Distance Learning Teaching Tips - Draft paper submitted for work purposes
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Setting the Scene
Moving Forward
Education is at a critical juncture in the Wales. It is vital for workforce development and economic prosperity, yet is in need of serious reform.
Welsh education was designed for industrial eras, and does not provide all the skills needed for a 21st century economy. This creates major problems for young people about to enter the labour force. Mobile learning represents a way to address a number of our educational problems.
Devices such as smart phones and tablets enable innovation and help learners, teachers, and parents gain access to digital content and personalized assessment vital for a post-industrial world. Mobile devices, used in conjunction with near universal 4G/3G wireless connectivity, are essential tools to improve learning for learners.
As mobile phones, tablets, and other connected devices become more prevalent and affordable, wireless technology can dramatically improve learning and bring digital content to learners. Learners love mobile technology and use it regularly in their personal lives. It therefore is no surprise that young people want to employ mobile devices to make education more engaging and personalize it for their particular needs.
Technology-rich activities can sustain high levels of student engagement and peer collaboration compared to less technology focused activities. Educators need to figure out how to harness mobile platforms for instructional purposes and employ them to boost educational learning.
As a College, we need to educate the next generation of scientists, inventors, engineers, entrepreneurs, and skilled workforce. Educating a workforce that is effective in a global context and adaptive as new jobs and roles evolve will help to support our economic growth. Mobile learning makes it possible to extend education beyond the physical confines of the training room and beyond the fixed time periods of the college day. It allows learners to access content from home, communicate with teachers, and work with other people online. The value of mobile devices is that they allow learners to connect, communicate, collaborate and create using rich digital resources.
Business sense
As the Business arm of Gower College, we are always looking at providing the best products and services to our clients and learners. Developing new approaches to our business, the GCS Training is now investing a great deal of time and effort to be at the forefront of delivering services through distance and mobile learning solutions for individuals and businesses, not only in Wales but perhaps across the globe. Staff will have the opportunity to be involved in shaping and developing the tools and resources as a process and engender a forward thinking attitude, progress and eventually generate income stream from mobile learning programme.
Mobile Learning in the workplace - a cost effective approach to improving learning retention
Employers are often reluctant in releasing their staff for training during working hours. The majority employers don’t have the staff development capacity to run training internally and often procure or outsource external training providers to run specific staff development training. Private training providers are now taking full advantage of the technological advances and the affordability of mobile devices to deliver more cost effective training for employers and employees. By offering affordable and accredited mobile learning program to employer and employees, GCS Training are now in the optimal position to enter in a profitable market and yet maintaining the high standard that makes GCS Mobile Training one of the leading training providers in the market.
Quality and Quantity
Once the mobile learning programme is tried and tested, GCS Training will be roll out the GCS Mobile Training across the departments and widening the intake of learners to courses, units and programmes.
Improving Your Teaching Presence in Distance Learning Courses
Learners in a distance learning course with a strong instructor presence feel as though the instructor is right there with them, guiding them along the way in a safe environment where they can feel free to share their thoughts, and learn from the instructor and from each other. When there is little instructor presence the course can feel "abandoned" or neglected. If there is too much instructor presence and not enough peer presence the course can feel stifling to students and they may be less willing to share their thoughts and ideas.
Even though the instructor is not physically there, it is possible to increase the sense of "felt presence" in your distance learning course.
Improving Your Teaching Presence in Distance Learning Courses
Have you ever listened to a lecturer who was so engaging you felt as though you were right there with them sharing their experiences? Or one who was so boring you felt like you might fall asleep? Just like in a face-to-face environment, the teaching presence of the instructor can make a significant difference in the engagement and attention of distance learners.
Learners in a distance learning course with a strong instructor presence feel as though the instructor is right there with them, guiding them along the way in a safe environment where they can feel free to share their thoughts, and learn from the instructor and from each other without being judged or criticized in a negative way. When there is little instructor presence the course can feel "abandoned" or neglected. If there is too much instructor presence and not enough peer presence the course can feel oppressing to learners and they may be less willing to share their thoughts and ideas.
Teaching presence is a significant component of the community of inquiry model developed by Garrison, Anderson and Archer in 2000. The components of this model are cognitive presence, social presence and teaching presence. Cognitive presence encompasses the course content and its contribution to critical thinking skills. Social presence is the social environment created in an online teaching course. Teaching presence includes the organization of course content, activities, and interaction along with the added expertise of the instructor (Anderson, Elloumi, 274). Teaching presence is defined in the model as "the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes" (Anderson, Rourke, Garrison, Archer). Although the instructor is not physically present in a distance learning course, implementing the following techniques can improve the sense of presence for your learners.
Tips for Increasing Instructor Presence in your Distance Learning Course
Let your students get to know you and incorporate your own personality where appropriate
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Record an introductory video for the first week of the course introducing yourself, your teaching style, learner expectations and goals for the course. Contact the Paulo Madeira to schedule a time for recording your video.
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Start off each week with a brief personalized note detailing your learning objectives for the lesson and what assignments or tasks need to be done for the week. If relevant, include a personal anecdote or a brief comment on a current event. An example would be to welcome students back for a new semester or from the half-term break. This can be done easily in Moodle by adding an item at the top of your folder and typing your note in the text box.
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Incorporate your own voice by narrating your PowerPoint slides or Keynote.
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For written materials, try a more natural and conversational tone.
Leave evidence of your presence
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Show your presence by checking in to the website/Moodle as often as possible and leave timely "evidence" that you have been there such as posting new announcements or discussion board postings. For example, if you only post every other week the students may feel that the course site has been "abandoned."
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Set expectations at the beginning of the course for your learners of how often you will be checking in and your response time.
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Share information with your distance learners that will help them in their careers, just as you would with on-campus learners. For example, post links to articles or current job postings in your industry to the Announcements area.
Make your course site as organized, clear, and easy to navigate as possible
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Distance learning students are often working on their coursework alone and during odd hours. If a question comes up while they are working, they usually have to wait for an answer. Be as clear as possible with your expectations and instructions for assignments. Try to anticipate learner questions and include more detail than you would for an on-campus/class course.
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Keep a running list of questions from your distance learning learners and create a "Frequently Asked Questions" list in your course site (Moodle). Keep this list for the next time you teach the course and continue to add questions as they come up.
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Organize your material in Moodle using folders. Place all of your materials for each week or lesson into a single folder/course so the students can find everything they need in one place.
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You can use the instant messaging in Moodle to contact individual learners or a cohort of learners
“What’s New” Updates in Distance Learning Courses
For distance learning learners, an online course can be a rich and rewarding experience, but that same richness can sometimes become overwhelming for busy adult learners who are simultaneously trying to keep up with their studying and weekly tasks. One way you can help your learners is to create a “What’s New” or a weekly update section in your course site. This can help your students focus on new assignments or content for the week without being overwhelmed, and can help minimize e-mail questions that you may receive.
Time Saving Tips for Distance Learning Instructors
Many distance learning instructors are concerned that putting their course materials online in Moodle and responding to learner e-mails, messages and discussion board postings significantly increases the amount of time they spend on the course. It’s true that the nature of online communications may mean that you spend more time communicating with your distance learning learners than you do with your campus/class-based learners, but there are several things you can do to save you time in a distance learning course.
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Make your course easy to navigate. Ease of navigation reduces learner questions about the organization of your course materials. Label the buttons in the Moodle menu appropriately and delete ones that are not needed. Organize your content in folders for each lesson or each week of the class. Use a similar format from week to week or lesson-to-lesson so students will quickly learn what to expect and be able to keep track.
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Provide clear instructions to reduce the clarifying questions you receive from students. Start by writing a comprehensive syllabus that fully explains how the course works. Provide clear instructions for learner activities and assignments.
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Develop an FAQ (frequently asked questions) document and post it in your course. This allows you to answer common questions once rather than repeating the information in private communications with individual learners.
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Explain to your students what your schedule will be for providing feedback and responding to questions.
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Set aside a specific time each day that you will devote to the class.
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Effectively manage your e-mail to reduce the amount of time you spend sorting, searching, and responding.
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Save answers to common questions in a Word document or a text file and copy and paste them into e-mail replies to students.
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Wean learners from using e-mail as their primary communication tool. Encourage them to post their questions in the message boards.
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Locate relevant online resources that you can use in your course content. This saves you from having to create all of the content yourself.
Understanding Distance Learning Students
Distance learning learners tend to have demographics and characteristics that make them, as a group, a bit different than traditional graduate learners attending campus-based classes. Understanding these differences can help you tailor your GCS courses to meet the needs of distance learning learners.
Some of the major differences are:
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Age - Distance learning learners tend to be, on average, older than graduate learners in campus-based programs. At GCS, more than 50% of GCS Training learners are over the age of 30.
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Employment Status - Many distance learning learners work full-time and take classes on a part-time basis.
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Marital Status - More than half of distance learning learners are married with dependents. They are often juggling their coursework with family and job responsibilities.
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Self-directed - Distance learning learners tend to be self-directed. They take responsibility for managing their own learning. They need little hand-holding from instructors/tutors.
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Importance of Convenience - Since distance learning learners lead busy lives, the convenience of not having to be in a specific location at a specific time is important to them. They often choose distance learning courses because they fit more easily into their lifestyles than campus-based courses.
Instructors of GCS Training courses can use this information about distance learning learners to help them relate to their learners, make adjustments to their courses to accommodate learners, and be prepared for learners requests.
Tips for GCS distance learning tutors: Providing Feedback to Learners
Giving feedback to learners is important in any class, but instructors in distance learning courses often wonder how they can provide the same level of feedback to their distance learners as they do to their campus-based learners. Fortunately there are many technology tools that assist with providing feedback to distance learners, and some of the tools make it possible for you to automate the feedback.
Information Feedback is informational or evaluative in nature. It is often given in response to a learner question or as an assignment grade and comments. Some strategies for providing information feedback include:
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Arrange virtual office hours where learners can reach you live by phone, instant messaging, the Skype or oovoo.
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Use the PDF scanner to return assignments with your written comments.
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Use the Assignment Manager in Moodle to indicate grades and comments on assignments.
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Use Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat to insert electronic comments into assignments that you return to learners.
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Use the plug-ins in Moodle to develop tests and quizzes.
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Structure assignments so that learners provide feedback to each other.
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