Week 2 - reading reactions (before / after reading)

Questions to Ponder (before reading the text)

• Is there value in student-to-student and student-to-instructor interaction in all courses regardless of discipline?
•  Likely .. especially on the topic of how relevant or authentic or important a given topic is in a course of study to the student. 

• What role does interaction play in courses in which the emphasis is on declarative knowledge (e.g., introductory “survey” courses at the lower-division undergraduate level) or, similarly, in courses that cultivate procedural knowledge (e.g., technical courses requiring the working of problem sets)?
• If by interaction we mean interaction with other students then I can see the importance of a student testing their meaning and understanding of what it is they've read or recently learned by applying those concepts to real life experiences, sharing those with their classmates and inviting others to share theirs and/or comment on one another's (invites chances to test and negotiate meaning, they are also involved in the "new" discourse of the topic too)  

• As you consider designing a blended learning course, what kinds of interactions can you envision occurring face-to-face, and how might you use the online environment for interactions? What opportunities are there for you to explore different instructional strategies in the blended course than you have in the past?
• What kind of interactions typically occur in a face to face situation? 
• Q&A
• short question and answer 
• small group discussion and checking for understanding 
• New opportunities in a blended course? 
• Perhaps opportunities to "delay" the exchange, invite the student to have more time to reflect on their own point of view or understanding of something before they articulate it or share it with their peers. Face to face typically rewards those who can articulate themselves quickly while discouraging or drowning out those who are slower to answer .. yet are often no less capable of articulating a solid answer once they are given time to do so.
• What factors might limit the feasibility of robust interaction face-to-face or online?
• factors that might limit the robust interaction
• cultural, social or political sensitivity 
• student perception that if they open up .. it might be into an unsafe or unsupportive environment  
• lack of "netiquette", fear of being flamed or bullied 

So what did I learn? (afer reading the text)

Students prefer a balance between technology based activities and face to face contact with faculty. (ECAR National Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2011) and (37%) generally prefer it more than any other configuration. Basis for this? Perhaps a bit simplistic is the reference to Dziuban, Hartman and Mehaffy (2014) which seems to suggest that the students get "the best of both worlds" - links to the best in tech teaching and learning solutions (hopefully well curated) .. and experience with highly interactive "face to face" activities that an educator can realize (hopefully well chosen). However, I still have a sense that both options are attractive to the student because of their capacity to provide them with not just one person's "formative" feedback, but a rich variety of "formative" feedback and from varying sources. This can then help the student check and confirm their understanding of a concept.

Clearly stated is the obvious dichotomy that exists between giving a student more control / more autonomy and then granting a student much cherished social contact and faculty guidance.

Models for learning - minimal or guided?

At one end of the learning spectrum is the need for a highly structured learning environment. One guided by an expert (Gardner (2006). Here the expert makes transparent to students the "magical"(?) process of acquiring information and then making connections between the various concepts found in that information to generate ideas. Students then practice this model and master the process. This sounds so much like cognitive modeling common to learning Math (Khan Academy springs to mind here) and even compositional English.

Yet on the other end of the spectrum, is how students can learn in an almost completely unstructured  environment - no direct instruction whatsoever. Case in point? Sugata Mitra's famous "hole in the wall" computer experiment on the streets of India

Somewhere in between is the concept of "wayfinding" - learners find their way in a relatively unstructured environment but are given explicit tasks to achieve that then guide their way through the materials in the process. This sounds like a "hunting" expedition. My own experience with cMOOCs take this a little bit further. A cMOOC  actually invites the learner to even fashion their own learning objectives, perhaps even find other learners who share similar learning objectives to form a "learning community".

Different from "way finding" would be the concept of "scaffolding" learning. This means providing a student with enough guidance to succeed with using basic concepts / rules to then allow them to off to explore more on their own - much like how one might learn in a computer game.

Still completely different again would be the concept of a PLN or PLE. Here the focus is on building networks or tribes of learners or followers / influencers to informally interact with one another. Reference is made to cMOOCs again but I see this happening more through tools like Twitter (following certain hashtags and/or influencers).

Interesting comment

Ironically the same technologies that allow for disruptive strategies like MOOCs also enable a variety of blended learning models. Technology uncouples students from being continually present in the classroom. In the best of circumstances, technology allows professors to offload responsibilities that can be taken up by technology (Dziuban, Hartman, and Mehaffy, 2014)

The main idea here being to explore what many of these "disruptive" strategies (e.g. MOOCs) offer to students and what can be learned from them for use in the design of a blended learning course.

Role of Educators in a Networked World 

Without a doubt this was the most interesting section for me. I immediately began to make comparisons with my own work in integrating technology with instruction and saw a little of each of these "classifications" there. I ranked how useful they are to my own instructional design by the number in bracket beside each heading (1 being low; 5 being high). Like the mention of how none of these is necessarily "better" than the other because each can have value depending on the circumstances (and learning culture of students?). Each one defines the role of educator, role of student and type of interaction supported by technology.

Atelier learning (5)

Brought back earlier studies in distance education for me where the focus was on inviting students to engage in the discourse unique to a subject or program or profession. Much like an artist painting under the tutelage of a "master". Doing so with the feedback of a master. All of the students can learn from one another and their work as the "master" initially points out insights but as students begin to understand these concepts, they can as well.

Tech tools? Those that support discussion among students or the posting of the occasional example with intermittent comment from the expert about a student(s) work.

Network Administrator (2)

Students construct their own PLN with the help of the teacher they learn how to build such a network for learning, for evaluating their work and for adapting to change. What springs to mind here is the opportunity for students to engage with influencers - the discourse of the subject - to see what they might be learning in class being put to use, being discussed. Authentic learning. At the moment, I am thinking that my current students require much too much structure to make this possible .. but I'm also aware now that perhaps I need to explore this further.

Tech tools? Anything that invites a student to engage with influencers or experts - perhaps initially as a lurker observing the discourse .. seeing it used in action by a "community of practice" .. then perhaps engaging with it via questions .. then sharing one's own findings. Twitter springs to mind here (hashtags for #Blendkit2016) but it could be a Listserv (my example - Educause Listserv - Blended learning) Could even be SnapChat or a Wiki.

Concierge Learning (5) 

Educator directs students to resources that they may not be aware of that are based on the educator's perceived student need or a request directly from the student. A mix of traditional approaches and allowing students to explore on their own. I tried this just today. Inviting students to complete an activity on their own - their first descriptive paragraph but with the option of checking out very resources that could help them complete the activity even better. Inviting them to be "self directed". Invites students to explore and for an educator to be a tour guide. Some finished ahead of time and thus could move through that material because they were ready to proceed .. while others were not. Yet the resources were still available to students after class for possible self guided follow up.

Tech tools? Backchannel tools such as Today's Meet or even a TwitterFall come to mind here. Opportunities for the student to engage with fellow students and instructor in a sort of dynamic Q & A to exchange information or links to online resources based on the perceived need of either instructor or student.  

(video depiction of the concierge model)
duration? 4:25 min

Curatorial Learning (5)

A curator is an "expert learner" (Siemens). Instead of giving out knowledge, he sets up a space for students to discover, create, explore and connect their learning. Balance between giving students freedom to explore and giving thoughtful direction / interpretations of the the subject being explored. So the learner is given many displays, concepts and artefacts that represent the topic (and have been carefully curated by the expert / educator).

Tech tools? Webquests or Scoop.it (very structured) .. even blogs or wikis that might support a cMOOC. Even the BlendKit 2016 MOOC demonstrates such qualities.

 Common to all four of them? The teacher / educator as expert and the learner / student as constructor (of meaning). Directing / coaching / guiding the activities of learning. 

Techno expression

Using words and/or media to express ideas or thoughts (computer mediated communications). Kelly  and Cox (2008) suggest that in this networked day and age many of us have developed an "intrinsic need" to express our thoughts and ideas without having them "limited to" or "boxed in" by coursework (a blending or melting of all ideas wherever they may come from; identifying connections and constructing new ideas with these connections). Rightly or wrongly, today's students have grown to expect that their thoughts, feelings and ideas should be shared and expressed online.

Designing Instruction with this in mind

Interaction should be the priority .. and can be done relatively easily.
For example, take the drab course syllabus .. The one never read until there's either an emergency or dispute between students and instructor. From my experience the syllabus is typically written from administration and /or instructor point of view.... Outlining expectations. But what about students? What are their expectations? What are they hoping to get out of the course? Why did they sign up? Could these ideas not be solicited and potentially be incorporated into the syllabus so that it is a jointly owned document? The same could be done of other resources shared with students.
Invite their input / feedback.

Promoting dialogue, engagement between all stakeholders needs to be encouraged and by doing so, we help create a much desired learning community. So anything that supports this seems positive. It may need to be guided at first, perhaps even a space be formally put in place and brought to student attention (virtual coffee shop) but it should be done.

Role of Asynchronous Interactions in BL

Asynchronous activities promote deeper engagement with material - give students more time to engage with material and to help formulate well thought out answers. Builds confidence in their understanding of the topic and/or material. Yet equally important to not do "everything" asynchronously either when the opportunity exists to connect face to face. All asynchronous communications leave students / participants feeling distant and disconnected to some extent .. It's more work to "build" and "maintain" a learning community completely online.

Tips from text.  

Invite students to articulate what helps them to learn. Then invite them to review typical samples of discourse to discuss which were more "useful". Learning how to interact to support one another is as important as the content itself. Allows the learners to learn how to work together to realize the full potential of a learning community. Good point.

But what about "face to face" synchronous expression?
These can help build community. Invite students to identify 5+ characteristics of a "successful" course they have taken. Invite them to then share with their peers to see where there is consensus.

Whenever possible, have a face to face component in a hybrid course. Try NOT to have a completely online course. Especially at the start - it helps build that community .. Certainly more quickly than if you had to do the same online.

Encourage Expression through assignments.
Suggestions made to think about potential audiences... Make assignments authentic by inviting a student to speak out on an issue with their peers, their instructor or even an expert. Use online tools to facilitate group work / presentations.

Give students support / guidance on how to best function as a group. Before / during / after. Clear guidelines about what it is you expect - provide students with a model (From you... Or from past students). This I felt was not stressed enough in the article.

Encourage students to express their views ..AND be prepared to invite feedback from peers as well as yourself. Acknowledge student work.

My final thoughts? 

A lot of ideas shared on a very complex topics. Bravo to the author(s). .. though I would have welcomed seeing more on the whole notion of interaction theory. Even if there wasn't time to discuss it, perhaps a list of key resources or key research on either what has been done or is being done on the topic. Perhaps at least one or two basic, commonly used frameworks for encouraging and checking for the effectiveness of such planned interactions .. especially those that occur online. This seems strangely absent from the discussion. It does not come as any surprise to learn that the design of these interactions will have a bearing on the type of assessment that can be achieved (to be discussed in Chapter 3) .





Key reference

Thompson, K. (2011, June 27). BlendKit Course: BlendKit Reader: Chapter 2. Retrieved from https://blended.online.ucf.edu/blendkit-course-blendkit-reader-chapter-2/

 Supporting references 

Bonk, C. (2007). USA Today Leads to Tomorrow: Teachers as online concierges and can Facebook pioneer save face? Retrieved from http://travelinedman.blogspot.com/2007/10/usa-today-leads-to-tomorrow-teachers-as.html
Darken, R., & Sibert, J. (1996). Wayfinding strategies and behaviors in large virtual worlds. Retrieved from http://sigchi.org/chi96/proceedings/papers/Darken/Rpd_txt.htm
EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR). (2011, October 14). ECAR National Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2011 Report. Retrieved March 6, 2016, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERS1103/ERS1103W.pdf
Kelly, K. and Cox, R. (2008). Techno Expression. In Commonwealth of Learning (Ed.) Education for a Digital World: Advice, Guidelines, and Effective Practice from Around the Globe. Retrieved from http://www.colfinder.org/materials/Education_for_a_Digital_World/Education_for_a_Digital_World_part5.pdf
Morrison, D. (2013, April 22). The ultimate student guide to xMOOCs and cMOOCs. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://moocnewsandreviews.com/ultimate-guide-to-xmoocs-and-cmoocso
Siemens, G. (2007). 10 minute lecture – curatorial teaching. Retrieved from http://learnonline.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/10-minute-lecture-george-siemens-curatorial-teaching