Discussion Examples Cassandra A.

Gadouas Authored on November, 11, 2013 This discussion example was taken from Instruction Design: E-Learning-SU13-960C-961C The instructor of the course is Susan. The following is my reply to the question:

If you were to give a new designer some advice concerning course updating or continuous improvement, what would it be and why?

Instructional Design Tips

The successful instructional designer should: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Conceptually and intuitively understand how people learn. Know how to connect with an audience on an emotional level. Be capable of imagining oneself as the learner/audience member. Be obsessed with learning everything. Brainstorm creative treatments and innovative instructional strategies. Visualize instructional graphics, the user interface, interactions and the finished product. 7. Write effective copy, instructional text, audio scripts and video scripts. 8. Meld minds with Subject Matter Experts and team members. 9. Know the capabilities of eLearning development tools and software. 10. Understand related fieldsusability and experience design, information design, communications and new technologies.http://theelearningcoach.com/elearning_design/10-qualities-of-theideal-instructional-designer/ To which I would add: Be persistent and continue to modify a program to make it better. Follow best-practice measures to maintain quality.

Chunk material to make it easier to comprehend. Test material often to make sure things are still working. Get a mentor. Cassandra Jul 31, 2013 6:00 AM

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Re: Instructional Design Tips

What a great list Cassandra! The list can go on and on but your "top ten" I think is a great summary! Great job and good luck in your future endeavors! Gary Jul 31, 2013 9:13 AM unread!

Great Tips! Barbara Jacobson - Jul 31, 2013 3:27 PM Mark Read

Cassandra: I love these two: Be obsessed with learning everything. Because it seems as if we have to be experts in everything all the time to ensure things are functioning properly, but just in case they don't Get a mentor so that you have someone you can fall back on when all else fails! Great advice! Congratulations on finishing this course! Barb Jul 31, 2013 3:27 PM

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Re: Instructional Design Tips

These are great! Thank you! :) More amazing tips and advice to add to my "bag of tricks" :) Darlene Aug 1, 2013 4:55 AM

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in your writing, too

"Know how to connect with an audience on an emotional level." Cassandra, I think this is an important point that folks shy away from because they fear they'll be described as soft or push-overs. As a designer, you may not be teaching the content, but whoever does needs to have some of the connection written in. For example, content pages can be made to read like a clinician wrote them - or like a real person wrote them. Which would you want to read? Relevance and persistence are tied to emotions, too. Are you going to read through emergency management because you think it is a good idea or because you FEAR the consequences of not knowing? My advice to aspiring designers is to drop the 4 syllable words and write like people talk. Add humor if you think something is appropriately funny. When I read a student who only has 4 sentences to say about something, and it is border-line terse, I wonder how their students would receive the message - again as a designer or teacher. So thanks for putting the heart backinto this! Susan Aug 1, 2013 8:54 AM

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Re: in your writing, too

Hi Susan and Cassandra, I agree with the point about content pages can be made to read like a clinician wrote them - or like a real person wrote them. Which would you want to read? Do you have any tips to help writers avoid this? I know this may come as a

shock but Academics tend to be very verbous and write courses like a research article. When editing this is a fine line because you do not want to offend them and it is challenging to tell them, no one really wants to read their lengthy content pages. Wanda Aug 1, 2013 8:59 PM

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Re: in your writing, too

I ask people if they talk like that and encourage them to write like they talk. Honestly, this is where dictation software helps. If you had to explain your expertise to someone in the grocery store, how would you say it? This is not to suggest that anyone dumb down their content! I learned a lot about writing when I worked on the "Online Education for Dummies" book. My editor gently reminded us about the power of present tense (not passive voice) and low-key vocabulary. I hear you on the need to state the message without offending! I don't know why the academic culture perpetuates vocabu-crap. Last night on Jimmy Kimmel (OK, now that we are in week 8 you can see my real colors coming out), there was an interview with a young man who used at least ten 3-syllable words incorrectly in an incoherent paragraph (Kelly K, he would have flunked your class). The question he was addressing had to do with whether he would ever consider running for political office. The punchline from Jimmy was that he seemed perfectly suited! Susan Aug 2, 2013 8:58 AM

Replied to message Authored by: Wanda Beyer Authored on: Aug 1, 2013 8:59 PM Subject: Re: in your writing, too

This discussion example was taken from the course E-Learning Practicum-FA13-900C-1695
Our instructor, Dennis writes: Let's share scenarios! By that I mean sharing stories from our own experience that can teach us something about online teaching and learning. You can discuss something that is happening in your internship, or events from other classes you've experienced.

I noticed that many of the students did not get full points for an assignment that required students to state objectives. I also recall that when I took the class I too had to redo the assignment in order to get full points. I suggested to the instructor that the class may need some extra instruction on writing complete objectives. I thought a discussion board might help so all the students could share and see what was expected for the class and hopefully it would reduce the number of students needing to redo the assignment. What are your thoughts on helping students learn a concept before completing an assignment? Cassandra@FL Oct 11, 2013 7:24 PM

Re: Learning the lesson Hi Cassandra. I see how allowing a student to redo the assignment seems like a nice gesture after receiving feedback with an idea that as long as there is evidence of learning, full points should not be a problem. Of course, had the teacher looked at the way the lesson plan module was constructed they might see that there was not enough instruction available to the students. I wonder if your instructor was given that course to teach, or if they designed it themselves. It could be that the instructor has to work with what they were given. If that was the case, the instructor could have pointed students to more information if they recognized the limits of the lesson. Either way you were brave to ask for more feedback.
Greg in Nagoya

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Greg, Thank you for your feedback. I think the information is available, but the students (teachers themselves) write the way they have been conditioned to do so and therefore may overlook the extra reading as they are already

writing objectives. Cassandra@FL Oct 13, 2013 6:37 AM

Re: Learning the lesson

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Cassandra, I like the idea of a discussion board. One thing I miss in an on line class is not being able to discuss with your peers questions on an assignment. Having the verification from your peers if you are doing it right before you submit. All my classes have had discussion boards for questions, but I do feel they are not used to discuss activities or projects. I think students are sometimes hesitant to admit they don't understand an activity or lesson if nobody else is asking the same question. If students are not learning a concept then the instructor needs to take the cue and revamp the way the lesson is presented or maybe it is too much information for one module and needs to be broken down into smaller chunks. Jen, Menomonie Oct 12, 2013 3:10 PM

Re: Learning the lesson

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Jen, You are right in noting that students may feel uncomfortable sharing and not being f2f can complicate the learning process. I also think that there are many teachers who are conditioned to learning things in a set manner and may not consider that the online instructor wants things done in a different way then what they are accustomed to. Cassandra@FL Oct 13, 2013 6:45

Re: Learning the lesson

Hi Cassandra, Learning the content is always the focus of any class. Hopefully classes are flexible enough

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to create their own online culture that includes strategies that allow for optimum performance of the learners. That often depends on the nature of the course, the make-up of the learners, and the teaching style of the facilitator. I often take time to observe a situation before determining what I will take out of my toolbox to use. Sometimes a simple formula just does not work. Linda Oct 12, 2013 3:49 PM

Re: Learning the lesson

Linda, The toolbox is a good source of information. Knowing your learners and what they already know and what they need to know can be tricky particularly in an online situation. Cassandra@FL Oct 13, 2013 6:50 AM

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Re: Learning the lesson

Cassandra, I think any way we can help students learn the content before the assignment is due is a plus! Discussion boards, wikis, practice quizzes, whatever is available is a great way to help them learn from each other. I like that idea! Nancy- Oct 12, 2013 4:14 PM

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Re: Learning the lesson

Nancy, I had learned a lot from Susan's class and how to use quizzes to check for understanding, some were a little tricky, but it helped to validate my understanding or lack of. Cassandra@FL Oct 13, 2013 6:54 AM

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The following discussion is an example of how I participated in the discussion as an intern. The goal of the instructor or intern is only to add to the discussion or provide resources. The discussion is mainly for students to interact and help one

another. This is an example from the course:

Assessment in E-Learning-FA13-900C-1659

The instructor writes: The Buhagiar article discusses the alternative assessment paradigm. The author speaks of six uses of assessment. Can you see any of these uses connected to our three assessment techniques this week - the survey, wiki and icebreaker?

Which tool did you like best and why? What assessment advantages does it offer your own course design plans?

Please feel free to examine your experiences critically with the tools and note pros, cons and possible applications/preferences to your future classes. Be sure to respond to others. Jim @ Davenport, FL

Wikis - the friendly assessment

After reading the Buhagiar article, I have a much different view of assessment. It was interesting to think of an icebreaker, survey and Wiki as an assessment, after always thinking of the traditional models (exams and tests) were true assessments. Buhagiar explains that traditional models can be learning, curriculum, teacher, and student unfriendly (2007). He goes on to say that traditional tests and examinations may reveal what students remember about what we think they should remember, but do not help us get to truth, meaning, purpose, or utility (Ellis, 2001). This really made me think about the tests I give in class and that sometimes it seems like Im assessing what I think they should remember. However, it seems like with Common Core and Common Assessments maybe this is becoming less likely. Does anyone else feel this way? The tool I liked best was the Class Wiki. It seems that this tool could eventually be used to fulfill every different assessment purpose screening, diagnosis, record-keeping, feedback, certification, and selection. Perhaps this weeks assignment of logging in and making our first edit was mostly a screening and diagnosis activity. I felt like it was a test to see who could follow the steps to use a technology tool that was perhaps new to many of us. Additionally, it required students to perhaps share some background knowledge about online etiquette, or complete some research about the topic. What I liked about this assessment is that it specifically said there are no right or wrong answers in the directions. Now, how nice is that! It allowed students to be creative and collaborate together to create something that belonged to us and that we could keep coming back to throughout the course. I have tried wikis in my F2F courses before as more of a website for me to share information, schedules and resources with my students. However, this has motivated me to use this as more of a collaborative tool with my students. I think it scared me a little at first because students have the ability to edit anything. I had visions of students just deleting everything! However, if students take ownership of their class wiki, they are probably less likely to do anything destructive. I think the biggest advantage is the

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collaborative piece, but also the ability to give feedback and screen for students who are struggling is important. Kait@Illinois Sep 18, 2013 8:47 AM Buhagiar, M. A. (2007). Classroom assessment within the alternative assessment paradigm: revisiting the territory. Curriculum Journal, 18(1), 39-56. Collapse Replies

Wikis - New Appreciation

Hi Kait, I also appreciated that there are no right or wrong answers for the wiki assessment. It took some of the pressure off to come up with the "right" answer and allowed us the freedom to respond with our own answers of what we would like to see happen. I like your addition to the list. I never thought about the subject line and how changing it can make a difference. It not only catches your eye, but it helps to keep track of responses. I am constantly looking for help with that. Not responding to someone, is always a big concern of mine. I like the concept of the wiki being a collaborative tool, but I am not fond of the open editing for all. It feels too risky to me. It might also be too tempting to some students to know that they can change other students work if they do not like it, and the only way to know would be if a student points it out or if the teacher goes back and compares. Most teachers do not have the time to do that. Plus, when I posted on our class wiki something I did made all the formatting disappear. Needless to say, I was mortified that it happened, but luckily was familiar enough with the settings to be able to make it right. I know things can be recovered, but it is that instantaneous feeling of dread and panic because it is your fault that everyones work was deleted or the whole thing was ruined that could actually make a student not want to post or edit at all. That could in turn lose that student's participation and even interest in the project. Although, creating clear guidelines, rules and instructions could be a way to help to alleviate some of that uneasiness. I am not very familiar with using wikis, which compelled me to want to learn more about them. I found this wiki called Wikis in the Classroom, created by Bill Ferriter. I wanted to share it because it has some great insights. After reading through it, I now have a new appreciation for what wikis can do and how they can be a powerful teaching/learning tool. Hopefully, you will find it as resourceful as I did. Lori@Maryland Sep 19, 2013 2:00 AM

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Re: Wikis - New Appreciation

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Lori, There are wiki's that can have restrictions. For example, wikispaces notes that: "Every Wikispaces wiki will let you set permissions at both the wiki and the page level, so access can be more restrictive at every level. For example, you can set your wiki to Public, but a single page to Locked so anyone can see or edit most of the wiki, but only organizers can edit that one page." http://help.wikispaces.com/Privacy+and+Permissions Cassandra@FL- Sep 19, 2013 11:21 AM

Re: Wikis - New Appreciation

Hi, Thanks for the clarification. I am now interested in using a wiki with my biology classes. The students can write their reports or projects there and edit them. Are the students graded on how many times they edit their work? Are there any free wikis out there? Regards, Mariadel Sep 19, 2013 1:38 PM

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Re: Wikis - New Appreciation

Mariadel, There are many free wikis. One of my favorite is wikispaces and they have specifics for teachers: http://www.wikispaces.com/content/teacher Cassandra, Intern@ FL

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Sep 20, 2013 10:52 AM