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Course Redesign for Online Delivery: Blackboard Certification, Part I
Francine S. Glazer, Ph.D.
Assistant Provost and Director,
Center for Teaching and Learning
New York Institute of Technology
Certification Process
• Course Redesign for Online Delivery
• Hands-on Blackboard
• 1-on-1 consultation– Examine syllabus, course site– Address specific needs
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Spring 2010 Bb statistics
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• 148 online courses– 1222 Students– 1643 course registrations
• 377 enhanced courses– 4546 students– 7597 course registrations
Definitions
• Online courses– 80 – 100% of their contact hours online
• Blended courses– 30 – 80% of their contact hours online
• Both modes include online …– Content delivery– Discussions– Group projects
Our Role Changes
• In an OL course, the instructor:– Organizes– Facilitates– Leads– Prompts– Mentors– Models
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OL, BL works better when…
• Students use their online time to– Reflect
– Write
– Discuss
– U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development, Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies, Washington, D.C., 2009.
Why move courses online?
• Students are more engaged– 100% participation
– Creation of a learning community
• Focus is on content, not speed– Level playing field
– Higher quality discussions
• Online component supports group work:– Asynchronous = anywhere, anytime access
Potential hurdles
“You have to solve this problem by yourself. You can’t call tech support.”
Good OL courses challenge students to work harder
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Adapting the Curriculum
• Focus shifts to students’ learning, not the instructor’s actions– Information acquisition– Skills acquisition
• Classroom dynamics include– Active learning (“hands-on”)– Communication – Collaboration
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To succeed, students need to…
• Be VOCAL– Visible, both online and on campus
– Organized
– Commit to logging in 5-6 days/week
– Access to required technology
– Learn by writing
How can we help?
Set students up for success with…
– Course design• Sequence material carefully• Pace the course
– Well-organized course site• Calendar of activities, due dates, locations
– Clear expectations and standards• Frequent feedback
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To succeed, faculty need to…
• Be VOCAL– Visible– Organized– Compassionate– Analytical– Leader-by-Example
• Handout: Be VOCAL: Characteristics of Successful Online Instructors
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Be predictably visible
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Be organized
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NYIT requirements
• Minimum number of interactions/week
• Let OLC know if at a conference
• Standards for OL and blended courses
• Handouts: OLC policy, sample report, NYIT Online course standards
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OLC weekly reports
• “ratio of faculty to student “hits” and number of days logged in by faculty”
• “minimum acceptable standard of faculty log-on is three times per week”
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Students Enrolled
Total # of Faculty Hits
Total # of Student Hits
Interaction Density (Student Hits/Faculty Hits
Rounded to 2 Decimal Places)
Total Number of Times Faculty's
Interaction Density went
over 80 or Equal to 0 in a
semester
Total # of Days
Faculty Logged
In
Total Number of Times Faculty logged in Less
Than 3 days in a week during a
semester# of
Credits
6 18 80 4.44 0 4 0 3
21 31 166 5.35 1 6 3 3
17 26 152 5.85 1 6 3 3
20 41 111 2.71 0 4 0 3
17 24 67 2.79 0 3 1 3
6 12 205 17.08 0 4 0 3
8 53 191 3.60 0 7 0 3
14 17 48 2.82 0 3 2 2
21 23 256 11.13 0 4 1 3
20 12 119 9.92 0 4 0 3
16 41 367 8.95 0 3 0 3
Peer Evaluation of Teaching
• Syllabus
• Activity designed to deliver instruction … and associated outcomes
• Description of assessment used to determine if the outcomes were met
• Samples of student work
• Grade distribution for the assessment
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Peer Evaluation of Teaching
• Student evaluation of teaching
• Narrative description of how the course is conducted
• Chair’s report and peer visitation, including the OLC numbers
• Class enrollment
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A Continuum of Approaches
Instructor-Centered
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A Continuum of Approaches
Instructor-CenteredStudent-Centered
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A Continuum of Approaches
Learning-Centered
Instructor-CenteredStudent-Centered
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A Continuum of Approaches
Learner-Centered
Learning-Centered
Instructor-CenteredStudent-Centered
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Learner-Centered Teaching
• As teaching becomes learner-centered, instructional practice changes in five key areas:– Function of content– Role of teacher– Process/purposes of assessment– Responsibility for learning– Balance of power
• From: Weimer, M. Learner-Centered Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002.
Changing roles of content
• Foundational knowledge
• Use content, don’t “cover” it
• Tool to develop learning skills
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The Role of the Instructor
• Create a stimulating environment that promotes exploration and learning
“Pretend you’re starring in a reality show about a kid who can make his dreams come true if he
works hard and gets good grades.”
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The Role of the Instructor
• Design instructional activities– Problems to solve– Focus on process; content as tool
Assessment…
…develops analytical skills
… and motivates improvement
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Responsibility for Learning
• Design a course that motivates students to accept responsibility for learning
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Balance of Power
• Faculty can share decision-making about learning with students– Content – papers, in-depth assignments– Grading – team-learning, contract
grading
So, how do all these concepts apply to online courses?
We need a framework…
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Seven Principles for Good Practice in Higher Education
1. Encourages contact between students and faculty
2. Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students
3. Uses active learning techniques4. Gives prompt feedback5. Emphasizes time on task6. Communicates high expectations7. Respects diverse talents and ways of
learning
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Research-based
• Chickering, Arthur W. and Zelda F. Gamson. “Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education” In AAHE Bulletin 39: 3-7, 1987.
• Chickering, Arthur W. and Zelda F. Gamson. “Applying the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education” New Directions for Teaching and Learning. Number 47, Fall 1991. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc., 1991.
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Encourages Contact
• Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of class is the most important factor in student motivation and involvement.
• Students who have the most contact with faculty also tend to learn at higher cognitive levels.
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Encourages Contact
• Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep working.
• Knowing a few faculty members well enhances students' intellectual commitment and encourages them to think about their own values and future plans.
Encourages Contact:Lessons for OL teaching?
• Maintain a “social presence”
• Weekly progress emails
• Discussion boards
• “Instructor’s office” discussion forum
• Synchronous office hours: audio/video/text
• Anonymous mid-semester surveys
• Comments along with grades
• Post contact info, approximate login times47
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Reciprocity/Cooperation
• Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race.
“I lift, you grab. … Was that concept too difficult, Carl?”
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Reciprocity/Cooperation
• Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated.
• Working with others can increase students’ involvement in learning.
• Sharing ideas and responding to others' reactions sharpens thinking, deepens understanding.
Reciprocity/Cooperation: Lessons for OL teaching?
• Build a community of learners
• Learning is multi-directional
• Collaborative projects
• Interactive discussions
• Student-initiated discussions
• Google Docs, wikis to build resources
• Social bookmarking to share resources
• Separate discussion forum for socializing50
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Active Learning
• Learning is not a spectator sport.
• Students do not learn much by simply listening to teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers.
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Active Learning
• Students must interact, collaborate, reflect.
• Students must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences, and apply it to their daily lives.
• They must make what they learn part of themselves.
Active Learning:Lessons for OL teaching?
• Students as developers of knowledge
• Case studies
• Problem-based learning
• Synchronous Q/A
• Practicum
• Simulations
• Blogs, podcasts, wikis
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Prompt Feedback
• Knowing what you know and what you don't know focuses learning.
• When getting started, students need help in assessing existing knowledge and competence.
“I dunno. I’m going to have to see further proof you’ve actually found a
hole in space-time.”
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Prompt Feedback
• In classes, students need frequent opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for improvement.
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Prompt Feedback
• Throughout college, students need chances to reflect on what they have learned, what they still need to know, and how to monitor their own learning.
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Prompt Feedback
• Students need appropriate feedback on their performance to benefit from courses.
• 2007 FSSE: 90% faculty surveyed “give prompt feedback”
• 2007 NSSE: 53% students surveyed “received prompt feedback”
Prompt Feedback:Lessons for OL teaching?
• Give clear, specific, timely feedback
• Set expectations re: turnaround time
• Announcements page
• Automate feedback in quizzes
• Gradebook – include comments
• Instant messaging, microblogging, Skype
• Online polls
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Time on Task
• Time plus energy equals learning. • There is no substitute for time on task. • Learning to use one's time well is critical
for both students and professionals.
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Time on Task
• Students need help in learning effective time management.
• Allocating realistic amounts of time means effective learning for students and effective teaching for faculty.
And so you just threw everything together? A posse is something you have to organize!
Time on Task:Lessons for OL teaching?
• Establish clear deadlines, expectations
• List all deadlines at beginning of semester
• Stagger deadlines
• Include estimate of time needed to complete activity
• Give scheduling suggestions (interim deadlines) for long-term projects
• Balance workload over semester
• Include relative point values of activities61
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High Expectations
• Expect more and you will get more.
• Expecting students to perform well becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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High Expectations
• High expectations are important for everyone – for the poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves, and for the bright and well motivated.
• Teachers and institutions should hold their students and themselves to high standards so they can reap the rewards of their efforts.
High Expectations:Lessons for OL teaching?
• Give students tools to succeed
• Give challenging assignments
• Rubrics with clearly articulated criteria
• Exemplars – excellent, acceptable, poor
• Highlight good work
• Syllabus lays out expectations
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Respects Diversity
• There are many roads to learning.
• Students need the opportunity to show their talents and learn in ways that work for them. Then they
can be pushed to learn in new
ways that do not come so easily.
Why isn’t it OK for us to have different mirages?
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Respects Diversity
• People bring different talents and styles of learning to college.
• Brilliant students in the seminar room may be all thumbs in the lab or art studio.
• Students rich in hands-on experience may not do so well with theory.
Respects Diversity:Lessons for OL teaching?
• Present content in multiple ways
• Use rich media – text, video, audio, etc.
• Many, varied, examples
• Connect new ideas to prior knowledge
• Identify preconceptions
• Asynchronous format – different paces
• Assignment “menu” – multiple products
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TEACH act: Copyright law
• Password protected
• One semester use only
• Not for profit use68
Course redesign for online delivery
“…is a fundamental redesign that transforms the structure of, and approach to, teaching and learning.”
- Garrison and Vaughn (2008)
Next Steps
• Hands-on Blackboard
course development
• 1-on-1 consultation to examine syllabus, course site
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• http://www.nyit.edu/academics/nyit_online/
• Login at:– https://nyitonline.nyit.edu/
• Faculty Resources and Support:– http://tinyurl.com/39hncz2– People to contact for help; archived webinars
• Links to short how-to video tutorials:– http://tinyurl.com/2w8be98
