Supporting Student Success By Creating Engaged Online Learning - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Supporting Student Success By Creating Engaged Online Learning Communities

Derek Snyder, UH Maui College

Higher Education Today

We are all distance teachers.

UH Maui College

Higher Education Trend

“...degree programs that offer a combination of

• nline and on-campus instruction are the most

rapidly growing degree programs in higher education.”

Distance Education Accrediting Commission

Student Success

Online Classroom Challenge

“...online course administrators believe the failed retention rate for online courses to be 10 to 20% higher than traditional classroom environments” (Herbert, 2006).

Staying the Course: A Study in Online Student Satisfaction and Retention Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration

Online vs F2F

Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis

Online Classroom Challenge

“...students enrolled at institutions where a very high proportion of the instruction is delivered fully

• nline were significantly less likely than students

at other types of colleges to earn a credential from the same institution within eight years.” (Lederman, 2018)

Online Options Give Adults Access, but Outcomes Lag

Inside Higher Ed

Teaching is Hard

Distance Teaching is Harder

• Different skill set needed
• Time-intensive
• More intricate course

design required

• Increased technical

support needed

Open Enrollment

Collectivism

Paradigm Shifu Required

Power of Intention

• Dynamic and interactive
• nline classroom is not the

default

• Instructor has key role in

establishing expectations in the online classroom

• Importance of early
• rientation / acculturation

in online realm

Welcome Video Example

Building the Foundation

• Established routine and

regularity in the classroom

• Consistent and predictable

schedule for entire semester (time and place)

• Interaction expectations

(response time and methodology)

Interaction Essential

“For Distance Education to be successful, high levels of interaction typically need to be present for learners to have a positive attitude and greater satisfaction” (Desai, Hart, & Richards, 2008).

e-Learning: Paradigm Shifu in Education Education

Lack of Interaction = Failure

“Failures in e-learning can be contributed to the lack of a supportive learning environment provided to the learner” (Desai, Hart, & Richards, 2008).

e-Learning: Paradigm Shifu in Education Education

Traditional Teaching

E

XPERIENCE BY

A

CTION

Student

I

N T E R A C T I O N

& R

E L A T I O N S H I P

Teacher

SELECTION & PRESENTATION

Content

Distance Learning & Teaching

Teacher Student Content Community

Community of Learners

“...a community is created when a group of learners set

• ut to achieve a common

goal and learn with each

• ther, despite the

educational setting” (Murdock & Williams, 2011).

Creating an Online Learning Community: Is it Possible? Innovative Higher Education

Teacher Content

• Reverse Engineering
• From course outline to

course assignments

• Scaffolding to support

successful completion of course assignments

• Diversity of approach in

content delivery

Teacher Student

• Begin early – before

semester

• Contact in various modes

(message, video, phone, chat)

• Rapport building intent
• Regular intervals
• Ongoing through semester

“I am a real person

• n the other side of

the computer who cares about your success.”

Relationships Matter

“I was able to get the assistance I needed and I felt important to Professor Derek, not just another student that will only take his class once and be done with it. He really built a relationship with me so that I could feel comfortable to go to him with any help I needed, even if I was shame or not confident in my work.”

Student, Summer 2019 (Course Evaluation)

Rethinking Office Hours

Student Content

• Online reading different

from traditional “book reading”

• Interaction with content
• Multiple modes
• Universal Design
• Student-Centered

Opportunities

Teacher Community

• Active lead student role in

Discussion Forums

• Peer Review activities in

content areas

• User friendly access to

resources and external support services

Student Community

• Establishing / maintaining

the interconnectedness of students

• Be explicit about

community expectations

• Netiquette concerns
• Role of informal discussion
• pportunities

Discussion Forums

Discussion Forums are… “A place to keep (students) apace with

• ther (students), to see who the other people are in the class”

(Dennen quoted in Lieberman, 2019).

Discussion Boards: Valuable? Overused? Discuss. Inside Higher Ed

Considerations

• Quality/Thoughtfulness vs

Quantity/Frequency Considerations

• Collaboration as a means to

deeper understanding

• Dynamic / Multi-modal

approaches to discussion forums

Content Community

• Jigsaw Approaches
• Designing community

building approaches to learning content

• Involving negotiation of

meaning and interpretation

• Empowering student voice

Community = Attrition

“Because researchers have found that a sense of community significantly decreases attrition rates, an instructor’s ability to develop this type of community in an online setting is promising for decreasing attrition rates...” (DiRamio & Wolverton, 2006)

Integrating learning communities and distance education: Possibility of pipedream?

Innovative Higher Education

How To...

“...community building cannot be reduced to a technique but instead can be seen as an instructor’s ability to create a capacity for making connections within their classrooms and for that capacity to be developed in their students” (Palmer, 2002).

Afuerward: The quest for community in higher education

Creating Campus Community

Recommendations

1. Develop course assignments to promote collaboration. 2. Encourage students to take leadership roles during the course. 3. Provide opportunities for students to share personal experiences related to course material. 4. Share your own experiences with students. 5. Incorporate reflective writing assignments in the course.

From Creating an Online Learning Community: Is It Possible? Innovative Higher Education

Recommendations

6. Use group projects to promote collaboration. 7. Encourage responsibility among students for their own learning. 8. Create assignments that encourage active learning. 9. Communicate high expectations. 10. Develop an environment where constructive feedback is welcome and solicited.

From Creating an Online Learning Community: Is It Possible? Innovative Higher Education

11.

Accountability

“Providing accountability for the instructor’s ability to (create a learning community in an

• nline setting) may be reflected

in instructional course evaluations” (Stewart et al., 2004).

Formative and summative evaluation of

• nline courses

Quarterly Review of Distance Education

Keys to Successful Transition

• Professional Development
• Pedagogical, Androgical,

and Technical Training

• Peer Mentors
• Ongoing Instructional

Design Support

Shifuing the Sentiment

University of Virginia Professor New York Times, Op-Ed, 2012

• “A truly memorable class...is a

collaboration between teacher and students.”

• “...in real courses the students

and teachers come together and create an immediate and vital learning community of learning.”

• “I don’t think an internet

course ever will.”

Flipping the Question

From:

“Are your online classes as _________________ as your traditional classes?”

To:

Are your traditional classes as __________________ as your online classes?

Mahalo / Questions

Email: Derek Snyder dsnyder@hawaii.edu