Online vs Onground
The next several blogs will include main points from a fascinating text, Teaching Online, A Practical Guide, by Susan Ko and Steve Rossen. Chapter 1: Teaching Online: An Overview
Chapter 2: Exploring Your Institution’s Resources
Some of the less obvious advantages to online learning:
1. Quieter students who may be fearful of in-class discussions readily participate in online discussions.
2. Instructors in a hybrid course can post talking points online before class to encourage a more meaningful discussions.
3. Online learners are more actively involved in the discussion, development and implementation of key points.
4. Instructors can see how often students access the online site and how long they stay logged on, then send an email to encourage or offer help to students who are not participating.
Great Quote from Teaching Online, p.13: With online course delivery, instructors step back from the spotlight to “allow the students to take a more active part.” The instructor becomes more of a facilitator “than the expert from which all knowledge flows.”
Let’s face it though there are still some advantages to “onground” courses:
1. Instructors can use their physical presence to add emphasis through voice inflection, facial expressions, gestures, body language to communicate more effectively. A smile can go a long way to reassure or show approval to a nervous student. The emoticons just don’t mean as much. ;)
2. Instructors can observe student interactions and puzzled looks from students.
3. There is a personal connection that forms from meeting face to face and having instant feedback between learners and instructor.
4. Synchronous interaction promotes more spontaneity.
Great Quote from Teaching Online, p. 12: “None of the conventional ways of modifying ambiguous or ironic statements – the wink, the raised eyebrow, the shrug, and the smile – are available online.”
The Hybrid Course may be the best of both worlds
Since I am converting my onground course (Comm 130: Visual Media) to a hybrid course I am partial to the research that combines the advantages of both types of delivery. Check out this interesting note from Colorado University that explains the advantages of hybrid courses that combine the best of both onground and online courses. Notice that the hybrid instructors are approved by the individual university department, experts in the field, and they also teach onground courses at the university.
Hybrid offers more, from CU: http://www.cuonline.edu/hybrid/hybrid.shtml
Planning the online environment
There is a plethora of ways to deliver the online material. Everything from course management systems like Blackboard, which by the way, is now merging with WebCT, to handing out a CD to students with the entire course content. Different delivery methods can be applied to institutions with differing resources. Furthermore, the CD system works well for students have limited access to high-speed Internet, because they only have to access the Internet to submit assignments or take quizzes. The following link explains how they put their instructional material on a CD and distribute it to students.
How to develop an online college course: http://taste.merlot.org/portal/jolt/vol1_no2_hensley.htm
posted by Caryn at 4:56 PM
11 Comments:
Caryn, in a hybrid course, can a student select which classes he or she will attend onground or is that usually mandated by the instructor? Does the student have to attend any onground classes if she chooses not to?
I really enjoyed roaming around both sites you provided. If Hensley can perfect teaching theater online, maybe he will try dance next, and if he can perfect dance online, I will believe that anything can be taught online. (Oh I forgot, I already believe that) Also, I had never seen a web page fade into another like his did.
The section in the book that mentioned instructors can track student usage through blackboard caught my attention. Do you know how that works?
1:02 PM
Hello Pam:
QUESTION ABOUT HYBRIDS: I think hybrids can be set up in a variety of ways. I plan to have students meet once a week ,instead of the normal twice a week. They will work online for half of the time. I will dictate the time each week for the one class that is held onground. If they miss the class they would not be able to present their projet and get feedback. They would also miss demos, instructions, and opportunities to interact in ways that are best suited for onground. I am certain I will find ways to simulate most everything we do online, but it nice to meet in person because it is so much quicker to get answers to questions. For example, though we are communicating here, it took several hours to exchange this feedback. At times, it takes days to hear back from a colleage in an online course. Also, I am not sure you will check my blog for a response to your questions. I should probably just send you an email. I guess I will try this out and see how long, or if you reply to this blog reply. :)
QUESTION ABOUT BLACKBOARD
As an instructor in Blackboard you can access data that tells you who has opened the assignment and how often. It gives you dates and times. I use it occasionally to see if everyone is checking things on Blackboard. It is also nice to see who is looking at new postings and opening files, etc. If a student falls behind I can see he has not logged in recently, it gives me clues about how I can help encourage him to get going.
I go to Control Panel and open an assignment or document that is displayed. When you add something new to Blackboard, you can set it up so you can track the students accesses.
9:11 PM
Thanks, Caryn. That is helpful. Would having online options inside the classroom be considered a hybrid class?
4:23 AM
Ah Pam, your question is an excellent one. This gives me a chance to try and sort this out in my mind as well.
Many say a course becomes a hybrid if part of the course is delivered online. I wholeheartedly disagree. If that is true then half of our courses at BYU-I are hybrids because many use Blackboard in some fashion. I feel that to be a true hybrid, the required seat time has to be reduced.
For example, in my Visual Media onground course I use Blackboard extensively for assignments, quizzes, the gradebook and digital drop box options, but I do not consider my course a hybrid. Students submit exercises under the Assignments tab. They take quizzes there and Blackboard scores it and enters the score in the gradebook automatically. Running percentages are instantly available to the students in Blackboard and I also send files to them via the digital drop box.
Furthermore, they can access the syllabus, schedule and tutorials from Blackboard and link to my external websites for more instructional aids. I have not yet used the discussion board, but the students do email each other from Blackboard.
Even with all this, I still consider Blackboard, and my webpages as a supplemental resource, because it has not reduced any seat time for the course. To meet the 3-credit requirement we still meet for 75 minutes, twice a week, for the full 16-week semester.
In an attempt to come up with my own definiton, I am torn between these four options:
DEFINITION #1: A course becomes a hybrid when part of its required classroom time has been converted to an online setting.
DEFINITION #2: A hybrid is a course with half of its seat time delivered online.
DEFINITION #3: A hybrid is a course delivered online that also meets regularly in a classroom setting.
DEFINITION #4:
A hybrid is a course delivered half online and half "on-the-ground."
The problem with #3 and #4 is they don't explain the reduction in required seat time. With these definitions, my current course would be a hybrid. Option #1 does not allow for new courses that start out as hybrids, so I guess that #2 is my top choice at this point. I am sure my outlook will evolve as I develop my own hybrid.
With my experience, the purpose of most hybrids is to conserve expensive classroom time while still maintaining the advantages of a face-to-face setting. We need to come up with a new term that describes onground courses that use online tools for part of the delivery, yet before long most courses will incorporate Internet technology. Maybe we could call them "TRCs" for technology-rich courses.
I am curious, what do you think?
8:50 AM
Reducing seat time before being considered a hybrid makes sense to me. And good point and name on the TRC. I lean toward definition #1 because it would become difficult to distinguish classes that had more or less time online. However, each course description should state up front what amount of time would be spent each way.
Thanks for taking time to answer all those questions.
4:26 PM
Caryn:
I, too, have enjoyed your blog. Excellent work! You inspired me to add images to my blog. I thanked you in my blog (the one with the sign image that I just couldn’t get to go where I wanted it to go).
The “less obvious advantages” of online learning are points that I had never considered before reading the chapter. I wonder if there are individuals in our class who share more given this platform? Do you think onground students, who are verbally active ☺ in discussions, are less engaged or more passive, when they learn in this type of environment?
We talk about the ability of an instructor to move from the spotlight and allow the student to take an active role. How does the instructor balance stepping out of the spotlight and never stepping onto the stage? For example, learning a skill that requires a lot of practice in order to reach average skill level. Would working through the book be appropriate in this case?
I agree with you that there are advantages of onground courses. I really want to meet my instructors! It is simply nice to meet people in person. Even though we are connected, there is a disconnect.
I am interested in your thoughts. I apologize that I have so many questions, but your posting evoked these questions.
8:37 PM
Hmmm, you ask some interesting things. About how the naturally verbal student handles the switch to writing instead of speaking: I think it depends on the writing skills of the individual. A verbal person, like myself, is also "talkative" when learning online. However, if someone is nervous about sharing their writing skills with all to judge, that may curb their comments, regardless of how verbal they are. It certainly teaches us to type faster! How about you, are you more "talkative" online than onground? Anyone else out there who is "listening" to this, what about you?
Now, about online instructor who takes a step out of the spotlight. I think the main adjustment here is to switch from lectures, candid open discussion, and fun face-to-face interaction to creating a visually appealing, though provoking course that motivates the students to research and write a boatload. Both are great ways to learn, but I have to admit I love the onground experiences I have with my students twice a week. This is why I am making the slow transition by starting with the hybrid. I can still meet with students once a week, and that is plenty.
Furthermore, the dean of our college is not sold on fully online courses. He wants to try a hybrid, so it works for me. Either way I have to keep my student evaluation scores up in order to land the full-time position I am seeking at the end of the year. It has to work for students! They have to feel they are getting their money's worth. They want to learn and be challenged and feel that the instructor is working just as hard as they are. For example, can you imagine how hard it is for Dr. Dawley to keep up with all these intriguing convos? I can barely keep up with the few I am involved in. How does she do it? And how will I do it when I start to teach online?
9:04 PM
Sorry Caryn, you are getting swamped with questions, but I was just wondering if you made the decision to turn you class hybrid on your own, or did you have to get permission from the university or did they request it? I think everyone in this class would probably agree that hybrid classes are an incredible tool, but I was just wondering if the administration feels the same. Especially with all the criticism online courses have had in the past.
4:47 PM
I welcome your question and it is an important one. About a year ago I was in a routine meeting with the dean and he wanted to know more about my online study at BSU. He said he likes the ideas of hybrid courses and wondered if I would be interested in trying it out. Since then I have been thinking I would convert the Visual Media course I designed to a hybrid for my thesis project. Now that it is time to start on my project, I proposed this idea to my department chair for approval and he love the idea of freeing up our busy computer lab. He also talked it over with the dean again and they both approved it enthusiastically!
They are now taking it for approval to the Curriculum Council, but it looks good. Our new University President is Kim Clark, who was just recruited from being the dean at the Harvard Business College. Did you hear about that? Anyway, he is really pushing for more online courses. We already have some online courses, but I am not sure how well-developed they are. They also have me teaching some software courses to instructors and so they are already saying they will want me to teach instructors how to convert their courses to hybrids and online. It should be fun! Of course, we will have to do a trial run and evaluate it next January.
12:13 AM
I am equally “talkative” in both platforms. In our Breeze session the other night, I had to control my frontal lobe’s need to talk ☺. I could have piped in many times, but knew that I needed to allow others equal speaking time, which really isn’t much different from being in person= turn taking.
I like the point about writing. If a student is uncomfortable with writing, then this venue may prevent them from holding back. However, I wonder if blog users can record and attach that recording to the blog? It looks like we can record in this blog, but I don’t know about using it in lieu of writing. In my opinion, a well-designed accessible blog, would allow the user to comment in multiple platforms: video, audio, or text. Hopefully, with so many ways to respond, a user would not be inhibited, and would fully express themselves.
Starting with hybrid courses seems to be a good transition to an all-online class. Hybrid classes, as with hybrid bicycles, would appear to meet more students’ needs. However, with those of us who want an Ed Tech degree, and are geographically far away from a university that offers this degree, it creates access as well. Personally, if BSU did not offer this degree, I would have to drive three hours to Minneapolis or settle on a different Master’s Degree. I am amazed, however, at how much I feel connected in this particular class, without the ground component. I speak about many of you as if I actually see you in person. Paul was sick. Caryn . . .Lisa. . . I believe that I know more about my classmates that the on ground grad students at work. Amazing!
Why isn’t your dean sold on fully online courses? My next question is. . .how old is he? Yes, I don’t know how Dr. Dawley does it. She stated that she spends about 15 hours a week on a class. I wonder how much time the outstanding on ground professor spends? When I was view the online examples provided to us, I actually started taking notes on the educational paradigms. It was fascinating!
Congrats on all of your work at your university. Perhaps, one day, I will take a class from you.
Julie
8:49 AM
Thanks, that was worth noting. Steve @start making money
7:51 PM
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