CONCEPTS OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
CONCEPTS OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
CONCEPTS OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
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Designing online learning
Introduction
Traditional teaching methods are not as effective today as they were in the past. When teachers operate as disseminators of information, authentic learning does not occur in the classroom. Instead, students should engage in the learning process by taking ownership, making connections, and constructing new knowledge, while teachers operate more as facilitators. One of the innovative practices that helps create these types of significant learning environments is blended learning. Throughout this course, teachers will engage with the idea and concept of blended learning as they experience its benefits and design instructional lessons that integrate this teaching method into their own curriculum.
Learning GoalS
Teacher learners will:
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Identify key components of successful and effective blended learning environments
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Analyze and evaluate different models of blended learning
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Design a lesson or unit that incorporates blended learning by applying knowledge of blended learning concepts and models
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Observe, reflect on and provide an analysis for blended learning demonstrations and examples
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Plan possible opportunities that incorporate blended learning with future units
Outline
Teacher learners will:
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Session 1 - Blended learning: What is it?
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Session 2 - Why should we innovate?
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Session 3 - Getting practical
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Session 4 - Observe & design a lesson
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Session 5 - Reflect
Desired results
Teacher learners will create a significant learning environment for their students by designing and facilitating a lesson or unit that integrates blended learning opportunities.
Audience
Classroom teachers (5-6 grade) at my campus.
Documents
3 Column Table
Used for backward design, aligning Goals, Assessments & Activities
Full outline of Online Learning Unit
Complete with Learning Goals, Materials, Activities, and Assessments
Instructional Design & Learning Theories
Assessment & ACtivities
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Designing an effective online course needs to begin with the same planning process as designing an effective face-to-face lesson. The purpose of instruction should be student understanding and learning. However, oftentimes educators will focus on instruction and activities. By first establishing learning goals and desired results, teachers can engage in a backward design, where the activities and assessments are intentionally developed around grounded learning outcomes.
When considering how to begin designing an online course, it is important for me to carefully narrow the learning goals. This will help clarify the purpose of each activity to ensure that it is properly aligned to the overarching goals.
Reflections thus far
As I continue to develop this online course for teacher-learners on blended learning, I have developed some thoughts on the design process, similarities between online and face-to-face PD, as well as the challenges of integrating innovative learning strategies with an online experience.
TPACK
My Innovation Plan actually relies on the TPACK framework. This model of professional learning makes it fairly easy to incorporate those important characteristics. My online course specifically relies on teachers to supply their content knowledge while the content of blended learning will provide support and an opportunity to grow in pedagogical knowledge. This course also provides a practical element that allows teachers to learn and experiment with different technological tools and applications that support the pedagogy presented. I have benefited from the TPACK framework as a learner and am excited to embrace it as a facilitator of learning.
A challenge assessing learning
I have mentally developed a shortlist of concerns (that seems to be growing). As I attempt to push myself further and further away from traditional teaching methods, I often wonder about the assessment of learning. A traditional, competency-based education provides an easy system for establishing who is learning and who is struggling. But as learning progressively moves towards self-direction and building new knowledge in combination with personal experiences, it seems that the instructor becomes less and less qualified to determine which students have achieved learning goals and which have not. This is my current struggle in the design process. I have been able to clearly define both the learning goals and the desired results, that part is simple. However, figuring out how to gauge the learning proves to be more of a challenge. I have really tried to design my course in a way that puts the learning experience in the hands of the participants. Because this course is constructed as outcomes-based rather than competency-based, I find myself unable to create a sound assessment system. The use of tests, rubrics, or checklists will simply revert the learning experience back to competency-based, which is simply not an option for me. The learning that will take place in this experience could potentially be extremely divergent. In a way this unknown factor excites me, I’m sure I will learn quite a bit by venturing further away from competencies than I ever have before. I plan to ask teacher participants for feedback and hear their ideas for assessment after they have experienced the course.
Course Design Tool
Schoology is the perfect Learning Management System (LMS) for hosting an online course. Schoology provides teachers with several tools to make lessons engaging and interactive and the organizational aspects of grading, calendars, and feedback make managing the details relatively easy. My current district already uses Schoology as their LMS so teachers will be used to the layout, the icons, and procedures on how to interact, submit and navigate this online course.
Developing an online course has challenged me in different ways. I have attempted to address those challenges head-on and the following questions have helped me to process potential solutions to those challenges.
how will you ensure the success of your learners in this course?
Since I plan to stray from the competency-based form of evaluation (standardized tests, rubrics, checklists), I believe that feedback will be vital in ensuring the success of learners. Also, it will be necessary to both maintain a relationship with the participants and also foster relationships among themselves. It is through these relationships that the learning will intensify and deepen, plus accountability that is produced as a byproduct of these relationships will drive the participants more towards a successful experience.
By the end of this course, I want learners to feel equipped to and have practiced implementing blended learning methods in their classrooms. The course is designed to create time and space for teachers to find the motivation to change their approach to teaching, create a lesson or unit that incorporates blended learning, to observe and be observed implementing that lesson, and give feedback while reflecting on the entire process.
What do you want your learners to know and be able to do?
The final reflection assignment will serve as a major determinant when it comes to leaners achieving goals and objectives. Also, on a very practical level, since one of the course goals is for the teacher-learners to implement blended learning in their classrooms, I will be following up with each participant to document whether this was actually performed. I also hope to visit many of these classrooms to see blended learning in action, as well as co-teach or model for any teacher participants that show interest in continuing this learning experience.
How will you determine if course goals have been reached?
Course implementation
The online course is complete and ready for launch. All the pieces, including learning goals, materials, activities, and assessments, have come together to form a five-session online learning experience for educators. After several drafts of design, I have landed on the following organizational delivery of content, relying on proven elements of effective professional development:
The first session introduces the concept of blended learning and identifies the various methods in which it can be implemented. Learners then take the next session to visit reasons and form their own personal motivation for embracing innovative change to instruction. The following two sessions have the learners create materials, focusing on the authentic, hands-on aspect of PD. Finally, learners have the opportunity to reflect and evaluate their progress and measure their own professional growth.
A non-interactive preview of this course is viewable to the right. The workflow remains simple and consistent throughout each session to allow learners to focus on the content and application of new knowledge, rather than trying to learn or navigate the technology and platform. I look forward to the feedback that the first participants will provide and I plan to use that information to build new courses and build upon Midway Innovation & Learning's Professional Growth Opportunities collection
Blended Learning in the Classroom: Course Overview
Components of Effective PD
As I continue to develop this online course for teacher-learners on blended learning, I am thankful that earlier in this program I completed a literature review on innovative professional development in education. One of the most interesting takeaways from the research was that the common qualities that make a professional learning experience effective are not surprising...like not surprising at all. If you have spent any time in the classroom as a teacher, you can probably create your own list that aligns pretty closely with the 30 sources I spent hours reading. Teachers need ongoing learning experiences that involve collaboration, hands-on, authentic learning and they need the time to create and reflect on the experience. I have tried to keep these factors in mind when building out the assessment and activities of this online course. Even though it will fully take place online, I have really focused on providing opportunities for collaboration. It is important for learners to collaborate with each other - the dialogue, feedback, and accountability from peers intensifies the learning process. From my own personal experience with online graduate school, the social/collaborative aspect of such learning experiences has been the most rewarding.
Ideas for future online courses
Hands-on, authentic learning course that helps teachers prepare effective lessons for the 2020-2021 school year as we navigate virtual learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the 5 E's of inquiry-based learning (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate), teachers will take one of their most dynamic lessons that has been taught previously in the classroom and transform it into a lesson that can be taught in a virtual environment. This course will build upon the Blended Learning for the Classroom course as it utilizes some of the same practices and skills teachers will have developed to take advantage of the available technology.
What an opportunity we have in this current state of education to promote a shift away from standardized, multiple-choice assessments and towards authentic, student-driven forms of evaluation. As more and more students opt for at-home learning, teachers are becoming increasingly concerned about the potential of cheating. But if the answer to a question can be "googled," is it really worth asking? By providing resources and a self-paced guide, teachers will be able to analyze the learning goals for an existing unit and create a summative, authentic assessment. Examples include student portfolios, book creations, podcasts, infographics, performance-based assessments, and more.
Lesson Plan Development:
Face 2 Face to Virtual
Authentic Assessments: An online Learning Experience
Reflection and analysis
It is a very interesting time to be a teacher in the world of education. Although progressive educational theorists and philosophers have been calling for innovative change for decades, the wake of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced every single educator to begin thinking differently about how to deliver instruction and how to make use of the available technology of our modern times. Almost overnight, educators have been compelled to problem-solve and creatively engage their students without the luxury of being in the same room. Now, more than I have ever seen before, teachers are craving opportunities to learn and grow their instructional skills to effectively reach students amid these circumstances. This is where I have found that online learning experiences can meet this crucial need and provide professional learning opportunities for teachers to find the resources they desperately are asking for, and they can do it at their own pace and in a desired environment. As a part of my school district’s Innovation and Learning Department, this online course and the others that will come seeks to focus on innovative teaching methods and theories that shift our educational practices away from traditional learning environments to those that capitalize on divergent and authentic learning, significant learning environments, and outcomes-based education. The course I developed is titled “Blended Learning in the Classroom'' and touches on the “why” and need for instructional change while providing a hands-on opportunity to design lessons that align with progressive educational theories. However, there is much to consider when developing an online course in order to make it both an effective and successful learning experience for its participants.
As with learning theories, there are several instructional design theories to consider when beginning to build an online course. One of the most popular design models is known as ADDIE (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate) which is frequently referenced because it simply identifies and ensures implementation of qualities that contribute to quality instructional design. Other design models include Dick, Carey & Carey, Instructional Design Model for Online Learning (IDOL), Rapid Instructional Design, and many more (Morrison, 2013). When first considering the learning goals and desired results from this course, I found myself leaning towards utilizing the Rapid Instructional Design Model. The main purpose of this was that this model allows for on-the-fly adaptation. As mentioned earlier, I wanted this online learning experience to heavily reflect an outcomes-based education, which meant that assessments and evaluation could not rely on standardized tests or rubrics. I knew that there would be a learning curve for me, as a facilitator, when it came to this domain and wanted the freedom to modify as the course progressed. However, after clearly defining my learning goals, I found myself needing additional models for design, for I did not feel that the Rapid Instructional Design Model met every design need. I began exploring other instructional design models that target online courses. I came across a framework called the educational Community of Inquiry (CoI), which is defined as a group of individuals who collaboratively engage in a purposeful critical discourse and reflection to construct personal meaning and a mutual understanding (Garrison et al., 2000). While I cannot say that there is a direct correlation between this model and my online course design, it was heavily influenced by the characteristics that make up a CoI, primarily the emphasis on the interdependence of participants through reflection as they build a common understanding of the need for blended learning and its implementation.
a professional development platform, focusing on technology integration in the classroom
affordable online courses that range from behavior and classroom management to STEM, and literacy to cyberbullying prevention
wide range of PD topics that can be searched by "teaching fundamentals" or even by content
another online platform that offers a variety of learning opportunities for teachers
Instructional Design Theories
Ubd Plan implementation
The structure and workflow of this course would not have been made possible unless it was for the utilization of the Understanding by Design framework. By beginning with an overall goal, I was able to ensure that each subset of activities and assessments were created with the end in mind. Because UbD lends itself to the creation of more of an authentic learning experience, I was able to take advantage of the backward design process. I chose to practically map out the course using Fink’s 3 Column table, which helped me think through how to connect the content of the course to the different domains of application, integration, human dimension/caring, and future learning. Without these tools, I do not think I would have been able to create a learning experience that was authentic as this one.
successful online programs
importance of online learning
It is important to recognize that online learning is already a seamless part of our global society. From searches on youtube.com for home repairs to podcasts about parenting, people are utilizing the technology of 2020 to learn and grow in the ways they desire. What makes this phenomenon so impactful is that people are able to choose what they want to learn, how fast they want to learn it, and exactly when they would like to learn. Moving educational learning to an online platform is bound to have the same effect, with varying degrees. The global pandemic of COVID-19 has created a need for online learning both for the students and for
their educators. As this method continues to increase in popularity, we must not abandon sound instructional design. Simply uploading content to the cloud does not guarantee that students will be successful. So while online learning in itself is important, the methodology and theory behind it are equally important.
Enduring Understanding
When I initially considered hosting professional development online for the teachers at the school for which I work, the concept seemed almost too simplistic. However, especially after viewing the criteria of the SUNY Online Course Quality Review Rubric, I realized how many key components there are to an effective online course that I had not even considered. I now feel that I have the toolbox to build an online course that will meet the needs of various types of learners.
Action Plan
When reviewing my online course through the lens of the OSCQR Scorecard, I found that there were some needed adjustments. Some of these adjustments did not come as a surprise, and the others were complete omissions that I need to rectify in order to create a well-rounded online learning experience.
By far, the weakest domain of this course is the assessments and feedback aspect. As mentioned earlier, when developing the content for this course, I ran into a conflict of learning philosophy and practical application. Let me unpack: The teacher-learners that will participate in this course need a taste of Outcomes-based learning, a paradigm-shifting experience that is in direct opposition to the competency or skill-based education from which they are so accustomed to learning and so accustomed to delivering to their students. I kept coming back to this design goal and would make sure that every activity and assignment was aligned to it. So when it came down to assessment and evaluation of learning, standardized testing was automatically eliminated. As I created more project-based assessments, I also avoided rubrics, for they are so easily treated as checklists that the use of them often leads right back to competency-based education, even if it’s unintentional.
However, the other side of this conflict comes with the practical need for learners to know if they are learning and the need for feedback to understand where they are in the progression towards the achievement of learning goals. Here is my solution: I want to treat the first group of teacher-learners as a pilot group. They will be instrumental in providing feedback and criticism towards the very elements that I want to improve. As a part of their last assignment, they will be asked to respond to some metacognitive prompts about their own learning and how a course like this should assess what they have learned. In other words, the learners themselves will assess how they should be evaluated by the course. This feedback will drive the adjustment process of the online learning course. This detailed plan is just a fancy way of saying, “I can identify the issue needing improvement, I don’t have the solution myself, and I will ask some of the best teachers in the profession for their advice.”
Because I designed this learning experience for the teachers that I work with and have solid relationships with, I did not consider a few of the key pieces required in the domain of Course Information and Overview. The first noticeable omission was linking to campus policies on plagiarism, computer use, accommodations, and more of the like. Again, because we all work as a part of the same school and district, I mistakenly took these items for granted when I still needed to include them. I know where many of these documents are and will be able to quickly attach them as links in the Course Information folder of my Schoology course.
References:
Bates, A. W. (2015). Teaching in a digital age. BCcampus, BC Open Textbook Project.
Garrison, D., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (1999). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer
conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105. doi:10.1016/s1096-7516(00)00016-6
Morrison, D. (2013, May 28). “Start Here “: Instructional Design Models for Online Courses. Retrieved
the not-so-surprising
the surprising
At no other time in the history of education should the method of online learning experiences be more heavily considered. In the wake of COVID-19, teachers and students have been forced apart from one another, causing learning to take place at a distance.
But what an opportunity to capitalize on the innovations of modern times that can continue the seismic transformation of our educational system that so many progressive theories have been called for. By looking through the lens of online delivery of content, we are giving students (and teachers) more control of their own learning and have the chance to provide a more personalized approach to education.