Module 4 Learning Activities

Introduction 

Take some time to read and view the following resources. As you do remember to add your thoughts to your Popplet mind map. Clearly you will take more notes and/highlight more things in Mendeley than would fit on your Popplet.  Only include what you view as the most important findings. 

Readings 

All of the readings are freely accessible by visiting the links below.  The first article by Hawkins et al. discusses how the teachers she interviewed were relatively unsatisfied with teaching online.  I wrote the second article. In my article we interviewed teachers at a different school and found them to be largely happy with teaching online. However, they did highlight positives and negatives. The last link is to a newspaper interview with Leanna Archambault, a professor of online learning and online curriculum at Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.

Completion Rates and Performance 

The biggest concern with online learning is that online courses tend to have higher dropout rates and lower learning outcomes than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. Read the following:

Student Characteristics

There's also an interesting article called Distance Learning: Promises, Problems, and Possibilities by Doug Valentine.  You just need to read the following two paragraphs.  As you read, make a mental list of the characteristics of successful online students.  Then think of the students you have taught.  How many of them had those characteristics? (NOTE: In EDIT 761 we will talk about types of support systems that help students who don't have these characteristics be successful.) 

Student Concerns

Finally, there are the students and their concerns with distance learning classes.  Not all students are suited to this type of learning and not all subjects are best taught via this medium.  More mature students are the most likely to find success with distance learning.  The successful student needs to have a number of characteristics such as tolerance for ambiguity, a need for autonomy, and an ability to be flexible (Threkeld & Brzoska, 1994).  Hardy and Boaz (1997) found that “compared to most face-to-face learning environments, distance learning requires students to be more focused, better time managers, and to be able to work independently and with group members” (p.43). Many distance learners are different from traditional undergraduates in that they are already in professions.  They have well defined goals and are more motivated (Dibiase, 2000).  As we saw earlier, distance education students need to feel a part of a community.  Greenburg (1998) describes this as a virtual learning community. 

Students in these communities often feel less pressure to perform individually, and more pressure to collaborate and be part of the team (Kantor, 1998 cited in Greenberg, 1998).  Being involved in a collaborative learning process is an important part of forming the foundation of a learning community.  When this is not encouraged, participation is generally low and dialog is absent (Palloff & Pratt, 2000).  Students also need the attention of the instructors.  This may be truer in a distance situation than in a traditional classroom.  In a situation where eye contact and proximity are limited, students cannot be disciplined nor affirmed by eye contact and body language (McKnight, 2000).  Students may also have a difficult time reading the reactions of the remote location class members.  This lack of interaction can cause problems when there is a dissenting opinion that cannot be picked up on with non-verbal cues, and is misperceived as a verbal attack. This type of miscommunication can cause the community problems as the class progresses.  It is fair to say that compressed video can magnify the strengths and weaknesses of the instructor.  Students are prone to pick up on a lack of organization and direction and respond with apathy and absenteeism (West, 1994). 

 

Video Playlist

It's much easier to find videos showing the benefits of online learning than drawbacks because programs are obviously trying to promote online learning.  However, I was able to find a few videos on children's technology use in general.  As you watch them, you will need to apply it to online learning specifically.  Ask yourself if it's good for online students to be spending so much time at a computer. I also watched these at 1.5x and 2x speed in Chrome and could follow what they were saying. 

I also follow a Facebook group created by parents in Fairfax County Public Schools who are very concerned about an initiative that would give all students a laptop. I don't agree with all of their concerns but I feel like it's important to understand them. Please take some time to explore the group's page. Nature Valley also created a commercial that summarizes many of the concerns that parents have. While there is some truth in the video, it plays on the fears of the older generation. I don't think that it's helpful to make technology a villain because it's not going anywhere. That said, there are some real concerns about over use and even addiction.