There’s No Learning in E-Learning: Building Communities Supporting Entrepreneurship, Student

Motivation, and Instructor Innovation

Curtis J. Bonk

Indiana University and CourseShare.com

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

http://CourseShare.com

cjbonk@indiana.edu

Exponential Growth of the Web

A Vision of E-learning for America’s Workforce, Report of the

Commission on Technology and Adult Learning, (2001, June)

• A remarkable 84 percent of two-and four-year colleges in the United States expect to offer distance learning courses in 2002” (only 58% did in 1998) (US Dept of Education report, 2000)

• Web-based training is expected to increase 900 percent between 1999 and 2003.” (ASTD, State of the Industry Report 2001).

Question: Why is there no learning in e-learning???A. Poor pedagogy?

B. Inferior online tools?

C. Unmotivated students and instructors?

D. Poor research?

E. Not measuring it effectively?

F. Vendor and administrator visions do not match reality?

And the next video please!!!

What’s the Basic DL Finding?

Research since 1928 shows that DL students perform as well as their counterparts in a traditional classroom setting.

Per: Russell, 1999, The No Significant Difference Phenomenon (5th Edition), NCSU, based on 355 research reports.

http://cuda.teleeducation.nb.ca/nosignificantdifference/

Distance Learning Research

•Flaws in research designs- Only 36% have objective learning measures- Only 45% have comparison groups

• When effective, it is difficult to know why- Course design?- Instructional methods?- Technology?

What do we need???

FRAMEWORKS!

1. Reflect on Extent of Integration:The Web Integration Continuum

Level 1: Course Marketing/Syllabi via the WebLevel 2: Web Resource for Student ExplorationLevel 3: Publish Student-Gen Web ResourcesLevel 4: Course Resources on the WebLevel 5: Repurpose Web Resources for Others======================================Level 6: Web Component is Substantive & GradedLevel 7: Graded Activities Extend Beyond ClassLevel 8: Entire Web Course for Resident StudentsLevel 9: Entire Web Course for Offsite StudentsLevel 10: Course within Programmatic Initiative

2. Four Key Hats of Instructors:– Technical—do students have basics? Does their

equipment work? Passwords work?

– Managerial—Do students understand the assignments and course structure?

– Pedagogical—How are students interacting, summarizing, debating, thinking?

– Social—What is the general tone? Is there a human side to this course? Joking allowed?

– Other: firefighter, convener, weaver, tutor, conductor, host, mediator, filter, editor, facilitator, negotiator, e-police, concierge, marketer, assistant, etc.

3.

Push to Explore: "You might want to write to Dr. ‘XYZ’ for...," "You might want to do an ERIC search on this topic...," "Perhaps there is a URL on the Web that addresses this topic..."

And We Need Other Instructor E-Learning Support!!!

Problems FacedAdministrative:• “Lack of admin vision.”

• “Lack of incentive from admin and the fact that they do not understand the time needed.”

• “Lack of system support.”

• “Little recognition that this is valuable.”

• “Rapacious U intellectual property policy.”

• “Unclear univ. policies concerning int property.”

Pedagogical:• “Difficulty in performing

lab experiments online.”• “Lack of appropriate

models for pedagogy.”

Time-related:• “More ideas than time to

implement.” • “Not enough time to

correct online assign.”• “People need sleep; Web

spins forever.”

TrainingOutside Support

• Training (FacultyTraining.net)• Courses & Certificates (JIU, e-education)• Reports, Newsletters, & Pubs• Aggregators of Info (CourseShare, Merlot)

• Global Forums (FacultyOnline.com; GEN)• Resources, Guides/Tips, Link Collections,

Online Journals, Library Resources

Certified Online Instructor Program

• Walden Institute—12 Week Online Certification (Cost = $995)

• 2 tracks: one for higher ed and one for online corporate trainer– Online tools and purpose– Instructional design theory

& techniques– Distance ed evaluation– Quality assurance– Collab learning communities

Administrators and faculty members at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are debating what could become a $100-million effort to create extensive World Wide Web pages for nearly every course the university offers.

Jeffrey R. Young, March 1, 2001, The Chronicle of Higher Ed

In an effort to analyze and improve their teaching, some professors are creating multimedia portfolios that try to capture the complex interactions that occur in the classroom.

Jeffrey R. Young, The Chronicle of Higher Ed (reporting on the new Knowledge Media Lab, created by the Andrew Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching)

http://merlot.orghttp://www.utexas.edu/world/lecture/

Inside Support…

• Instructional Consulting• Mentoring (strategic planning $)• Small Pots of Funding• Help desks, institutes, 1:1, tutorials• Summer and Year Round Workshops• Office of Distributed Learning• Colloquiums, Tech Showcases, Guest Speakers

– Newsletters, guides, active learning grants, annual reports, faculty development, brown bags, other professional development

But there is another problem…

But How Avoid Shovelware???

“This form of structure… encourages teachers designing new products to simply “shovel” existing resources into on-line Web pages and discourages any deliberate or intentional design of learning strategy.” (Oliver & McLoughlin, 1999)

Survey Finds Concern on Administrative Computing

Chronicle of Higher Ed, June 22, 2001, A33, Jeffrey R. Young

“Campus-technology leaders say they worry more about administrative-computing systems than about anything else related to their jobs.”

(survey by Educause—an academic-technology consortium)

How Bad Is It?“Some frustrated Blackboard users who say

the company is too slow in responding to technical problems with its course-management software have formed an independent users’ group to help one another and to press the company to improve.”

(Jeffrey Young, Nov. 2, 2001, Chronicle of Higher Ed)

Online Instructional Activities

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Scientif icSimulations

Data Analysis Lab Performance Critical andCreative Thinking

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Actual Use High Usability

What Pedagogical Tools and Activities are Needed?

Pedagogical Tools Needed!!!

• Creative Thinking

• Critical Thinking

• Cooperative Learning

• Motivational

Intrinsic Motivational Terms?

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

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.

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.

E-Learning Pedagogical StrategiesMotivational and Ice Breakers:

1. 8 Noun Introductions

2. Coffee House Expectations

3. Scavenger Hunt

4. Two Truths, One Lie

5. Public Commitments

6. Share-A-Link

Creative Thinking:

1. Brainstorming

2. Role Play

3. Topical Discussions

4. Brainstormed Topical Discussions

5. Recursive Tasks

6. Electronic Séance

Critical Thinking:

1. Electronic Voting and Polling

2. Delphi Technique

3. Reading Reactions

4. Instructor Gen Virtual Debates

5. Student Gen Virtual Debates

6. Field Reflection

7. Student Generated Online Cases

8. Interactive Peer & Guest Comment

Collaborative Learning:

1. Starter-Wrapper (with roles)

2. Structured Controversy

3. Email Pals/Web Buddies

4. Critical/Constructive Friends

5. Symposium or Expert Panel

6. Electronic Guest/Mentors (Chats)

7. Jigsaw & Group Problem Solving

8. Gallery Tours

1. Tone/Climate: Ice Breakers

1. Eight Nouns Activity:1. Introduce self using 8 nouns

2. Explain why choose each noun

3. Comment on 1-2 peer postings

2. Two Truths, One Lie (Kulp, IBM)

1. Tell 2 truths and 1 lie about yourself

2. Class votes on which is the lie

2. Feedback:Peer Reactions

3. Engagement:Electronic Voting and Polling

1. Ask students to vote on issue before class (anonymously or send directly to the instructor)

2. Instructor pulls our minority pt of view3. Discuss with majority pt of view4. Repoll students after class(Or Delphi or TimedDisclosure Technique) anonymous input till a due date

and then post results andreconsider until consensus

Rick Kulp, IBM, 1999)

4. Meaningfulness:Job or Field Reflections

1. Instructor provides reflection or prompt for job related or field observations

2. Reflect on job setting or observe in field3. Record notes on Web and reflect on

concepts from chapter4. Respond to peers5. Instructor summarizes posts

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:Synchronous Chats

1. Webinar, Webcast

2. Guest speaker moderated Q&A forum

3. Guest expert open chats

4. Peer Q&A and Dialogue 5. Team activities or meetings

6. Instructor meetings, private talk, admin help

7. Quick Polls/Quizzes, Voting Ranking, Surveys

8. Brainstorming ideas, What-Ifs, Quick reflections

9. Graphic Organizers in Whiteboard (e.g., Venn)

10. Twenty Questions, Pruning the tree

       

                                        

News Flash: “Instant Messenger (IM) is a huge corporate tool, yet rarely

mentioned in corporate productivity or

learning plans.” TechLearn TRENDS, Feb. 6, 2002

• Jupiter Media Metrix:– 8.8 million AOL IM users at work– 4.8 million MSN users at work– 3.4 million Yahoo! Messenger users at work– Doubled from 2.3 billion minutes in Sept. 2000 to 4.9

billion minutes in Sept. 2002.• It can connect learners to each other and provide easier

access to the instructor (the MASIE Center).

8. Tension:Role Play

• List possible roles or personalities (e.g., coach, questioner, optimist, devil’s advocate, etc.)

• Sign up for different role every week (or for 5-6 key roles during semester)

• Reassign roles if someone drops class• Perform within roles—try to refer to

different personalities in peer commenting

9. Interactive E-mail Pals, Critical Friends

10. Goal Driven:Group Problem Solving

“Colleges and universities ought to be concerned not with how fast they can ‘put their courses up on the Web,’ but with finding out how this technology can be used to build and sustain learning communities” Hiltz (1998, p. 7)

How Facilitate Online Community?

• Safety: Establish safe environment

• Tone: Flexible, inviting, positive, respect

• Personal: Self-disclosures, open, stories telling

• Sharing: Share frustrations, celebrations, etc

• Collaboration: Camaraderie/empathy

• Common language: conversational chat space

• Task completion: set milestones & grp goals

• Other: Meaningful, choice, simple, purpose...

How to foster e-learning entrepreneurship in

New Zealand???

Technology Sails the South Seas

“The first step in the war against foreign invaders is to build a robust startup climate” …Some would argue that in agriculture- related biotechnology research, no country surpasses New Zealand. And with..Lord of the Rings, the country’s special effects, multimedia, and digital animation industries are at the technological forefront.”

David Lipshultz, Red Herring, January 2002, p. 34. (Interview with Steven Tindall, New Zealand’s largest venture capital investor).

University Entrepreneurship

• Colleges target corp training/exec education.• 22 virtual universities to cooperate.• 9 universities on 4 continents collaborate to

offer online graduate and professional development courses in Asia.

• Univ of the Arctic is a partnership of 31 “high latitude” colleges, universities, and governments across 8 nations. First course is “Introduction to Circumpolar Studies.” (Feb 15, 2002, Chronicle of Higher Education)

“At one university, (the Univ of North Texas) royalties entice professors to design Web courses”

(to spend on professional dev, research, grading, teaching help, or pocket as a bonus)…however, the department had to add an extra fee—about $8.50 per students—to cover the professor’s royalty.” Jeffrey Young, March 30, 2001, Chronicle of Higher Education

“Before creating or teaching a course, professors sign a contract outlining who owns what, and how much of any future revenue from the course the professor will get if the university offers the course without his or her involvement.” (contract copies are at: http://www.unt.edu/cdl/approval_procedures/intellectual.htm)

Jeffrey Young, March 30, 2001, Chronicle of Higher Education

Faculty Entrepreneurship

• Radio Stations

• Online Journals

• Start Discussion Forums

• Freelance Instructor & Guest Expert

• Develop new courses or programs

• Teaching music performance over Web

• Promoting exec ed programs

Douglas Rowlett has turned his English-department office into a virtual radio station that broadcasts continuously on the Internet, offering a mix of poetry readings, lectures, and popular music. He plans to deliver entire courses over the Internet radio station.

Jeffrey R. Young (Jan 8., 2001). Chronicle of Higher Ed.

The Good

The BadMichael J. Saylor’s plans to create an online

university that would offer free education all over the world appear to have been put on hold, at least temporarily. Mr. Saylor, the software magnate, has been occupied for the past few months with financial difficulties at his company, MicroStrategy, Inc.

(Sarah Carr, June 22, 2000, Chronicle of Higher Ed)

Santa Clara University has fired an adjunct instructor who sold his students thousands of dollars worth of stock in an online-education venture that appears to never have gotten off the ground.

Sarah Carr, The Chronicle of Higher Ed.

And The Ugly

Developing a Successful Partnership Portfolio (Duin & Baer, in press)

• Need to List: Vision, Description, Beliefs, Assumptions, Operations, Commitment, Collaboration, Risk, Control, Adaptation, and ROI (for learners, faculty, campus, state/country)

• Five Types of Partnerships: Commerce alliance, minority equity investment, joint venture, spin off, and merger or acquisition

• Four Types of Risks: legal, financial, experimentation, and academic

Other ARTI Helphttp://arti.indiana.edu/

• Help with Tech Transfer.– Intellectual Property, Invention Disclosure, etc.

• Licensing, Patents, and Trademarks.• Access to best strategists, scientists, cutting-edge

labs, communication tools, info technologies.• Training, consortia, mentoring, sharing

meetings.• Multidisciplinary project teams, resources, and

facilities.

“We are evolving out of the era of the Lone Rangers…faculty members can choose to be involved in the design, development, content expertise, delivery, or distribution of course…” (Richard T. Hezel)

Sarah Carr, (Dec 15, 2000, A47), A Day in the Life of a New Type of Professor, The Chronicle of Higher Education

Faculty Member in 2020• Track 1: Technical Specialist

• Track 2: Personal Guide

• Track 3: Online Facilitator

• Track 4: Course Developer

• Track 5: Course or Program Manager

• Track 6: Work for Hire Online Lecturer

• Track 7: High School Teacher

• Track 8: Unemployed

Student Differences in 2020• Live Longer• More Educated

– Multiple Degrees

– Accustomed to Multiple Learning Formats

– Design own programs and courses

• Specialists AND Generalists• Courses/Degrees for unknown occupations• Expect to Take Courses Where Live• Cyber-students (various digital aids attached to appendages)

Possible Scenarios in Year 2020

• Virtual U’s and Traditional U’s Coexist

• Traditional Univ’s buy stake in Virtual U’s

• Traditional Univ’s form Consortia

• Some Trad U’s Move Ahead, Some Don’t

• Other Technology arise well beyond Web

• Large Virtual U’s Buy Competing Traditional U’s and shut them down

What Uses for Old Institutions of Higher Learning???

• Museums

• Historical Monuments

• Bomb Shelters

• Resorts and Apartment Complexes

• Nostalgic Retirement Homes

• Green Space

• Prisons

Final advice…whatever you do…don’t Bonk!!!