Paper Presentations Caused Reflection

In Thursday night’s presentations there were many presentations regarding the K-12 context. Some were direct in their connection, while others were more indirect.  A common theme for me in the evening, of which there were many, has to do with the need for skilled and trained teachers within an e-learning context.  I think back to a quote in my research paper.  “In spite of the fact that the synchronized online teaching tools afforded interactivity, the teaching approaches did not afford it” (Murphy et al., 2011, p. 589).  Teachers who may very well be innovative in a face-to-face environment, do not appear to use the same constructive theory and pedagogy in an e-learning scenario.  Within the same article teachers reported that “interactivity did not play a prominent role in teachers’ descriptions of either asynchronous online teaching or synchronous online teaching” (p. 589), and that one of the few synchronous tools used within an asynchronous context was the use of text chat format.  The research tells us that a collaborative, constructive and interactive environment is needed in an e-learning environment, yet many high school e-learning environments conduct classes in an opposite format.

One of the other points in the presentations that caught my attention was the need for a solid design team.  Good instructional design plays an integral role in any e-learning environment, and perhaps more so than in a face-to-face environment.  In a K-12 context, I believe physically not being in the same room as your students is going to make the task more difficult.  Therefore, more energy, and more effort needs to go into knowing your learner in context.  In connecting a prior course (EDER 673: Instructional Design) to E-Learning, how would we apply the instructional model that Kenzie Rushton and myself developed based on the work of Dick and Carey (2001) and the systematic design of instruction.

McCracken & Rushton Student-Centred Model of Instructional Design

Applying this model to an e-learning environment would more than likely result in changing the model.  However, what if we did apply the above model?  To start, how would instructors get to know their learners in context, and how would that affect instructional goals, and how would that cause instructors to sequence their learning objectives?  This simple beginning causes so many questions to be asked.  The age and background of students dictates a lot all by itself.  In an e-learning situation would you set out to discover what students knew about a topic, and then adjust your plan accordingly if your expectations for prior knowledge are not met?  Can teachers be that flexible in an online context?

What I do enjoy about the above instructional model and a connection to E-Learning is the different approach to be had between students with prior knowledge, and those students who do not have sufficient prior knowledge of a subject area.  Perhaps in this situation the use of synchronous and asynchronous tools can be used in terms of direct teacher guidance.  The goal would be to build student knowledge and understanding as they engage in a problem-centred learning activity/project.  Surrounding the model is the idea that assessment is ongoing (assessment for learning), and that the opportunity exists to revisit concepts with students at any time, and the opportunity exists to revise the plan at any time depending on what needs to occur.  Have instructional models that develop skills of students, while involving them in a constructivist and collaborative atmosphere been applied to current k-12 e-learning contexts?  This task is difficult enough, and we haven’t even talked about the pedagogical reasons behind what interactive technology tools to use, and how they will be introduced and implemented.

This blog is a bit random, however these are the thoughts I had after Thursday night.  Also in an effort to bring together, and make sense of the masters program as a whole is something I endeavour to do from time to time.  Instructional design is a critical and I fear a missing aspect needed in creating a constructivist and collaborative e-learning atmosphere.

References

Murphy, E., Rodriquez-Manzanares, M. A., & Barbour, M. (2011). Asynchronous and synchronous online teaching; Perspectives of Canadian high school distance education teachers. British Journal of Educational Technology, 42(4), 583-591.   doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535(1010/01112.x)

Challenging the Quality of e-learning in the K-12 Environment

This weeks readings on Quality Assurance, combined with Marg Partridge and her amazing presentation on RECA, and the class discussion afterwards has me thinking.  We need to challenge E-Learning in K-12 to be better, and we need to challenge in a way that promotes quality embedded collaboration.  As was discussed in tonight’s class,  during the presentation and afterwards, there is little research for E-Learning in the work place, and even less for the K-12 environment.  Just as Marg Partridge borrowed from the Post-Secondary research, and adapted it for her own learners, teachers, administrators and researchers need to do the same for the E-Learning environment for K-12 (and in the Calgary Board of Education this means 7-12).  As it stands now, and this is based on my own experience working in the department where CBE-Learn lives, the students that are best suited for online learning are not enrolled in the program.  The online program for grades 7-12 are viewed in many cases by administrators as a last-chance stop for students to get through school.  By and large these students do not have the motivation or desire to take on, and be successful at online learning.  If this is the demographic the public board has targeted for E-learning opportunities, then the public board really needs to do what Marg Partridge did.  What did the needs assessment for CBE-learn tell them? What do the students who are enrolled in online learning require to be successful?  These students need to feel connected.  These students need to feel successful.  These students need to be learning in an environment that provides structure, and in an environment that promotes care and understanding of where these students come from.  In what ways does CBE-learn provide this for their students?  How do they make connections with students who need it most?  Chances are these connections were lacking in a face to face environment.  As a parent, I would want to know what is going to be different in an online environment that is going to help my child experience success.

When I look at the various Quality Assurance rubrics I wonder what the rubric looks like for CBE-learn or other public education sites for e-learning.  Have they completed a needs assessment for the type of learner they are receiving?  Are the teachers knowledgeable in the issues that come from having children who are having difficulties?  Are the teachers capable of creating an online atmosphere that focuses on collaboration while developing a participatory culture?  In the CBE-Learn School Development Plan for 2005-2008, a concern is raised after data is collected via focus groups, which suggests that it hasn’t.

Those who do not plan to be in the program next year, indicated that they would want to return to regular school as it provides more opportunities for social interaction.  Some perceived online learning as too unorganized and not suitable for their style of learning.  Parents also expressed a desire for more frequent contact between teachers and students, and clear program guidelines (p. 2).

In the social studies 10-1 course syllabus for CBe-learn, the description does not suggest a collaborative approach.  Description of the course material states that “There is one major project, discussion and unit test as well as three to four quizzes per unit”.  If students require accommodations due to learning needs, it is the student’s responsibility to inform the instructor.  Where is the connection here?  The teacher-student relationship is largely non-existent.  Introduction to the teacher is done via a note online in the news section.  In terms of providing quality assurance around building a collaborative atmosphere, perhaps CBe-learn needs to follow the research on constructing a participatory culture.  In Jenkins et al (2009), Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21^st Century they describe a participatory culture as

[…] a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby experienced participants pass along knowledge to novices (p. xi).

It is obvious to me that the post-secondary model of e-learning is not suitable for the K-12 organizational system.  Students need to be part of a collaborative and participatory culture with embedded mentorship.  Developmentally, few students in the k-12 system are ready for the demands and requirements of an e-learning environment, and therefore we need to look at the research from a different angle. Though the Jenkins paper is not aimed at e-learning, it does speak to specific skills for learning via media in the 21^st century.  It speaks of developing new literacies which involve “social skills developed through collaboration and networking” (p. xiii).  In conjunction with developing new literacies, the Jenkins article lists skills that are required in the 21^st century workplace and need to be developed through school.  These skills include play, performance, simulation, developing distributed cognition and the ability to take advantage of collective intelligence.  Jenkins also focuses on networking, negotiation and the ability to follow the flow of stories and information across multiple modalities. 

In developing e-learning environments for k-12 we cannot forget what students require of us, the educator.  Jenkins asks us to look at education in a new way, and perhaps we can use the ideas in this paper as a basis for developing guidelines of quality assurance for k-12 e-learning.  The module format where students are required to check in with their instructor once a week to ensure they are not  “inactive” does not work for students in our k-12 education system.  This creates a great challenge for educators and researchers alike, however, in this age of personalization of learning, it is a challenge that needs to be undertaken.

References

Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R., Weigel, M., Clinton, K., & Robison, A.J. (2009). Confronting the challenges of a participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

The Calgary Board of Education (2005). Cbe-learn school development plan 2005-2008. Retrieved from http://projects.cbe.ab.ca/sss/ilscommunity/archive08/21stcentury/schooldevelopmentplan.pdf.

The Calgary Board of Education (2011). Course Syllabus. Social studies 10-1: School year 2011-12. Retrieved from http://www.cbelearn.ca/seniorhigh/course_syllabi/cbel1112ss101syllabus.pdf

The 2011 Horizon Report for K-12: Expect to Work, Learn, and Study Whenever and Wherever YOU want to. Is the Educational System up to the challenge?

Within our current education system it is hard to imagine a scenario in which e-learning becomes a viable and preferred option in the K-12 system.  I say this not because I can’t imagine the possibilities, nor because I can’t imagine students benefitting, but because of our current system.  Our current education system, based on the factory model, and designed to crank students through is not flexible enough to handle the world of e-learning.  Throughout the semester in this class, and in my Leadership and Technology course, I have been reading about how our existing learning organizations require a massive transformational shift if we are to meet the needs of our society. 

The 2011 Horizon Report for K-12 lists the following as one of it’s key trends: “People expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want to” (p.  4).  E-learning, according to the Horizon Report is coming for K-12.  However, e-learning can not stand on it’s own. The Horizon report talks about social networks accompanying timely access to information when they state:

A faster approach is often perceived as a better approach, and as such people want easy and timely access not only to the information on the network, but to their social networks that can help them to interpret it and maximize its value (pp. 4-5).

The collaborative atmosphere needed to make sense of online learning needs refining.  It does not exist to the extent that is necessary in the corporate world.  For the most part, our corporate brochures our class worked on focused on a module based program where adult students read content, and answered questions.  In some cases the use of webinars helped to make the e-learning sessions more collaborative.  However, students in K-12 require a deeper understanding of content, and that requires a deeper level of collaboration.  The Horizon Report, in my mind, is bang on in recognizing that the use of social networks will allow students to make sense of content.  This goes hand in hand with another key trend by the Horizon Report which states: “ The abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the internet is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators” (p. 4).  If we are to achieve a collaborative atmosphere within an e-learning environment, then the K-12 teacher needs to shift and refocus. They need to adjust how they see their role in education in the following ways (2011 Horizon Report for K-12, p. 4):

• ·      Must consider the unique value that each resource adds to a world in which information is everywhere.
• ·      In such a world, sense-making and the ability to assess the credibility of information are paramount.
• ·      Mentoring and preparing students for the world they will live is at the forefront

What is getting in the way of this key trend taking hold?  According to the Horizon Report, it is the education system itself that is in the way.  The Horizon Report states “As long as maintaining the basic elements of the existing system remains the focus of efforts to support education, there will be resistance to any profound change in practice” (p. 5).  As we all know all too well, change is difficult in education.  Society is demanding more of our students, and that includes the future locations our students will work.  If students are expected to learn whenever and wherever they want, then we must re-imagine our education system.  Teachers must no longer be the barrier between old practice and a new implementation of technology and ideas.  It seems overwhelming, but I believe that societal pressures will force the issue, and make it happen.

Reference List

Johnson, L., Adams, S., and Haywood, K., (2011). The NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition. Austin,   Texas: The New Media Consortium. Retrieved from http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2011-Horizon-Report-K12.pdf