EdTech 523: Best Practices for Teacher and Student

Discussion Prompt:

In chapter six of Building Online Learning Communities, Palloff and Pratt discuss effective teaching and learning in the online classroom. To make teaching and learning successful online, all instructors need to examine best practices for instruction and the role the students play in responding to the changing mode of instruction.

1. As more educators are transition into the new form of teaching online classes how is the instructors’ role changing from the traditional brick and mortar classroom to online instruction and what do you see as some of the challenges and barriers online instructors may encounter?
2. Not only is the instructors’ role changing but the students’ role must change also. As the function of the educator begins to change in the online learning process what new roles must students play in response to the changing mode of instruction?

My contribution: Teachers transitioning to the online environment should continue to employ what Collins and Berge (1996) recommend as good "social function" (i.e. community interaction and teamwork), as well as stable and well-thought-out managerial and pedagogical functions (or as Garrison, Anderson, and Archer speak of as "teaching presence"). Being an education facilitator requires many roles that are shared with any teacher (even in a traditional brick-and-mortar classroom) looking to organize and promote a learner-centered environment. Helping students become self-directed, reflective, cooperative, co-creaters of knowledge in the online world is a more involved activity because there is a stronger need for social presence, organization of materials and activities, and technical skills. An online teacher's role requires her to be more creative in her use of teaching strategies and tools to build an inquiry-based, critical thinking "playground" of ideas. An online teacher can't look to vibrant, empassioned live discussions, engaging song-and-dance routines or "wow" lesson openers, or hands-on group tasks with markers and scissors. She must find alternate ways to captivate her learners, get them talking to one another, and guide them in their creation of knowledge. Strategy, purpose, and "above and beyond" presence are a big part of an online teacher's role.

Student roles in an online environment are much more self-directed. They must be very active in their cognitive process. A good online class will require them to be strong critical thinkers in terms of viewing questions from various perspectives and questioning assumptions (their own and others'). Instead of being passive recipients of knowledge, they must collaborate with their peers to offer ideas, suggest resources, challenge assertions, evaluate products, and ask questions. There are typically less guidelines and articulated expectations than in a face-to-face class. This "openness" can be frustrating and overwhelming to many. An instructor must be prepared to assist students who have anxieties or confusion about the learner-centeredness of the course. Students must be organized, open-minded, self-motivated, and flexible when working in an online learning environment. They need to be driven to learn, knowing they will have to do a lot of the "hard work" themselves.

Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. Building online learning communities: Effective strategies for the virtual classroom (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2007.
Reply to Peer: Karen, that's interesting to hear about your experience with in a student-centered environment that the participants were thrust into unknowingly! I believe it's so important that a teacher explain the reasoning and rationale behind the move to structure and run the class in this way, or else students will be confused. Being used to certain roles and having a developed a schema for what it means to be a "student" (based on their more traditional experiences), it's no wonder they were frustrated by the upheaval and confusion. Perhaps they thought their instructor was being lazy, perhaps they didn't trust their classmates to have and share knowledge, perhaps they didn't like the less-structured format because it required more self-autonomy and leadership... People take classes for different reasons, and having a frank conversation upfront about the "philosophy of learning" surrounding the course can make sure students either feel they are on the same page as the instructor or have enough preliminary context to seek out an alternative learning experience. Making learning goals explicit from the outset might have eliminated some of that backlash.

Kevin, your questions are perfect and definitely necessary as points of reflection. How DO we get students to buy into the community learning process as well as independent (student-centered) learning? That's something I was thinking hard about during Corey's and my lead discussion two weeks ago. It's easy to speak to of the value and merit of adopting that philosophy as teachers, but how do we get our students to do the same? I think intrinsic motivation that comes from contributing to an impassioned discussion or a valued group task is one way to foster the buy-in. Encouraging students to reflect on the community learning process and then, as teacher, commenting on their observations/comments hopefully leads them to being thoughtful, eager participants as well. Building teamwork upfront with "high ropes course" types of learning tasks will get the students to see how integral they to the community and how rewarding it is to be part of a healthy, productive group. The design of the course should hopefully ease them into the "learner centeredness" of the course, such that soon they won't even realize they are grabbing the bull by the horns and paving the way for their own learning (instead of simply digesting information and coasting along). Giving students options, posing open-ended questions, demanding that students do the research... those kinds of teacher behaviors should help scaffold to independence. I'd certainly be interested to hear others' ideas as well, as this is constant struggle area!