27J Online? Part 1 (to avoid a ridiculously long post)
Isobel blogged this post and I figure it’s a good time to start explaining a little about where we’re headed, what we’re using (next post) and how this will all transpire (hopefully).
For the past few months, at the request of several folks, I have been researching how we might roll out an online learning program in this district – the overall goal being to someday have the capacity to offer studens an online solution that will fill several gaps (e.g. credit recovery, scheduling flexibility, school capacity, etc.). The first question that popped into my mind is, “How do we get there?” The best way I know to answer questions like this is to take a look around at the path that others have chosen.
From information that I have read, questions I have asked and advice I’ve been given, I realize that, in order to move forward, we must immerse ourselves in online learning before we can expect our teachers and students to participate. That way, we enhance the skills of our teachers and staff developers by providing them online experiences and tools for their own learning. To me, this is a very constructivist appoach – immerse folks in a learning environment, have them interact with the tools and experiences in the context of their own jobs and establish a secondary target of them learning how to create similar (or better) environments for their own students.
I felt like, in order to get started, classifying the term “online learning” might help those who are charged with the design and development to wrap their heads around the target:
From the presentation, you can see that we’re not going to just jump into online learning without first sticking in our toes through the use of both hybrid and web-enhanced professional development. I believe that if we begin, at the very least, to “enhance” our professional development with online components (e.g. document sharing, forums, etc.), web-enhancement wouldn’t be the only outcome – we’d also be affecting sustainability. For example, I take a face-to-face course that I really find useful; but when I get back to my classroom, I place the handouts in the trusty “stack of great things” pile (go ahead, admit it, you have one too) and go about my regular course of action in my classroom. Before I know it, all those wonderful people that I shared so honestly with during the training days have gone about their business and I’m left wondering if they still remember me (or vice-versa). So, at the end of the year (the part of the year where used to purge as much as possible), I look through the “stack of great things” and realize that I have never implemented the strategies as I had hoped. You can only imagine where the “stack of
Enter the web-enhanced professional development course . . .
Before I enter the workshop I am provided a link, username and password and a short pre-reading assignment. I am also provided all of the handouts, e-books and presentations from the course and can choose whether to download and print the handouts or just leave them (with the comfort of knowing they’re there. I walk into the class with nothing but my pen, notebook and an open mind. No paper is provided to me (unless I chose to print it, of course) and the instructor immediately engages us in an activity that calls upon some level of understanding of the pre-reading materials. The seminar continues as any other, although any printed readings are returned to the instructor for a future section – saving paper and printing costs. We are told that we can access all materials through the online component. After the class has ended, the instructor continues to sustain the learning by posing questions, suggesting strategies and posting articles in an online discussion forum, soliciting feedback and participation each time, frequently encouraging us to continue implementation and suggesting other seminars, courses or activities that sustain or extend the learning. These “after-class” activities encourage me, increase my skills and give me the confidence to immerse myself even more – maybe next time with a hybrid professional devlopment opportunity.
Take it up a notch . . .
A hybrid course is almost exactly the same as a web-enhanced one, except that participants typically meet according to a specific schedule; but most of their interaction and collaboration occurs in an online environment. Learners use digital tools to communicate, collaborate, design, develop and build products of their learning that they either display face-to-face or online (using a digital gallery or portfolio). An example of this type of learning would be with our EETT project, “Classroom Formative Assessment for the 21st Century Classroom.” Although we haven’t begun to implement, we are currently designing a hybrid experience for these participants (about 40). Through this experience, they will have the opportunity to view/discuss the “Mock Classroom” (suped up) in a live setting, but between the face-to-face sessions, they will have discussions, readings and activities in which to participate in an online setting. The goal is that they will come back together as a group with a shared understanding and experience to discuss, without the learning lag that comes from not meeting for a month or so. Fully online learning takes it a step further – no face-to-face meetings (although an end-of-class meeting would be fun), all work is done online – oddly enough, the community-building that transpires is impressive.
So, here we are, innovating in the face of adversity – and we’re doing it for very little investment (none, other than time, so far). Someone shared a blog post with me yesterday that confirmed that we are on the right track with this – innovation as part of the solution.
The next post will explain how we’re doing it (the tool) and discuss more about the target.
~I
