Principles of Good Online Instruction EDTECH 523 To a large degree, ID [instructional design] is the process whereby learning, not

technology, is kept at the center of elearning development. (Siemens, 2002) The best online learning requires a teacher who can effectively build learning communities, and create a safe and engaging place to learn. At the same time, the teacher must use proven instructional design principles in lesson course preparation. In the younger grades, more scaffolding and modeling would be needed, but the basic principles of effective lesson and course design would remain the same. Many of the skills which make teachers effective in a face-to-face setting are applicable and necessary in an online environment. However, many of the attributes of an effective face-to-face teacher can be lost in an online environment. These include the ability to rely on intuition, body language and subtle clues to assess the affective needs of the students. A face-to-face teacher with great charm and charisma may struggle in an online environment. Some of the impromptu give and take which happens in a face-to-face setting, especially that which sets tone in a classroom, may not translate well in an online environment. Especially for K-8 students, I think a blended course might enable an effective face-to-face teacher to more easily succeed in an online environment. This topic is vast and encompasses a mastery of learning theory, technology skills mastery, capable instructional design and an understanding of e-learning strategies and tools. As my experience in this field is very limited, I have no doubt that time and experience will refine and enhance my current understandings. Now, my understanding of educational theory and course design is more thorough than my understanding of how e-learning integrates and amplifies these principles. A synopsis of the principles which seem applicable at this point in my online teaching odyssey are described below. Build community Small, task-based discussion groups should be a required part of the grading system in which quality and depth of response is valued rather than length or frequency of posts. To effectively build community in an online course, the instructor must strike a balance between the needs and desires of the student and the limitations and time constraints of the teacher. (Graham, C. 2011) Enhance active collaboration The learning and support available to students in an online environment is exponentially enhanced if they can view each other as both teachers and learners in an

atmosphere which requires and supports active collaboration. It is important to integrate tasks within an online course which both develop and require collaboration among students. Give clear expectations: Especially at the K-12 level, expectations must be elicited, taught and modeled directly. Practice and rehearsal are also helpful strategies for any affective area learning. When building an online community, providing enough practice in the appropriate ways to interact in an online class becomes essential. Content focused tasks also require clear modeling and examples for the best learning outcomes. Communicate high expectations explicitly and efficiently High expectations motivate all students if these expectations are matched with appropriate supports and community. (Chickering and Gamson , 1987) Provide prompt, constructive feedback Both teacher-student and student-student feedback must be optimized. Similarly, the course design should offer frequent self-checks through rubrics, interactive activities, quizzes and project development. Learn by doing: Project-based learning help to build opportunities for meaningful cooperation among students. At the same time, it allows students to cement their knowledge through the higher level thinking involved in creating a project that requires application, evaluation and synthesis. Use active learning strategies: Students do not learn much just sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing prepackaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write reflectively about it, relate it to past experiences, and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves. (Chickering and Gamson, 1987) Provide scaffolding Scaffolding involves supporting novice learners by limiting the complexities for the learning context and gradually removing those limits (a concept known as fading) as learners gain the knowledge skills and confidence to cope with the full complexity of the context. (Dabbagh, 1993). In an online environment, as in a traditional school, appropriate scaffolding can decrease stress and frustration while increasing learning outcomes.

Provide differentiated instruction Because students arrive at a lesson or unit with different abilities and background knowledge, an approach which provides for differentiated instruction and appropriate scaffolding supports students by providing many different options for taking in, mastering, and applying the target information. Visual, print, interactive, collaborative, reflective , direct, vicarious and hands-on project-based learning enables all students to find a way in which they can best access and master the material. Hall suggests the following approaches (Hall et. al. 2003): For understanding: Provide multiple examples Highlight critical features Provide multiple media and formats Support background context As strategies Provide flexible models of skilled performance Provide opportunities to practice with supports Provide ongoing, relevant feedback Offer flexible opportunities for demonstrating skill To support the affective domain Offer choices of context and tools Offer adjustable levels of challenge Offer choices of learning context Offer choices of rewards Streamline lessons using low threshold activities The majority of students time ought to be spent on the learning task rather than peripheral activities. By providing active links, multiple resources and a clearly organized course structure, teachers can enhance the time spent learning, rather than navigating a confusing course. Low threshold activities require minimal time spent learning the technology, and a majority of the time learning the content and required skills of the course. Examples of low threshold activities and other resources for implementing 7 Principle Learning can be found here. Update the course as online learning evolves Flexibility, ongoing learning, and training in the evolving innovations is a required component of excellent to online teaching. The tool, however new, powerful or innovative, can take the place of strong lesson design and teacher presence. Continual improvement and updating of skills is vitally important in an online teaching environment. Revise, revise, revise Based on data and feedback from students, course design needs to be evaluated and

revised on a regular basis to enable continual improvement. Siemens asks, What were the intended outcomes? What were the results? What improvements can be made? (Siemens, 2000) Resources Chickering, A., & Gamson, Z. (1987). Seven principles of good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE Bulletin, 39, 3-7 Dabbagh, N. ( 2003) Scaffolding: An Important Teacher Competency in Online Learning. Tech Trends, 47,( 2) 39 accessed at http://resources.metapress.com/pdfpreview.axd?code=q954315qr543u14j&size=largest Graham, C., Cagiltay, K., Lim, B.R., Craner,J., and Duffy, T.(2000) , Seven Principles of Effective Teaching: A Practical Lens for Evaluating Online Courses; CRLT Technical Report No. 13-00; March 1, 2000 Hall, T., Strangman, N., & Meyer, A. (2003). Differentiated instruction and implications for UDL implementation. Wakefield, MA: National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum. Retrieved 2/18/2011 from http://aim.cast.org/learn/historyarchive/backgroundpapers/differentiated... Siemans, G. (2002, September 30). Instructional design in Elearning. elearnspace. everything elearning.. Retrieved February 21, 2011, from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/InstructionalDesign.htm