Education Commons^™

Scalable Equals Asynchronous And Asynchronous Equals Boring. Or Does It?, Liz Thompson, Howard Carrier

Libraries

This paper reports on recent work to introduce a model of scalable, asynchronous library instruction into the First Year Writing program at James Madison University, inspired by the premise: Scalable equals asynchronous. And asynchronous equals boring. Or does it? The authors describe how a small team from Libraries & Educational Technologies at James Madison University planned and built an asynchronous, modular tutorial series, primarily designed to motivate students to engage with the library instruction contained within it. Information literacy instruction was provided using a tool called “Guide on the Side” and employed short scenario videos and additional content, followed by …

Beyond A Digital Status Quo: Re-Conceptualizing Online Learning Opportunities, Ellen Meier

Occasional Paper Series

According to the popular press and many policy pundits, online learning represents the next educational leap forward. Extraordinary claims have been made in the name of e-learning, including the assurance of educational equity, personalized learning for all, and significant cost savings for students — to name just a few. At the same time however, few policymakers are asking substantive questions about the educational nature of online learning environments. How are the classes organized, and what learning theories shape the design of these digital environments? What skills are needed to teach online and how are instructors prepared to teach in these …

Learning Through Design: Mooc Development As A Method For Exploring Teaching Methods, Robin Bartoletti

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Exploring new pedagogical approaches and technologies in learning experiences such as MOOCs offers educators a clear opportunity to reflect on and expand their teaching methods and document effective practices. However, while research has affirmed the value of self-reflection as an important means to improve one’s pedagogical practices, very limited data about self-reflection during course design exists for online instructors in higher education. A team of MOOC course designers thus seized the opportunity to investigate whether they could improve their teaching practices by engaging in a connectivist and reflective process to create an innovative MOOC. The MOOC design team for Educational …

Community College Faculty Dispositions Towards Blended Learning, Robin A. Hill

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Community colleges are being encouraged to find and provide access to higher education by offering more flexible course delivery methods to meet the needs of their diverse student body. At the same time, these institutions must retain their quality of instruction, accountability for learning outcomes, and institutional obligations. Blended learning, where students attend class both on campus and online, is promoted as one solution for attaining such goals. Among the four-year undergraduate population, blended learning has been shown to support student success, meet diverse learning styles, and meet institutional obligations; however, research within the community college population is limited. In …

Developing Distance Education Content Using The Tappa Process, Robert L. Moore

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The proliferation of distance education has occurred alongside the emerging technologies of the Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 environments, changing the way instructors approach, design, and deliver their instructional materials. In the past, instructional design (ID) practitioners relied on instruction system design (ISD) models that focused primarily on macroinstruction. It is now important for these practitioners to use microinstruction strategies to keep pace with the technology evolution. This case study describes the TAPPA (Target, Accomplishment, Past, Prototype, Artifact) Process which was created using the Generic Model for Design Research (GMDR) proposed by McKenney and Reeves (2012) and uses selected ID …

How To Design Culturally Inclusive Online Learning Experiences, Casey Frechette, Charlotte Nirmalani Gunawardena, Ludmila Layne

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

In this paper, we argue that adapting online courses for specific cultural groups takes time-intensive guesswork. Instead, instructional designers should employ the principles of universal design and social constructivism to build a course culture inclusive of all learners. Culture affects learners’ experiences in important, interconnected ways. Yet, it is equally difficult to predict culture’s effects on learning (Guild & Garger, 2016). These difficulties stem from the inherent complexity in human behavior. First, individuals may not reflect their cohort, especially when they belong to groups with conflicting values. Second, beliefs can influence one another in unforeseeable ways, and cultural values can …

Blended Learning For Faculty Professional Development Incorporating Knowledge Management Principles, Julie E. Hewitt

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Adjunct faculty comprise a large percentage of part-time faculty for many colleges and universities today. Adjunct faculty are hired because they are experts in their content areas; however, this does not guarantee that they are skilled in effective classroom management. These instructors can become bewildered and frustrated because they lack the knowledge and skills that are needed to run an effective classroom.

While educational organizations have adopted blended learning environments as an effective delivery method for their students, this method has not gained much traction as a way to deliver instruction to their own employees. Thus, there are opportunities to …

Developing A Challenging Online Doctoral Course Using Backward And Three-Phase Design Models, Jan G. Neal, Steven Hampton

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

Current Practices and Future Trends in Aviation (DAV 735)—one of 19 online courses in the Ph.D. in Aviation program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University—has run five times since 2011. A team of one instructional designer and one professor were responsible for its initial design, development, and ongoing improvement. This continuity provided the opportunity for a longitudinal, descriptive case study reporting on three wicked instructional design challenges: (a) doctoral student body comprised largely of multidisciplinary aviation professionals, (b) no seminal textbook on the course topics, and (c) unforeseen usability problems with Internet technologies. This case analysis has significance because of the lack …