New Beginnings

 

  

I can't believe it is already August. What happened to all the time I was going to have in the summer to read, relax, refresh, rejuvenate? I wish I could get some of that time back. I am thinking I really didn't get a lot accomplished over the summer--it was just too busy. Do you feel the same way? Do you go back to school with less energy and enthusiasm than you left with at the end of the school year?

What are your plans to make learning more fun, more useful to students, to show more passion about learning? Our students look to the teacher to find enthusiasm, passion, and energy for learning. Teachers are their models. What characteristics does a "passionate" teacher possess? Who is/were your favorite teacher(s)?  What did they do that makes him/her, still to this day, stand out as a favorite for you?

Did you use any of these words to describe that teacher: excitement, energy, delight, zeal, vigor, devotion, enjoyment (just to name a few). Did you also use the word "fun"?

If the teacher is having fun, chances are, the students are too. By fun, I don't mean all fun and games with no learning happening, but rather, the teacher enjoys what he/she is doing and that becomes an important part of the classroom culture. Hard work and fun go together. An article, by Hal Urban, talks about the teacher's enthusiasm. He played around with the letters of the word and used each to find other words that "paint a picture of what successful teachers do."

Energetic
Not Boring
Tough
High Standards
Understanding
Sense of humor
Imagination
Always personal
Storyteller
Motivated

To see more specifics about each of these words, read Urban's article, Lesson #1: Good teachers share one special quality .

Although you may not ever “see” the online teacher, students do get a sense for what their instructor is like. Online teachers convey enthusiasm, understanding, a sense of humor, are motivated and prepared, etc. The online instructor participates frequently, interacts with individuals throughout the course, and provides feedback, encouragement, and support for all online students.

If you are new to online teaching here are some hints for preparing your online course:

• Be clear, concise, and comprehensive
• Provide a manageable amount of content
• Provide a variety of learning activities 
• Avoid making last-minute changes 
• Provide resources to help students succeed in the online classroom. 
• Test the course in different browsers and on different computers.

From: Six Tips for Preparing Your Online Course, R. Kelly. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/six-tips-preparing-online-course/ January 16, 2015

What do you do to get ready for your online students? Go!

 

Welcome to the new school year!

Let's get ready!

Among teacher variables, enthusiasm has the most powerful and positive impact on student learning.
                                                                 – Toni Kempler

Peggy Steinbronn, Ed.D.

Expectations

I spent some time with a group of science teachers in a local district this week. We were exploring various ways to make the online environment a natural part of their teaching. There were questions posed that may not have straightforward answers—at least not “one right way to do it” type answers.

There are so many ways to connect in an online setting, but how do you, as the teacher, make it fun and engaging while moving student learning forward? Is it “required”? Does it only get assigned as “homework”? How does the teacher get students to “want to do it”? What if the student(s) don’t do it? And, since there is so much out there on the web, how do teachers sort through it all in an efficient manner?

I don’t have any specific, “one-right answer” to these questions, but discussion among the teachers, along with district administrators may move them closer to finding some answers. I know that when teaching adults in an online environment, they, as students, have certain expectations from the course content as well as from the online instructor. Meeting those expectations can make or break an online course. So what do they expect? (Remember, this is from my personal experiences—you may have a different view based on your own experiences.)

They expect:

• Frequent communication from the instructor (known as instructor presence)

• Clear directions about assignments, grading criteria, course expectations, etc.

• Flexibility—with due dates, late assignment policies, etc.—life happens

• An instructor who shows their “human” side by letting their personality show through (which means students feel they know the instructor personally)

• Guidance: on how much time weekly readings, activities, and assignments take, the objectives of course, how and when to submit assignments, etc.

• Some technological skills—able to troubleshoot technological issues a student may have in navigating the course, submitting assignments, seeing grades, and viewing feedback from the instructor

I am sure there are other things that could go on this list. Sometimes it seems like a tall order for an online instructor. But it is what good instructors do—both in the face-to-face and the online classroom environment.

How do you, or online instructors you have had in an online course, set the tone for the course? How can you live up to the expectations of online students? I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.

In the Spotlight: eduCanon

“eduCanon is an online learning environment to build and share interactive video lessons. Teachers begin with any YouTube, Vimeo, or TeacherTube video content (screencasts, Khan Academy, Minute Physics, TED, NOVA, etc.) and transform what is traditionally passive content into an active experience for students. By time-linking activities that students engage with as the video progresses the content is segmented into digestible components - increasing student engagement and, through our real-time monitoring, informing the next day’s lesson planning” (from the EduCanon website). 

And it is free. It can be embedded into an LMS, like Moodle, or in a lesson builder application like Softchalk . An eduCanon lesson can also be shared with colleagues and they don’t even have to log in to view it. It can also be made public without being attached to a course—a new feature of the software.

Watch the following video to see and hear what it is all about:

Video doesn’t have to be a “sit and get” activity. Add some interactivity to how your students watch videos. It is easy and free—try it.

Let me know how it works for you and your students.


 

 Peggy Steinbronn, Ed.D.

AEA PD Online Instructional Designer

www.aeapdonline.org 

Is Anyone There?

Hello and welcome to the AEA PD Online’s first  “Friday Feature”.

AEA PD Online will be hosting a series called Friday Feature twice a month. The goal of the Friday Feature is to highlight things AEA PD Online does, as well as provide information about online teaching and learning.

So, let’s talk about instructor presence in an online course. If you have ever been a student in an online course, you may have experienced differing levels of instructor presence—depending on the course, the topic, the instructor, etc. Maybe the only interaction you experienced with the instructor was getting your grade. Or, maybe the instructor was engaged in conversations with you as an individual, and/or with the class as a whole through discussion forums, chats, emails, announcements, etc. Which instructor do you prefer? How do you know if the instructor is present?

Instructor presence is one of the factors that many online students comment on most often in course evaluations. What is instructor presence? Since students don’t physically “see” the instructor, a sense of instructor presence is created through the way the course is designed and delivered. Video chats for virtual office hours, photos, narratives, a welcoming video introduction—all easy things to create—can provide students with an “image” of who the instructor is in their online course. Instructors need to spend a little bit of time, before the course begins, setting up the classroom online environment.

Once the course is in session, online instructors can add announcements, post to discussion boards, provide feedback on assignments, upload photos or videos, email students—both individually and to the class as a whole—all of which will provide “evidence of engagement” to online students.

Online instructors can also directly ask students for feedback throughout the course. Feedback can be anonymous. For example, at the end of a unit you might ask, “Was this information clear, or were there any points you didn’t understand?” Face-to-face teachers do this all the time—so can online instructors. Online instructors can also ask questions specifically about their role as an instructor, such as:

·      Is the timeliness of my response helpful?

·      Are the types of responses you are getting helpful?

·      Is there anything else I could be doing to help you?

If you, as in online instructor, ask for student feedback, then you also had better be ready to respond to it, and you may even want to implement some of their suggestions in the current online course.

So—what tools can you use to help create this sense of instructor presence? The use of audio and video can be easily incorporated into an online course. Moodle has some built-in tools that can be used by both students and instructors—it is called “PoodLL”.

Using PoodLL, online instructors  and their students can:

·      Record Audio: Record your voice or other audio input and save it directly into an MP3 file.

·      Record Video: Record video into assignments, questions…anywhere!

·      Draw Pictures & Diagrams: Draw or snap pictures and save them using PoodLL's online whiteboard application.

·      Use Cool Widgets: PoodLL includes Stopwatches, flashcards, dice, timers and more to help your students master certain types of information.

·      Use most of the features with mobile devices: HTML5 compatibility means PoodLL activities will work well with many mobile phones & tablets.

Want to see what it is all about?

1.    Go to http://moodlesw.aeapdonline.org/.

2.    Log into Moodle.

3.    In the Go To Course panel, (left side of window), type in the course number, 5.

4.    Click on the Audio and Video tab in order to view the tutorials and get student directions for submitting audio/video assignments

In the Spotlight

A new, self-paced course, Social Media for the Classroom, is now available.

This course explores various social media tools—Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, and Pinterest. Teachers/educators can get 1 license renewal credit for only $60.00!

And, because it is self-paced, you can take it on your own schedule—no worries about start and end dates—begin when it is convenient for you, finish as your schedule allows.

Check it out at http://training.aeapdonline.org.

Peggy Steinbronn, Ed.D.

AEA PD Instructional Designer

www.aeapdonline.org