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 online 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 online 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 ● online classroom is not the default Instructor has key role in ● establishing expectations in the online classroom Importance of early ● orientation / 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 Content S ELECTION & E XPERIENCE P RESENTATION A CTION BY Student Teacher & I N T E R A C T I O N R E L A T I O N S H I P

Distance Learning Content & Teaching Community Teacher Student

Community of Learners “...a community is created when a group of learners set out to achieve a common goal and learn with each other, 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 “I am a real person ● Contact in various modes on the other side of (message, video, phone, the computer who chat) cares about your ● Rapport building intent success.” ● Regular intervals ● Ongoing through semester

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 opportunities

Discussion Forums Discussion Forums are… “A place to keep (students) apace with other (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 Develop course assignments to promote collaboration. 1. Encourage students to take leadership roles during the course. 2. Provide opportunities for students to share personal 3. experiences related to course material. Share your own experiences with students. 4. Incorporate reflective writing assignments in the course. 5. From Creating an Online Learning Community: Is It Possible? Innovative Higher Education

Recommendations Use group projects to promote collaboration. 6. Encourage responsibility among students for their own 7. learning. Create assignments that encourage active learning. 8. Communicate high expectations. 9. Develop an environment where constructive feedback is 10. 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 online setting) may be reflected in instructional course evaluations” (Stewart et al., 2004). Formative and summative evaluation of online 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 “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.” University of Virginia Professor “I don’t think an internet ● New York Times, Op-Ed, 2012 course ever will.”

Flipping the Question as your traditional classes?” To: as _________________ Are your traditional classes “Are your online classes as __________________ From: as your online classes?

Mahalo / Questions Email: Derek Snyder dsnyder@hawaii.edu