Inside-out Outside-in Teaching and Learning Online Reem Al-Mahmood

Inside-out Outside-in: Teaching and Learning Online Reem Al-Mahmood RMIT Seminar 30 July 2004 Faculty of Education University of Melbourne © 2004 Reem Al-Mahmood

Outline 1. Who 2. Why Reflective Practice 3. What students say 4. So what? 2

Who and Why? 3

Online Learning In Australia Ø Australia is a leader in online learning with many international prizes Ø 90% online courses offered at PG level (Bell et al. 2002) Ø AUTC has called for a National Centre of Excellence for E-learning Research (DEST 2002: section 219 “Striving for Quality: Learning, Teaching and Scholarship”) Ø Initiatives on accessibility and access…. 4

Universities in Change Ø Globalisation (Edwards & Usher 2000) Ø Mass education Ø Teaching and learning paradigm shifts Ø ICT knowledge transformations Ø Multimodal literacies (Kress 2003) Ø Life-long learning Ø Postmodern university (Raschke 2002) 5

Leading to Changes in Being Student/ Lecturer Knowing Acting 6

Main Research Focus Identities Student Empowerment Engagement 7

Some Paradigm Shifts Id e nt it y nt e Globalisation Online Privacy Learners Visibility em g E ga n Space Empowerment Place Pedagogy Knowledge Self 8

Research Sub-Themes IDENTITIES Mediated, Negotiated, Multiple, Created, (Re)shaped, Professional… ONLINE EXPERIENCE Enabling Empowering Inspiring… Spatiality Temporality Formal/ Informal learning places/ spaces… NEXUS between Knowledge/ Power/ Identity… 9

In essence my aim is: To ENRICH understanding of online learner experiences in terms of identity, engagement and empowerment To REFLECT on having lived life “From both sides now” (online educator & online student)! To CONTRIBUTE to national/ international global talk on online teaching & learning 10

Through the looking screen! “Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English). 16

http: //www. horacek. com. au/topic. htm 17

Some student issues Ø Presence Ø Access & equity Ø Empowerment Ø Metacognitive Ø Pedagogical 18

Presence/ Visibility/ Invisibility I wish you wouldn’t keep appearing and vanishing so suddenly; you make one quite giddy!” “All right, ” said the Cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone. I shall be too late!” 19

CMC issues- The mad hatter’s tea party r ked you as Nobody " pinion. " o "You s houldn "This is the stupidest tea party that I ever was at in all my life!" 't talk. " "You should learn not to make personal remarks; it's very rude. " "There's plenty of room! I didn't know it was your table; it's laid out for a great many more than three. " 20

Come back!” the Caterpillar called after her. “I’ve something important to say!” I'm glad they've begun asking riddles. " At least I mean what I say; that's the same thing, you know. " "Come, we shall have some fun now! 21

Metaphors It’s like being in charge of things…working in my space. Far away on the very far end of a long string. … it’s totally addictive. Invisibility – do you know who I am? A Cold dark cell! You don’t know what’s going on in the outside world with very little interaction except for the ‘guard’ coming along to feed your meal! 22

Information overload!! “. . . a huge river flowing. . . it's like riding the rapids, you've got to get in a boat and you've gotta keep going – you have to keep that boat moving along the river of information because if you ever stop you're going to go down (G: I. 5. 1)”. Burge (1993) 23

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here? ' 'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to, ' said the Cat 'I don't much care where-' said Alice 'Then it doesn't matter which way you go, ' said the Cat '-so long as I get somewhere, ' Alice added as an explanation. 'Oh, you're sure to do that, ' said the Cat, 'if only you walk long enough. " Alice 24

Some staff stances Ø Neutral? Ø Booster? Ø Oppositional? Ø Sceptical? Ø Transformational? Where are you? Fox & Hermann 2000 25

http: //www. curlyflat. net/website. gif 26

Gilly Salmon’s 5 -Step Model 27

http: //www. atimod. com/presentations/download/mod 2 a. ppt DEVELOPMENT evaluating benefits INTERACTION G feeling comfortable TIN ON-LINE SOCIALISATION RA OR PP seeking and giving DE SU INFORMATION EXCHANGE MO T looking for purpose ACCESS AND MOTIVATION setting up and getting started LEARNING 28

spark invitation interaction From Salmon 29

What will our roles be? Ø Ø Ø Ø E-moderator Online negotiator Online host Personal learning trainer Convenor Ø Interpersonal Conductor Online manager Ø Technical E-police Ø Communication Online chair Ø Content Expertise Online leader Ø …. . E-teacher E-Master Faceless facilitator Tele-tutor Online Gardener…. . What skills will we need? 30

1. Move beyond the comfort zones Ø Look at what is possible! Ø Consider the full potential of the web beyond ‘glorified text’! Ø Explore blogging and wikis! Ø The danger is to stay within the boundaries of how we were taught online! Ø Explain things from an outsider’s perspective! Ø Consider the local and the global! Ø Deal with the unexpected! 31

2. Inspire, interact and establish presence Ø Ø Ø Communicate inspiration and enthusiasm! ‘Walk the talk’! Show commitment! Learn through conversations! Be more visible to students! Make it socially rewarding! Engender fun! Establish student web presence through web publishing and web pages! Ask for feedback and be proactive! Pause before responding to any written text and assume the best intentions! Remember the person at the other end of the text! Welcome students online! 32

Move beyond ‘glorified text’! Ethics in computing http: //ethics. csc. ncsu. edu/ 33

3. Assessment issues Ø Be explicit and clear about expectations! Ø Use more reflective and formative assessment! Ø Provide individual private weekly feedback! Ø Create a synchronous event(s) to get people to feel they belong! Ø Address different learning styles! Ø Use constructivist approaches! Ø Make discussion forums compulsory! Ø Pedagogy should drive the technology! 34

Beyond lecture notes! Ø Ø Ø Ø Web casts Debates Discussion forums Problem-based learning Guest lectures Link-ups to other uni’s/ conferences International guest lectures Games/ Conferences Personae Metaphors See Hudson e. g. Beyond the Jungle Syndrome Peer feedback Paired responses/ interaction Ø …. . 35

4. Technical aspects Ø ‘Find’ all the online students in the first few weeks. Be proactive, so as not to lose anyone! Ø Get it absolutely right! Ø Anticipate! 36

5. Learn about your own practices & preferences! Ø Stretch these comfort zones Ø Gunawardena (2001: 119) highlights that “teachers reflections on facilitating online learning experiences provide an excellent means of engaging in practitioner evaluation and understanding the successes, frustrations, and messiness of online projects…. one technique that has worked well for me is to work collaboratively with colleagues who have participated in online projects to reflect on and write about our own 37 experiences”.

It’s all about INTERACTION and NOT the technology! “…. The role of technology is not to be delivery system but rather to be an environment that enables learning. The role of teaching is not simply to convey information but rather to engage students in actively constructing knowledge. ” (Olgren, 2000: 15). 38

Essentially… “… effective teaching requires two-way communication, not one-way ‘broadcasting’. …” (Ballantyne et al. , 1999: 248) 39

Essence of Constructivist principles “I can define teaching in one word: teaching is ‘conversation’. This is a very basic concept for me so when I structure my learning activities, they revolve around engagement and conversation. Even independent learning takes place in social context…” (Ballantyne et al. , 1999: 248). 40

“The teacher, or if you wish the facilitator, plays a key role throughout the e-learning experience – even when the discourse and activities are controlled by the students. The teacher is an ever-present and key person, managing and monitoring the process. We suggest that teacher presence is a necessary part in both formal and non-formal learning contexts. ” (Garrison & Anderson, 2003: 75). 41

“We learn, I believe, not from texts or other resources, but from someone. The best online resources take account of this: you have the feeling that there is somebody there, that the writers have taken care to put themselves into the production process at the level of some detail … this is produced by people who have a deep love of knowledge which is expressed not just intellectually but aesthetically. The choice of font, the layout of the pages, the use of graphics are all consequences of a deep sense of purpose. . . ” (Walker 1997 cited in Johnson 2003: online) 42

Explore and evaluate!-1 Examples of the web used for learning http: //www. mcli. dist. maricopa. edu/tl/about. html http: //www. mcli. dist. maricopa. edu/ Teaching and learning on the web http: //www. mcli. dist. maricopa. edu/tl/index. html Advanced Computer Systems http: //www-ist. massey. ac. nz/~crjessho/comp_arch/ World Lecture Hall (Free Online Course material) http: //www. utexas. edu/world/lecture/ 43

Explore and evaluate!-2 Higher-Ed Webquest http: //edweb. sdsu. edu/Courses/ED 810/wq 3. htm What is really true? A lesson in constructivism http: //www. nowhereroad. com/gallery/simschool/constru ctlesson. html Culture Grams http: //www. culturegram. com Australian Flexible Learning Framework http: //www. learnscope. anta. gov. au/Learn. Scope/home. a sp 44

Explore with the online energy! It’s crazy to say that there’s chemistry in an online course, but there is! 45