By LAURA DESENA

Online teaching strategies are, at theircore, much like brick and mortar strategies: the central objective is for a teacherto impart content knowledge to students.‘Ièachers accomplish this through engaging and inspiring students, through communicating their expert knowledge. butbeyond that, and perhaps flute impor—tandy, through sharing their passion forthe subject and its relevance to students’

lives. [f education is productive, studentsare finally confronted with themselves— their innermost thoughts, their beliefsystems, their moral values, and theiraesthetic values.

Teaching inspires a journey: it

should he an authentic experience. Thefear with online learning is that the experience is two-dimensional and not three.This is a common misconception. ‘l’he student in the virtual world is still on a journey— in some cases it will be largely self—guidedand in other cases teacher-directed. Inthe online environment, dialogues can be

conducted across centuries, across oceans —

and through infinite cyberspace—and all inthe immediate moment through Internetconnectivir This is the 21st century environment, It represents the chaotic energyof fast-paced access to information (notof all it credible, of course) that we need

to help students navigate, providing them

with critical thinking skills to discriminateamong sources of information.

Cyberspace Advantages What better place

to achieve this than within the environment itself: the virtual world? Studentsare confident in cyberspace and we canleverage this confidence, experiencedin their comfort zone, into a productive

learning environment. Instead of being a

means of escaping reality, it can be a meansof better understanding reality through anacademic lens.

In a traditional classroom, teachers assess students’ acquired knowledgethrough vehicles such as essays, exams,participation, and collaboration. All ofthese may also he evaluated in the virtualenvironment. Occasionally — particularlywith participation — they can be moremeaningfully assessed in an online course

than in-person. A reticent student canoften he coaxed to engage in criticaldiscourse from the security — of whatseems like — an anonymous voice. In virtual spaces, like wiki and blogs, studentsvalidate or refute the ideas of their peersin discourse that they would perhaps shyaway from in an actual classroom. Challenging ideas in a virtual environment withits perceived distance, becomes easier andmore inviting. This builds confidence.which often manifests later in their writtenacademic arguments.

Traditional models of instruction,student-centered and teacher-directed,are duplicated in the virtual environment.In asynchronous online instruction, thestudent works independently, studying

c-content and is periodically in contactwith the teacher for guided instructionvia email, discussion boards, wiki, blogs.The instructor assesses knowledge gleanedfrom independent and guided study.In synchronous online instruction, theteacher is present for every lesson in thevirtual classroom to instruct and to provideimmediate feedback to the students, ashe/she would be in the brick and mortarclassroom, and the teacher’s body language(through videocamn) can be observed aspart of the visual cues a student oftenneeds — praise and perplexity, aflirniationand correction. Hybrid online instruction is a merging of both experiences, theasynchronous and synchronous.

Asynchronous Online Learning Asynchronous instruction does not occur in real

time. It is essentially guided, not interactive, instruction. Asynchronous coursesmay be designed by teachers within your

district or your district may purchaseprepackaged courses from online schools.Vhat follows are recommendations furteachers who are designing and teachingasynchronous courses for their districts.‘i’hese suggestions do not necessarilyreflect the prepackaged asynchronouscontent delivery offered by online schools.

Asynchronous Instruction Teaching in anasynchronous setting requires guiding

students through meaningful assignments,such as readings of c-documents, or doingresearch projects or collaborative work.Posted lecture notes, podcasts of recorded

content, and even video recordings of lectures via Yöu’fIibe should be considered asmore dynamic presentations.

Teachers must encourage engagement — long distance — by maintaining

consistent contact with students, check-

What Makes a Great Online Teacher?Instructors need to connect with students — whetherthat happens n-person or via the web

20 SCHOOl LEADER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011

ing c-mails regularly A specific courseoutline, including established deadlinesfor assignments, should be provided. it isimportant to keep the student on track tocomplete the material in timely fashion. Itis in the students’ best interest for teachersto be unflinchingly firm on establisheddeadlines. Responding to students’ queries, via e—mail, should he done within48 hours so that students’ questions areaddressed while they are still relevant.(Some prepackaged online schools claiminstructors will respond to students’ emailqueries within three to four business days.)independence and self-pacing is fosteredin this style of online instruction. (In p’—packaged online programs, self-pacing istouted as an advantage.) But, students mustnot feel they are floating in the vacuumof cyberspace: this means hack and forthdialogue with the instructor and peers.The best forum for this is the discussionboard. The instructor should post to thediscussion board to keep the conversanongoing — to validate, deepen explorationand, when necessary, correct. Studentsshould he directed, in their postings, tosupport their arguments (formal and informal) using primary and secondary sources,including embedding links so that a dimension is added to discussion that moves wellbeyond learning in the brick and mortarclassroom. This model of discussion (interpretation and evidence) prepares them wellfor the rigors of higher education. Becausethe discussion is conducted online and notin the classroom, students will have mime—diate access to external sources. A lesson ondiscriminating among sources, particularlyamong Internet sources, is critical.

Asynchronous Assessment Traditionalassessments apply: essays, research papers,

collahorative assignments, open—bookexams. Students submit work as e-mailattachments or through posting on web-sites like http://vww.rikispaces.com VVhengiving quizzes or exams, an honor codemust be established.

Resources Several online schools offerprepackaged courses so that districts neednot find a teacher willing to create an asynchronous course. Essentially, they packageall course materials and offer content delivery asynchronously (not in real time), InNew Jersey, administrators may considerthe NewJersey Virtual School http://r’w.njvs.org/defiiult.aspx In addition, there arenational companies such as ViIS, VirtualHigh School. http://z’r’.gochs.oig/Pages/Why VhS-I-lame A New Jersey basedcompany, bE, Inc http://innovationson—

lineed.com/defiinlt.aspx offers synchronousand hybrid courses tailored to NewJerseyschool districts’ needs.

Important to maintaining brickand mortar standards is ascertaining thelevel of interaction between student andteacher. Is the content packaged into whatis essentially an online textbook, followedby an online multiple-choice test, whichstudents may retake several times untilthey receive a passing grade? Does theonline school offer guided instruction —

regular teacher/student interaction — howoften and through what means (e-mail,discussion hoards)? Does the teacher assessthe coursework or does the program!computer?

Synchronous Online Learning Synchronousinstruction takes place in real time: teacher

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 SCHOOL LEADER 21

and students log-on and enter the virtualclassroom together. Every session is ledby the teacher. The virtual classroomcomes equipped with a whiteboard, chat-box, audio/video capability, c-notebook,ernotlcons (for immediate student feedback), Internet access, applications, andbreakout rooms (for collaborative workamong students). Microphones and speakers allow students and the teacher to speakto each other during the session. Access tothe Internet is immediate for teacher-leddiscussion of external sources. As studentsinteract in real time with the teacher andwith each other, the social element oflearning is not compromised with thismodel ofinstruction. Synchronous instruction comes closest to mimicking the brickand mortar environment. Questions areaddressed by the instructor in the moment,rather than deferred to an e-mail responsedays later. The synchronous environmentallows for both teacher and student-centered learning. The teacher may use thewhiteboard to post notes, pose questions,invite student problem solving (studentsmay write on the whiteboard). Students areinvited to take charge of the microphonefor a presentation, or to converse in aforeign language. They max’ have groupdiscussions and work on group projects inbreakout rooms during class time.

Synchronous Instruction Teachers mustengage students. The virtual classroomoffers a variety of tools to facilitate this.Productive teaching involves using thesetools in a meaningful way. The tools shouldnot be a distraction but, collectively, amethod of effective delivery. Excellentteachers have a variety of styles; adaptingthe environment to the teaching style is ke

Many instructors open with an

outline for the session and teach to theseobjectives through a combination of lecture and PowerPoint presentations forvisual engagement and elaboration, thenmove to open discussion, and onto theInternet for secondary sources for extrapolation, ending the session with a questionand answer segment. Others will leumproblems to he solved on a whiteboardand ask students to work out the answersdirectly on the whitehoard, inviting eachstudent to participate in one stage of thesolution. In language classes, students areinvited to speak to each other. Individualpsitations of researched informationor of a persuasive speech on a topic allowfor student-centered experiences. Debatesand critical discourse are possible in realdine. Students can be directed to take notesusing c-notebook and instructors can sendhandouts to students during the lesson.

For science instructors, there arevirtual labs: one example — a websitehosted by University of Oregon, DepartInent of Physics offers many fascinatinglabs including this one on the “Moons of

.1 upiter” — hi tp://jersey. uoregon. edit/tmp/orhits.html. There are virnial fieldtrips tomuseums for students of art and history(see The Teachers Guide: 1 Virtual Fieldtrzpsbttp://wz’c’.theterichersguide.com/cirta_altourt. html.) There are primary sourcedocuments for all subject areas. Preparation is key to excellent instruction in thisenvironment. If a teacher’s presentationsare all text-based, he or she will not beattending to all learning styles in thisvibrant environment.

Classroom Management Online iflstnLctorsmust check in with each student during theclass session by directly asking questionsor inviting responses. This ensures that a

student who is logged-on hasn’t minimizedthe virtual classroom and opened anotherInternet window to play a computer game,surf the net or has walked away from thecomputer during the session. Periodicallyasking questions, which require an emoticon, or yes or no answer, is an effectiveway of making certain students are reallyin attendance. Students also have privatechat capability so monitoring the chatboxis important. It should he announced at thestart of each session that the teacher is ableto read all chat messages, including thosesent “privately” to another student. ,Justas teachers would not allow whisperingin the back of the room, they should notallow private, irrelevant chatting in thevirtual classroom.

Synchronous Assessment Participationmay be assessed in the virtual classroom,enabling the teacher to evaluate students’knowledge in the moment. Open hookexams, essays, or projects may he submitted as e-mail attachments. Presentations— individual and group — may be evalu—atecl in real time. Tests may be c-mailedor administered online to students withinthe context of an established honor code.

Hybrid instruction Flybrid instructionmerges asynchronous and synchronousexperiences. Assignments include discussion board postings, dialogue with theinstructor via e-mail, and studying mdc—pendentlv (asynchronous instruction). Butthere are also regularly scheduled meetings in the virtual classroom for reviewor introduction of content (synchronousinstruction).

Common Ground The qualities that makefor an excellent teacher in the traditionalclassroom are the same in the virtual class—

22 SCHOOL LEADER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011

room the ability to engage and motivate,

fiscilitating the transfer knowledge fromexpert to novice. The techniques are somewhat different because the environmentis different, hut the essentials remain thesame. Dr. Valorie Phillian, who teaches asynchronous online course — French IV— at Northern Highlands Regional HighSchool in New jersey, reflects on thisvirtual meeting in real time with students.“As is true in the regular classroom setting,this connection along with interaction andintellectual curiosity combine to create avaluable learning experience.”

What works for the teacher in thebrick and mortar environment — that whichdefines her/his style — is translatable in thevirtual environment through creativity andinnovation — and there are, of course, theinfinite possibilities that the finite space of abrick and mortar classroom cannot provide.

One important aspect that instructors must consider when teaching an onlinecourse and school districts must considerwhen approving such courses — is thatinstructors must be open to assessing theircourses continuously. Since some studentstaking online courses report experiencinga sense of disconnection, the assessmentsshould examine whether students areprovided with the essentials of a qualityonline education. Those essentials includeclear and continuous guidance, promptand constructive feedback, well-designedassignments and meaningftd opportunitiesfor interaction and support.

Laura DeSena, nn FHi Sch.ooi, is cn-ioun.der and president at InnovatFrin Oniine Ei.ducaon, Inn, Sde is aiso an adonet asstntantorotnasor of jrrra.iif.ns at NYUs SChQOi at Contindrs and0ayasa.ca Sodas. sso nn

WdCaOErS rcrinnorsoejitrdoobs;1,@gma:Loc’7

By JANET BAMFORD

\Vhether it’s called online learning, c—learning, virtual classes,cvher-education, or other names,the practice of a student beingeducated via the web is growingquickly.

The International Association for K-12 Online Learning(iNACOL) estimates that morethan 1.5 million K—12 studentsacross the nation were engagedin online and blended learning (which involves an onlinecomponent) for the 2009-2010school year. Those numbershave grown quickly. In 2000,there were about 50,000 studentenrollments in K— 12 onlinelearning.

Nationally, H2 percent ofall public K-12 school districtsoffer online courses to students,according to the Sloan Consornuns, a non-profit organizationthat promotes online education.

It’s no wonder. Many of the advantages of online learning are readily apparent. Virtual classes allow smaller or morerural school districts to offer courses theymight not otherwise be able to offer.Motivated students who face schedulingconflicts can take a course online that theyotherwise couldn’t. Students who havefailed a course can take an online coursefor credit recovery, Districts can use online

courses as home instruction for studentswho are on a short- or long-term leave.

New Jersey Lagging? Like the rest of thecountry New Jersey has seen growth inonline learning, although there arc no solidfigures on how many students are takingonline courses.

Public legislative hearings on thetopic of online learning were held on Nov.23 by the Joint Committee on the Public

Logged-On LearningK-i 2 onhne education is growing throughout thecountr’. What’s happening in New Jersey?

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 SCHOOL LEADER 23