Blogging

I would like to use blogs in the courses I teach at a Newfoundland junior high school, but I can't find the right blogging site. Some dismiss concerns over the balance of being able to control postings and allowing students the freedom to post to their own blog. The reality is that school boards have technology policies that require teachers to provide a controlled environment where students can create content online. The search for the right blogging tool continues.

Web 2.0 Confusion

It is dawning on me that trying to understand Web 2.0 can be compared to pinning jello against the wall. Have a look at Ian Delaney's piece "10 definitions of Web 2.0 and their shortcomings" and the comments that follow and you will get an idea of where I am coming from. Warning: it gets a little too technogeeky (if it is not a word it should be) at times.

Web 2.0

Okay, I'll admit it. When new ideas and technologies emerge I am not the first one on the bandwagon. That is probably why I am so far behind in exploring the RSS, podcasting, social networking, and a host of other popular trends on the Internet (could also be a time factor). Web 2.0 is a concept I have not fully grasped. It seems to mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. My understanding of it is that Web 2.0 refers to a group of technologies that makes the Net much more interactive. I would add that it makes it much more dangerous as well., but I will save this sentiment to explore in a future posting (maybe).

My goal for the coming year is to learn more about Web 2.0. Here are some of my questions:

• Can I use it (or parts of it) as a teaching tool for my classroom?
• How does it impact distance learning?
  

First, I have to figure out what it is? In an effort to learn more I have downloaded the "Coming of Age: An Introduction to the New World Wide Web" from Ewan McIntosh's blog. I must confess that I have a hard time reading anything of length on the computer and it is too big to print out. I leave for my vacation today and I plan to give it a crack when I get home at the end of this month (along with preparing to teach a new school year, starting up Lego Robotics again, and the MDDE 604 course I am taking this fall).

To get my feet wet, I have been exploring RSS feeds and as a result I have setup an account on Bloglines. What is Bloglines? It is a web site that acts as a news aggregator. You can subscribe to web content (like blogs) and Bloglines will keep track of them all in one place for you. I like it because it helps tame the information overload on the web. For those not technologically inclined it is one of those things you have to try to understand.

Where I am going from here?

I am not entirely sure what the future holds for me. I want to incorporate blogs, podcasting, and vdeo editing into my courses this year but I don't have a lot of time to do it. My tech courses are required to be a minimum of 26 hours and that is not a lot of time. I have considered doing it as an extra-curricular activity but I am already doing Lego robotics and I don't know how I am going to get any time to pursue other afterschool events? A case of wanting to do a lot more but not enough time to do it.

I have been thinking a lot about where I am going with the distance education program. I had two reasons for doing the Master of Distance Education (MDDE) program. The first was that the program would lead to a significant increase in my salary. The second was my interest in distance learning. Now I am wondering what I will do once I finish the program. I like teaching but I don't think I can do it at a high school level for the next 22 years until I can retire. Distance learning is an exciting field and not much research has been devoted to the practice at the high school level. I think there are opportunities here but I have no idea how I am going to crack into the field.

MDDE 603: A Theory of Practice (Bibliography)

I finished the MDDE 603 course towards the end of July 2006 and I thought I would post the bibliography for the assignment. I did well on the paper but I am hesitant to publish it here. I have some concerns about plagiarism and being given credit for the work I create.

Title: A Theory of Practice: A Constantly Evolving Process

References

Anderson, T. (October 2003). Getting the mix right: An updated and theoretical rationale for interaction. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 4(2). Retrieved July 14, 2006 from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/149/230.

Bird, Jenny, & Morgan, Chris. (2003, April). Adults contemplating university study at a distance: Issues, themes and concerns. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 4(1). Retrieved July 21, 2005, from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/130/210.

Cooper, P.A. (1993). Paradigm shifts in designed instruction: From behaviorism to cognitivism to constructivism. Educational Technology, May, 12-19.

Driscoll, Mary P. (2005). Psychology of Learning for Instruction. Boston, Pearson
Education, Inc.

Huitt, W. (2003). Constructivism. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved July 20, 2006, from http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/construct.html

Kanuka, Heather & Anderson, Terry. (1998). Online social interchange, discord, and knowledge construction. Journal of Distance Education, 13(1). Retrieved June 16, 2006 from http://cade.athabascau.ca/vol13.1/kanuka.html

Kanuka, Heather & Anderson, Terry. (1999). Using constructivism in technology-mediated learning: Constructing order out of the chaos in the literature. Radical Pedagogy, 1(2).

Ludwig-Hardman, S. & Dunlap, J.C. (April 2003). Learner support services for online students: scaffolding for success. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 4(1). Retrieved July 21, 2006 from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/131/211.

MacDonald, Colla J. and Thompson, Terrie Lynn. (July 2005). Structure, content, delivery, service, and outcomes: Quality e-learning in higher education. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 6(2). Retrieved June 14, 2006 from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/237/321.

Savory, J.R., & Duff, T.M. (2001). Problem based learning: An instructional model and its constructivist framework. CRLT Technical report No. 16-01. Indiana University: Center for Research on Learning and Technology.

Spitzer, Dean R. (1996, May/June). Motivation: The neglected factor in instructional design. Educational Technology, 45-49.

Tam, Maureen. (2000). Constructivism, instructional design, and technology: implications for transforming distance learning. Educational Technology & Society, 3(2). Retrieved May 15, 2005, from http://ifets.ieee.org/periodical/vol_2_2000/tam.html.

Wilson, B. G., Ludwig-Hardman, S., Thornam C. L., & Dunlap, J. C. (November 2004). Bounded community: Designing and facilitating learning communities in formal courses. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 5(3). Retrieved June 14, 2006 from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/204/286.

MDDE 603 over

Well, I finished the MDDE 603 course in the Master of Distance Education program at Athabasca University. The final assignment was about my own theory of practice and how it has been shaped and changed by the learning theories that were covered in the course. It is probably not a good thing to admit, but I have always been fuzzy on my own personal theory of practice. I learned what things worked in the classroom by experience and I had a negative view of educational theories in general. After this course I must admit that I now realize the necessity of developing my own views about teaching and learning that reflect a preference for learning theories that I agree with. I still acknowledge a gap between theory and practice but I now understand how learning theories can help shape my practice.

Beyond Blooms Taxonomy

Throughout my teaching career I have heard references to Bloom's taxonomy numerous times as a guiding principle for teaching and learning. Louise Starkey references a new look at a learning scheme that challenges the filing cabinet view of learning of Bloom's taxonomy. The impetus is the accounting for learning in the digital age, which is something I have been struggling to understand.

Motivation in Distance Learning

This week I had to post my response to questions around an article about a course given via distance. The article is dated (Nov. 1999) but I included the link in case anyone reading this would like to review it. The unit is about motivation and the responses were based on this topic. Here are the questions:

1. How has the design of the course described in the Hara and Kling article contributed to the development of the reported student frustrations? What changes would help to alleviate them?
   
   
2. Which of the sources of frustration -- lack of prompt feedback, ambiguous instructions, and technical problems -- could be attributed, at least in part, to personal motivational variables (e.g., self-efficacy, student attributions)? How could these variables be addressed in the course design? In the course management?
   
   
3. What role does self-regulation play in the alleviation of student frustrations in this context?

Here was my response to question 1:

Hara and Kling sumarize that student frustrations in the web-based course arose from technological problems, problems with feedback from the instructor, and ambiguous instructions on the Web site and in e-mails.

It seems that these students were cast adrift in this course. When problems arose they could not get them addressed and the frustrations increased. Here are some of the noted problems as I see them:

- this course was designed for the traditional classroom setting and little effort was made in the re-design of the course to account for the distance education setting (i.e. the instructor would not always be available to clarify the course expectations and assignments).

- it was assumed that the instructor was suited to teach this course online with no experience in distance teaching.

- computer technology skills of the instructor and students were not taken into consideration when offering this course online.

Changes recommended:

- include advance organizers in the course that structures the content to review knowledge about the subject that is familiar to the student (prior knowledge), move to introducing new topics in general statements that bridge the gap from what is known to what is to be learned, and then provide more concrete and specific instructions for new tasks. Part of this is to provide clear instructions and leave no room for ambiguity.

- provide an orientation that deals with a) the competency of the students’ computer technology skills which are needed for the course and b) examples of how this skills will be applied during the course.

- collaboration was a key mentioned in overcoming frustration so more collaborative opportunities need to be made available for students. A getting-to-know-you online session limited to only those involved in the course and collaborative assignments within the course.

Here was my response to question 2:

If it can be assumed that the students taking this course were capable and confident learners then the technological issues appear to have created the major problems for this course. The reason I believe this is because the course was also taught in the traditional setting and I thought a major problem with the course was the ambiguity of instruction in the online content (adapted from the original course), which could be a content issue.

While reading this article, I kept asking myself how the course online differed from that of the traditional classroom. I think a comparison would have narrowed down the sources of frustration even further. For example, did students taking the course in the traditional setting experience the same confusion that online students had concerning the course content? How did the instructor in the traditional classroom resolve the issues that were encountered in the curriculum? I am not convinced by the article that all the problems were linked to distance education methodology.

However the biggest impact on student frustration seems to have been in dealing with the technology. Hara and Kling note that “there were two foci of frustration among students in this course” (p. 129 from readings in the course binder). These were i) technological problems and ii) course content and instructor communication with students. In the category of technological problems it was noted that lack of technology support and lack of computer skills by students were problems. I would include the lack of knowledge by the instructor about using e-mail communications effectively.

Driscoll (2005) notes that building confidence is a key issue when promoting self-efficacy (p. 336). To build confidence the following strategies were recommended:

- “instructors can create a positive expectation for success by making it clear just what is expected of students” (p. 336)

It seems that the students (and even the instructor) did not have a reasonable expectation about the impact of using technology was going to have on the learning experience. Besides learning the course content they had to learn how to effectively use the technology.

- “provide success opportunities for students” (p. 336)

It would have been beneficial for some activities to be introduced into the course (preferably at the start of the course) that used the technology. Orientation type activities designed to get students comfortable with using the technology and taking courses at a distance may have lessened their anxiety by improving their technological competence.

- “by providing learners with a reasonable degree of control over their own learning and helping learners to recognize that learning is a direct consequence of their own efforts and effective learning strategies.” (p. 337)

I would venture a guess here and say that their experience with the discussion and email technology produced a sense of a loss of control over their learning environment. Designing a better web site with clearer instructions and more opportunities to work together and contact with the instructor would have created a better sense of control over their learning. In this case, success with using the technology effectively to enhance their learning would have bred success in the learning of the course objectives.

I did not respond to question 3 since I think I addressed in in my previous responses.

Learning Theories and DE Assignment

Well, just last week I finished assignment #2 in the MDDE 603 course. It was a collaborative assignment that I worked on with three other people. It was a different experience doing this type of project in a distance learning course. We used e-mail as the primary collaborative tool. It went really well because the people I was working with were very efficient and had a good work ethic. This is my second experience working with others in a distance education environment and I enjoyed it even more than I did the first time.

The assignment involved applying learning theories to suggest changes in a distance education course. The theories we chose were Cognitive information processing (CIP), Ausubel's meaningful learning theory, schema theory, and I chose constructivism. One of the complaints I have about the masters program I am doing is that it does not provide the means to participate online using synchronous technology (i.e. Elluminate Live!). I was pleased with the assignment overall and I hope we get a good mark.

Now I am starting the unit about motivation as a part of the learning process. Being a junior high teacher I have first-hand experience about the effect of motivation on learning. I hoping to learn a bit about how I can better motivate my own students.

Learning Theories and the Digital Generation

I have been reading a lot about learning theories and for the most part it is interesting. I keep wondering how this generation of students (k-12) are growing up in a digital world and how that has changed the way people learn? Many teenagers use IM to communicate with their friends and handle 5, 8, 10 or more converstaions at one time. I don't like using IM myself and can only handle 1 or two conversations at a time. A lot of teenagers listen to music and/or tv while studying. I always used to think a quiet environment was best but surprisingly it can be distracting for some students who need some noise on to study. It makes sense when you think about selective attention. By having their MP3 players on and listening to tunes some students can concentrate on their studies even better because the music helps keep them focussed by elimanating other distractions and by listening to music they block everything out and can concetrate on their work. Is this the digital learner that our society is breeding?

PI and PSI

The latest topic of discussion in my masters course is Programmed Instruction (PI) and Personalized System of Instruction (PSI). Here is an excerpt from a posting I made on the course forum:

"Both look at a structured way to deliver courses that are taken by students at their own pace, with minimal or non-existent involvement of a teacher, and require students to master a step (or unit) before going on to the next section. PI focuses solely on delivering the learning material via machines like computer software, web sites, and the like, while PSI includes a tutor-like mentor called a proctor (hopefully not a proctologist), and provides for additional instruction for those students needing it."

I think the appropriateness for distance education depends on the circumstances. If you want people to learn about factual information and concepts (i.e. math, physics, historical facts, ...) and you don't get into analyzing and forming abstract ideas then PI it is. If you want students to have a higher learning experience then PSI is better.

Sources:

Grant, Lyle K. & Spencer, Robert E. (2003, October). The personalized system of instruction: Review and applications to distance education. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 4(2). Retrieved on May 29, 2003 from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/152/233.

Programmed instruction. Infoplease Encyclopedia. Retrieved on May 29, 2003 from http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0840225.html

Behavioral Learning Theory

I am starting the readings for the next unit in the MDDE 603 course. The topic is behavioural learning theories and programmed instruction. I have read about behaviourism before and the consensus is that it is not as fashionable a theory nowadays as constructivism. Obviously, the people who think this have never stepped inside a junior high (middle school) classroom. :>)

Cleaning up the Blog

I used this blog a while back to do a collaborate assignment and gave two of my fellow students access to the blog to post drafts and make comments. I have since removed this access and deleted some of the postings. In the meantime I have left some postings that other DE students may find useful.

One note to anybody else using Blogger to publish online. When I changed the template I lost the links I had posted in the side menu. If you edit the template or make changes to it I strongly suggest copying the link postings to a word processor as a back-up.

Back from a Break

Well, I am back from having a break. I plan to update this blog more often. Currently I'm taking my third course in the Master of Distance Education program at Athabasca. The course is Master of Distance Education 603: Foundations of Instructional Design: Systems Analysis and Learning Theory.

I just completed my first major assignment which was a killer. It was a two part assignment 1)use one of Banathy's lenses to examine a distance education system and 2) use Checkland's soft system analysis to analyze a problem situation in a distance learning system. Second part was a killer and I think I butchered it. Checkland's model involves using a lot of abstract concepts and, pardon the pun, the abstractions drove me to distraction.

I'll try and post some updated links to topics I am covering in my course. I'll also try and post some citations of articles I have to read.