging also often satisfies that need. Any learning object that helps improve collaboration and interactivity among learners is likely to help a learner or user achieve affiliation needs. Further, any learning object that encourages learners to want to identify with the identity of the institution, and to improve self-concept through affiliation is also likely to increase an individual’s sense of power and achievement” (Smith Nash, 2005, p. 224).

3. Course Activities

According to Simonson et al (2012, p. 239) one of the most powerful tools used in distance education are discussion forums.

A discussion board fulfills several important functions in an online environment:

- Helps CREATE THE LEARNING COMMUNITY. Each member of the discussion contributes to “the building of community of understanding” (Simonson et al, 2012, p. 240).

- ENGAGES STUDENTS in active learning. Distance students involved in weekly discussions are responsible for their own learning, so Simonson (2012, p. 245) speaks of the “”kiss of death” that is the lack of student participation for any distance course.

- Serves as an ASSESSMENT TOOL. “Instructors with a belief in and appreciation for constructivist learning acknowledge the importance of using authentic tasks for evaluating students’ performance in online courses” (Comeaux, 2006, 14).

- Provides FEEDBACK. Feedback on a discussion board performance enhances critical thinking, writing literacy and scholarly behavior. Therefore, Simonson (2012) suggests that “threaded discussions should be graded, from minimal setup expectations to a truly exemplary level.”

However there might be some students reluctant to participate in online discussions, in this case Connolly et al (2007) recommend providing more input in the early stages to foster trust and develop confidence. Students involved in the study provided the following reasons for the lack of participation:

- lack of confidence;

- discussion boards were not linked to the assessment;

- exclusion by the rest of the group;

- lack of tutor guidance.

Source: Adapted from Connolly, Jones & Jones (2007)

It is important to remember that Instructor’s feedback to a discussion board is like wood to fire. It is best expressed by an undergraduate student involved in a distance education study "I liked the moderator who gave us the most feedback, with further comments and questions to keep our threads going and to stimulate further discussion and to make us think laterally and beyond what was said" (Connolly et al, 2007).

4. The Role of the Instructor

Distance education, states Simonson (2012, p. 241), is an opportunity to revisit the role of the instructor in the learning environment. And Dr. George Piskurich singles out the following attributes of a successful online facilitator:

They know the software used in the course;

They know the lesson plan;

They try to constantly communicate with their students online;

They actively participate in synchronous and asynchronous discussions;

They care about learners’ success.

They induce active learning by providing activities that help students to learn the content.

“Distance learning demands that students become engaged in the learning process” (Simonson et al, 2012, p. 243). Discussion thread is one of the best tools to encourage students to socially construct and discover their knowledge. One measure of the success of a threaded discussion sequence, says Simonson (2012), is a reduced role played by the instructor. Simonson et al (2012) advise against posting to more than 1 post out of 4 in a thread, and recommend monitoring the thread without overpowering it, letting the students build on one another’s comments and self-regulate.

And finally, remember that while the content is important, the activities are the heart of your course and engaging activities keep this heart healthy and beating; taking dull and old activities of a traditional teacher-centered classroom and dumping them online will just result in a cardiac arrest of your course’s heart.

This Online Course Conversion Guide is also available in PDF, just click the highlighted words to download the document.

References:

Beldarrain, Y. (2006). Distance Education Trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration. Distance Education 27(2), 139-153

Comeaux, P., Assessing Students’ Online Learning: Strategies and Resources (2006). Retrieved from http://www.podnetwork.org/publications/teachingexcellence/05-06/V17,%20N3%20Comeaux.pdf

Connolly, M., Jones, C., & Jones, N. (2007). New Approaches, New Vision: Capturing Teacher Experiences in a Brave New Online World. Open Learning, 22(1), 43-56. Retrieved from ERIC research database in the Walden Library.

Piskurich, G. Chauser, J. (n.d). (2012). Facilitating online learning. (Video program). Laureate Education Inc. Retrieved from Walden Online University

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Smith Nash, S. (2005). Learning objects, learning object repositories, and learning theory: preliminary best practices for online courses. Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and Learning Objects, 1. Retrieved from http://www.ijello.org/Volume1/v1p217-228Nash.pdf

Selecting Distance Learning Technologies

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:20:00 +0000

Example 2: Interactive Tours

A high school history teacher, located on the west coast of the United States, wants to showcase to her students new exhibits being held at two prominent New York City museums. The teacher wants her students to take a "tour" of the museums and be able to interact with the museum curators, as well as see the art work on display. Afterward, the teacher would like to choose two pieces of artwork from each exhibit and have the students participate in a group critique of the individual work of art. As a novice of distance learning and distance learning technologies, the teacher turned to the school district’s instructional designer for assistance. In the role of the instructional designer, what distance learning technologies would you suggest the teacher use to provide the best learning experience for her students?

Possible Technological Solution

Because teens are the audience of this project, ENGAGEMENT is the key in making a choice on distance learning technologies. Also distance learning techniques can solve a problem of a traditional setting that many museum curators report “High school students are very quiet. Over the years I have learned that quiet does not always mean disengaged. At this age level peer pressure is heavy and the fear of giving a wrong answer is intense. They also dislike being controlled by adults.” (Schlageck, K., 2009) Wedemeyer’s Theory of Independent Study places an emphasis on “learner independence and adoption of technology as a way to implement this independence.” (Simonson et al, 2012, p. 43)Therefore discussion thread will be optimal for individual students to share their opinion on the topic, whereas a task calling to rely on their experience will make this discussion meaningful. Kathrine Schlageck (2009) a curator from Beach Musem of Art, Kansas State University provides an example of an engaging topic for discussion:

“You are the curator of the Beach Museum of Art. The tornado siren goes off, you are in the galleries, and you have time to save one piece of art. Which one is it?

After the tornado is over the Director wants to know why you saved the piece – your job depends on your answer!

Some things to consider: The artist’s technical ability, the importance of the artist or the work, the message of the work, the historical value of the work, and the collections mission of the Museum.”

One more important factor to consider is THE DEPTH WEB 2.0 CAN PROVIDE FOR LEARNING. Art video podcasts or museum virtual tours, if available, will do a better job familiarizing students with the art works than a textbook entry, as it suits the learning styles of both audio and visual learners. “Research shows that use of visual and verbal modes of learning together significantly increases learning. The results of several studies also indicate that online students who listen to podcasts demonstrate more effective learning, greater satisfaction, greater autonomy, and greater motivation than online students who do not.” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2012)

Information about art collections can also be researched by students themselves and compiled into a wiki, to elicit “student discovery and construction of knowledge” as required by a Lerner-Based Instructional Model (Simonson et al, 2012, p. 124)

Videoconference with curators can serve the purpose of introducing the collections, it might start with a slide show followed by inviting students to respond. Catherine Arias (2009) from The Museum of Contemporary Art shares her vision of a follow-up discussion “Ask follow-up questions in a non-threatening way. I watched an educator smile and enthusiastically ask teens who giggled and called a video in the exhibition crazy and trippy, “What’s crazy about it?” “What’s trippy about this video?” The educator showed appreciation for their initial tentative comments and gently pushed them to explain further.” In this example we can see how Wdemeyer’s emphasis on the development of the relationship between students and facilitator can be realized. (Simonson et al, 2012, p. 44)

As an educator I find this situation rich in opportunities to use technology to take learning to the next level of Lerner-Centered environments, where success is determined by “demonstrated knowledge and skills”, not by “accumulated credit hours.” (Simonson et al, 2012, p. 124)

References:

Arias, C., Schlageck, K., How to engage the high school museum visitor. Doctor Dada. (2009). [Blog]. Retrieved from http://doctordada.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-to-engage-high-school-museum.html

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2012). The Technology of Distance Education [Video webcast].

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th Ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Defining Distant Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:52:00 +0000

My Definition of Distance Learning

Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century

– Perelman

Extending S.J. Perelman’s quotation I would add “...through their engagement in distance learning”.

Prior to this course I defined Distance Learning as an interaction between participants of the instruction process that is not limited by time and space. After some exploration of the topic I still see this definition as valid, however I would add a couple of important points.

• Distance education is institutionally based as opposite to private study and self-study.

• Apart from being separated in time and space, students and teachers are also separated intellectually.

• Instruction is enabled through interactive communications.

• Learning experience comprises sharing of data, voice and video.

Thus my definition complies with 4 components to the definition of distance education provided by Simonson et al. (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 33)

Starting as a correspondence course 160 years ago Distance Education has undergone a number of important changes in its methods of delivery but has retained its flexible character. According to Moller et al the primary driving forces of Distant Learning are economics and access, however there is one more driving force, even more important – effectiveness. “Many contemporary approaches assert that while most traditional instruction does well to control and to manage the educational experience, it does little to maximize, and may even inhibit, natural human learning abilities “ (Moller, Foshay & Huett, 2008).

Distance learning future is in the hands of generation Millennium, who came of age in the 1990s when the technology revolution exploded and, generally, are technologically sophisticated. “Information revolution created a situation where there should be less emphasis on the accumulation of personal knowledge and more on tools necessary for informational retrieval.” (Junginger, 2012) Millennials want to learn by using teamwork, technology, structure, entertainment, excitement, and experiential activities, hence the change of paradigm in education and evolution of learning theories.

I share Pr Siemens' vision of the future of Distance Learning as a gradual blending of traditional education and e-learning, where traditional school is not abolished but incorporates e-learning into all educational and training settings.

I also find it very credible that “Full scale online education will occur as the result of compounded growth, increased familiarity and acceptance, various models of scalability, and possible wildcards which may accelerate growth.” (Sener, 2010)

To conclude I would like to address a concern voiced by Moller et al “If mediocrity becomes the norm, then ID practitioners will all be tarred with the same brush regardless of their competence or the theoretical persuasion of their training” (Moller, Foshay & Huett, 2008). While this concern is certainly justified, I share John Sener's claim that ID has entered the second era of improving quality, whereas the first era was focused on providing access.

References

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Coleman, C. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 3: K12).TechTrends, 52(5), 63–67.

Junginger, C. Who is training whom? The effect of the millennial generation. (2008.) FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 77(9), p. 19-23.

Sener, J. (2010). Why Online Education Will Attain Full Scale. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 14(4), p3-16

Siemens, G., (2012). Distance Education: The Next Generation. Laureate Media. (n/d).

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

New Year, New Course, New Beginnings

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 02:43:00 +0000

hi everyone,

welcome to my blog and my thoughts and insights on instructional design and distance education. I am really looking forward to an exciting exchange of ideas and making new friends!

Reflection on Instructional Design Course

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 18:13:00 +0000

Legends and Misconceptions

Prior to starting the Instructional Design course my understanding of an Instructional Designer's job used to be a hybrid between a teacher and a computer nerd. It turned out the profession of an Instructional Designer is considered practically “invisible”, as it both reflects a shift of pedagogical paradigm and goes under so many names.

As for the paradigm shift the learner and the performance problem are in the focus of Instructional Design, whereas traditionally the content used to run the show. “Instructional Design focuses on the individual and how to improve the individual performances rather than on what content to cover.” (Morrison, Ross, Kalman, Kemp. (2011). Designing effective instruction, p. 12)

Moreover, the profession being relatively new still arises so many issues when the ID has to convince others of his/her value. Hopefully with time as technology is becoming so essential in many industries the ID profession will gain more recognition.

Instructional Design – Science, Art or Craft?

There is no doubt that Instructional Design is a science as the systematic approach lies at the core of its foundation. However, I agree with Tom Gram who acknowledges Instructional Design as science but also points out craft and art as a basis of a successful ID model. The main idea is of Art inspiring, Science justifying and Craft bringing all your experiences to a project. “Art and craft together without the systematic analysis of science can lead to disorganized learning designs. Craft and science without the creative vision of art can lead to dispirited design, careful and connected but lacking flare. Learning design based on art with science is creative and systematic, but without the experience of craft can produce, impersonal and disconnected learning.” (Gram, 2010) Therefore Analysis stage can be viewed as purely scientific element; Design and Development have more art and craft to them; to successfully complete Implementation stage one needs good communication skills and understanding of psychology of human interaction; finally Evaluation methods and procedures are scientifically based.

ADDIE and Zen

“Any art, practice, or technique is quite dangerous if it has no firm, theoretical foundation. But any theory, be it scientific, religious, or philosophical, is quite useless if it is too difficult to understand or impractical for daily living." – G. Osawa, a Zen teacher, an author of a Macrobiotic diet.

This Zen idea can be a key to interpreting ADDIE and other training models: ADDIE defines all the components of Instructional Design process and gives it a logical structure and it is the responsibility of an ID team to adjust it to a given project. Other ID models are designed to incorporate the ADDIE components, so there is no need to come up with a new model each time there are new project variables.

Though many in the ID field argue that ADDIE is not a model, I see it as a general principle that gives an opportunity to combine and experiment.

For e-learning projects it would be very effective to include a Rapid Prototype Phase in the design phase. So a quickly assembled module can be tested early in the ID process. The feedback allows for flexibility and creates an iterative loop where you can shape a pilot of an end product and work with a model.

For business training of certain performance skills the Human Performance Technology models are ideal.

One more type of ID models worth of mentioning are Practical Variations: Hands-On-Training (HOT) and Telling Ain't Training. They work best when employed by subject experts hired by organization.

With so many models in mind an ID can adjust the design process to the budget and other variables of a given organization, every time providing an optimal solution.

Dreams Come True

After this initial introduction to the intricacies of Instructional Design I can say for sure that skills and knowledge I have gained as a member of an ID project team definitely changed my understanding of the profession. As an online ESL teacher I am aspiring to create my own online school and this experience makes me confident and optimistic about creating an efficient and technologically advanced online learning environment.

Reflection on Learning Theories and Instruction

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 04:33:00 +0000

For me as an international student this first experience at Walden was striking in many respects. Learning Theories and Instruction being the opening course in the certificate of Instructional Design and Technology provided an insight not only into online education and American education in general but also broadened my understanding of e-learning and instructional design. I was happy to find scientific evidence that proves many ideas I have tried to comprehend in layman’s terms.

Thus, I have found the way Cogninitive theory explains the transfer of knowledge most appealing and now I can see what underlies the strategies for successful learning in first place. “Metacognition comprises two related skills. First, one must understand what skills, strategies, and resources a task requires. Second, one must know how and when to use these skills and strategies to ensure the task is completed successfully” (Ormrod, Schunk & Gredler, 2009, p. 101).

Further exploration of learning styles and strategies allowed me to relate Ormrod’s “top-to-down” approach to teach students strategies for "learning effectively rather than cater to these preferences that may or may not actually exist in the self-report kinds of assessment techniques" (n.d.).

Brain theory principles (Gardner (2003) defined 8 relatively autonomous brain systems each responsible for an intelligence) provides a connection between Multiple Intelligences and information input mode. So now I have come to realize there are no learning strengths or weaknesses. But, otherwise, there is a need to provide an appropriate context to foster both students’ present and potential Multiple Intelligences.

Besides, I had to consider a very important question through the lens of Social Constructivism if online learning environment can be as efficient as a traditional one. "Social constructivists view the classroom as a community whose task is to develop knowledge... where knowledge is socially constructed and distributed among co-participants" (Ormrod, Schunk & Gredler, 2009, p.19).

According to Nicholas C. Burbules (2004) there are four factors that are vital to creation of a successful online environment: interest, involvement, imagination, and interactivity. On my part I tried to consider what theory each factor resonates with.

Interest: Problem solving, pacing, and alternative paths of investigation can all help promote interest. Good teaching and project design can elicit interest even with material that is not immediately interesting or of concern to students. Interesting subject matter is engaging and puzzling at a level that poses an attractive challenge to the learner. Too difficult and the student loses interest out of frustration; too simple and it loses its quality as a challenge. This resonates with Vygotskiy's Zone of Proximal Development and warns us against setting inadequate goals.

Involvement: Learners are involved with things that matter to them. N.C. Burbules suggests that instructors instead of trying to make the subject matter important through extrinsic rewards, or sometimes through the threat of adverse consequences should use Dewey’s advice "to start where students are already motivated and eager to learn, and link our purposes to that engine". This presumption in my opinion is of key importance to construction of meaning as no knowledge or experience would be internalized if it is of no value to a learner.

Engaging: How do I engage the learner’s imagination with this problem? Burbules' examples include simulations, models, case studies, or narratives that construct a plausible version of reality and allow room for the participant to interpolate or extrapolate new content as they work to make sense of it. Those practices can be employed to create social context for learning.

Interactivity: to facilitate interactions between students and the learning situation instructors should make use of team projects, multiple channels of communication, opportunities for open deliberation and for private, personal reflection on course activities. Thus, the constructivist principle of social interaction with knowledgeable members of society is realized.

To address Technology as another component of this program that is meant to facilitate and promote efficient self-directed learning I would like to bring up Connectivism and Adult Learning Theory. As an online student and online ESL instructor I am seeking connections in online social environments through such media as Walden University and various Professional and Personal networks. Paraphrasing George Siemens as adults are those responsible for their learning outcome, they need to stay current in complex learning environments and exploit technology in order to function well with others in achievement of individual tasks. Thus, the educational potential of rapidly emerging technology cannot be realized without implementation of learning strategies that enable students to make sense of abundant easily accessible information and learning tools and the role of instructors is to provide those strategies and guidance.

In his article Engaging Learners in Online Learning Environments Cher Ping Lim (2004) addresses the key strategies that constitute a learning kit of a successful online instructor. Based on the assumptions about online learners’ strategic skills, knowledge and attitude Lim suggests some effective guiding and supporting activities gradually delegating the control of learning to learners themselves.

But learning no matter how facilitated technologically and strategically it is will not happen without motivation. And we have to keep in mind that “learners are almost always motivated in one way or another… Teachers should never question whether their students are motivated. Instead they should try to determine in which way their students are motivated” (Ormrod, Schunk & Gredler, 2009, p.224). Now I am able to determine that utilizing the ARCS model suggested by Keller (2009) and comprising 4 dimensions of motivation known as attention (A), relevance (R), confidence (C), and satisfaction (S).

To conclude, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Paige who demonstrated the ARCS model in action and whose support, feedback and genuine interest helped me as a Walden student to make a step up towards fulfilling my dream of starting an online ESL school.

References:

Armstrong, T. (2001) Multiple intelligences in the classroom, 2nd. edition. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Lim, C. P. (2004). Engaging learners in online learning environments. TechTrends: Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning, 48(4), 16–23.

Nicholas C. Burbules, (2004) "Navigating the advantages and disadvantages of online pedagogy." Learning, Culture, and Community: Multiple Perspectives and Practices in Online Education, Caroline Haythornthwaite and Michelle M. Kazmer, eds.

Ormrod, J., Schunk, D., & Gredler, M. (2009). Learning theories and instruction (Laureate custom edition). New York: Pearson.

Learning Theories...Rocked My World!

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 00:43:00 +0000

As I was reading through my first week discussion initial post I realized my approach to education had shifted from a teacher-centered to a learner-centered one. The key question was “How do you understand your own learning process?” but my answer was the one of a teacher, not the one of a learner. My new understanding of construction of meaning helps me to better understand how I can effectively design a learning process for my students as an online instructor.

Behaviorism and Cognitive theory have been something I had to revisit, though I definitely got to learn quite a few new things about those seemingly familiar theories. Thus, I understood that many tech tools in ESL sphere are actually based on behaviorist principles. A lot of software and tools I used in teaching are based on the link between stimuli and a learner’s response. Many of them have been here for some years, e.g. Grammar and Pronunciation software, e.g. EyeSpeak, Vocabulary building tools, e.g. Online Mnemonic Dictionary, Lingvo Tutor and others like simulation games that are yet to become common reality as soon as they become cost effective.

At the same time I realized that aforementioned technologies have developed due to the assumptions of cognitive theory that have direct relevance to designing learning tools in ESL:

· Learner control, metacognitive training (e.g. self-planning, monitoring, and revising techniques).

· Cognitive task analysis procedures.

· Use of cognitive strategies such as outlining, summaries, synthesizers, advanced organizers, etc.

· Recall of prerequisite skills; use of relevant examples, analogies.” (Ertmer & Newby, 1993)

There were also quite a few revelations with Constructivism and Connectivism, too. Thus, never before I paid much attention to the importance of shared cognition. Now the phrase “interaction with more knowledgeable others” doesn’t mean a student interacting with a teacher only but also peers and learning context come to the foreground. Hence the determination with which I started to implement the following technological means to construct social environment online for the individual students I teach:

· Learning platforms, e.g. Elluminate that I am planning to use for group lessons online;

· Forum software I have started to use in order to engage students into project work juliasclass.com;

· Chat rooms for ESL practice, e.g. Yahoo Messenger, Skype, Google Talk;

· Personal blogs on ESL and podcasts I encourage my students to use in their self-directed learning, e.g. esl.about.com

But it was Connectivism that turned out a real goldmine and changed my world forever. A new type of learner that was born together with the Internet calls for a shift in the way we learn and we teach – “the connections that enable us to learn more are more important than our current state of knowing”. (G. Siemens) A “networker” is a new type of learner who creates his/her own learning network to easily access and share expertise. My next step as an instructional designer would be to help my students find a way to connect to those who can be defined as “more knowledgeable others” through many personal networks and teach them navigation strategies.

References:

Davis, C., Edmunds, E., & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivism. Emerging perspectives on

learning, teaching and technology .

Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (1993). Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing

Critical Features from an Instructional Design Perspective. Performance Improvement

Quarterly , 50-72.

Social networks: the right people, the right conversations, the right time.

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 22:07:00 +0000

My whole life is online: my two jobs Technical Translator and Online ESL Instructor, my international and Russian friends Skype, Facebook, Online Dating Websites, VKontakte and my school Walden University.

Connectivism is a concept my life is built on. My cultural background is Russian and we are very connected people as our approach to life is very communal. We often get jobs and school opportunities through our family and friends. Similarly I have got an excellent translation job still being a student because my mom’s old friend called her and asked if I might be interested in a position of a Technical Translator with an International power engineering company.

Besides, being a digital native I had no problems to find a job online after I graduated. I live in a small town in the mountains but the bulk of my clientele are people who reside in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Also my personal and professional connections include people from the USA, UK, Australia, Turkey and even Iraq.

I always resort to Internet whenever I have a question or a problem, the widespread term is “Google it”. Also I ask people in my social networks, and I have valuable advisors who help me to find a solution to any problem in the quickest possible way. At the same time I always offer my assistance to whoever asks for it.

All in all, my networking goes on lines of the principles discussed by Michael Dulworth in his book Connect Effect: Building Strong Personal, Professional, and Virtual Networks. According to Dulworth strong, powerful networks have four key qualities: (1) quantity, (2) relationships, (3) diversity, and (4) quality.

After I completed the test that determines NQ (networking quotient) my result was what he calls a “Networking Genius”. It turned out I naturally followed his10 Successful Networking Tips.

Top Ten List of Successful Networking Tips by Michael Dulworth

1. Keep networking at the top of your priority list every day. (I check my emails the first thing in the morning and before I go to bed).

2. Help others in your network, first and foremost (All my friends and acquaintances have 24/7 access to my help, assistance and support).

3. Build a PBOD (Personal Board of Directors) to support your career and life. (Among those people the most valuable are a US Online Gender Studies Professor and my Russian English-by-Skype coordinator who has immigrated to Australia and works at Sydney University now)

4. Get organized— in whatever way works best for you (The only organizational problems I have are my messy apartment and weird sleeping schedule).

5. Map your current network. It’s probably better than you think. (Thanks to Walden it is off my list now).

6. Play “One Degree of Separation” to see whom you might include in your network. (Trevae Golden an ESL teacher and my Walden classmate is now among people I can proudly call my professional friends!)

7. Be interested in people and ask them a lot of questions. Networks are built through personal connections, and you never know how you might connect with someone. (I really tried hard to do it last week starting a forum for my classmates. The result is my new friendship with Trevae, with whom we’ve been productively collaborating since then).

8. Go for quality over quantity. (I am a “people cutter” and always keep my contact lists trimmed, so all my connections are meaningful).

9. Diversity, diversity, diversity! The more, the better. (My contacts are multiracial, from different age groups, occupations, continents and educational backgrounds).

10. Build your personal brand. (I am working on it, the example can be the forum I started last week for my ESL students Julia's Class)

Michael Dulworth states that when you have a network with all these qualities you get “the right people, the right conversations, the right time.”

All this makes my experience resonate with G. Siemens definition of learning. Learning (defined as actionable knowledge) can reside outside of ourselves (within an organization or a database), is focused on connecting specialized information sets, and the connections that enable us to learn more are more important than our current state of knowing.

References:

1. Dulworth, Michael. Connect Effect : Building Strong Personal, Professional, and Virtual Networks.

Williston, VT, USA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2007.

http://site.ebrary.com/lib/waldenu/Doc?id=10205950&ppg=61

2. Siemens, George. Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. Retrieved from: http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Connectivism

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:04:00 +0000

So here's my mind map created by means of MindGenius software. Later I will post my reflections on my learning connections.

Online you get to know your students' minds not just their faces...

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 22:19:00 +0000

This weeks' questions for discussion articulated my own concerns with regard to online learning. "Social constructivists view the classroom as a community whose task is to develop knowledge... where knowledge is socially constructed and distributed among co-participants". (Ormrod, Schunk, Gredler, p.19)

The question arises: can online learning environment be as efficient as a traditional one? After I did some reading on online learning and reflected on my own experience as both an online English instructor and a student of an online course the answer I produced was emphatic YES!

First, I'd like to share some interesting information provided by Nicholas C. Burbules a Professor at the University of Illinois. In his chapter Navigating the Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Pedagogy N.C. Burbules establishes four factors that are vital to creation of a successful online environment: interest, involvement, imagination, and interactivity.

Interest: "Problem solving, pacing, and alternative paths of investigation can all help promote interest. Good teaching and project design can elicit interest even with material that is not immediately interesting or of concern to students. Interesting subject matter is engaging and puzzling at a level that poses an attractive challenge to the learner. Too difficult and the student loses interest out of frustration; too simple and it loses its quality as a challenge". This resonates with Vygotskiy's Zone of Proximal Development and warns us against setting inadequate goals.

Involvement: "Learners are involved with things that matter to them". N.C. Burbules suggests that instructors instead of trying to make the subject matter important through extrinsic rewards, or sometimes through the threat of adverse consequences should use Dewey’s advice "to start where students are already motivated and eager to learn, and link our purposes to that engine". This presumption in my opinion is of key importance to construction of meaning as no knowledge or experience would be internalized if it is of no value to a learner.

Engaging: How do I engage the learner’s imagination with this problem? Burbules' examples include "simulations, models, case studies, or narratives that construct a plausible version of reality and allow room for the participant to interpolate or extrapolate new content as they work to make sense of it." Those practices are employed to create social context for learning.

Interactivity: to facilitate interactions between students and the learning situation instructors should make use of "team projects, multiple channels of communication, opportunities for open deliberation and for private, personal reflection on course activities". Thus, the constructivist principle of social interaction with knowledgeable members of society is realized.

Finally, as an online instructor I can say that I managed to realize Interest, involvement and imagination but I still struggle with creating an opportunity for my students to interact with one another as I work in individual programs of "face-to-face" instruction via Skype video conference. However, as I plan to start an online English school I intend to create a learning community where students would be able to interact in a meaningful and productive way through the use of team projects and multiple channels of communication.

Besides, as a student of a given online classroom I would like to note that a vital component of "social presence" seems to be lacking in our learning community. I have no problems with social presence of Dr.Paige (he has an instructor's profile with a PICTURE besides talking to me through my gradebook and discussion board). But I struggle to perceive my fellow students as real people. I think that would be solved by a profile each of us could create with an avatar picture that displayed under each comment of a certain student. Also, I would like to have an opportunity to interact with my peers through multiple channels while engaged in team projects. I often feel alienated and communication with higher degree of social presence would certainly solve this problem for me and those with similar issues.

N.C. Burbules' practice shows that social presence can be and should be achieved in an online classroom. A good example of team work in Burbules' online classroom (as a means of social presence establishment) is White Papers on Technology Issues for Educators.

References:

Nicholas C. Burbules, "Navigating the advantages and disadvantages of online pedagogy." Learning, Culture, and Community: Multiple Perspectives and Practices in Online Education, Caroline Haythornthwaite and Michelle M. Kazmer, eds.

Computers ≥ Brain?

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 02:19:00 +0000

Dichotomy of human brain and artificial intelligence is both a popular Sci-Fi topic and a serious subject for research. I remember watching Matrix sequel and thinking “50 more years and we may as well end up there, sitting like stupid eggs in a basket and dreaming life. Machines will rule the world.” It seems though that human mind is much more complex than any machine invented so far.

Hans Moravec in his article When will computer hardware match the human brain? compares processing and memory capacity of the artificial intellect and the human brain. Based on technological trends of the last century he predicts that computers that match general intellectual performance of the human brain will be available and cheap in the 2020s. For now home computer’s intelligence matches a spider’s one, and Deep Blue Chess machine has as many MIPS (million instructions per second) as a mouse.

However, the point of this week’s material was that computers are unable of “emotional thought” which plays a crucial role in human processing and encoding of the information. The importance of imagery and emotions in cognitive processes are stressed in the article We Feel, Therefore We Learn: The Relevance of Affective and Social Neuroscience to Education by Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and Antonio Damasio. When it comes to learning many teachers fail to recognize that humans are social and emotional creatures and the contributors present the evidence of emotion playing a crucial role in many cognitive processes. Further in the article it runs as “hidden emotional processes underlie our apparently rational realworld decision making and learning”. As a conclusion, the contributors express their hope that better understanding of neurobiological underpinning of cognition will provide a basis for innovation in the design of learning environments.

Personally, I enjoy technology to the fullest. And I don’t believe in Terminator-like possibilities. Machines are ever destined to remain tools, with higher MIPS than me probably, but never as creative, adaptable and resourceful.

References: Moravec, Hans (1998). "When will computer hardware match the human brain?". Journal of Evolution and Technology 1.

Immordino-Yang, M.H., & Damasio, A.R. (2007). We feel, therefore we learn: The relevance of affective and social neuroscience to education. Mind, Brain and Education, 1(1), 3-10

Mind Boggling? Not really.

noreply@blogger.com (Yulia Green) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 01:59:00 +0000

I'd like to devote my first posting to Brooklynn A. Welden - an Assistant Professor of Diplomacy and Gender Studies at the International University of Humanities and Social Sciences, San Jose, Costa Rica. I met her when I was considering Walden as an international student. She is my colleague at an online English school and she was guiding my steps through the admission process. Actually writing this blog has a lot to do with her being such an inspiration. Well, today strangely enough I've got an email from her with a quote that best describes my feelings about this course so far "If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called Research."- A. Einstein.

To go through many things I didn't understand and among them technology the least worrying I did a lot of contemplation and here I will try to sum it all up.

I tried to provide a 3 dimensional outlook on what learning is: theoretical, practical and spiritual.

Thus, all learning theories of the week were summed up in a concise and logical manner in Meredith's Musings blog created by a previous student of this course at Walden. It provided many good examples on how I can improve on organizing, reflecting and mind-mapping information. Besides, it is an excellent stop on route to further immersion into the program.

Another blog I had to explore is the blog that would give some practical ground to exemplify what I need to use in my classroom as an online instructor and that also enables me to see how I can extend my instruction over cyber time and space. Teacher Reboot Camp felt as if written by me a while since today. I have been thinking about starting a language community where all of my students would be able to share their experience and learn through interaction with one another. It seems to be a corner stone of the course presented. Are you with me Dr. Paige?

The last blog and my pet lamb is the Talent Code not exactly an educational resource but more of a psychological coaching program which I ran into translating a self help book for Dr. Joe Vitale. As the author of the Talent's Code Daniel Coyle puts it “great talents are a product of the following combination: deep practice, ignition, and master coaching.” I found his amusing 3 Deadly Habits: How NOT to Develop Your Talent resonating with some of the learning theory we dwelled on this week.

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM “In order to develop your talent slowly, you should regard your talent as your own private creation, and your challenges as private challenges that only you can solve. Don’t look elsewhere for guidance; certainly not to other performers.”

BEHAVIORISM: “In order to develop your talent slowly, you should never, ever review your performance. You should regard errors as unfortunate, unavoidable events, and do your best to immediately hide their existence or, even better, erase them from your memory.

And COGNITIVE THEORY: In order to develop your talent slowly, you should approach each practice and performance as if you’ve never, ever done it before. You should be casual. You should avoid any repetition of actions, thoughts, or patterns of any kind, and instead make every day completely different.

I think many instructors can find it helpful to have a look at Coyle’s EXPLORE YOUR TALENTS section which stands proudly in my teaching kit. I use it to identify a learning bug of a student I’ve got this time 