III. Techniques to Enhance E-Learning: Synchronous and

Asynchronous

Curt Bonk, Indiana UniversityPresident, CourseShare.com

cjbonk@indiana.edu

http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk

http://CourseShare.com

Extrinsic Motivation

“…is motivation that arises from external contingencies.” (i.e., students who act to get high grades, win a trophy, comply with a deadline—means-to-an-end motivation)

See Johnmarshall Reeve (1996). Motivating Others: Nurturing inner motivational resources. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Intrinsic Motivation“…innate propensity to engage one’s

interests and exercise one’s capabilities, and, in doing so, to seek out and master optimal challenges

(i.e., it emerges from needs, inner strivings, and personal curiosity for growth)

See: Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. NY: Plenum Press.

Motivational Terms?See Johnmarshall Reeve (1996). Motivating Others: Nurturing inner motivational resources. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. (UW-Milwaukee)

1. Tone/Climate: Psych Safety, Comfort, Belonging2. Feedback: Responsive, Supports, Encouragement3. Engagement: Effort, Involvement, Excitement4. Meaningfulness: Interesting, Relevant, Authentic5. Choice: Flexibility, Opportunities, Autonomy6. Variety: Novelty, Intrigue, Unknowns7. Curiosity: Fun, Fantasy, Control8. Tension: Challenge, Dissonance, Controversy9. Interactive: Collaborative, Team-Based, Community10.Goal Driven: Product-Based, Success, Ownership

1. Tone/Climate:Ice Breakers

a. Eight Nouns Activity:1. Introduce self using 8 nouns2. Explain why choose each noun3. Comment on 1-2 peer postings

b. Coffee House Expectations1. Have everyone post 2-3 course expectations2. Instructor summarizes and comments on how they

might be met(or make public commitments of how they will fit into

busy schedules!)

1. Tone/Climate:Like Ice Breakers

c. KNOWU Rooms:1. Create discussion forums or chat

room topics for people with diff experiences (e.g., soccer parent, runner, pet lovers, like music, outdoor person). Find those with similar interests.

2. Complete eval form where list people in class and interests. Most names wins.

d. Chat Room Buds: Create a discussion prompt in one of “X’ number of chat rooms. Introduce yourself in the chat room that interests you.

2. FeedbackA. Requiring Peer Feedback

Alternatives:

1. Reading Reactions: Require minimum # of peer comments and give guidance (e.g., they should do…)

2. Peer Feedback Through Templates—give templates to complete peer evaluations.

3. Have e-papers contest(s)

2. Feedback (Instructor)B. Anonymous Suggestion Box

George Watson, Univ of Delaware, Electricity and Electronics for Engineers:

1. Students send anonymous course feedback (Web forms or email)

2. Submission box is password protected3. Instructor decides how to respond4. Then provide response and most or all of suggestion

in online forum5. It defuses difficult issues, airs instructor views, and

justified actions publicly.6. Caution: If you are disturbed by criticism, perhaps do

not use.

2. Feedback:C. Double-Jeopardy Quizzing

Gordon McCray, Wake Forest University, Intro to Management of Info Systems

1. Students take objective quiz (no time limit and not graded)

2. Submit answer for evaluation3. Instead of right or wrong response, the quiz returns a

compelling probing question, insight, or conflicting perspective (i.e., a counterpoint) to force students to reconsider original responses

4. Students must commit to a response but can use reference materials

5. Correct answer and explanation are presented

4. Meaningfulness: A. Perspective Taking: Foreign

Languages

Katy Fraser, Germanic Studies at IU and Jennifer Liu, East Asian Languages and Cultures at IU:

1. Have students receive e-newsletters from a foreign magazine as well as respond to related questions.

2. Students assume roles of those in literature from that culture and participate in real-time chats using assumed identity.

3. Students use multimedia and Web for self-paced lessons to learn target language in authentic contexts.

4. Meaningfulness: B. Expert Job Interviews

1. Field Definition Activity: Have student interview (via e-mail, if necessary) someone working in the field of study and share their results

• As a class, pool interview results and develop a group description of what it means to be a professional in the field

5. Choice:A. Discussion: Starter-Wrapper

(Hara, Bonk, & Angeli, 2000) 1. Starter reads ahead and starts discussion and others

participate and wrapper summarizes what was discussed.

2. Start-wrapper with roles--same as #1 but include roles for debate (optimist, pessimist, devil's advocate).

Alternative: Facilitator-Starter-Wrapper (Alexander, 2001)

Instead of starting discussion, student acts as moderator or questioner to push student thinking and give feedback

5. Choice:B. Web Resource Reviews

6. Variety:A. Just-In-Time-Teaching

Gregor Novak, IUPUI Physics Professor (teaches teamwork, collaboration, and effective communication):

1. Lectures are built around student answers to short quizzes that have an electronic due date just hours before class.

2. Instructor reads and summarizes responses before class and weaves them into discussion and changes the lecture as appropriate.

6. Variety: B. Virtual Classroom

Joachim Hammer, University of Florida, Data Warehousing and Decision Support

1. Voice annotated slides on Web; 7 course modules with a number of 15-30 minutes units

2. Biweekly Q&A chat sessions moderated by students

3. Bulletin Board class discussions

4. Posting to Web of best 2-3 assignments

5. Exam Q’s posted to BB; answers sent via email

6. Team projects posted in a team project space

7. Add’l Web resources are structured for students (e.g., white papers, reports, project and product home pages)

8. Email is used to communicate with students

7. Curiosity:A. Electronic Seance

• Students read books from famous dead people• Convene when dark (sync or asynchronous).• Present present day problem for them to solve• Participate from within those characters (e.g.,

read direct quotes from books or articles)• Invite expert guests from other campuses• Keep chat open for set time period• Debrief

7. Curiosity

B. Online Fun and Games(see Thiagi.com

Or deepfun.com)

1. Puzzle games

2. Solve puzzle against

timer

3. Learn concepts

4. Compete

5. Get points

I. eDrama (Front Desk Hiring)

8. Tension

A. Role Play Personalities• List possible roles or personalities (e.g., coach, optimist,

devil’s advocate, etc.)• Sign up for different role every week (or 5-6 key roles)• Reassign roles if someone drops class• Perform within roles—refer to different personalities

B. Assume Persona of Scholar– Enroll famous people in your course– Students assume voice of that person for one or

more sessions– Enter debate topic or Respond to debate topic– Respond to rdg reflections of others or react to own

9. Interactive: A. Critical/Constructive Friends,

Email Pals, Web Buddies1. Assign a critical friend (perhaps based on

commonalities).2. Post weekly updates of projects, send

reminders of due dates, help where needed.3. Provide criticism to peer (I.e., what is strong

and weak, what’s missing, what hits the mark) as well as suggestions for strengthening. In effect, critical friends do not slide over

weaknesses, but confront them kindly and directly.

4. Reflect on experience.

9. Interactive:B. Panels of Experts: Be an Expert/Ask an

Expert: Have each learner choose an area in which to become expert and moderate a forum for the class. Require participation in a certain number of forums (choice)

C. Press Conference: Have a series of press conferences at the end of small group projects; one for each group)

9. Interactive:D. Online Co-Laborative Psych Experiments

PsychExperiments (University of Mississippi)

Contains 30 free psych experiments

• Location independent• Convenient to instructors• Run experiments over

large number of subjects• Can build on it over time• Cross-institutional

Ken McGraw, Syllabus, November, 2001

10. Goal Driven

A. Jigsaw Technique: each student becomes an expert on a topic and teaches that to his/her group.

e.g., Assign chapters within groups(member #1 reads chapters 1 & 2; #2 reads 3

& 4, etc.)

Curiosity:Synchronous Activities

1. Webinar, Webcast2. Guest speaker moderated (or open) Q&A forum3. Instructor meetings, private talk, admin help4. Quick Polls/Quizzes, Voting Ranking5. Surveys6. Team activities or meetings or Peer Q&A7. Collaborative writing8. Brainstorming ideas, What-Ifs, Quick reflections9. Graphic Organizers in Whiteboard (e.g., Venn)10. Online Mentoring or Language Learning

1. Webinar, Webcast

2. Discussion plus Chat (e.g., Starter-Wrapper + Sync Guest Chat)

3. Instructor Meetings and Support

5. Survey Student Opinions (e.g., InfoPoll, SurveySolutions, Zoomerang, SurveyShare.com)

6. Peer Questions & Team Meeting

7. Collaborative Document Writing Online:Peer-to-Peer Collaboration

9. Graphic Organizers (e.g., Digital Whiteboards)

Motivational Top Ten 1. Tone/Climate: Ice Breakers, Peer Sharing

2. Feedback: Self-Tests, Reading Reactions

3. Engagement: Q’ing, Polling, Voting

4. Meaningfulness: Job/Field Reflections, Cases

5. Choice: Topical Discussions, Starter-Wrapper

6. Variety: Brainstorming, Roundrobins

7. Curiosity: Seances, Electronic Guests/Mentors

8. Tension: Role Play, Debates, Controversy

9. Interactive: E-Pals, Symposia, Expert Panels

10. Goal Driven: Group PS, Jigsaw, Gallery Tours

Pick One…??? (circle one)

Pick an Idea

• Definitely Will Use: ___________________________

• May Try to Use: ___________________________

• No Way: ___________________________

Questions?

Comments?

Concerns?