EIDT-6510 Week 3 Assignment - Setting Up an Online Experience

For this week's assignment, we were asked to examine some of the factors that go into setting up an online course.  When designing an online course, decisions at the outset of the process can have positive or negative effects on the rest of the design and execution of the online course.  To that end, there are 3 questions that should be answered by an online designer prior to and during the very initial stages of analysis.

What is the significance of knowing the technology available to you?  As a designer working with an online learning experience, understanding and subsequently selecting the appropriate technological tools can make or break a course.  Simonson, Smaldino and Zvacek (2015) state that when an instructional activity is heavily reliant upon technology, selecting the right tool and platform is imperative.  To begin the process of analyzing and selecting the appropriate technologies, the course text suggests focusing first upon the essential tools you will need and then build your course around those tools (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010).  Essential tools may include the ability for students to upload documents of various type, access readings and videos and engage with discussion forums.  This of course is a baseline for what kind of technologies you will need.  Likely, you will want to really think about what you would like the student to do to make the course engaging and then include that in your analysis of what technologies are available.  Most Course Management Systems (CMS) that are available on the market today include all of these elements plus significantly more.  Knowing what each of these platforms has to offer will increase your ability to deliver engaging and effective courses.

Why is it essential to communicate clear expectations to learners?  One of the misconceptions of online learning is that there is less communication and guidance provided and that much of the time you are on your own to try and figure out what needs to be done.  Malcolm Knowles (1990) one of the foundations of andragogy states that course design must include clear descriptions, objectives and resources in order to be effective.  The course text restates this point by saying clear and unambiguous guidelines about what is expected of learners and the instructor can contribute to understanding and satisfaction in an online course.  In addition, Simonson, Smaldino and Zvacek (2015) further state that at the beginning of a course, it is important to guide students as to expectations for participation, use of tools and location of resources.  This cannot be stressed enough.  If students in an online environment do not feel that they are supported, do not understand the expectations or feel that their instructor is unavailable, the potential for attrition increases as does the likelihood that the student will view online education negatively.  Taking the time to ensure expectations and instructions are clear from the student's point of view can make all the difference between an effective online learning experience and a critical failure.

What additional considerations should the instructor take into account when setting up an online learning experience?  One of the most important things an instructor can do is work to create a learning community within the online course.  This was discussed previously in this course and others but it needs to be stressed again here.  The course text states that the goals of a learning community are to build knowledge and competencies within learners as well as build a network of mutual respect which includes the sharing of ideas and perspectives (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010).  In addition, a learning community encourages student and instructor participation which can in turn lead to a more effective online learning experience and higher satisfaction among learners (Simonson, Smaldino, & Zvacek, 2015).

Given all of the above, my own thinking on successfully launching an online learning experience haven't changed too much.  As someone already working in online instructional design as well as being an online learner myself, I have seen first hand when the elements listed above are employed and when they are neglected.  Understanding the technologies available has been something that I have stressed with my subject matter experts I collaborate with.  In some cases, they have desired to do something that the learning management system we use here at work can't handle and I have had to provide alternate suggestions.  Additionally, I have had to work with some SME's to ensure that they are clarifying instructions for students so that assignments and assessments are easy to understand and resources are easy to access and use.  Finally, I have been a part of some great learning communities in online courses and have worked to implement similar experiences into the courses I currently design.

References

Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. M. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Knowles, M. (1990). The adult learner: A neglected species (4th ed.). Houston, TX: Gulf.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., & Zvacek, S. (2015). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (6th ed.). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

EIDT-6510 Learning Communities

As an instructional designer seeking to learn how to create engaging and dynamic courses understanding what learning communities are and how they impact student learning and satisfaction is imperative.  Drs. Palloff and Pratt (Laureate Education, 2010) define a learning community as way for students to come together to support one another and co-construct knowledge about the content of the course.  Additionally, learning communities create a dynamic where facilitators and learners are equal participants (Laureate Education, 2010).  Oftentimes, students in an online program struggle with feelings of isolation and separation that they may not feel in an on-ground face to face classroom experience.  Simonson, Smaldino and Zvacek (2015) state that learning communities in distance education environments contribute to greater student engagement and success.  Boettcher and Conrad (2010) further state that a learning community in an online course is just as important as faculty presence for keeping students engaged and successful.

What are essential elements of an online learning community?  Drs. Palloff and Pratt (Laureate Education, 2010) list five essential elements of an online learning community:

1. People:  Quite obviously a community cannot exist without people.  In the case of an online course, the people involved in the learning community would be the learners enrolled in the course.
2. Purpose:  A common purpose must exist among the people in order for a community to arise.  For example, in an online course, the common purpose of the people in the course would be to access and process the content and information.
3. Process:  This is the way in which the online course is designed that encourages the building of community.  This is the where the role of the instructional designer is key.  The activities within a course should always seek to foster and build the community among the learners.
4. Method:  This relates to the way that students will interact and communicate.  There must be some way for them to talk to each other else no community can exist.  Again this is where designers play a critical role.  A course should be designed to encourage as much interaction as possible among learners.
5. Social Presence:  Each learner should be able to establish their own social presence within the class and it is that presence that each learner interacts with in the course of communication.  Once again, the designer is key here in ensuring that students have the opportunity to do so.

How can learning communities be sustained?  One of the main ways to sustain a learning community in an online environment is to ensure that the facilitator of the course remains engaged.  For example, in discussion forums, learners want to know that the facilitator is reading and responding to their comments.  They want to see the presence of the facilitator.  A second way of sustaining a learning community is to create learning experiences that allow the group to continue to work together.  Group projects and student cohorts are just two examples of how this can be accomplished.

As stated above, learning communities can increase the engagement and success of students (Simonson, et al., 2015).  As a designer, it is important to look at some of the best practices presented in the text (Boettcher, et al., 2010) to create a positive experience for learners in the online environment.

References

Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. M. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., & Zvacek, S. (2015). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations for distance education (6th ed.). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Press.