Lessons from the Virtual Classroom

The Realities of Online Teaching

Rena M. Palloff, Keith Pratt

• Editorial: Jossey-Bass
• Año: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781118238226
• Edición: 2
• Categoría: Didattica
• Categoría: Didattica inclusiva

Lessons from the Virtual Classroom, Second Edition

The second edition of the classic resource Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom offers a comprehensive reference for faculty to hone their skills in becoming more effective online instructors. Thoroughly revised and updated to reflect recent changes and challenges that face online teachers, Lessons from the Virtual Classroom is filled with illustrative examples from actual online courses as well as helpful insights from teachers and students. This essential guide offers targeted suggestions for dealing with such critical issues as evaluating effective courseware, working with online classroom dynamics, addressing the needs of the online student, making the transition to online teaching, and promoting the development of the learning community.

Praise for Lessons from the Virtual Classroom, Second Edition

"Palloff and Pratt demonstrate their exceptional practical experience and insight into the online classroom. This is an invaluable resource for those tasked with creating an online course."

— D. Randy Garrison, professor, University of Calgary, and author, Blended Learning in Higher Education: Framework, Principles, and Guidelines

"Faculty will deeply appreciate and make use of the many explicit examples of how to design, prepare, and teach both blended and fully online courses."

— Judith V. Boettcher, faculty coach and author, The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and Practical Pedagogical Tips

" Lessons from the Virtual Classroom is filled with insightful caveats and recommendations, pointed examples to enhance your practice, succinct summaries of the research, and engaging visual overviews. Each page brings the reader a renewed sense of confidence to teach online as well as personal joy that there is finally a resource to find the answers one is seeking."

— Curtis J. Bonk, professor of education, Indiana University-Bloomington, and author, Empowering Online Learning: 100+ Activities for Reading, Reflecting, Displaying, and Doing

PART ONE
RETHINKING EDUCATION FOR AN ONLINE WORLD

CHAPTER ONE
ONLINE LEARNING IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Because of the changing nature of students today, economic pressures, and rapid implementation of distance learning courses and programs, definitions of what constitutes education and learning are changing too. Whereas years ago instructors viewed their students as blank slates whose minds could be filled with the information they were imparting, current constructivist theory holds that students create knowledge and meaning through their interaction with one another, the instructor, and their environment. A more collaborative approach to learning, such as that promoted by constructivist thought, can yield deeper levels of knowledge creation (Brooks & Brooks, 2000). The use of distance learning technologies and, more specifically, online learning, have both grown out of and contributed to the changes now occurring in the delivery of education.

The changes stemming from the delivery of online classes in academic institutions are being met with the support of educators but also with some discomfort. Although the level of discomfort may be decreasing for some, skepticism about the quality of online education persists (Allen, Seaman, Lederman, & Jaschik, 2012). To illustrate the changes occurring in the attitudes of educators about online learning, we revisit a sampling of the opinions expressed by instructors faced with teaching online that were published in the 1999 edition of Academe:

Some students learn better in a course in which they can interact with the professor in person. Others, however, thrive in an online environment. Shy students, for example, tend to feel liberated online, as do many foreign students who are unsure of their spoken English. (Maloney, p. 21)

Being there is irreplaceable . . . Education involves more than lectures and class discussions. Our students learn from us what scholars in our disciplines do. We show the discipline of the mind and evaluate whether our students are catching on . . . When students feel themselves identifying with us and our disciplines, they come to appreciate the struggle for knowledge; some may even choose to become part of the intellectual adventure. (Martin, p. 35)

The reality is that technology is playing, and will continue to play, a critical role in teaching and learning. As a pedagogical tool, distance education probably leads to different educational outcomes from those achieved with traditional classroom-based instruction—some better, some worse . . . The real debate needs to focus on identifying which approaches work best for teaching students, period. (Merisotis, p. 51)

Although we continue to hear similar opinions expressed today, online learning has become ubiquitous. As a result, the level of resistance expressed in 1999 has begun to wane to some degree, and we see at least a willingness to try online teaching. A very recent study, conducted by the Babson Survey Research Group (Allen et al., 2012), indicates that instructors report being more pessimistic than optimistic about online learning. They are skeptical about the quality of learning outcomes from online courses and resist teaching online. Interestingly, 75 percent of the sample participating in the study teach full time and are not teaching online. The study indicated that part-time, non-tenure-track instructors are far more open to online teaching than their full-time, tenured colleagues. The authors of the study speculate that the amount of time involved with online teaching, which may or may not be fairly compensated, is part of the problem. And yet the number of students enrolling in online courses has increased dramatically: the number of students enrolled in online courses in 2010 was estimated at 6.1 million (Allen et al., 2012).

Research conducted at the University of Central Florida indicates that what was previously described as a continuum from fully face-to-face to fully online classes has significantly decreased and soon will no longer exist (Allen & Seaman, 2004, 2005; Young & Chamberlain, 2006). Most face-to-face classes now include some form of technology integration, sometimes termed “supplementation” or “Web facilitation,” and it was predicted that by 2013, the vast majority of courses offered in higher education would be hybrid, meaning that they will be at least 40 percent online (Allen & Seaman, 2004). Based on our experience and observations, this prediction has come to pass. Consequently, the new continuum moves from technologically enhanced classes to fully online classes rather than from fully face-to-face classes to fully online classes.

The advent of mobile technology has served to increase technology use in traditional classes as well. Assignments now include the use of Twitter and texting, as well as the ability to access online course sites by using a cell phone or tablet, such as an iPad. Given the vast amount of technology available, instructors are now at least willing to experiment with its use. A social policy instructor told one of us recently that her concern about the lack of interest in her required class led her to conduct a focus group with her undergraduate students. She found that students wanted to see the use of some forms of technology, particularly wikis, as a way to engage them and allow them to explore the content collaboratively. Students are increasingly demanding the inclusion of technology into courses, and instructors need to respond.

Regardless of any residual discomfort, online education is here to stay. Ronald Phipps and Jamie Merisotis of the Institute for Higher Education Policy noted in their groundbreaking 1999 report on distance education, “Technology is having, and will continue to have, a profound impact on colleges and universities in America and around the globe. Distance learning, which was once a poor and often unwelcome stepchild within the academic community, is becoming increasingly more visible as a part of the higher education family” (p. 29).

An early survey of trends in online education (Kim & Bonk, 2006) concluded that as the demand for online learning increased, the most important skills for an online instructor would be how to moderate or facilitate learning and how to develop or plan for high-quality online courses. The demand for online courses in higher education has continued to increase; in addition, more K–12 instruction is going online, with students and teachers using a vast array of Internet resources, social networks, and new educational technologies. The Sloan Consortium Survey of Online Learning (Allen & Seaman, 2011) reveals that the number of higher education students enrolled in online courses has exceeded 6 million and shows no evidence of decline. The Sloan report concludes that the economic downturn in the United States has helped increase the demand for online courses and programs.

As a result, there is a demand for teachers and college-level instructors who have the necessary skills to integrate such technologies into the face-to-face classroom, as well as to facilitate fully online or partially online (blended or hybrid) classes (Lorenzo, 2011), and students of education are seeking to gain these skills. Traditional schools of education are currently not meeting this demand. Given these facts, what has been the impact of this phenomenon on education? How does learning online affect learning in general? How should decisions be made about such elements as course management systems, courses offered, faculty who will teach online, and course development? What are the ethical and legal implications of these decisions? How do we train faculty to understand and use online learning and online learning technologies effectively and about the new teaching approaches required for their effective delivery? How do we teach faculty to build interactivity and community through the use of technology into what might otherwise be a flat, text-based medium? We explore these questions and more in this book as we discuss the lessons learned from today's online classrooms.

In this chapter, we review the state of online learning today, including an initial discussion of current and emerging technology, which we continue in chapter 4. We also review some of the critical issues facing both instructors and administrators in online teaching and learning and look at some of the lessons for higher education that are emerging from the K–12 sector. We close this chapter with a discussion of the effectiveness of online teaching and learning.

Online Learning Today

Not all online classes are created equal. A white paper posted on the website of Blackboard, a course management company, defines online education as “an approach to teaching and learning that utilizes Internet technologies to communicate and collaborate in an educational context. This includes technology that supplements traditional classroom training with web-based components and learning environments where the educational process is experienced online” (Blackboard, n.d., p. 1). We continue to agree with this definition, although it was written many years ago. The technologies that can be used are changing, and the definition indicates that there is more than one way to deliver online classes, something that is becoming increasingly true as new technologies are incorporated into online teaching. One form is not necessarily preferable to another, however, and the technology used depends to a great extent on the content of the course being taught and the experience of the instructor and students. A good way for instructors to begin is by using technology to enhance an on-campus class. As they gain experience in teaching online, moving from an enhanced approach to one in which a class is wholly delivered online becomes easier.

Enhancement to what is happening in the face-to-face classroom can be achieved through the use of an electronic textbook, which likely includes associated learning activities on a companion website and “lecture” material. Some instructors use an asynchronous discussion board located on a course site online or the addition of chat or synchronous discussions; they may even simply use e-mail. All of this technology will likely also be used in a class that is conducted completely or almost completely online, the difference being that there may be minimal or no scheduled face-to-face sessions associated with the class.

Emerging technologies are changing the face of online learning. The use of cell phones, smart phones, tablets, and iPods are allowing mobile access to parts or all of a student's online courses. What are known as Web 2.0 and now Web 3.0 technologies allow users to create content within or as an adjunct to online courses. As a result, students can create presentations, co-construct material using wikis (collaboratively created web pages), and keep blogs (Web logs or online journals) and interact with others who are blogging. Social networking technologies hold the possibility of delivering courses outside the institution's formal course management system. These exciting developments also carry with them issues and concerns that we address in this book.

One of the main issues continues to be adequate faculty training to construct and deliver high-quality courses. Few campuses currently offer the type of training that faculty need to succeed online. When instructors are simply presented with a course management system and told that a course needs to be developed and presented, the resulting course is likely to have minimal interaction and pay little attention to the development of a learning community, which promotes collaborative learning and helps to achieve learning outcomes. Instead, the instructor new to online learning is more likely to try to replicate what he or she has done for years in the face-to-face classroom. We discuss faculty training needs and good course construction in greater depth in chapters 2 and 5 and offer a template for faculty training in Appendix A.

Current and Emerging Technologies

Although most course management systems now offer instructors the ability to customize their courses in many ways, emerging technologies are allowing instructors to move their classes out of the institution's system and enabling students to contribute content to an existing course. In addition, asynchronous discussions can be supplemented with the use of synchronous, or chat, sessions. Video and audio clips can be used. Instructors can post PowerPoint slides or other graphic illustrations of the material being studied. Support documents such as handouts, articles, and lecture notes can also be posted to a course site. Links to other sites of interest or to a digital textbook can be established. In whiteboard sessions, synchronous discussion can occur while graphics are annotated or b...