Elearning Patterns and Predictions

The Band Shell - ISTE Island

In 1972 I took my first permanent teaching job in an elite Edinburgh secondary school. Just the year before, it had been a private school. James Gillespie’s High School (JGHS) always prided itself on its high standard of education.

A maximum class size was among many standards that JGHS maintained. It strove to have no more than 25 learners per class. The belief was that a finer relationship between teacher and learner could be attained. Through this practice, significantly better educational successes were achieved.

The number of scholars who left JGHS to take up business careers, or went on to higher education, was proof enough of this accomplishment.

It was a fantastic start for me as a teacher to be with classes of this size. But it was certainly no preparation for the learning environments that confronted me in teaching positions I took up after that time.

In 1974, I had a form class of 36 learners in a school that maintained an average class size of 35.

An elearning counterpart

Almost 30 years later, research into educational achievement through elearning methods suggested that there was an optimum size for elearning groups led by a teacher.

In any group of elearners, there will always be those who can be considered ‘active’ – others who learn despite their apparent inactivity in engagement with a teacher or facilitator – and those who are neither active nor engaged significantly in learning. Time has to be distributed fairly in attending to the needs and wants of each these groups.

An e-teacher who has more than 15 to 20 ‘active’ learners in a group is always extremely busy. When the number of active learners increases much above 20, strategies have to be developed and practiced to cope with the constant learner-teacher activity that inevitably occurs in those environments.

Symptoms of stress and exhaustion are inevitable in any teacher who succeeds in engaging enough learners so that the active group comprises much above 25. My own experiences of this have been confirmed by those of my colleagues teaching in e-environments similar to my own.

A recent experience

The Band Shell - ISTE Island

Recently, I’ve been actively engaging in discourse with groups of people in Second Life (SL). In the months that I’ve assiduously studied in this networking environment, the number of ‘friends’ in my Friends List has slowly increased. The size of my list is now well over 60.

Within that group is a sub-group of 15 to 20 friends who actively use instant messaging (IM) to contact me whenever I am online. It is a great experience to network with people in this way. Not all of this is done locally – that is to say, my avatar is not necessarily appearing on the same screen as the avatars of those who are IMing me.

Of late, I have found it difficult to be online while following any intended single pursuit. Two weeks ago, I became an ISTE docent, as avatar Kallan. In adhering to the expected commitment that comes with this office, I discovered that my group of ‘active’ friends caused me significant concern when attending to docent duties on campus.

At first, I was torn between being seen to be ignoring my friends, while attending to a duty which I enjoyed. Even sending messages of apology to IMing friends was an activity that I found distracting while attending to docent duties.

I’ve since learnt from other colleagues in similar SL situations that they often simply ignore the incoming IMs during the time that they are occupied with more immediate activities. Obviously they too have difficulty reading and responding to incoming IMs when engaged in other cerebral activity.

Elearning environment

In translating this to the elearning environment, I can see clearly how a teacher can become stressed and overworked. There is the part that is played by commitment. There is also the aspect of prioritisation.

Who gets priority from the teacher in a learning environment?

When a teacher is actively assisting several learners together, how does she cope when a learner puts forward, out of the blue, a desperate plea for help?

What strategies can she employ to ensure that this learner, who may well be one who has never before communicated directly with her, gets the necessary immediate support?

What provisions must administration provide in a school to ensure that the number of active learners in a teacher’s group is kept to a manageable level?

How can administration ensure that teachers are not forced to adopt strategies to disengage themselves from needy learners in order to protect their own stress levels?

Resource Success? It Bears Thinking About!

How do you tell if a learning resource is successful?

You have to use it of course! Or at least, it has to be observed being used by learners who may benefit from it in some way.

But there’s more to it than that . . .

A game-based resource can be seen to be popular and for this it gets a big tick in a check-box.

But does a learning resource need to be popular to be successful?
Does the popular resource assist the learner to meet the target learning objective?

Extensive research on a whole series of resources might throw some light on these questions. But let’s just limit the discussion here to one resource.

How do you know if a learning resource is effective in helping learners reach the objective or objectives the resource was designed to meet?

This needs more than just observation.

Learner focus

Attention must be focused on what the learner has gained by using the resource. This acquisition has to be very specific if the resource is to be regarded as a useful ‘learning object’.

Oops, I’ve used that term!

I know! ’Learning Object’ is not a popular term among some educators. At least the term implies that the resource actually has an objective associated with it. Whether the resource assists learners to meet the objective is quite another matter.

In fact, some very good learning resources are often found to meet objectives that are not necessarily directly related to the objective or objectives that the learners were supposed to be reaching. That’s life! Sometimes it just happens that way.

So how do we know when a resource is meeting its objective?

It’s taken me a few hundred words to get to this nitty-gritty stage.

How do we know the resource is really achieving
the learning that was intended to happen?

As obvious though the answer may seem to be, it is often something that’s completely overlooked when a resource has been planned, crafted and produced for learner use.

Follow up

One of the important stages in the development of any course module, or even one of its components, is the time consuming and difficult process of assessing its real worth. It’s one of these stages that teachers and developers would rather not get too far into, for it is both complicated and complex. And it takes a lot of time.

But it is obviously very important.It means that a series of analyses has to be performed involving the learners.

As well, it has to involve a thing called ‘learner assessment’. Oops! Another not too popular term.




That’s right! The learner has to be tested. And this is difficult, for how do we know that the assessment item designed to test learner achievement assesses effectively the objective that it’s meant to?
This brings us more or less back to where we started.

Sorry folks! It’s the dogged chicken and egg story all over again.

Before we can be sure that the assessment item is any use, first it must be tested! And of course, this always means learner involvement.

Compounding problems

We now have learner assessment as well as learning resource design to deal with. It’s a bit like the collective effect of errors, if you’re familiar with how that works.

Small errors that occur at stages of a process tend to be cumulative. They add up to one significant error in the end. Often this error can be big enough to discount the whole process.

Catch my drift?

“What does it all mean then?” you say.

Frankly, it means that teaching and learning is a difficult process to assess. The learning that could possibly take place through the planning, building and subsequent use of a learning resource by learners is actually very difficult to assess.

Can you imagine the tasks involved in checking properly a whole course made up of multiple series of resources?

Time consuming? Yes! This alone is a factor that puts teachers and developers off the whole idea of attempting that all-important final stage of checking to see if it all works.

If you think that building a successful learning resource is a quick and easy thing to do, then maybe you should think again.

Elearner Motivation and Support

Learner motivation differs in each learner according to circumstance. Yet a common factor shared by many elearners, of all ages, is their isolation.

This year, I feel privileged to have a daughter who is studying in her first year of a BA course in Fine Art at AUT. I’m equally as fortunate to also watch her younger sister pilot her way through her first examinable year at High School.

The role of the parent

My daughters are capable learners, but I’m always aware of the roles my wife and I play in providing necessary support with their study.

As parents and supervisors, we are appreciative spectators, sounding boards, mentors, fund managers and sometimes even punch-pillows, for we love our daughters dearly.

Hannah is hostelling in Auckland; her family lives in Wellington. The presence of the Internet and reliable mobile phone reception permit a free flow of communication which we take advantage of every day. Despite the 500 kilometres between us, these digital links can close the distance, effectively at times to within a few centimetres.

Motivation and support

While adult learners often have a maturity that permits a greater focus on engagement, some can find it just as difficult to knuckle down to study as do teenagers. Elearners need support, and not only from their learning resources or their teachers.

A solo mother can find her motivation for learning academic skills dulled through the importance of her necessary child-care responsibilities.

A mother, who has a partner who may be less committed to her study, can meet similar snags to her motivation.

In much the same way as the younger learner needs support from parents or caregivers, a learner who is in a relationship needs support from his or her partner.

The eteacher may well be aware of circumstances where an elearner’s home lacks necessary study support. But what can a teacher do about such a situation so that there is benefit to the learner?

Teacher-caregiver support

Relationships between the teacher and the learner's caregiver can play an important part in assisting home support. Caregivers are not always aware of the needs of the learner. For instance, aspects such as the need for access to a computer and other study requisites may not be understood.

Communication between teacher and caregiver can often help solve learner difficulties. But sometimes it is as demanding for the teacher to engage the supervisor as it is to engage the learner.

How on earth do eteachers go about tackling this challenging task?

The Loneliness of the Elearner

Kallan on the computer - elearning at UWE - ASPIRE Reading Room

Learner motivation differs in each learner according to circumstance. Yet a common factor shared by many elearners, of all ages, is their isolation.

My continued study of distance learners and elearners makes me aware that isolation is experienced by a significant cohort within that group. (By distance learners, I mean those who are not necessarily following a course with an e-component).

Adult and younger learners have so many different circumstances. The disposition of the adolescent, for instance, creates a cohort of its own.

A few recent visits to Second Life (SL) has confirmed for me how important the support met within an elearning environment is to the elearner.

I am new to SL. There is so much there to learn. During the explorations I made intermittently over a period of only a few days,
I visited many different and interesting places.

Because of the significant time difference between New Zealand and the rest of the world, I often found that I navigated my avatar across islands on my own, for I was the only visitor on these islands.

For me this can be a lonely experience, especially when one of my goals is to improve my skills in communicating and sharing with other SL visitors. However, in New Zealand there is a growing interest in SL. Luckily I did meet people. It's significant that most of the friends I've made in SL are actually from New Zealand (in real life).

My friends are all extremely helpful, and nearly all are fun and interesting to be with. They provide the necessary components of friendship and sharing elearners so often need.

Kallan with Arwenna Stardust whale-riding at Koru

For as much as the asynchronous environments of a blog, wiki or Internet forum can provide much enrichment, and they do, the almost instantaneous feedback and feeling of companionship that’s experienced in a synchronous environment is astonishing.

A few of my SL friends are also learning about SL as, like me, they too are new to the environment. We share our experiences and fun, as well as our gliches and difficulties. All this is so necessary for facile learning. It is for me in SL.

And here may lie a difference, I think, between using a blog or wiki, and using a synchronous environment in learning. I’ve found that the new visitors, newly rezzed in SL like myself, are a lot of fun to be with. The sharing that happens is also something that impresses me.

Not that this doesn’t happen in blogging. It most certainly does. But the immediacy of the interaction and the almost tangible nuances of the personal contact in a synchronous environment like SL is breath-taking. At least, it is for me. It's magic!

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eTeaching? eLearning? What’s the Difference?

Last term I overheard a teacher conversation on pedagogy:

“It’s all about learning. You don’t talk about teaching anymore.”

I wondered about this. I thought, ‘what am I doing if I’m not teaching?’

It didn’t take me long to sort out the conundrum. It was to do with the perception of a teacher ‘filling jugs’ with learning. I’d never accepted this metaphor. I’d always believed that teaching was closer to learning than the metaphor suggested.

The conversation progressed and centred on the teacher:

courtesy Make Beliefs Comix

There was an involved discussion before some resolution was found on the difference between knowing when something was taught, and recognising if something had been learnt.

Learning is explicitly to do with the learner. Isn’t teaching to do with the learner? Is there a difference between what’s taught and what’s learnt?

This post is about these two related spheres: teaching and learning.

How do you find out what’s already been learnt?

A good teacher asks questions. In introducing a new topic, searching questions are put to the learner to see what resident knowledge and skills abound. In doing this, the teacher may well find out what, if anything, is required to be taught.

It could be that parts have already been learnt. In which case, this exploratory conversation can serve as useful revision. It may also serve as an appropriate introduction to the next part of a lesson.

So it is (and should be) with elearning. By embracing the function of asking questions during an introductory part of a topic, the learner is permitted to establish where competency lies. Opportunity to tackle any associated learning deficiencies can be offered at this stage. Once a compatible group of competencies has been recognised, a learner should then be able to progress swiftly to the next sphere of learning.

How do you know when something's been taught?

The direct presentation of raw information in text or other visual data is so often confused with teaching. Coloured pictures, animations or videos, however well designed and accompanied by notes or other instruction, do not constitute teaching when displayed on their own.

So much more is needed to engage the learner, and to satisfy a learning objective through this engagement. The key to engagement is to ask questions or otherwise provide opportunities for the learner to participate.

There should be a pedagogical progression, interposed by strategic and appropriate occasions for the learner to take part in dialogue about what’s gone before. Exemplary answers are given if and when they’re needed. This so-called formative assessment achieves a number of things relevant to learning:

1. assists the learner to think about the topic in context
   
   
2. provides additional teaching for a learner who may not yet have grasped all of an idea or concept
   
   
3. can confirm, and give the learner confidence, that learning is happening
   

So often in an elearning environment, less confident learners can be on track, yet be unaware of their own capabilities. Formative assessment can assist the able learner by providing assurance that what they have assimilated is aligned with the learning objective.

• Through questions and associated dialogue a teacher can affirm that something has been taught; it must not be confused with what is learnt.

How do you know what’s taught has been learnt?

In the classroom, a series of questions making up a summative test, together with associated perfunctory aural questioning, can be used to establish the extent of knowledge and skill uptake.

Assessing some skills may require learners to demonstrate visibly the extent of their expertise. This may not be easily achieved in a written test. Assessment of practical skills requires learners to manipulate equipment or make observations from these or to do both.

In elearning, summative assessment can be just as involved. The use of video streaming or video recording, so that learners can demonstrate a skill, such as playing a musical instrument or speaking a language, can be part of summative assessment. Where appropriate, these are incorporated into NCEA assessments of distance learners in New Zealand.

There is an art in designing elearning resources, as there is in teaching.
Learning and good teaching are in balance with one another.

When the student is ready, the master appears – Zen proverb

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Learning With A Webcam

This article was first published on Futurelab in February 2008. I've reproduced the text of the article here. Some links to resources are now no longer current.

"Challenge is a dragon with a gift in its mouth -
tame the dragon and the gift is yours."
- Noela Evans

A new kid on the block

The webcam[1] has enjoyed a prosperous career, from its early commercial adoption in the adult industry, through its use in personal video-conferencing, to more recent applications in monitoring traffic, examining air quality[2], as weather-cams, aquarium-cams, zoo-cams, volcano-cams[3] and a plethora of other location-cams[4].

Despite its popularity and speedy development many educators still regard it as a new kid on the block and there is surprisingly little published on its specific operation as a pedagogical tool; this article summarises information currently available relevant to this purpose.

Why use a webcam?

The idea of teaching online classes and using a webcam for this purpose[5] with specific communications software such as Skype[6] has been around for a few years. Enthusiasm among instructors has initiated the need for training in the use of this technology within a range of pedagogically related applications[7] but only basic information[8], simple tips[9] and useful hints in the operation of the webcam[10] can be found on a few practical Internet sites.

Some tertiary institutes such as CTL Regent University have incorporated the webcam in a variety of teaching and learning activities[n/a11], Spanish language tuition has enjoyed the use of this technology with notable success[12] and the value of the webcam in learning the technique of taking cuttings from a woody plant in horticulture has been identified[13]. The use of the webcam as a teaching and learning tool is gradually becoming more popular at all education levels.

A recent Becta article[14] on improving learning through technology reports that “webcams can offer teachers effective ways of using ICT across the curriculum that can engage pupils with technology in an interactive way. They can allow pupils to see real-time events, bring far-off places to life, and can inspire curiosity and imagination. Webcams can also be used for video-conferencing, assisting collaboration between schools, perhaps in different locations in a country or between countries, on a joint project.”

E-learning applications

Though there is not a significant amount of quantitative research available at present, the anecdotal evidence suggests that use of the webcam in specific areas can make an important contribution to the portfolio of applied e-learning technologies.

The Digital Geography site[15] offers different examples of webcam application, for instance, one where a Year 7 student uses it to explain how she created her model river[16], and another where a whole Year 7 class works collaboratively to make an environmental movie[17] using Windows Movie Maker[18] to edit the takes and a webcam-wall[19] using PowerPoint.

The Center For Innovation In Engineering And Science Education (CIESE) provides lessons in weather forecasting[20] where remote webcams accessed on the Internet give students prompt confirmation of their assigned predictions. Many Internet-based tuition services are now using the technology as a direct means of providing lessons in a variety of topics, including those that present live access to a zoo[21], offer live music lessons[22] and facilitate the required animation for specific lessons in biology[23].

The potential for the fruitful application of webcams is evident in teaching art, technology and other areas of learning that have a central practical component. Student research on difficult topics such as environmental issues can be made easier through access to the many location webcams available on the Internet.

Problems and risks

Becta[14] elaborates on some of the threats related to webcam use, outlining that “one of the greatest risks associated with streaming webcams is one-to-one chat, typically as an extension to chatrooms. While it’s extremely unlikely that pupils will use webcams for chatting in an educational setting unless for organised video-conferencing sessions, it is possible that they may use them outside of school and so should be alerted to the dangers.”

Computer virus infection such as that caused by a so-called ‘trojan’ can also present problems that are minimised by installing good anti-virus software.

Ric Jensen of Northwestern State University found that the use of a webcam could enhance learning and had real benefit that allowed distance education students to put a face on the instructor, though there were difficulties of access due to low-bandwidth issues[24].

Privacy issues and acceptable use policies

Establishing a safe ICT learning environment is of paramount importance. The people at Becta have identified and elaborated on three generic components[25] that are recommended to ensure this is maintained:

• an infrastructure of whole-school awareness, designated responsibilities, policies and procedures
  
  
• an effective range of technological tools
  
  
• a comprehensive Internet safety education programme for the whole school community.

Special care should always be taken where webcams are in use as with the supervision over the dissemination of images from that technology. Becta has published an excellent comprehensive document[26] entitled ‘E-safety - Developing whole-school policies to support effective practice’, some of which relates directly to the use of the webcam.

References (some links are no longer current)

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Web_cam
2. http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.webcams
3. http://www.geonet.org.nz/volcano/volcams.html
4. http://www.earthcam.com/
5. http://www.degreetutor.com/library/adult-continued-education/online-learning-software
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype
7. http://frontpage.montclair.edu/mmagic/Multimedia_Magic_I.htm
8. http://computer.howstuffworks.com/webcam.htm
9. http://webcast.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=49366
10. http://www.mddacommunicate.com/hints.html
11. now not available - http://www.regent.edu/admin/ctl/resources/training/webcam/webcam.pdf
12. http://www.instituto-exclusivo.com/
13. The Correspondence School, NZ, Claire Neiman (private communication, May 24, 2007)
14. http://schools.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=lv&catcode=ss_lv_com_02&rid=14909
15. http://www.digitalgeography.co.uk/
16. http://www.digitalgeography.co.uk/archives/2006/11/more-web-cam-moments/
17. http://www.digitalgeography.co.uk/archives/2006/10/web-cam-movies/
18. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Movie_Maker
19. http://pilotgcseradicalgeography.co.uk/2007/04/02/web-cam-wall/
20. http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/weatherproj2/en/lessonenr1.shtml
21. http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=234
22. http://www.flutepianoguitar.com/web_cam_lessons.html
23. http://www.educationtechnologies.com/modules/bfly1/default.htm
24. http://www.etsca.com/tscjonline/1206-blackboard/
25. http://schools.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=is&catcode=ss_to_es_pp_aup_03&rid=11087
26. http://publications.becta.org.uk/download.cfm?resID=25934

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In Praise Of Plaudit

Hannah praising Kashin - Auckland Zoo

Well done! Good thinking! Fantastic idea! Terrific score! Great result!

These are plaudits among many that are part of the vocabulary of the supportive parent or classroom teacher. They’re often used with the learner who is striving to achieve.

Clear-cut recognition of this quality praise works so successfully that many teachers use it even if the learner isn’t putting in much effort and is only making some show towards what might lead to possible achievement. So why give such encouragement to learners who aren’t really achieving?

Good teachers discover, perhaps through long experience, that support and encouragement given to a potential learner usually bring forth a good result. Even a reluctant learner can be encouraged to engage in learning when given praise of the right kind.

In a recent study, Izuma et al have gathered evidence that suggests the brain's reward system works just as well for praise as for money.

A privileged opportunity

In 1993 I was privileged to meet and listen to the experience and advice of Ormond Tait, former Principal of The Correspondence School, New Zealand (TCS), one of Australasia’s largest distance education centres. Tait’s expertise in working with distance learners is legendary.

He gave frequent seminars on distance learning to teachers at TCS, despite his busy timetable. Tait’s empathy for the distance learner was real and passionate. He held the opinion that distance learners are at a severe learning disadvantage nearly all the time, an impediment that sets them apart from most learners in the classroom.

One major difference that he often stressed involves teacher approbation. The learner in the classroom can receive encouragement in many ways. A smile, a nod showing that the learner is on the right track, a kind word of encouragement, a comment on a returned assignment, are all signs of approval that the classroom learner can receive, perhaps several times during a lesson. The distance learner may not have the benefit of any of these plaudits during a similar period of study.

Straight advice

Tait’s advice was implicit. Do not lay on praise with a trowel. That is just not enough. Praise in the distance learning environment has to be heaped on with a shovel. In this, most elearners have similar dispositions to the distance learner. For the most part, the distinction between these two sets of learners lies in how the learning resources are delivered and the nature of these.

Both categories of learners can experience the same feeling of isolation. In many ways Ormond Tait’s advice on encouragement applies as much to elearners as it does to distance learners.

The dangers of over-praise

Unexpected or spontaneous praise is a powerful motivating force for the learner. But it is widely accepted by classroom teachers that praising for achievements that come too easily, or for doing things that the learner may want to do anyway, can be ineffectual and even lead to problems with some learners.

While over-praise in the classroom may lead to feelings of unwanted smugness and self-satisfaction in the learner, such attitudes are rarely brought about by over-praising the distance learner.

Studies by Meyer (1992) indicated that, in a classroom environment, praise that comes automatically can quickly become ineffective. As young learners mature they become sophisticated in the way they interpret the social significance of praise. While these suggested guidelines could be expected to apply in some way to distance learners, the opportunities for their occurrence are less likely.

The danger of criticism

Tait’s contention always was that much more praise and encouragement, and certainly no criticism, was the balance most likely to achieve results with the isolated distance learner. Criticism is so demotivating that it should never be used in a distance learning environment. It is very likely the same applies directly to the elearning environment.

So where do the avenues for plaudit lie?

Clearly the elearner and the distance learner share some commonality in respect to praise deficit during periods of study. With elearners, however, the computer interface has the potential to afford some feedback that is not there for the distance learner. And while learners in a classroom environment will ask questions in an attempt to interpret teacher feedback and understand its context, this doesn’t happen when learners are working with computers.

Early studies by Meyer, Mittag, and Engler suggested that learners tend to accept feedback from the computer at face value, and that it can make a difference to their self-perception and motivation. This indication could be taken as good news for elearning, for it provides a valid avenue for encouraging the learner.

My own experience in working with elearners is that computer feedback can provide some measure of encouragement that fills the obvious gaps for the isolated distance learner. But there are other avenues for providing praise that can also provide effective learner support and foster engagement.

Telephone, mobile texting, email and standard letters have all been shown to provide useful results when feedback is positive. Direct chat through an LMS, the use of video conferencing or face to face contact using Skype with webcams provide suitable opportunity for learner-teacher contact to give appropriate learner support.

Tait’s rule about criticism applies equally to all of these. The maxim is keep it constructive and keep it positive at all times.

Reference: Meyer, W.U. (1992). Paradoxical effects of praise and criticism in perceived ability. In W. Strobe & M. Hewstone (Eds.), European review of social psychology (Vol. 3, pp. 259-283). Chichester, UK: Wiley.

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Homework Today For Tomorrow

Virginia Yonkers, friend and fellow blogger, will often think nothing of leaving a comment as long as a post on my blog. I welcome her thoughtful comments for they are often incisive and force me to think, which is always useful.

She is a parent who, like me, has children attending school. Her blog’s persona is one of a thinker, so it’s not surprising that she waxed the eloquent against my recent post on Home Study and Homework.

Virginia reports of homework being used as a means of learning content. I empathise with her when she recoils at the lack of time learners appear to have today, to consolidate what they learn in class.

Are kids getting too much homework? Are teachers pushing the learning of content out of the classroom and onto kids as homework? What do you think? Here’s our conversation:

Virginia:

I have given this matter a great deal of thought lately as my kids have constant homework 7 days a week. In New York State, homework is mandated from primary school to high school, at least 15 minutes per night per year of education. As a result, by grade 4, students should be doing 1 hour and 15 minutes of homework per night.

The question is, when do children get the chance to decompress and let their minds soak in what they have learned from the day. Having 6 1/2 hours of constant input, they are NOT computers and do need some time to process what they learned.

On the other hand, homework gives parents the chance to see what their children are doing (if the parent is responsible enough to do this).

On the other hand, this year my daughter has had a teacher who uses homework as a way to "get through content" that they don't have time to do in class. They are expected to be able to do the work on their own and not given the chance to ask questions (they are graded on what they handed in) rather than using the homework as a way to identify those areas they may need work in.

So I feel that, yes, there is a place for homework, yes, grading does give students the ability to identify areas they need to work on, but not at the expense of giving them some time to process what they have learned nor to use in place of good teaching.

Ken:

Kia ora Virginia

The parents (I believe) are probably more important than the teacher when it comes to attitude towards learning. They are the cultural background of the learner in most instances. Their influence, as much as it wanes in the teenage years of the learner, has a powerful influence on the way these precious people think.

Getting through content is another matter. I think the teachers have been the subject of much misguided advice where content is concerned and it's still going on.

A teacher who knows well that content is essential has to weigh this against the current belief that content is not what's wanted. This applies to all the past (and successful!) techniques that were used in the classroom to convey such content as was necessary to the learner. They cope with this by removing content from their classroom and relegating it to homework. Content is dealt with by a "Learn this."

So-called rote learning has been eschewed by many and still is. So much so that anything that smacks of rote learning gets the same treatment. Poor learners I say, for they get to the crossroads in their learning, only to find that they cannot understand concept or theory because they simply are not familiar with the content that's required - sigh.

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Champion Elearning Myths

Maui taming the sun - The Marae, Te Papa Museum of N.Z.

I am a dyed-in-the-wool in-favour-of-elearning teacher. If I had the option, I would choose elearning as the way to teach distance students most of the time. I know that many of my past students found elearning and blended combinations of it useful and effective. I cherish their successful results that prove this. I also believe that an elearning component of blended learning is a way for the future.

But the recent and global opinion that elearning is the way to solve all our economic problems, in training and education, scares me. When I read some of the positive articles and blogs that extol the virtues of elearning, I am also aware that myths abound that are associated with this relatively new mode of learning. I fear for the future of elearning, that it might get put to judgement unfairly, following its misuse in a time of real need.

Here’s my list of champion elearning myths:

1 - Print based resources are easily and cheaply converted into elearning resources

It’s a popular fallacy that successful learning resources, well designed for another mode of delivery (using print media for instance) can be easily converted into elearning resources. The late-20th-century trick of pdfing a print resource in Word and then banging it up on a server as a web-page is as erroneous as expecting a teenager to know everything about safe contraception. Robert Frost explained, “poetry is what’s lost in translation”. In an analogous way, pedagogy is what’s lost when a well-designed print-based resource is translated directly into an elearning layout.

A good print-based resource is successful partly by virtue of how the design and formatting of the resource lends itself to the media that’s used to hold it. Developing an elearning resource that’s just as good, means matching the design and formatting of the resource to the medium that’s chosen, whether it is text, image, video, animation, interactive or involving all of these.

2 - Elearning removes the need for a teacher/trainer /facilitator

Common misconceptions are that elearning students do not need support when stuck, confused or don’t know what to do next, and that the students will not need follow-ups to check if they're on track. All of these seemingly minor details amount to what is termed ‘support’.

Teacher support is one of the essentials for student engagement.

Do learners need to be engaged? Do they ever! There is nothing more likely to dampen the enthusiasm of a learner than getting stuck on a topic or concept and not being able to get timely help. Timeliness is paramount when learners arrive at this too common stage.

A learner who is struggling with an idea could well be right on track and may not even know it. What finer input is there than a responsive teacher, to give support and encouragement when the learner doesn’t really know what to do next. The lifeline to the teacher should be apparent and available to the elearner at all times.

Though this may not necessarily always be convenient for the teacher, the next best response to a student plea for help is the teacher to get back with the support the student needs immediately it is convenient.

3 - Attractive colourful images capture the learner’s attention and generate interest

Unless the elearning developer is careful to select engaging images, animations and videos that deliver the message of the learning objective, all that the images will succeeded in doing will be to distract from the learning that could otherwise have taken place. Pictures, diagrams and animations should be used specifically and only to assist with a learning objective.

Keep it simple and relevant are the watchwords for effective use of imaging in elearning design. Exactly the same can be said for any audio-based resourcing.

4 - Elearning and associated technology stimulates interest, and motivates learning

My experience with teaching students of all ages is that not all students want to embrace the most up-to-date technology when they are studying. The most likely turn-off for a learner is being forced to learn from devices they may have aversion to – ‘learner choice’ tells us all about that. There will be students in the target group who really don’t like elearning.

They will find any opportunity they can to switch off and to ignore the wonderful elearning experience that you’ve developed for them. Providing print based alternatives for those students can give them welcome relief and provide some of the necessary variety that has brought blended learning to the fore in recent years.

5 - As long as the learning aim is bulleted and made clear at the beginning of the module, the learner will identify the learning objective and know what's to be learnt

This myth is exceedingly close to being a genuine fairy tale. Contrary to what many 20th century pedagogues will maintain, most learners find the learning aim – the summary of the learning objective – to be as relevant as a runcible lemon.

How can a learner possibly see any relevance in the summary of what’s to be learnt when they know nothing about it?

Only geniuses and second-time-rounders get anything from being told the objective of the next lesson. FACT. For many students, this can be a real start-of-lesson turnoff.

6 - Learners will navigate their way through modules in an elearning course with little need for guidance
 
By definition, a learner needs to learn. Assuming that the learner knows the route and is motivated to follow it, is like leading three-year-olds to the middle of a labyrinth and expecting them to walk straight out again. The navigation for any elearning course has to be everywhere apparent.

7 - Learners will easily find needed learning resources and their components as long as links to them are visible and well labelled

If any part of a learning resource is important to the learning, that part should be introduced to the learner wherever and whenever it is appropriate. Timeliness is all-important, and the time and place to introduce the learner to an important part of a resource is at the immediate point in time when they might need the knowledge or skill.

It should not be left up to the learner to decide if it is important. Learners, by virtue of their ignorance, cannot be expected to know the relevance of anything new that has to be learnt. In particular, it is part of good scaffolding that students are prepared for the next step in the learning, and this should not be an optional learner pathway.

8 - Learners read all posted announcements and this is the best way to pass important information on to them quickly

Very few learners are vigilant enough to read all notices, especially if they believe that they’ve read them all before. Isn’t this always the case with a noticeboard? If it’s all that important, it has to be communicated to the learner by at least two means of communication.

I have been guilty of emailing and sending printed letters to my cohort of students about something extremely important that I’ve also splashed across the web-noticeboard.

9 - Once an elearning resource for a topic is developed and made available to learners, development in that area of learning doesn’t need to be revisited

Isn’t it wonderful that we are all different? Learners are just as diverse in this respect. The adage, “different strokes for different folks” is never truer than with learners. If you think you have nailed it with an elearning resource that you've developed then think again. There will always be a learner somewhere in your learning cohort who will not be able to make head nor tail of your pedagogical thinking.

This applies as much to a classroom as it does to an elearning environment. Provide as many pathways to learning a skill, knowledge or concept as are practically possible.

10 - Learning is linear, and so elearning courses should be constructed so that the learner progresses from A to Z with the least opportunity to digress

Learners who are familiar with parts of a module will be turned off by a pedantic one-way approach to forced examples and compulsory activities. Opportunity must always be available for learners to skip a part if need be, and to retrace a skipped part of a module if they find that they really didn’t have a grasp of a teaching point after all.

Further to this, learners do not all progress through knowledge, concepts and relevant topics the same way. Providing a variety of learning pathways that embraces learner choice at appropriate points in a course empowers the learner.

11 - Elearning is a cheap way to make learning happen

This is the acme of all elearning myths.

In much the same way as the idea abounds that teaching is an easy job, the belief that elearning is cheaper than other methods of teaching and learning is so far from reality it is tragic. Unfortunately, this elearning myth tends to be propagated by some teachers too.

Well-designed resources for elearning are not cheap. Neither is their proper implementation. But what is even more costly is elearning that is supposed to give access to essential learning but that is shoddily developed and doesn’t actually assist with learning at all.

That’s expensive!

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A Slice of The Cake

" because whoever has something, will have more given to him."
Mark 4:25

I am not religious, neither am I against religions, but Diane Cordell’s post, The Others, made me think about Mark 4:25.

She asks the questions:

1. Q - Do you believe that our educational culture could be/should be more inclusive?
   
   
2. Q - Are we reaching the Others?”

My reactions to those were immediately, 1. A – yes, 2. A – no.

Diane made me reflect on just how the educational culture that I know could be fairer, so that every learner was included, got a fair share, and got a fair chance to speak out. I wondered about practicalities and the reality of it all.

I left a comment on Diane’s post:

While it is true that teachers are not reaching all learners and all learners are not getting a 'fair share' (whatever that is), the practicality of it all is that teachers can't reach all learners. And of course all learners can't get their fair share.

The question is, how do we go about cutting the cake so that each learner gets their fair share?

I am a distance educator with some 200 or more students. The way the system operates, learners can phone me anytime they wish. I phone them sometimes too. But if a learner phones me and chats for 20 minutes, she's used 8 more minutes than I have allocated per week to spend with her.

A fairer share:

The reality is that my weekly ration is less than 12 minutes per learner to do all I need to do with associated teaching and learning. That includes phoning up the learner if need be. That's about 150 seconds per day per learner.

Fair? I don't think so. But how do I, as teacher, make adjustments so that all learners get a fair crack of my time?

Do I say to a caller, "Sorry, your time is up for this week. Give me a call next week and I'll give you the rest of the help you need"?

Or do I lay aside Jenny's assignment that's next in line for assessing because she spoke to me for 20 minutes on the phone?

After school:

Classroom contact is not much different from this. When I taught in a classroom, I used to give coaching sessions for maths after school. Effectively it gave kids an extra 20% more time with me. You can see the theoretical leverage that had on their achievement. Though in reality it was not quite as efficient as that, it still made a significant difference for those who participated.

A recent study has shown that the reason children from the so-called lower classes don't do so well at school is because, for them, the school IS the learning.

For more privileged children, their learning continues at home and that includes during the holidays. Oh, it's not all maths, science and English for them in the holidays, but it's learning just the same. Their parents groom them in other useful skills in preparation for their place in society. How does a teacher redress that inequity?

An eye for an aye:

Callous I may seem to be, but in the environments that I have taught in, including the present, I adopt the principle that each learner gets from me what they are prepared to give. That's to say, if a learner is prepared to spend time on the phone with me, I am prepared to spend the time with them.

Fair? I think so.