TECH570.43 Feed

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S3.3 Course Enhancements

2019-03-19T15:56:54-04:00

"The challenge for school boards and educators is that they have to keep pace with how students are using these [social networking] tools in positive ways and consider how they might incorporate this technology into the school setting."

- Bryant, A. (2007)

In the previous section, you started exploring the characteristics of virtual students and in Session 1 you read in "Toward a Theory of Online Learning," that, "The task of the online course designer and teacher is to choose, adapt, and perfect educational activities that maximize the affordances of the Web" (p. 55). In this section, we'll bring these two ideas together and take what you have learned about virtual students and consider how we can use web-based tools to enhance the learning experience.

Blooms Taxonomy for the 21^st Century

When planning instruction, many teachers use the six levels of cognitive activity first developed by Benjamin Bloom and his group in 1956. This list has evolved into the "New Blooms" as connections are made to 21^st century skills. Refresh your knowledge of Bloom's Taxonomy and then read "A New Bloom" to learn about the connections between Bloom's Taxonomy and classroom technology. As you read, think about how you can take advantage of the virtual learning environment to reach and teach all students and develop their 21^st century learning skills.

Digital Media

Now that you have considered students' online learning styles and reviewed Bloom's taxonomy, let's explore how virtual teachers can use digital media to enhance the online learning environment. While you may not have the "power" or authority to create a course, it's possible that you will be able to adapt or add to the course with additional resources and tools. If you are curious about the role in which you will play in enhancing your course, you should check with your school administrator/supervisor. For the purpose of this course, we will assume that you are able to enhance your course content to fit your overall course goals and desired outcomes.

The creation and development of photo, video, and audio presentations have become relatively easy with the advent of new technology tools. Digital cameras, many of which can record videos, are a lot more accessible, and many computers have all of the built-ins available to download media, record sound, add music, edit, and copy--thereby creating a complete classroom movie-making studio.

Now, Web 2.0 has added an additional stage to the production process--distribution! Sharing digital media online is easy to do using only a Web browser. Free online tools allow us to manage media, create presentations, showcase projects, and provide commentary.

First, spend a few minutes reading "Communication and Collaboration 2.0" in which Anita McAnear explains how media has changed with the advent of Web 2.0 and the importance of teaching students digital media skills. As you read the article, think about how the new "participatory culture" can affect how digital media is presented, portrayed, and used in the virtual classroom.

In "Online Interactivity for Educators: A Teacher's Tour of YouTube," read about one educator's views on the potential that video sharing sites hold for the classroom. Think about how you could integrate video sharing into your work with virtual students.

Now, read "Teachers Tap Video-Sharing in the Classroom," which discusses the educational use of video sharing-both the benefits and challenges. As you read, think about your anticipated virtual teaching situation and whether there are policies and restrictions placed on teachers and students in the use of media sharing sites.

PBS LearningMedia provides an online library of digital media resources from multiple content providers that have been collected and organized specifically for classroom teachers. The collection includes videos, interactives, images, lesson plans, and audio files that are ready to be used quickly and easily with students. PBS LearningMedia brings together the best of public, digital media from multiple partners and content contributors, to provide PreK-16 teachers with a robust content library of resources that have been created specifically for teachers to use. It's easy and free to sign up. Spend 20-30 minutes exploring PBS LearningMedia and think about how your students could utilize the many resources provided on the site.

From Multimedia to Dynamic Media

Multimedia has moved beyond PowerPoint presentations. Across the country, students are using photographs, music, their own voices, scanned artwork, and movie clips to create compelling videos. They have become filmmakers, learning and understanding how to analyze media and get their ideas across in meaningful ways. They are also sharing their creations through sites that allow them to upload, post, distribute, organize, and respond to the work and commentary of others. In this section, you will explore this dramatic transformation of media and the skills needed to help prepare students for the 21^st century.

Using Media in the Classroom

In the article "Lights, Camera, Learning!" educators Bull and Bell (2009) explain how media has been transformed into being dynamic and participatory, allowing individuals to quite easily view, edit, mix, and share videos, photos, and audio recordings. "The shift from analog to digital video transformed the system from a unidirectional analog broadcast to a two-way conversation, resulting in the birth of participatory media." As you read the article, think about the ways the use of media can be applied to and across the curriculum and what new opportunities are available for educators and students to communicate and collaborate through dynamic media.

Next, read more about media in the 21^st century in "Dynamic Media" in which Bull and Garofalo explain what the key cultural, social, and technical characteristics of dynamic media are, as well as the educational potentials. As you read, think about the ways you can apply and integrate this technology into the learning experiences of your virtual classroom.

Finally, explore "Cool Tools for Teaching Online: New Media/Web 2.0" for a comprehensive selection of web-based tools to use with students. You do not have to explore all the resources provided here, but pick and choose the ones that interest you. You may wish to take notes as you explore these tools to help you complete the assignment in this session.

Technology Tip

Most states have added their own technology standards to the group of core subject standards. Many of these standards are based on the International Society for Technology in Education's (ISTE) Educational Technology Standards. If you are not familiar with the latest standards, then read "ISTE Standards for Students." These standards focus more on skills and expertise, and less on tools. As you read through the standards, think about which ones focus on the use of digital media.

In addition, ISTE has developed a general set of profiles that describe technology literate students at key developmental points. If you are not familiar with them, read "Profiles for Technology (ICT) Literate Students" focusing on the sections related to the grade level of the student population you are or will work with. These profiles are designed with the assumption that technology skills are developed throughout a student's education.

Course Enhancements That Appeal to Different Learning Styles

Students' learning styles are as individual and distinct as their fingerprints. New research on the brain and learning are helping to create a shift toward the development of curriculum suitable for different types of learners. This brain-based research shows that students learn best in holistic, complex, and experiential learning environments that build on multiple strategies and more integrated types of instruction.

The best way to understand how our students learn is to take a step inside each of their brains to see how they process, store, and recall different forms of information. There are a variety of ways to examine learning styles. Learning styles are based on the idea of multiple intelligences, which is the idea that we have different ways to demonstrate intellectual ability. Read "Howard Gardner, Multiple Intelligences and Education" to learn more about multiple intelligences. As you read, think about if your learning style is similar to your teaching style.

As we think about adding elements that enhance our online courses, it's important that we understand our own learning style and how we can meet the needs of our students. Discover more about your own learning style by completing a Multiple Intelligences Self-Assessment. Spend a few minutes reflecting on whether you teaching reflects your learning style and how you can change your teaching to meet all learning styles.

Next, explore the following resources to determine what kinds of activities and enhancements you might want to include in your online class to help students be more successful and how you can use web-based tools (Web 2.0 tools, digital and dynamic media, etc.) to help you:

Planning lessons for students' preferred learning styles This resource lists different activities for different learning styles. As you read, think about how you might adjust or change an activity for the online platform.
Teach to Students' Learning Styles This overview of learning styles and activities provides a quick reference for activity and project ideas.

eLearning Toolbox 3: Web-based Tool Review

In this session, you have explored how virtual students can be successful online and how you can meet their individual needs with course enhancements. In this assignment, you will add to your eLearning Toolbox with a review of a web-based tool that would be appropriate to use with virtual students. Follow the directions for this assignment carefully and remember to review the rubric to understand how your work will be assessed.

Reread the sample syllabus for a virtual course that you have been asked to teach online.
Select one of the tools you have explored in this course or you have found during your own web search. Choose a tool that will enhance the course and help students develop one of the skills or concepts from the sample virtual course.
Write a 1-2 page review of the web-based tool that includes the following information:
- A description of and link to the tool.
- A brief overview of how the tool may develop students' academic skills.
- A brief overview of how the tool may build the online community.
- Any challenges of using the tool.
- Links to any other supporting documentation or articles on the use of this tool (as appropriate).
Go back to the eLearning Toolbox discussion forum and find the discussion topic that your facilitator has created for you. Just as you did in Session 2, create a new message that briefly describes your tool review and upload your review. Your review should be posted to this forum by the end of this session. NOTE: Your web-based tool review does not have to be crafted in a word document. You can use digital media and web-based tools to create your review.
Read your fellow learners' tool reviews and note any tools that you may wish to save for future use. Remember, exploring your peers' eLearning Toolboxes will help you add to your own bag of virtual teaching tricks!

Citations and References

Anderson, T. (2004). Toward a theory of online learning. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.) Theory and practice of online learning (pp. 33-60). Athabasca, AB, Canada: Athabasca University.

Atherton, J. S. (2011). Learning and teaching; Bloom's taxonomy [On-line: UK]. Retrieved from http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/bloomtax.htm

BBC World Service. (2003). Planning lessons for students' preferred learning styles. Retrieved from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/activities/planning-lessons-students-preferred-learning-styles

Bull, G., & Bell, L. (2009, June/July). Lights, camera, learning! Learning and Leading with Technology, 36(8), 30-31.

Bull, G., & Garofalo, J. (2009, February). Dynamic media. Learning and Leading with Technology, 36(5), 40-41.

Cochran, D., Conklin, J., & Modin, S. (2007, February). A new bloom: Transforming learning. Learning and Leading with Technology, 34(5), 22-25.

De Avila, J. (2008, March). Teachers tap video-sharing in the classroom. Retrieved from http://www.azcentral.com/business/consumer/articles/2008/03/26/20080326biz-TeacherTube-26.html

Haynes, J. (2009). Teach to students' learning styles. Retrieved from http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/learningstyle.php

McAnear, A. (2008, August). Communication and collaboration 2.0. Learning and Leading with Technology, 36(5), 5.

National School Boards Association (NSBA). (2007, August). More teens and 'tweens are creating content and connecting online for educational benefits, offering schools new opportunities to use technology reports new national school boards association study [Press release]. Retrieved from http://us.vocuspr.com/Newsroom/Query.aspx?SiteName=NSBANew&Entity=PRAsset&SF_PRAsset_PRAssetID_EQ=107345&XSL=PressRelease&Cache=

O'Neal, C. (2006, September). Online interactivity for educators: A teacher's tour of YouTube. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/teachers-tour-you-tube

Smith, M. (2008). Howard Gardner, multiple intelligences and education. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm

SREB/AT&T Online Teachers Initiative. (n.d.). Cool tools for teaching online: New media/web 2.0. Retrieved from http://www.srebonlineteachers.org/Cool_Tools_For_Teaching_Online.pdf

The George Lucas Educational Foundation. (n.d.). What's your learning style? [Interactive file]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learning-styles-quiz

University of Western Michigan. (n.d.). A simple multiple intelligence inventory. Retrieved from http://homepages.wmich.edu/~buckleye/miinventory.htm

Additional Resources (Optional)

"Management and Operations of Online Programs: Ensuring Quality and Accountability" This report from iNACOL reports on the "behind the scenes" management and operation of starting and operating a successful online school.

"How Do [They] Even Do That? Myths and Facts About the Impact of Technology on the Lives of American Teens" This presentation from the Pew Research Center analyzes messages and beliefs about teens and technology to determine which ones are fact or fiction.

How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School This free, online book is a must-read for educators to analyze how students learn.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Session Resources

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On this page you will find readings, videos, and Web links that are used within the sessions of the course.

Session 1

Session 2

Readings

Blended Learning: The Convergence of Online and Face-to-Face Education

Virtual Schooling Standards and Best Practices for Teacher Education

Key Facilitator Roles

"The Hats of the Online Educator" from Making the Move to eLearning: Putting Your Course Online

NEA's Guide to Teaching Online Courses

Teaching Courses Developed by Others

Key Facilitator Roles

Additional Resources (Optional)

Wordle

Wordle as Beautiful Visualization

Check Out Tagxedo, A Ridiculously Cool Word Cloud Generator

On Being Connected: George Siemen's Presentation Today

Access and Equality in Online Classes and Virtual Schools

Voki

Multimedia Resources for Educators and Students

Tips for Effectively Teaching with Your Multimedia Presentation

Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling

The Rise of K-12 Blended Learning

Session 3

Readings

Creating & Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Social--And Educational--Networking

Trend Data for Teens

Working with the Virtual Student

Key Facilitator Roles

Essential Principles of High-Quality Online Teaching

Toward a Theory of Online Learning

A New Bloom

Communication and Collaboration 2.0

Online Interactivity for Educators: A Teacher's Tour of YouTube

Teachers Tap Video-Sharing in the Classroom

Lights, Camera, Learning!

21^st century in Dynamic Media

Cool Tools for Teaching Online: New Media/Web 2.0

Howard Gardner, Multiple Intelligences and Education

Students' preferred learning styles

Teach to Students' Learning Styles

Videos

A Vision of Students Today

The Machine Is Us/ing Us

Interactives

PBS LearningMedia

A Simple Multiple Intelligence Inventory

What's Your Learning Style?

Additional Resources (Optional)

ISTE Standards for Students

Profiles for Technology (ICT) Literate Students

Management and Operations of Online Programs: Ensuring Quality and Accountability

How Do [They] Even Do That? Myths and Facts About the Impact of Technology on the Lives of American Teens

How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School

Session 4

Readings

Toward a Theory of Online Learning

Course Design and Online Group Collaboration - What's the Connection?

BE VOCAL: Characteristics of Successful Online Instructors

Successful Online Discussion and Collaboration: Techniques for Facilitation

New Skills for a New Century: Students Thrive on Cooperation and Problem Solving

Collaborative Classrooms

How to Survive Virtual Group Work

Collaborative Learning: Group Work and Study Teams

Netiquette Resources

NetSmartz Workshop

Research Committee Issues Brief: Examining Communication and Interaction in Online Teaching

Videos

My Online Learning Community

Collaborating Online: How to Get the Most From Group Work

Protecting Reputations Online in Plain English

Additional Resources (Optional)

Four Web 2.0 Collaborative-Writing Tools

Google Docs

Google for Educators: Teach Collaborative Revision with Google Docs

Atomic Learning: Google Docs - A Focus on Documents

Google Docs in Plain English

Session 5

Readings

The Art of Hosting Good Conversations Online

How to Guide from the Side and Stay out of the Middle - Practical Strategies that Work

Full Spectrum Questioning for Critical Thinking

Just What Is a Landscape?

Why Don't Face-to-Face Teaching Strategies Work In the Virtual Classroom?

Tone

Guidelines for Crafting Effective Announcements

Interactives

Skype

Tones of Voice

Additional Resources (Optional)

Using Skype in the Classroom (or just learning how to use it!)

Session 6

Readings

National Standards for Quality Online Courses

National Standards for Quality Online Teaching

Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning 2010: An Annual Review of Policy and Practice

Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning 2011: An Annual Review of Policy and Practice

When Failure Is Not An Option: Designing Competency-Based Pathways for Next Generation Learning

Understanding Rubrics

Kathy Schrock's Assessment & Rubric Information

Discussion, Participation and Feedback in Online Courses

Additional Resources (Optional)

Cracking the Code: Synchronizing Policy and Practice for Performance-Based Learning

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Rubric: Group Collaboration Assignment

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Criteria	Unsatisfactory	Satisfactory	Exemplary
Completion of Assignment and Timeliness	The learner does not complete the assignment and/or does not submit the assignment on time.	N/A	The learner completes the assignment and submits it on time.
Group Collaboration and Communication	There is little evidence of suggestions or collaboration between group members.	Everyone has a job to do, and there is evidence that some members are trying to help each other with questions and suggestions.	Everyone works together using his or her abilities and knowledge to make the project come together. There is evidence that everyone is sharing and improving as a result of group communication.
Individual Participation	Contributions are insignificant and/or he/she rarely has a positive attitude toward the group and project.	Contributes some, but other members contribute more. Has a positive attitude toward the group and project.	A true team member who contributes an equal share of work and encourages and supports others with a positive attitude toward the group and project.
Clarity	The information in the document is inconsistent and difficult to understand. The document contains many errors in spelling and grammar.	The information in the document is presented clearly. The document contains few errors in spelling or grammar.	The information in the document is clear, thorough, and well organized. The document does not contain any errors in spelling or grammar.
Collaborative Strategies and Activities	The document does not include 16-20 collaborative group activities or strategies that will build community and/or the information for one or more of the strategies is incomplete. And/or the activities and strategies are not organized by grade band.	The document includes 16-20 collaborative group activities or strategies that will build community. Each activity/strategy includes a title, brief description, and any additional links or information. The activities or strategies are organized by grade band and there are 4-5 strategies or activities for each grade band.	The document includes 16-20 collaborative group activities or strategies that will build community. Each activity/strategy includes a title, brief description, and any additional links or information. The activities or strategies are organized by grade band and there are 4-5 strategies or activities for each grade band. The activities are appropriate for each grade band and for the online learning environment.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S1.4 Virtual Teaching Tools

2019-03-19T15:56:54-04:00

In this section, you will explore some of the tools you will have the opportunity to use as a virtual teacher to communicate with your students.

Electronic Communication

Now that we have reviewed some of the basic ideas and principles behind learning online, let's explore what online tools are available for virtual teachers to help instruct and communicate with students. We know that technology is a great tool for learning, but it also supports communication. Electronic communication has the potential to enhance and reinforce learning. The mere act of reaching out to others online--whether through e-mail, ask-an-expert sites, or an educational blog--can result in more excitement about a certain subject matter, sometimes inspiring students to go beyond stated expectations. The use of electronic communication in the virtual classroom also promotes the philosophy of "teacher as facilitator" because the students can take charge of their learning by communicating with others.

Read "Building Better Instruction: How Technology Supports Nine Research-Proven Instructional Strategies," which describes nine categories of instructional strategies that are most likely to lead to enhanced student achievement. The article gives concrete examples of readily available technologies that support each category. As you read, think about which strategies you are already using in your current practice and which ones you might want to add to your virtual teaching repertoire.

Now read "E-learning 2.0 - How Web Technologies are Shaping Education," which describes several Web 2.0 tools such as blogs and media sharing sites, and their impact on student learning. Pay particular attention to the author's use of blogs to engage students.

Educational Blogs

The blog or web-log is increasingly finding a home in education. A blog is basically just a journal on the web--a place where you can reflect on what you are learning. When you update your blog, you are blogging and someone who keeps a blog is called a blogger. Watch the humorous "Blogs in Plain English" video for an overview of how blogs began and how they can create community.

There are several reasons for any educator (face-to-face or online) to maintain a blog. Read "Writing with Weblogs: Reinventing Student Journals" to explore some of the pedagogical benefits of using blogs in the classroom. You many want to jot down a few of the tools that you are interested in learning more about or using in the future as we are going to revisit this topic in Session 3.

Community Building Tips:

Blogs are an effective tool for building community between you and your online students, your fellow virtual educators and between students themselves. As a virtual teacher, you can use a blog in many ways, including to:

Store resources you find on a particular subject.
Evaluate the resources and keep a record of your thoughts.
Reflect on the use of the resources in the classroom.
Share your resources with other educators or your students and their families.
Invite comments from others on what you have written.

You may wish to spend some time exploring different educational blogs. Begin by exploring the following blog portals:

Warning! Remember to review the social media policies and procedures for your school, district, and/or company. You must carefully review anything and everything you write or share online. In case you're not convinced, read "Teacher Blog Controversy in Pennsylvania Points to Need for Social Media Guidelines," which discusses one educator's decision to post inappropriate comments about her students in a blog she thought was private, and the resulting events and controversy associated with her actions.

Check out Other Course Resources for resources on how to create your own blog.

Get to Know Each Other

Remember to go back to the "Get to Know You" discussion forum and continue meeting and greeting your fellow online learners.

Citations and References

Brabec, K., Fisher, K., & Pitler, H. (2004, February). Building better instruction: How technology supports nine research-proven instructional strategies. Retrieved from http://www.mcrel.org/pdf/educationtechnology/9713IR_BuildingBetterInstruction.pdf

Bull, G., Bull, G., & Kajder, S. (2003). Writing with weblogs: Reinventing student journals (mining the internet). Learning & Leading with Technology, 31(1), 32-35.

O'Hear. S. (2006, August 8). E-Learning 2.0 - How web technologies are shaping education. ReadWriteWeb. Retrieved from http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/e-learning_20.php

Watson, J., Murin, A., Vashaw, L., Gemin, B., & Rapp, C. (2011). Keeping pace with K-12 online learning: An annual review of policy and practice. Retrieved from http://kpk12.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/EEG_KeepingPace2011-lr.pdf

Additional Resources (Optional)

Essential Principles of High-Quality Online Teaching: Guidelines for Evaluating K-12 Online Teachers This foundational report from the Southern Regional Education Board provides an excellent overview of an effective virtual teacher.

Going Virtual! 2010: The Status of Professional Development and Unique Needs of K-12 Online Teachers This report from Boise State University provides an interesting discussion and research findings about online teaching and professional development for virtual teachers.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S2.1 Introduction

2019-03-19T15:56:54-04:00

"...a course can be beautifully constructed but if the instructor does not teach using techniques appropriate to the online classroom, the course experience will not be a good one for either the instructor or the students."

-- Palloff & Pratt (2003)

Overview

As you learned in Session 1, online learning is becoming more common in the K-12 environment, and teaching online is not about taking our old lesson plans and transposing them onto the Internet. Teachers need training and assistance in learning how to make use of the Internet in ways that create success for their students. Whether you teach in a blended situation or fully online, there are techniques you can learn and tools you can use to ensure success. In this session, we will look at the many different roles you may assume as a virtual teacher in an online class or course. You will also begin building an eLearning Toolbox by creating a welcome message and introduction that you will be able to use in your own professional practice. Let's get started!

Objectives

By the end of this session, you will:

Discuss the characteristics of an effective virtual teacher.
Create a friendly welcome message that provides students with logistical and content information about a course.
Create a professional introduction that shares information with virtual students.

If you haven't done so already, print the Assignment Checklist to keep track of your assignments for this course.

Community Building Tips:

You may have noticed that Sessions 1 and 2 began with images called word clouds. You'll see more word clouds in the next sessions as well. Word or tag clouds are the visual depiction of a word in a piece of writing. Often times they are used to study and analyze the words on a Web site called "tags". Word cloud generators range in features, usually emphasizing the more frequently used words by color and/or size. These word clouds were created using Wordle with words taken from the session. The more times a word is used, the larger it appears in the word cloud. This is a great technique to use in an online class because word clouds not only draw attention to the focus of the session, but they also appeal to visual learners who like to see drawings or visual representations of their learning.

Word clouds can also be a community building tool as students can create and share word clouds to communicate their thinking and learning. Moreover, they are fun and easy to create!

Explore the following resources if you wish to learn more about using word clouds and other word cloud tools:

Wordle This is one of the premiere tools of the word cloud world. This tool is even featured in a book on "beautiful visualization". See "Wordle as Beautiful Visualization" for more information.

"Check Out Tagxedo, A Ridiculously Cool Word Cloud Generator" Read about Tagxedo, for which the developers got their inspiration from Wordle.

"More Than Wordle... Ten Other Word Cloud Generators... Providing Unique Features - by Michael Gorman" This article provides information on additional word cloud generators, including the unique ways they can be integrated into the classroom.

"On Being Connected: George Siemen's Presentation Today" Vicki Davis, in her Cool Cat Teacher Blog, writes about how word clouds can help students draw conclusions and express opinions.

Citations and References

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2001). Lessons from the cyberspace classroom: The realties of online teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Inc.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S3.4 Look Ahead

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In this session, you looked at characteristics of virtual students and strategies and techniques to help them be successful in the online learning environment. In the next session, you will build on these ideas as we look at techniques virtual teachers can use to foster collaboration in the online environment. You will also begin a small-group assignment with your fellow learners in this course that is due by the end of Session 5.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S1.5 Look Ahead

2019-03-19T15:56:54-04:00

In this session, you looked at the online learning environment and how it is a connection between pedagogy, tool use, and virtual teachers. We hope that at this time you have also become comfortable with Moodle (this course delivery platform) and are able to navigate around the course easily.

In Session 2, you will look at the many roles or "hats" that the virtual teacher wears and some techniques and tools that will ensure your success as a virtual teacher. You will also begin creating an eLearning Toolbox by practicing some of the activities virtual teachers are expected to complete as part of their daily responsibilities. You will also continue the discussion from this session about the characteristics of an effective virtual teacher.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Course Design and Elements

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Course Design

The design and structure of PBS TeacherLine courses are based on best practices and current research that highlights the importance of online learning communities. This is not a self-paced course for a learner to complete in isolation. In fact, most new ideas are formed through collaboration with other participants. Some key course design features include:

Collaboration: Group interaction among learners and the facilitator is crucial to a successful online learning experience. The discussion board area allows you and your fellow learners to create a supportive community which fosters learning.
Scheduled Online Discussions: Discussions are initiated by your facilitator at scheduled intervals throughout the course. This allows you and your colleagues to focus on the same topic at the same time and engage in high-quality group discussions.
Asynchronous Communication: You and your fellow learners may not always log in to the course at the same time, but you will still have meaningful interactions. Discussion boards allow you to communicate, but at times that fit your varying schedules.
Purposeful Virtual Spaces: Some online communication is more appropriate than others, depending on the situation. In this course you will have academic, technical, and course-related discussions in the discussion forums. You should share more personal information with your facilitator and other learners through e-mail.

Course Elements

The following list highlights the core elements in a PBS TeacherLine course. Having a solid understanding of how they work together, will help you to successfully complete your coursework.

Syllabus: An outline that lists course requirements, assessment criteria, course content, expectations, and other relevant information.
Assessment Rubrics: Your facilitator will evaluate your coursework and performance using rubrics found in the Assessment Criteria area. Familiarize yourself with the rubrics and refer to them often throughout the course.
Sessions: The course is divided into 6 sessions, each taking about seven to eight hours to complete.
Assignments: Within each session, you will be required to complete assignments that support the overall goals and objectives of the course.
Session Resources: This area provides a compilation of readings, interactives, video, and Web sites used throughout the course.
Assignment Checklist: A tool to help you manage your assignments.
Discussion Forum: A tool used to support online collaboration.
Surveys: An area where you access online surveys for the course.

Course Icons

Resources from PBS television programs, pbskids.org and pbsparents.org -

Interactive - Discussion - Journal - Video -

Audio - Reading - Survey - Paper -

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S3.1 Introduction

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"Gone are the days when it was assumed online learning was only for gifted students. Today, many students who struggle in traditional classrooms find that they fare better online. You'll find successful learners in online ESOL and reading courses and in programs specifically for at-risk students. Why? In a word: flexibility. Online learning allows students to choose when, where, and at what pace they want to learn, so personalization is possible in ways that, before now, few educators or students could imagine."

- Watson, J. (2009)

Overview

In Session 2, you began looking at the many roles of a virtual teacher. You investigated some of the different types of communications possible in an online course and you applied what you learned by creating a welcome message and a professional introduction to add to your eLearning Toolbox. In this session, we will look at the characteristics of virtual students and learn how we can enhance the course content to ensure their success. You will continue talking with your online peers in the discussion forum and will also complete a review of a web-based tool for your eLearning Toolbox.

Objectives

By the end of this session, you will:

Discuss the characteristics of effective virtual students and how to ensure students are successful in the online learning environment.
Explore, analyze, and review a web-based tool.

If you haven't done so already, print the Assignment Checklist to keep track of your assignments for this course.

Citations and References

Watson, J., & Butch Gemin Evergreen Consulting Associates. (2009, April). Management and operations of online programs: Ensuring quality and accountability. iNACOL. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED509622.pdf

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S4.1 Introduction

2019-03-19T15:56:54-04:00

"Students in the online learning environment should not feel alone and isolated but instead that they are a part of a learning community that is working together to achieve learning outcomes and generate knowledge."

- Palloff & Pratt (2003)

Overview

In Session 3, you looked at characteristics of virtual students and strategies and techniques to help them be successful in the online learning environment. In this session, you will continue to reflect on the many roles (or "hats") of the virtual teacher, including pedagogical, managerial, social, and technical. In each role, communicating and interacting with students in order to encourage collaborative learning is key. In this session, you will learn about group collaboration and will complete an assignment within a small group.

Objectives

By the end of this session, you will:

Discuss the virtual teacher's role in online discussions.
Communicate and collaborate in a small group to develop group collaborative strategies and activities to use with virtual students.

If you haven't done so already, print the Assignment Checklist to keep track of your assignments for this course.

Citations and References

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2003). The virtual student: A profile and guide to working with online learners. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S6.4 Look Back

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In this section, you will review what you have learned in this course by finishing the Course Expectations & Learning Goals assignment from Session 1. You will also say goodbye to your fellow online learners.

Assignment: Course Expectations & Learning Goals

In Session 1, you began this assignment by reflecting on your prior knowledge about virtual teaching and your expectations and learning goals for this course. Return to your reflection and review your work. Now, spend about forty minutes reflecting on what you have learned in this course. In the same word-processing document that you began in Session 1, record your answers to the following prompts:

Have you succeeded in gaining the knowledge and skills you had hoped for? Be specific.
What is the most important information you learned in this course?
What new knowledge and/or techniques did you learn that you could apply to your practice?
What questions do you still have about facilitating online and being a virtual teacher?

Remember to carefully review the assessment rubric to understand the expectations for this assignment. Submit this assignment to your facilitator by the end of this session using the "Assignment: Course Expectations & Learning Goals" dropbox.

Course Evaluation Survey

Complete the Post-Course Evaluation Survey. The information from the survey is very important, as it will help PBS TeacherLine to evaluate and improve the training and support it offers to teachers and educators.

Say Goodbye

Since this is the end of the course, why not spend a few minutes saying goodbye to your fellow learners? Go to the Virtual Café forum and wrap up any ongoing conversations.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S6.5 Look Ahead

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Session 6: Assessment and Providing Feedback

Introduction
Assessment and Evaluation
Rubrics and Feedback
Look Back
Look Ahead

Congratulations! You have explored techniques, strategies, and readings that will help you become an effective and successful virtual teacher in the K-12 environment. We wish you the best of luck in your virtual teaching endeavors. We recommend that you continue to look for opportunities to hone your skills and develop as an educator and professional. Please consider coming back to PBS TeacherLine for your online professional development needs and to increase your knowledge about using technology in your classroom, building students' 21^st century skills, and implementing research-based content strategies.

We look forward to seeing you again soon!

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S5.1 Introduction

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"There is no single way to be a 'good' moderator—there are many effective and different styles. In fact, a successful moderator develops their own, unique style to develop and expand the network of conversations within the community. One of my favorite litmus tests for an online community—or any other online interactions—is that if a behavior is likely to be successful in an in-person setting, then it is likely to work online. The hallmarks of an effective or interesting network dialogue are very similar to those of a good person-to-person conversation: a meaningful exchange of knowledge, sentiments, observations, opinions and ideas. Effective online moderating is about creating successful interpersonal communications in a virtual space."

— Vanessa DiMauro (2011)

Overview

In Session 4, you learned how important communication is in the online environment. You looked at how the online teacher uses communication to encourage collaboration with the student and the parent. In this session, you will look at and practice communication techniques. You will learn how to deepen the learning within the discussion forums and you will practice creating a landscape post and an announcement. Remember, your Group Collaboration Assignment is also due by the end of this session. This is a busy session, so let's get started!

Objectives

By the end of this session, you will:

Communicate and collaborate in a small group to develop group collaborative strategies and activities to use with virtual students.
Discuss the effectiveness of full-spectrum questioning for facilitating discussions with virtual students.
Create a facilitator's landscape post that helps a discussion move forward and reflects a specific tone of voice.
Create an informative announcement for students.

If you haven't done so already, print the Assignment Checklist to keep track of your assignments for this course.

Citations and References

DiMauro, V. (2011, March 1). Moderating online communities: The SEE method. Retrieved from http://socialmediatoday.com/vanessa-dimauro/274416/moderating-online-communities-see-method

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S2.5 Look Ahead

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In this session, you examined some of the various roles of the facilitator in an online environment and created a welcome message and professional introduction. Both assignments should be posted in your eLearning Toolbox by the end of this session.

In Session 3, you will explore the learning characteristics of virtual students and discuss how you can reach and teach all virtual students. You will also complete another assignment for your eLearning Toolbox by reviewing a web-based tool that may be appropriate to use in the online learning environment.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Assignment Checklist

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Before You Begin

Task	Assessment
Complete: Pre-Course Evaluation Survey

Session 1: The Online Environment

Task	Assessment
Getting Started View: Managing Profile video tutorial Edit: Your Profile Introduce Yourself: Get to Know Each Other Begin: Course Expectations and Learning Goals	Course Expectations & Learning Goals Rubric
Online Learning Today Read: "A National Primer on Online Learning," Chapters 1 and 2 Read: "Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning 2010: An Annual Review of Policy and Practice" Read: "National Standards for Quality Online Courses" Read: "Toward a Theory of Online Learning," pp 33-43 Read: "The Virtual Classroom Redefines Education" View: "The Virtual Classroom: Online Learning"
Effective Virtual Teachers Read: "Continuous Quality Improvement Through Professional Development for Online K-12 Instructors," pp 5-10 Read: "Standards for Quality Online Teaching" Read: "Sections III and IV, Preparing and Supporting Online Teachers" Review: Your state standards Discuss: Effective Virtual Teachers	Discussion Forum Participation Rubric
Virtual Teaching Tools Read: "Building Better Instruction: How Technology Supports Nine Research-Proven Instructional Strategies" Read: "E-learning 2.0 – How Web Technologies are Shaping Education" View: "Blogs in Plain English" Read: "Writing with Weblogs: Reinventing Student Journals"

Session 2: The Effective Virtual Teacher

Task	Assessment
Roles of an Online Facilitator Read: "Blended Learning: The Convergence of Online and Face-to-Face Education," pp 3-5 Read: "Virtual Schooling Standards and Best Practices for Teacher Education," Table 3 and Teachers' Roles Read: "Key Facilitator Roles" Read: "The Hats of the Online Educator" from Making the Move to eLearning: Putting Your Course Online Discuss: Effective Virtual Teachers	Discussion Forum Participation Rubric
Virtual Teacher as Course Manager Read: "NEA Guide to Teaching Online," Section IV Read: "Teaching Courses Developed by Others" Read: Welcome Messages Read: "Sample Welcome Letter" Read: Sample Syllabus Complete: eLearning Toolbox 1: Welcome Message	eLearning Toolbox 1: Welcome Message Rubric
Virtual Teacher as Coach Read: "Key Facilitator Roles," pp 49-75 Read: Sample Introduction Complete: eLearning Toolbox 2: Introduction	eLearning Toolbox 2: Introduction Rubric

Task

Assessment

Roles of an Online Facilitator

Read: "Blended Learning: The Convergence of Online and Face-to-Face Education," pp 3-5

Read: "Virtual Schooling Standards and Best Practices for Teacher Education," Table 3 and Teachers' Roles

Read: "Key Facilitator Roles"

Read: "The Hats of the Online Educator" from Making the Move to eLearning: Putting Your Course Online

Discuss: Effective Virtual Teachers

Discussion Forum Participation Rubric

Virtual Teacher as Course Manager

Read: "NEA Guide to Teaching Online," Section IV

Read: "Teaching Courses Developed by Others"

Read: Welcome Messages

Read: "Sample Welcome Letter"

Read: Sample Syllabus

Complete: eLearning Toolbox 1: Welcome Message

eLearning Toolbox 1: Welcome Message Rubric

Virtual Teacher as Coach

Read: "Key Facilitator Roles," pp 49-75

Read: Sample Introduction

Complete: eLearning Toolbox 2: Introduction

eLearning Toolbox 2: Introduction Rubric

Session 3: Working with Virtual Students

Task	Assessment
The Virtual Student Read: "Different Trend Data for Teens" Watch: "A Vision of Students Today" Watch: "The Machine is Us/ing Us" Read: "Profile of Students Seeking Online Degrees" Read: "Working with the Virtual Student" pp 107-124 Read: "Key Facilitator Roles," pp 52-64 Read: "Essential Principles of High-Quality Online Teaching" Discuss: Characteristics of the Virtual Student	Discussion Forum Participation Rubric
Course Enhancements Read: "Bloom's Taxonomy" Read: A New Bloom Read: "Communication and Collaboration 2.0" Read: "Online Interactivity for Educators: A Teacher's Tour of YouTube" Read: "Teachers Tap Video-Sharing in the Classroom" Explore: "PBS LearningMedia" Read: "Lights, Camera, Learning" Read: "Dynamic Media" Explore: Cool Tools Read: "Howard Gardner, Multiple Intelligences and Education" Explore: A Simple Multiple Intelligence Inventory Explore: What's Your Learning Style? Read: "Planning lessons for students' preferred learning styles" Read: "Teach to Students' Learning Styles" Complete: eLearning Toolbox 3: Web-based Tool Review	eLearning Toolbox 3: Web-based Tool Review Rubric

Task

Assessment

The Virtual Student

Read: "Different Trend Data for Teens"

Watch: "A Vision of Students Today"

Watch: "The Machine is Us/ing Us"

Read: "Profile of Students Seeking Online Degrees"

Read: "Working with the Virtual Student" pp 107-124

Read: "Key Facilitator Roles," pp 52-64

Read: "Essential Principles of High-Quality Online Teaching"

Discuss: Characteristics of the Virtual Student

Discussion Forum Participation Rubric

Course Enhancements

Read: "Bloom's Taxonomy"

Read: A New Bloom

Read: "Communication and Collaboration 2.0"

Read: "Online Interactivity for Educators: A Teacher's Tour of YouTube"

Read: "Teachers Tap Video-Sharing in the Classroom"

Explore: "PBS LearningMedia"

Read: "Lights, Camera, Learning"

Read: "Dynamic Media"

Explore: Cool Tools

Read: "Howard Gardner, Multiple Intelligences and Education"

Explore: A Simple Multiple Intelligence Inventory

Explore: What's Your Learning Style?

Read: "Planning lessons for students' preferred learning styles"

Read: "Teach to Students' Learning Styles"

Complete: eLearning Toolbox 3: Web-based Tool Review

eLearning Toolbox 3: Web-based Tool Review Rubric

Session 4: Fostering Learning with Collaboration

Task	Assessment
Roles of Interaction Read: "Toward a Theory of Online Learning," pp 43-55 Read "BE VOCAL: Characteristics of Successful Online Instructors" Discuss: Communication as a Means to Collaboration	Discussion Forum Participation Rubric
Collaborative Learning Watch: "My Online Learning Community" Read: "Managing-and Motivating! – Distance Learning Group Activities" Read: "New Skills for a New Century: Students Thrive on Cooperation and Problem Solving" Read one or more: "Collaborative Classrooms" "Collaborating Online: How to Get the Most from Group Work" "How to Survive Virtual Group Work" "Collaborative Learning: Group Work and Study Teams" Begin: Group Collaboration Assignment Read: "Research Committee Issues Brief: Examining Communication and Interaction in Online Teaching"	Group Collaboration Assignment Rubric

Task

Assessment

Roles of Interaction

Read: "Toward a Theory of Online Learning," pp 43-55

Read "BE VOCAL: Characteristics of Successful Online Instructors"

Discuss: Communication as a Means to Collaboration

Discussion Forum Participation Rubric

Collaborative Learning

Watch: "My Online Learning Community"

Read: "Managing-and Motivating! – Distance Learning Group Activities"

Read: "New Skills for a New Century: Students Thrive on Cooperation and Problem Solving"

Read one or more:

"Collaborative Classrooms"
"Collaborating Online: How to Get the Most from Group Work"
"How to Survive Virtual Group Work"
"Collaborative Learning: Group Work and Study Teams"

Begin: Group Collaboration Assignment

Read: "Research Committee Issues Brief: Examining Communication and Interaction in Online Teaching"

Group Collaboration Assignment Rubric

Session 5: Communication Techniques

Task	Assessment
Deepening the Learning Read: "The Art of Hosting Good Conversations Online" Read: "How to Guide from the Side and Stay out of the Middle - Practical Strategies that Work" Read: "Full Spectrum Questioning for Critical Thinking" Discuss: Full-Spectrum Questioning in the Real World	Discussion Forum Participation Rubric
Guiding the Conversation Read: "Just what is a Landscape?" Read: "Why Don't Face-to-Face Teaching Strategies Work in the Virtual Classroom?" Read: "Tone" Explore: Tones of Voice interactive Complete: eLearning Toolbox 4: Landscape Post	eLearning Toolbox 4: Landscape Post Rubric
Announcements Read: "Guidelines for Crafting Effective Announcements" Complete: eLearning Toolbox 5: Announcement Complete: Group Collaboration Assignment	eLearning Toolbox 5: Announcement Rubric Group Collaboration Rubric

Task

Assessment

Deepening the Learning

Read: "The Art of Hosting Good Conversations Online"

Read: "How to Guide from the Side and Stay out of the Middle - Practical Strategies that Work"

Read: "Full Spectrum Questioning for Critical Thinking"

Discuss: Full-Spectrum Questioning in the Real World

Discussion Forum Participation Rubric

Guiding the Conversation

Read: "Just what is a Landscape?"

Read: "Why Don't Face-to-Face Teaching Strategies Work in the Virtual Classroom?"

Read: "Tone"

Explore: Tones of Voice interactive

Complete: eLearning Toolbox 4: Landscape Post

eLearning Toolbox 4: Landscape Post Rubric

Announcements

Read: "Guidelines for Crafting Effective Announcements"

Complete: eLearning Toolbox 5: Announcement

Complete: Group Collaboration Assignment

eLearning Toolbox 5: Announcement Rubric

Group Collaboration Rubric

Session 6: Assessment and Providing Feedback

Task	Assessment
Assessment and Evaluation Read: "National Standards for Quality Online Courses," pp 7-19 Read: "National Standards for Quality Online Teaching," Standard D Read: "Assessing online students and schools" Read: "Competency-based Learning" Read: "When Failure Is Not An Option: Designing Competency-Based Pathways for Next Generation Learning" Discuss: Competency-Based Learning	Discussion Forum Participation Rubric
Rubrics and Feedback Read: "National Standards for Quality Online Courses" Read: "Understanding Rubrics" Explore: "Kathy Schrock's Assessment & Rubric Information" Read: "Assessment and Feedback" Complete: eLearning Toolbox 6: Providing Feedback	eLearning Toolbox 6: Providing Feedback Rubric
Look Back Complete: Course Expectations and Learning Goals Complete: Post-Course Evaluation Survey	Course Expectations & Learning Goals Rubric

Task

Assessment

Assessment and Evaluation

Read: "National Standards for Quality Online Courses," pp 7-19

Read: "National Standards for Quality Online Teaching," Standard D

Read: "Assessing online students and schools"

Read: "Competency-based Learning"

Read: "When Failure Is Not An Option: Designing Competency-Based Pathways for Next Generation Learning"

Discuss: Competency-Based Learning

Discussion Forum Participation Rubric

Rubrics and Feedback

Read: "National Standards for Quality Online Courses"

Read: "Understanding Rubrics"

Explore: "Kathy Schrock's Assessment & Rubric Information"

Read: "Assessment and Feedback"

Complete: eLearning Toolbox 6: Providing Feedback

eLearning Toolbox 6: Providing Feedback Rubric

Look Back

Complete: Course Expectations and Learning Goals

Complete: Post-Course Evaluation Survey

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Policies and Procedures

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Policies

Be respectful of your facilitator and fellow learners and offer appropriate feedback and comments.
If you plan to be away from the class for more than three days, notify your facilitator and any learners who may be affected by your absence beforehand.
Check current PBS TeacherLine Terms of Service regarding refunds and other policies.
Participate in course discussions/activities at least three times each week. Your first discussion communication should occur by the third day of the course. Your subsequent responses should occur naturally, move the conversation forward, and support the building of your online community. Your participation in discussions is crucial to the success of this course. Be ready to participate and contribute.
If you need support with technical issues, adjusting to online learning, understanding an assignment, or participating in the discussion forums, it is your responsibility to actively seek help until your needs are met.

Procedures

Following these procedures will help you to maximize your online learning experience and support the development of your learning community.

If you haven't done so already, complete PBS TeacherLine's free online learning orientation mini-course, Practice Learning Online with TeacherLine. Even if you have taken an online course through another provider, you should review this practice course to familiarize yourself with the PBS TeacherLine course environment.
Respond to the comments of others professionally and respectfully, keeping in mind that all communications are public.
Familiarize yourself with this course by exploring each section. By the second day of the course, you should have read the syllabus and e-mailed your facilitator with any questions or concerns.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Online Journal Rubric

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The PBS TeacherLine online journal is used to facilitate the documentation of knowledge you are constructing throughout the course. It will help you take control of and direct your own learning experience, identify what you have learned, what questions you have, and what you would like to know more about. You should not only reflect on knowledge gained through materials and discussion, but also new ideas to explore, feedback from others, and the impact and possible change in professional practice.

In the sessions that have journal items, you will be prompted to write reflections in response to one or two specific questions. These questions will encourage you to use the course content, your prior knowledge, and your experience to craft your responses. Bring your current classroom responsibilities into your reflections when appropriate. Your facilitator will review your reflections and provide feedback based on the rubric presented below.

Reflection is an opportunity to construct knowledge and meaning from your work. It is one of the most valuable activities you will perform in this course. Consider the following suggestions when you are crafting your responses in the online journal. Your facilitator will be looking for evidence of these suggestions to assess the quality of your reflections.

Your reflections should be written during the session in which they are being addressed. Keep in mind that the main purpose of this exercise is to help you construct meaning and self-assess your progress.
Your reflections should be thorough and thoughtful. Support your ideas by using examples, readings, experiences from your own professional practice, other course work, etc.
Your reflections should be within a range of 2-5 paragraphs.
Your reflections should address the question or problem. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to think about your thinking and your learning. Make sure your reflections have depth and reflect critical thinking, analysis, and synthesis.
Your reflections should be complete and free of grammatical or structural errors.
The "Getting Started" and "Look Back" entries are not assessed.

	Unsatisfactory	Satisfactory	Exemplary
Demonstrates content knowledge, understanding and application gained from assignments	Reflections show very little evidence of understanding course content knowledge, or application of content in professional practice.	Reflections demonstrate understanding of course content knowledge and application of content in professional practice using prior knowledge when applicable. Reflections include critical thinking and synthesis.	Reflections demonstrate understanding of course content knowledge and application of course content in professional practice using prior knowledge and other resources when applicable. Reflections include critical thinking and synthesis. Reflections connect course concepts with other concepts in the subject matter area.
Completion of reflections and timeliness	The learner does not complete reflections and/or does not submit reflections on time.	N/A	The learner completes reflections and submits them on time.

Unsatisfactory

Satisfactory

Exemplary

Demonstrates content knowledge, understanding and application gained from assignments

Reflections show very little evidence of understanding course content knowledge, or application of content in professional practice.

Reflections demonstrate understanding of course content knowledge and application of content in professional practice using prior knowledge when applicable.

Reflections include critical thinking and synthesis.

Reflections demonstrate understanding of course content knowledge and application of course content in professional practice using prior knowledge and other resources when applicable.

Reflections include critical thinking and synthesis.

Reflections connect course concepts with other concepts in the subject matter area.

Completion of reflections and timeliness

The learner does not complete reflections and/or does not submit reflections on time.

N/A

The learner completes reflections and submits them on time.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S5.2 Deepening the Learning

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In this section, you will explore how online discussions can be used to deepen students' understanding of the course content and the virtual teacher's role as the facilitator of these discussions.

Types of Communication

Students can communicate with you and each other in two ways in the online learning environment:

In synchronous communications, students must be chatting at the same time, but they don't have to be in the same location. Most platforms have a chat feature built into the platform where students can communicate with others via text-based messaging. Skype is a free download that will allow students to video chat with each other. Chat meetings can also be augmented by the use of other tools, such as message boards. Read "The Art of Hosting Good Conversations Online" for some tips on leading a synchronous chat.

Technology Tip: Using Skype

Explore the following resources if you think you might like to utilize Skype for synchronous video conferencing with your virtual students.

"SKYPE in the Classroom" This resource provides tips and advice on using Skype with students.

"Using Skype in the Classroom (or just learning how to use it!)" Vicki Davis shares her experiences using Skype with students in the classroom in this blog post.
The discussions in this PBS TeacherLine course are an example of asynchronous communications. In asynchronous communications, students usually use discussion boards to communicate. It's a shared space for posting messages, graphics, documents, audio and web links that will be seen and heard by other students at a later time. Members of the group can check in to the discussion any time of the day or night, read what has been said up to that point and add their own thoughts. These discussion areas are an excellent place to build communities, share information, and hold on-going conversations.

Assignment: Group Collaboration

In Session 4, you began working with a small group on the Group Collaboration assignment. Consider using a synchronous chat or video tool such as Skype or iChat to communicate in real time about your group work. Your assignment is due at the end of this session so now would be a great time to finalize responsibilities and timelines with your group.

Asynchronous Discussions

The discussions in this course have all begun with questions designed to spark dialogue. As a successful virtual teacher, you must become well acquainted with the quality components of a good discussion prompt—that first posting of each thread in discussion activities. You will likely find discussion prompts already created for you in your future courses, but you may need to modify them to or add new questions to address particular learning styles or issues that your students bring to the course.

Discussions are organic elements; they grow within the course based on students' contributions and co-construction of knowledge. The virtual teacher's role is to deepen the learning. Online teachers can model the tone, define the structure, specify expectations, and set the stage for where and how the discussion will evolve with a proper discussion prompt and follow-up discussion questions.

"How to Guide from the Side and Stay out of the Middle - Practical Strategies that Work" was written by a PBS TeacherLine facilitator for her fellow facilitators of online courses. As a virtual teacher your role will be to guide instruction, but also to facilitate online discussions. Read the guide and think about the techniques that will apply to your work as a virtual teacher guiding students in an online course.

Full-Spectrum Questioning

Now let's take an in-depth look at a practical technique that you can add to your bag of tricks to help support the philosophy of "guiding from the side." Full-spectrum questioning is a technique used to help the virtual teacher to "explore tensions without seeking resolution, examine rationale for beliefs without assigning value, and interpret at different levels, while leaving to the participants the formulation of the driving questions that push a dialogue deeper" (Collison, et. al., 2000). Review "Full Spectrum Questioning for Critical Thinking," which details five categories of questions virtual teachers can use to help students examine their thoughts more deeply. As you review, skim the table header first, then the full table. The categories presented in the chart suggest types of questions that can accomplish this purpose. It's important to realize at the outset, however, that full-spectrum questioning is very different from the questioning strategies most of us have learned to use in the face-to-face environment. The strategies outlined in the chart on full-spectrum questioning are intended to "help the [students] examine their own hypotheses, thoughts, and beliefs, both individually and collectively." They are NOT intended to help students arrive at any predetermined destination on our part as teacher-facilitators. Pay particular attention to the fact that this chart is "not a taxonomy or even a hierarchy of levels of questions for you to work through in a specific sequence. Rather, it presents—like an artist's palette—a more varied, more subtle range of options and potential effects that you can obtain as you pose questions in online discussions."

We're asked to use questions to help our student's value "reflections and uncertainty as bridges to new levels in their own thoughts and examinations of their personal beliefs and assumptions." We want to help our students find new ways of viewing and questioning their own thinking. It's essential that we avoid assigning value or nudging the discussion forward in directions we would choose. It's essential that we leave the ownership of learning with the learners. That is not a comfortable stance for most experienced teachers, and it's what makes full-spectrum questioning a challenging strategy.

Full-spectrum questioning can be employed at any phase of a dialogue, but there are two main categories for its use: "sweeping the decks" and "levering out of a rut":

Sometimes we need to "sweep the decks" by "seeking to clarify terms, teasing apart ideas, or by reframing poorly formed or implicit questions."
Sometimes "conversations confined by a common terminology or set of standard approaches [may] block off paths to new ways of thinking. Issues of validity and certainty of particular sources, helpfulness, and the identification of cause and effect may need highlighting and examination from completely different perspectives." In such cases, full-spectrum questioning can help us to "lever out of a rut."

However, full-spectrum questioning is only one of a much wider set of tools for moderation. "It is structured, relatively easy to apply, but content neutral… [But] overusing a technique like full-spectrum questioning carries potential risks. Among them: competing with participants for ownership of the dialogue's direction; and overly appreciating questions themselves and not participants' grappling with them as centerpieces of the dialogue."

The key ideas above are that full-spectrum questioning is not used to help a dialogue reach resolution, right conclusions, or understanding of a concept. What is most difficult is for the facilitator to employ the strategy in such a way that he/she stays out of the middle of the conversation.

Remember, the virtual teacher as the facilitator of the conversation:

Asks neutral questions and avoids assigning value to the ideas presented.
Does not use questions to drive the direction of the discussion, but to drive the level of discussion deeper.
Stays on the side and assists the participants to determine the direction of the dialogue.

Full-Spectrum Questioning in the Real World

Discuss what you have read and learned in this session about full-spectrum questioning. Go to the "Full-Spectrum Questioning in the Real World" discussion forum and discuss the following prompt with your fellow learners. Be sure to refer to the readings from this session and what you have learned so far in this course to support your comments.

Do you think full-spectrum questioning will be an effective tool for you to use while facilitating discussions with virtual students? Why or why not?

As you complete the rest of the readings and assignments for this session, you should visit the discussion forum two or three more times to read and comment on the postings of at least two of your peers. Refer to the discussion rubric to review the expectations for participating in online discussions in this course.

Citations and References

Collison, G., Elbaum, B., Haavind, S., & Tinker, R. (2000). Facilitating online learning: Effective strategies for moderators. Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing. Used with permission. For ordering information, please see: http://www.atwoodpublishing.com/books/160.htm.

Rheingold, H. (1998). The art of hosting good conversations online. Retrieved from http://www.rheingold.com/texts/artonlinehost.html.

The Concord Consortium. (1999). Full spectrum questioning for critical thinking. Retrieved from http://www.indiana.edu/~icy/document/hallett2.pdf

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S1.1 Introduction

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"...the virtual student believes that high-quality learning can happen anywhere and anytime--not just in the face-to-face classroom. He or she does not feel the need to see and hear classmates or instructors in order to learn from them and feels comfortable working in a relatively unstructured setting."

-- Palloff & Pratt (2003)

Overview

Welcome to the virtual classroom! We're pleased you are here. PBS TeacherLine facilitators have guided thousands of teacher-learners in our online courses for over ten years. We love learning online and are excited that you're interested in becoming a virtual teacher too! Rice and Dawley (2007) shared that 62% of teachers and 26% of administrators report receiving no training prior to teaching online. Congratulations on being part of the percentage of teachers who realize the importance of professional development and embarking on this new adventure in your teaching career!

Virtual teachers are able to apply some of their face-to-face teaching skills to online, but also have to learn a whole new set of skills for teaching online. Throughout this course, you will learn about the varying skill sets of a virtual teacher, which include managerial, technical, social, and pedagogical roles. We will share with you research-based qualities of highly effective virtual teachers and you'll have many opportunities to practice what you learn. So let's put on comfy clothes, find a cozy and quiet space for learning, and start our journey together.

In this first session, you will investigate models of virtual learning and the role of virtual learning in students' lives. What resources are available on the Web for online teaching and learning? What is the role of the virtual teacher in shaping the learning experience for our students? You will look at these questions throughout the course as you try on the many hats of a virtual teacher.

Community building between students working online together and for you as a virtual instructor within a virtual teaching community is an essential component of learning online. So, we will begin by building our community in this PBS TeacherLine course and, throughout our time together, we will also focus on skills for community building that you can use as a virtual teacher.

Objectives

By the end of this session, you will:

Reflect on your prior experiences learning and teaching online.
Define your professional goals and expectations for this course.
Discuss the characteristics of an effective virtual teacher.

To keep track of your assignments for this course, print the Assignment Checklist.

Please note that, due to the ever-changing nature of the Internet, some Web sites mentioned in the articles you are going to be reading in this course may not be working anymore or have changed. If you cannot find a Web site, try going to a search engine such as Google or Yahoo, and typing in the name of the site or article you are looking for. You may also notice that we have included a few articles that are five or more years old. We have kept these articles in this course because they are still relevant in terms of the concepts and ideas presented in them.

This course contains "Technology Tip" boxes, which include instructional tips and "how to's". Please note they are not required for the course but are meant to give additional help and ideas, as needed.

Technology Tip - Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking is a popular web-based tool that displays lists of user-created bookmarks. Using a social bookmarking site eliminates the need to keep a long list of "favorites" and allows the user to access his/her "favorites" from any computer. You can also use these sites to organize, rank, and display the resources to share with others. You can annotate your online resources and tag them with keywords for easy searching. This makes it both a powerful research and collaborative tool. While there are a number of social bookmarking sites, the two that follow are the most popular.

You may wish to use a social bookmarking tool such as Diigo or eLearning Tags to save the resources you explore in this course and in your professional practice.

If you wish to learn more about social bookmarking, check out these videos:

"Social Bookmarking in Plain English"
This light-hearted video tutorial shows how to use Delicious.
"Diigo V3: Highlight & Share the Web! Social Bookmarking 2.0"
This is a comprehensive video tutorial about Diigo.

Getting Started

Let's meet your classmates and begin learning about each other. You'll be working closely with each other, building a rich collaborative learning environment--just like the community you'll want to build in your own online course. Additionally, you will reflect on your prior knowledge and experiences related to the topics of teaching an online course.

Get to Know Each Other

We're going to be spending the next six weeks together, so let's get to know each other! First, update your profile.

Watch the Managing Profile video tutorial [transcript] on how to update your profile.
Click on your name in the blue banner at the top of your screen or in the Administration block in the right sidebar from the home page.
Click on the second "Edit profile" tab and fill in your information. Don't forget to upload your picture!

Next, introduce yourself to your fellow learners in the "Get to Know Each Other" discussion forum. When you introduce yourself, include the following information:

What grades and classes you teach or plan to teach.
Why you are taking this course.
A candy bar that symbolizes your personality and why/how.

Notice your facilitator has started this discussion with a great example. Make sure you use this example as a model for your own post.

Go back to the Course Home page and look for the Quick Links box on the left side of the screen.
Click on "Forums".
Scroll down to the "Get to Know Each Other" discussion forum under Learning forums.
Once the forum opens, you will see the question or prompt from the session and the messages from your facilitator and fellow learners.
Click on "Add a new discussion topic" to write your message. Don't forget to add a subject too!
Click on "Post to forum" (at the bottom of the screen) to post your message to the forum.

Community Building Tips:

As a virtual teacher, you should plan an activity or game for your online group--just like you would to break the ice or shake things up in a face-to-face situation. Icebreakers can be used during the first days of a course and throughout the course to foster an ongoing community. Icebreakers encourage students to participate, allow people to find out a bit more about each other, and get those creative juices flowing. Check out these Virtual Icebreakers for more ideas.

Assignment: Course Expectations & Learning Goals

At this time, you will spend about forty minutes reflecting on your current prior knowledge about virtual teaching and your expectations and learning goals for this course. In a word-processing document, record your answers to the following prompts:

Describe (briefly) your prior experiences learning and teaching in an online environment (if any).
What challenges and successes have you experienced either teaching or learning online?
What are your expectations for this course?
How do you hope this professional development experience will prepare you to be a virtual teacher?

Carefully review the assessment rubric to understand the expectations for this assignment. Your facilitator will be using this rubric to grade and provide feedback on your work. You do not have to submit this assignment to your facilitator at this time. Save your work, as you will return to this assignment in Session 6.

Citations and References

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2003). The virtual student: A profile and guide to working with online learners. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Rice, K., & Dawley, L. (2007). Going virtual! The status of professional development for K-12 online teachers. Retrieved from http://edtech.boisestate.edu/goingvirtual/goingvirtual1.pdf

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Peer Review Guidelines

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Use these guidelines in reviewing a peer's submission.

Reference the rubric when making suggestions.
Share at least one, preferably two aspects of the submission that reflect "satisfactory" criteria from the assignment rubric.
Share at least one, preferably two aspects of the submission that could be improved. Again, reference criteria in the rubric, identify specific areas in the assignment, and make recommendations to improve the areas that are highlighted.
Your choice of words should be objective, professional, and used to improve your peer's learning experience and possible future implementation. Short phrases such as "good job" or "needs improvement" are not sufficient. Your review should be clear and identify specific areas of the submission that are being addressed.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Toolbox: Netiquette Resources

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Definition of Netiquette, excerpted from dictionary.com:

"The most important rule of netiquette is 'Think before you post.'"

Avoid Offending Classmates

Keep Your Voice Down

USING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS online is the equivalent of yelling. Ouch! Instead, use HTML to bold or italicize text in your postings, or use *asterisks* around the text to be emphasized.

Avoid Sarcasm and Subtleties

Hearing spoken words, seeing people's faces and bodies while they talk, and reading dialogue on your computer screen can convey substantially different impressions. Keeping this in mind may help you realize that it's sometimes easier to sound insensitive and hurt someone's feelings or have them miss the point when you're communicating through text only. To counter this, be clear and straightforward with your language.

Just Wait

Assume any comment you read that sounds abrasive wasn't proofread for tone, and wasn't meant to offend. If you're upset, you might wait a little before posting a too-hasty reply that you'll regret later. Unless the author specifically says they're angry, assume otherwise and ask for clarification of their intent.

Make the Extra Effort to Be Courteous

Make it Personal

At the end of each posting, sign your name. It also adds a personal feel when responding to an individual if you address him or her by name.

Be Positive

It's good to express your opinions in discussions, but don't make disagreements personal. Agree to disagree in your exchanges of information and opinions. Keep your interactions with others friendly, especially when you're getting to know each other.

Be Aware of Culture

Be aware of cultural differences. If you suspect classmates might be from other cultures, avoid unexplained references that may not be understood or cause feelings of exclusion.

Use Emoticons

These little icons can be quite effective in supplying primitive facial expressions to supplement your words. If you prefer, use other more direct ways of being sure your intentions are known, for example, by adding phrasing like "just kidding," "no offense intended," or "this is my opinion." Here are just a few examples of emoticons:

:-) - basic smile
;-) - wink
:-D - big smile
:-( - frown
:-o - oh, no!
:-P - tongue out

Write for Readability

Change the Subject

Always enter a new subject for each of your postings, even if you are making an additional comment on the same subject as those above yours. Leaving the default subject tells readers nothing about your particular topic. Unique subjects allow classmates to understand the flow of conversations and relocate particular postings without having to open every one.

Not Too Little, Not Too Much

One word or single phrase responses can seem curt and rude. Use complete sentences and clearly communicate your meaning. Conversely, postings of multiple screens of text can be overwhelming to read online. Compose offline, edit your musings, and consider making bullet points to aid classmates in getting to your point.

What It's About

When replying to a posting, quote the part of the original posting you're replying to help classmates understand the context.

Spell It Out

With spellcheckers now available as add-ins for most popular Web browsers, there's no excuse for inadvertent typos. Also remember that trendy abbreviated spellings are best left outside of online classrooms.

One Final Look

After you compose a posting, take a moment to reread your text before submitting. If it's possible, reading out loud can be especially helpful. One final once-over can identify typos, misstatements, lack of clarity, or an unintended tone.

What's Written is Recorded

Remember that everything you post is recorded in most asynchronous online discussions.

Additional Resource (not required)

For more tips on online communicating, read "Following Netiquette Guidelines" (Web site)

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S2.4 Virtual Teacher as Coach

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In the last section you focused on the virtual teacher's role as a course manager. In this section, you will get out your (virtual) whistle and look at how you can be the team- and community-building coach. Go Team!

Team and Community Building

Review 'The Facilitator As Leader of Group Process' on pages 49-75 from "Key Facilitator Roles" to review the virtual teacher's role as a group process leader. An online community exists only if the members are active and communicating with each other. Students need to feel comfortable in the course, knowing where everything is and how to navigate through the content. Some students drop out of virtual courses because they don't feel the same attention they get in a face-to-face environment. In this section, we'll explore how you can be an effective group process leader to make students feel at ease and attended to so they contribute to the online learning community.

Collison, Elbaum, Haavind, & Tinker (2000) identified eight key roles the virtual teacher should consider as group leader. Review these eight roles and notice how most of them will take place in the discussion forums.

Leading introductory, community-building activities.
Providing virtual "hand holding" to the digitally challenged.
Acknowledging the diversity of participants' backgrounds and interests.
Infusing personality with tone, graphics, and humor.
Maintaining a nurturing pace of responding.
Keeping up with the pace set.
Organizing posts and discussion threads.
Balancing private email and public discussion.

Using Discussion Forums to Build Community

While the discussion forum should provide students with an opportunity to dialogue about the content of the course, there should also be forums that you might customize in order to build the community. NOTE: You will learn more about facilitating conversations in the discussion forum in Session 5.

When trying to build community among your students, consider how you can use your students' abilities and interests to contribute to the learning experience for the group. Your students will have a variety of talents and skills and as the virtual teacher you should build on these talents to help students support each other. Adding additional forums to your course to help facilitate peer relationships while creating a safe and nurturing online environment is a great way to get students to start sharing with their online peers. Review the following examples of additional forums that you could add to a course and consider how you would manage and facilitate the discussion in each case.

Virtual Café or Water Cooler
This space is for students to socialize, thus creating a sense of community. They can talk about what they did last weekend or share stories. This space can also be used for introductions and icebreakers.
Help
This space is for students to ask questions about the technology or the content of the course. As the facilitator, you should check this forum at least once every 24 hours, but you can also encourage other students to respond if they think they know the answer.
Email from the Teacher
This space is used to share group emails. Copying emails into the course environment ensures that students (and their parents) can quicky and easily refer to the emails as needed.
Tutorials
Depending on the type of course you are facilitating, you may want to add a forum where you share course related video tutorials or directions.

Take a few minutes to review these examples in this online course. Explore the spaces with a critical eye as a virtual teacher rather than as a learner in this course.

Hello There!

In the last section, you crafted a welcome message that is your students' first impression of you, their virtual teacher, and the course. In this section, we will look at how an introductory post in the discussion forum adds to and builds on this first impression. The virtual teacher's introductory post in the discussion forum is a professional hello to your students. The characteristics of a quality introduction include:

Written in the first person.
Warm and friendly language (not too formal).
Combination of both personal and professional qualifications.
Simple and clear presentation (not too much HTML).
Understandable, straightforward content (no intimidating jargon, etc.).
White space between paragraphs.

The virtual teacher's introduction can include relevant personal details, like hobbies, family life, etc., and should include a photograph to connect the name with the face. Go back to your facilitator's introduction for this course and look at the model he/she provided. NOTE: In Session 1, you participated in an icebreaker activity to introduce yourself. This is not the same thing as the virtual teacher's introduction. Although the facilitator does participate in the icebreaker activity, it is designed as a fun and friendly way for students to meet and greet each other.

Read this Sample Introduction to see an example of a virtual teacher's introduction. As you read, think about what information you would include about yourself in an introduction.

Technology Tip

Students have a variety of learning styles. You may want to consider using technology tools to create an introduction that is not purely text-based. If you are interested in using new technologies and web-based tools to communicate with students, you can begin by exploring the resources below. As you explore, remember that you must ensure equal access to the content for all your students (e.g., video content should be captioned). Refer to iNACOL's standards regarding access on pages 10-11 in their "Access and Equality in Online Classes and Virtual Schools" report.

Voki

Voki is a free service that enables teachers and students to create an avatar and share messages in 60 seconds or less.

Multimedia Presentations

Multimedia presentations that integrate images, videos, sound, and text are a motivating learning and instructional tool. Virtual teachers can use multimedia to share information with students and students can work collaboratively to create presentations that communicate their understanding of key concepts and ideas. Explore the many resources and tools available at Multimedia Resources for Educators and Students and some tips from "Tips for Effectively Teaching with Your Multimedia Presentation."

Digital Stories

Dynamic media has dramatically changed how to create multimedia presentations, where to find the materials for presentations, and how they can be distributed. It is compelling, exciting, and appealing to students. The integration of dynamic media into the classroom, however, is more than just fun. There are sound educational benefits attributed to its use. The use of dynamic media across curriculum areas helps to promote meaningful learning, bring the real world into the classroom, form connections, and build knowledge. The following website includes digital tools for creating digital stories for students in the DS Software section:

University of Houston: Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling

eLearning Toolbox 2: Introduction

You are going to continue to build your eLearning Toolbox by creating a professional introduction. Follow the directions for this assignment carefully and remember to review the rubric to understand how your work will be assessed.

Craft a professional introduction as a virtual teacher for your future students that addresses the six characteristics of a quality introduction.
Include relevant personal details, like hobbies, family life, etc., and a photograph.
Go back to the eLearning Toolbox discussion forum and find the discussion topic that your facilitator has created for you. Just as you did for your welcome message, create a new message that briefly describes your introduction and upload your introduction. Your introduction should be posted to this forum by the end of this session. NOTE: Your introduction does not have to be text-based. You can use a web-based tool such as Voki to create or add to your introduction.
Read your fellow learners' introductions and note any exemplary samples that you may wish to save for future use. Exploring your peers' eLearning Toolboxes will help you add to your own bag of virtual teaching tricks!

Citations and References

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2001). Lessons from the cyberspace classroom: The realties of online teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Inc.

Additional Resources (Optional)

"Educating Educators for Virtual Schooling: Communicating Roles and Responsibilities" This article discusses the different communication roles of virtual teachers and their importance to the online learning environment.

"The Rise of K-12 Blended Learning" This report explores the current state and projected future of K-12 blended learning models.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S4.2 Roles of Interaction

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The role of the virtual teacher as the facilitator of learning in online courses cannot be overstated. Facilitation is a pedagogical term that applies to student-centered as opposed to teacher-driven approaches to instruction. The teacher's role moves from expert to guide on the side. Because of the online medium, the virtual teacher primarily uses communication techniques to manage the student learning. In this section, you will read and talk about communication techniques for facilitating students' learning.

Communication as a Means to Collaboration

Virtual teachers communicate with students in a variety of ways and for a variety of purposes—from intervening in discussions to writing announcements, from offering feedback to sending private emails. Throughout, the role of the online teacher is to engage students with the course content and with other learners, thereby using communication to foster collaboration. Go back to "Toward a Theory of Online Learning" and read pages 43 – 55, in which the author describes different types of interactions as being:

Student-student
Student-teacher
Student-content
Teacher-teacher
Teacher-content

As you read, think about the content you might have in your course and the techniques you might use to interact with your students. The challenge for all virtual teachers is to construct a learning environment that is simultaneously learning centered, content centered, community centered, and assessment centered. While there is no formula for success, there are strategies that can promote interaction and collaboration in the classroom.

Read "BE VOCAL: Characteristics of Successful Online Instructors" and "Successful Online Discussion and Collaboration: Techniques for Facilitation." As you read these two articles, consider the role of the virtual teacher in communicating with students and setting the stage for community building and co-construction of knowledge.

Now that you've investigated ways to communicate and encourage collaboration, discuss the readings and your thoughts about the virtual teacher's role in online discussions by responding to the following in the "Communication as a Means to Collaboration" discussion forum.

Collier and Yoder in "Successful Online Discussion and Collaboration: Techniques for Facilitation" suggest that virtual teachers need to know "when not to intervene" while Savery in "BE VOCAL: Characteristics of Successful Online Instructors" argues that they must be visible.

What do you think? Do you agree with Collier and Yoder or Savery and why? Remember to support your statements with references to the readings and resources you have explored in this course.

As you complete the rest of the readings and assignments for this session, you should visit the discussion forum two or three more times to read and comment on the postings of at least two of your peers. Refer to the discussion forum rubric to review the expectations for participating in online discussions in this course.

Citations and References

Anderson, T. (2004). Toward a theory of online learning. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.) Theory and practice of online learning (pp. 33-60). Athabasca, AB, Canada: Athabasca University.

Collier, C., & Yoder, M. (2002). Successful online discussion and collaboration: Techniques for design and facilitation. In C. Crawford et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2002 (pp. 2351-2355). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. Copyright 2002 by the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). http://www.aace.org. Included here by permission.

Savery, J. R. (2005). BE VOCAL: Characteristics of successful online instructors. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 4(2), 141-152.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S6.1 Introduction

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"Value in any instructional system comes from assessment; what is assessed in a course or a program is what is valued; what is valued becomes the focus of activity. The link to learning is direct. Instructors signal what knowledge skills and behaviors they believe are most important by assessing them. Students quickly respond by focusing their learning accordingly."

— Hiltz, S. R., Shen, J., & Swan, K. (2006)

Overview

Here is the last session of the course: Session 6! In Sessions 1 through 5 you explored strategies and facilitation techniques that will engage students in the online environment and help them be successful. In this session, you will look at different types of assessments and how you can provide feedback to your students to help them manage their own learning. You will also finish your work in the eLearning Toolbox and will finish your Course Expectations & Learning Goals Assignment that you began in Session 1. Let's begin our final week together.

Objectives

By the end of this session, you will:

Discuss your reaction to implementing the types of assessment and feedback associated with competency-based approaches.
Review your fellow learners' announcements and offer specific, rubric-based feedback.
Analyze the learning experience in this course by reflecting on your professional goals and expectations.

If you haven't done so already, print the Assignment Checklist to keep track of your assignments for this course.

Citations and References

Swan, K., Shen, J., & Hiltz, R. (2006). Assessment and collaboration in online learning. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 10(1), 45-62.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Reflection Paper Rubric

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Criteria	Unsatisfactory	Satisfactory	Exemplary
Lesson Implementation reflection	The learner does not discuss 1-2 things that worked, and did not work during the implementation of the lesson plan and what the learner would change in the plan or setup in the future.	The learner discusses 1-2 things that worked, and did not work during the implementation of the lesson plan and what the learner would change in the plan or setup in the future.	The learner discusses 3 or more things that worked, and did not work during the implementation of the lesson plan. The learner discusses what he/she would change in the plan or setup in the future.
Remediation or Extension	The learner does not include at least one remediation or extension activity in their lesson plan.	The learner provides one remediation or extension activity in their lesson plan.	The learner provides one remediation and one extension activity in their lesson plan, with detail and a brief explanation as to why this was chosen.
Use of technology	The learner does not discuss what technology was used and how it was selected for the lesson.	The learner mentions what technology was used and how it was selected the lesson.	The learner explains in detail what technology was used and how it was selected and used in the lesson.
Observation of student learning	The learner does not discuss what was observed about student learning during the lesson.	The learner discusses what was observed about student learning during the lesson.	The learner explains in detail what was observed about student learning during the lesson.
Completion of assignment and timeliness	Learner does not complete assignment and/or does not submit assignment on time.	N/A	Learner completes assignment and submits it on time.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Guidelines for Crafting Effective Announcements

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When composing your announcements, keep in mind these guidelines:

Begin by gathering the information you want to present and grouping related items together.
Check the course facilitator guide for additional information and/or samples
Enter a headline for each category of information.
Be concise, using bullets instead of paragraphs when possible.
Describe information and instructions in an informative, engaging, and professional manner.
Mention urgent technical issues or assignment clarification problems.

Format Announcements for Readability

Use the following tips to make your announcements easy to read and understand:

When opening a new session, include in your announcement the current session number and date range covered.
Consider changing the color of each session's announcement text or headline to catch learners' attention, or use eye-catching graphics to help learners notice new information.
Under each category of topics, use bullets of concise sentences or phrases, instead of paragraphs.
Include appropriate use of HTML techniques to format or enhance the message.
Spell check everything you write before you post it.

Timing for Posting Announcements

The most effective times to post announcements include these:

At the start of a course
Post an initial welcome message that greets learners as they first enter the course. Your welcoming announcement will accomplish these varied purposes:
- Immediately set the tone and add a personal element to the course by including your name and a greeting as the first thing learners see.
- Publicize the purpose of the announcement page as a place to check each time learners log in.
When there's breaking news
Be prepared to create an impromptu announcement to address particular timely issues, for example, if you notice more than a few learners having the same technical problem or performing other than assigned.
At the beginning of each new session
Provide an update at the beginning of each week/session previewing upcoming assignments and tying them to previous ideas. As new topics occur to you during each week, keep a running list of topics you want to mention in the following week's announcement.
At the end of the course
There are two important types of end-of-course announcements:
- You'll want to add a heartfelt "thank you and best wishes" personal farewell to learners, giving them a feeling of closure to the course.
  - Be sure to have entered all the final assessments before making the announcement.
  - Remind learners of any responsibilities, for example, completing the final survey.
- Post an administrative message announcement that lets learners know about course completion requirements and next steps.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S2.2 Roles of the Virtual Teacher

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In the traditional paradigm classroom, the roles were simple. The teacher taught and the students followed directions. In the 21^st century online classroom, teachers facilitate more than they teach; they need to help all the members of the learning community be successful. In this section, you will explore the different roles that virtual teachers may be asked to play while continuing to talk to your fellow online learners about the characteristics of an effective virtual teacher.

Blended Learning

As we talk about the roles of a virtual teacher, it is important to take a moment and talk about blended learning. As the name implies, blended learning is a combination of online and face-to-face instruction. The skills that we will talk about in this session are important for virtual teachers in online courses and will be applicable for the online component of a blended learning program. Read pages 3-5 of "Blended Learning: The Convergence of Online and Face-to-Face Education" for an introduction to the concept of blended learning and a comprehensive definition. If you anticipate using a blended approach as a virtual teacher you should save and read this report in its entirety!

So Many Hats and Only One Head!

Virtual teachers wear many hats—from administrative details to offering feedback, and from facilitating online discussions to holding virtual hands and fostering community. It all depends on the situation. Some programs want a virtual teacher to facilitate a provided program of study, while other schools are asking virtual teachers to facilitate as well as being counselors, mentors, instructional designers, curriculum specialists, parent liaisons, and more!

Review Table 3: Synthesis of Best Practices from "Virtual Schooling Standards and Best Practices for Teacher Education" and the lists of different skills under the Teachers' Roles. As you read, focus on the different activities that build community within the range of roles.

One of the most important hats a virtual teacher will wear is as the facilitator of the learning. Collison, Elbaum, Haavind, & Tinker (2000) divided the role of the online learning facilitator into three categories:

Guide on the Side;
Instructor/Project Leader; and
Group Process Facilitator.

Read "Key Facilitator Roles" for comprehensive descriptions of the three categories. As you read, notice how the online learning facilitator moves away from being the "sage on the stage" to the "guide on the side". Examples in the chapter are drawn from the authors' experiences with particular online courses. Focus on the roles and the specific tips that align with your current or anticipated virtual teaching situation.

Next, read "The Hats of the Online Educator" (from the bottom of page 37 and continuing to page 41) in Chapter 4 of Making the Move to eLearning: Putting Your Course Online. As you read, notice the different "hats" the virtual facilitator wears to enable students to learn and to build community.

Effective Virtual Teachers

In Session 1, you began discussing the characteristics of an effective virtual teacher. Now that you have explored how a virtual teacher can serve as a facilitator of learning, go back to the "Effective Virtual Teachers" discussion forum and continue the discussion with your fellow learners.

Community Building Tips:

In this PBS TeacherLine course, you have a facilitator who is guiding you through the learning experience. Think back to what you have read in "Key Facilitator Roles" and, as you progress through this course, watch and notice how your PBS TeacherLine facilitator models those facilitation roles through the announcements, emails, messages in the discussion forums, and feedback on your assignments.

Citations and References

Ferdig, R., Cavanaugh, C., DiPietro, M., Black, E., Mukley, J., & Dawson, K. (2009). Virtual schooling standards and best practices for teacher education. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 17(4), 479-503.

Lehmann, K. J., & Chamberlin, L. (2009). Making the move to elearning: Putting your course online. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Watson J. F. (2008). Blended learning: The convergence of online and face-to-face education. iNACOL. Retrieved from http://www.inacol.org/resources/promisingpractices/NACOL_PP- BlendedLearning-lr.pdf.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S1.2 Online Learning Today

2019-03-19T15:56:55-04:00

"Online education can be defined as an approach to teaching and learning that utilizes Internet technologies to communicate and collaborate in an educational context. This includes technology that supplements traditional classroom training with web-based components and learning environments where the education process is experienced online."

Blackboard Inc. (1998)

The rise of personal computing and the Internet has changed modern life and education today. According to the US Department of Education (2010), 100% of American public schools have access to computers with Internet access and the ratio of students to computers is 3.1 to 1. Over 4.6 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2008 term; a 17% increase over the number reported the previous year (Allen & Seaman, 2010). Therefore, we know that K-12 students across the country are learning online. Now, you will explore how they are learning online and then discuss your opinion about the qualities of an effective virtual teacher.

K-12 Online Learning

Read Chapter 1, Introduction and Chapter 2, About online learning from "A National Primer on K-12 Online Learning." This report from iNACOL provides an overview of how students are learning online. As you read, notice the descriptions for the types of online education programs and the distinction between virtual courses and virtual classrooms.

Next, read pages 8-11 from "Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning 2011: An Annual Review of Policy and Practice" to learn more about the features of online programs and schools. As you read, study Figure 1: Defining dimensions of online programs and notice the scale of teacher-student interactions. You may wish to save and read both these reports in their entirety as they provide excellent information about the state of online and blended learning in the nation.

Because the term "online education" covers so much territory, a more precise definition for its use in this course is in order. As used in this course and cited from the National Education Association (2006), the terms "online course" or "virtual class" encompass the following:

A planned course of instruction, paralleling what might be offered by a school, but conducted primarily online.
Students and teachers are separated in time and place for the most part. (Teachers might see or talk to students at some point, but the majority of interaction is online.)
Communication between and among students and teachers can be asynchronous or synchronous.
One or more instructors teaching more than one student.
Student progress assessed by both formative and summative standards, and student achievement and results reported.
A communications system in place that enables teachers, students, parents, and administrators to offer feedback.

As a virtual teacher, you will be working for states, districts, and/or companies who have their own policies and practices for online teaching that must be followed. You will probably not be designing the learning management system or in control of the curriculum scope and sequence. However, it is important to know about the "National Standards for Quality Online Courses" from the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL). Review these standards (beginning on page 7) and note which standards you may be able to address within your instruction as a virtual teacher.

Effective eLearning

Based on the Southern Regional Education Board's report (2003), there are several differences between online teaching and traditional face-to-face teaching:

Online teachers rarely, if ever, see their students; they communicate primarily through writing.
Online teachers provide courses through computers and the Internet. As a result, teachers and students can work at any time and in any place.
Online teachers need strategies to ensure that each online student participates actively.

Terry Anderson, author and editor of Theory and Practice of Online Learning (2004), describes four types of effective learning contexts (learner centered, knowledge centered, assessment centered, and community centered) and how they are applied in the online environment. He also notes the role of interaction in online learning and describes the opportunities afforded by the Internet that allow for different kinds of interaction. Spend approximately 30 minutes reading and browsing through "Toward a Theory of Online Learning," particularly pages 33 - 43. As you read, think about the descriptions that pertain to your own experiences with online learning, including in this course.

Next, read the article, "The Virtual Classroom Redefines Education" and then view the video "The Virtual Classroom: Online Learning" developed by the George Lucas Educational Foundation and SREB. As you read the article and view the video, consider the learning and instructional characteristics that are unique to the online environment.

Community Building Tips:

Have you noticed the Virtual Café forum? This is the place for off-topic and informal conversations to happen. Think of it as the place where students might chat before or after class or as a teacher's lounge. This forum is an open space for you to enjoy with your fellow learners in this course. As you enjoy mingling in the Virtual Café forum for this course, think about how you might set up something similar as a virtual teacher.

Citations and References

Allen, E. I., & Seaman, J. (2010, January). Learning on demand: Online education in the United States, 2009. Massachusetts: Babson Survey Research Group.

Anderson, T. (2004). Toward a theory of online learning. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.) Theory and practice of online learning (pp. 33-60). Athabasca, AB, Canada: Athabasca University.

Blackboard Inc. (1998). Educational benefits of online learning. Retrieved from http://www.blackboard.com

iNACOL. (2011, October). National standards for quality online courses, version 2. Retrieved from http://www.inacol.org/research/nationalstandards/iNACOL_CourseStandards_2011.pdf

National Education Association. (2006). Guide to teaching online courses. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/onlineteachguide.pdf

SREB. (2003). Essential principles of high-quality online teaching: Guidelines for evaluating K-12 online teachers. Retrieved from http://info.sreb.org/programs/EdTech/pubs/PDF/Essential_Principles.pdf

The George Lucas Educational Foundation. (2005). The virtual classroom: Online learning [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/online-learning-overview-video

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2010). Educational Technology in U.S. Public Schools: Fall 2008 (NCES 2010-034). Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.12-?id=46

Watson, J. F. (2007, April). A national primer on K-12 online learning. iNACOL. Retrieved from http://www.inacol.org/research/docs/national_report.pdf

Watson, J., Murin, A., Vashaw, L., Gemin, B., & Rapp, C. (2010). Keeping pace with K-12 online learning: An annual review of policy and practice. Retrieved from http://www.kpk12.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/KeepingPaceK12_2010.pdf

Wood, C. (2005). The virtual classroom redefines education. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/print/node/1270.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S1.3 Effective Virtual Teachers

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"When researchers ran the numbers in dozens of different studies, every factor under a school's control produced just a tiny impact, except for one: which teacher the student had been assigned to. Some teachers could regularly lift their students' test scores above the average for children of the same race, class and ability level. Others' students left with below-average results year after year."

- Green, E. (2010)

The teacher is the most important factor that affects student learning both in face-to-face and online environments. Not all teachers are suited for the online environment; they cannot be expected to know intuitively how to design and deliver an effective online course. Those teachers who have had training in both the mechanics and the psychology of online course delivery and continue to engage in professional development have more success with their virtual students. In this section, you will read more about the link between research-based instructional strategies and effective virtual instruction.

What Makes an Effective Virtual Teacher?

Think about the characteristics that you think make an effective content teacher. Well, the same characteristics apply for an effective virtual teacher too. Read pages 5-10 from "Continuous Quality Improvement Through Professional Development for Online K-12 Instructors" to learn more about the importance of pedagogical content knowledge to online instruction. As you read, think about how teaching different curriculum subjects online and different age groups will demand different skills and strategies, just as it does in the face-to-face classroom.

Next, review the "Standards for Quality Online Teaching" produced by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in 2006. As you read, think about how you currently or intend to meet these standards.

Next, read Section III, Preparing and Supporting Online Teachers, and Section IV, Skills of Online Teachers from NEA's Guide to Teaching Online Courses. As you read, think about how you currently or intend to meet the skills described.

Now that you have explored standards for and characteristics of effective virtual teaching, find your state content standards and review them for any references to collaborations with technology. How do they align or differ from the SREB and NEA standards and skills?

Talk about what you have read and learned in this session. Go to the "Effective Virtual Teachers" discussion forum and discuss the following prompt with your fellow learners.

How can you blend content-based instructional strategies and online learning strategies to become an effective virtual teacher?

Visit the discussion forum two or three more times to read and comment on the postings of at least two other learners between now and the end of Session 2. Refer to the discussion rubric to review the expectations for participating in online discussions in this course. You will receive one grade for this discussion at the end of Session 2.

Citations and References

Ferdig, R. E. (2010). Continuous quality improvement through professional development for online K-12 instructors. Lansing, Michigan: Michigan Virtual University.

Green, E. (2010, March 2). Building a better teacher: Can educators be educated about how to educate? New York Times Magazine, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Teachers-t.html.

National Education Association. (2006). Guide to teaching online courses. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/onlineteachguide.pdf

Southern Regional Education Board. (2006). Standards for quality online teaching. Retrieved from http://publications.sreb.org/2006/06T02_Standards_Online_Teaching.pdf

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S6.2 Assessment and Evaluation

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"New next-generation models of learning are enabling students to accelerate by using digital learning resources, in online and blended learning, where teachers have access to data for pinpointing students’ needs. Adaptive, formative assessments are embedded to help build pathways based on students’ individual interests and passions. Pacing based on individual student needs allows struggling students to catch up when they have fallen behind and advancing students to move ahead when they are ready."

— Patrick, S., & Sturgis, C. (2011)

So what, exactly, are assessment and evaluation? While both are important tools that allow teachers to determine the extent to which their students have mastered a skill or topic, assessment and evaluation are actually different. What do assessments and evaluations look like in the virtual school? In this section, you will review some of the traditional methods that teachers use to determine student learning and then explore the new idea of competency-based approaches through online learning.

Assessment

Assessment is neither summative nor punitive but rather a mechanism for providing ongoing feedback to the learner and to the organization as a necessary part of the spiraling processes of continuous learning and renewal. Assessment is the continuous process of gathering information about student progress. It gives teachers a way to measure students' demonstration of learning as well as the effectiveness of their instruction. When properly used, assessment helps to answer these questions:

"How much did they learn?"
"How well did they learn it?"
"How well did we teach it?"

Reread pages 7-19 of iNACOL's "National Standards for Quality Online Courses" to understand the types of assessments and feedback that are optimal in an online course. Then, read Standard D from iNACOL's "National Standards for Quality Online Teaching" to note the assessment and feedback techniques an effective virtual teacher employs. As you read these documents from iNACOL, notice how assessments and activities should be integrally connected.

Evaluation

Evaluation is the weighing of the information gathered during the assessment process against an academic standard, such as a state standard or benchmark, in order to make a judgment about student progress towards that standard. For example, standardized exams are summative evaluation instruments. A benchmark is a point at which standards must be met or the student cannot progress to the next grade. Usually, these points are grades 4, 8, and 12. Standardized tests are given and those who pass proceed, while those who do not are held back until they can meet the standard.

Both assessment and evaluation are methods of appraising student learning and achievement that provide vital sources of information that can effectively influence future teaching practices and school improvement. As you lead your own online courses, remember the difference between evaluation and assessment, and determine which one will work best for you and your students, while remembering, this may change from one learning activity to the next.

Competency-Based Learning

Let's look at the current state of student assessments and evaluations in online and virtual schools. Read 'Assessing online students and schools' on page 9 from "Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning 2010: An Annual Review of Policy and Practice" for a quick overview of student assessments and the key roles of virtual and home schools for administering evaluations. Then scroll to page 49 in "Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning 2011: An Annual Review of Policy and Practice" and read the 'Student learning data will eventually replace state assessments' section. Competency-based learning is a big, new idea for assessment and educational policy. As you read, focus on understanding the definition for competency-based pathways and the potential impact this idea will have on your instruction and assessment practices as a virtual teacher.

Read more about competency-based learning in "When Failure Is Not An Option: Designing Competency-Based Pathways for Next Generation Learning." As you read, focus on the three design principles and the effect of competency-based learning on students and their teachers. You will need to refer to these ideas as you participate in the discussion for this session.

Discuss what you have read and learned in this session about competency-based pathways as an assessment and evaluation process. Go to the "Competency-Based Approaches" discussion forum and discuss the following prompt with your fellow learners. Be sure to refer to the readings from this session and what you have learned so far in this course to support your comments.

"Anecdotal evidence suggests that some of the by-products of competency-based approaches are increased teacher engagement, a shift in professional culture, and changes in the teacher's role" (Sturgis & Patrick, 2010).

What is your reaction to implementing the types of assessment and feedback associated with competency-based approaches as a virtual teacher?

Citations and References

iNACOL. (2011, October). National standards for quality online courses, version 2. Retrieved from http://www.inacol.org/research/nationalstandards/iNACOL_CourseStandards_2011.pdf

iNACOL. (2011, October). National standards for quality online teaching, version 2. Retrieved from http://www.inacol.org/research/nationalstandards/iNACOL_TeachingStandardsv2.pdf

Sturgis, C., & Patrick, S. (2010, November). When failure is not an option: Designing competency-based pathways for next generation learning. Retrieved from http://www.inacol.org/research/docs/iNACOL_FailureNotOption-web.pdf

Sturgis, C., & Patrick, S. (2011, July). Cracking the code: Synchronizing policy and practice for performance- based learning. Retrieved from http://www.inacol.org/research/docs/iNACOL_CrackingCode_full_report.pdf

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Rubric: eLearning Toolbox 4—Landscape Post

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Criteria	Unsatisfactory	Satisfactory	Exemplary
Completion of Assignment and Timeliness	The learner did not complete the assignment and/or did not upload the assignment to the discussion forum on time.	N/A	The learner completed the assignment and uploaded the assignment to the discussion forum on time.
Clarity	The information in the landscape post is inconsistent and difficult to understand. The landscape post contains many errors in spelling and grammar.	The information in the landscape post is presented clearly. The landscape post contains few errors in spelling or grammar.	The information in the landscape post is clear, thorough, and well organized. The landscape post does not contain any errors in spelling or grammar.
Landscape Post Content	The landscape post does not include an introductory sentence, and 3-5 quotations with author citations and connecting narrative, and a final question.	The landscape post includes an introductory sentence, 3-5 quotations with author citations and connecting narrative, and a final question.	The landscape post includes an inviting introductory sentence or two, 3-5 quotations with author citations woven together with engaging, connecting narrative, and a question that invites learners to dig more deeply into the issues the quotations represent. There is a clear connection between the ideas and connections provided by the facilitator and the chosen learner quotes.
Landscape Post Tone	The landscape post uses more than one tone of voice and/or the landscape post praises or criticizes the learners.	The landscape post is written in one tone of voice (imaginative, curious, neutral, analytical, nurturing, whimsical, informal or humorous) and does not praise or criticize the learners.	The landscape post is written in one tone of voice (imaginative, curious, neutral, analytical, nurturing, whimsical, informal or humorous) and does not praise or criticize the learners. The overall tone is engaging and the format is simple and clear.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S3.2 The Virtual Student

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"Kids used to grow up in the dark intellectually, and educators were the people who showed kids the light. Today kids grow up in the light – they are connected to the world through television, the Internet, Social Networking, etc. If educators were smart, they would find ways to build on this to increase the kids' understanding. But instead they make the kids shut off all their connections to the world as they enter the building. In effect, rather than showing the kids the light, they bring the kids out of the light back into the darkness. Online classes give us as teachers the opportunity to 'bring the kids back into the light.'"

- Prensky, M. (2007)

The term "virtual student" can be used to describe a student in a self-paced online course with very little interaction between the student and a teacher, a student in a facilitated online learning experience (like this course), or a student in a face-to-face and online blended experience. Understanding the learning and social needs of all virtual students is an important part of a virtual teacher's job.

Today's Digital Teens

In "Creating & Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Social—And Educational—Networking," the National School Boards Association (NSBA) reported that in 2007 96% of students with online access were already using social networking technologies (e.g., Facebook) and that talking about education (school, grades, teachers, assignments, etc.) was one of the most popular topics of conversation in these social networking communities. The NSBA also reported that 96% of school districts said at least some of their teachers assign homework requiring Internet use. Some more recent statistics from the Pew Research Center (2009) cite 93% of all teens in the United States (ages 12-17) are using the Internet. Explore the different Trend Data for Teens from the Pew Internet Project.

Next, watch "A Vision of Students Today" and consider if the statements made by the students match the statistics and data from the Pew Internet Project. Now watch "The Machine Is Us/ing Us" which explores Web 2.0. The video explores how the Web has changed the idea of text and explains XML coding, RSS feeds, and how the Web has revolutionized online communication and collaboration. (Please note: You can also visit Mediated Cultures and scroll down to the section "The Machine is Us/ing Us" to download high quality WMV and QuickTime formats.) As you watch, think of the implications of Web 2.0 in your virtual classroom for developing communication and collaboration.

To date, many of the articles and research about online learners have been written with the college student in mind. They report that, in general, the successful online student should possess the following characteristics:

Have access to a computer and cable modem/high speed Internet access.
Be open minded, flexible, and willing to share experiences.
Be able to communicate through writing.
Be self-motivated and self-disciplined.
Be willing to ask for help if problems arise.
Be able to manage time.

Read "Who Is the Average Online College Student?," which elaborates on the characteristics and expands the definition to include high school students as well as college students. As you read the characteristics, consider the potential strategies you could use to strengthen students' online learning skills.

In Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom, Palloff and Pratt (2001) state that "successful learners in the online environment need to be active, creative, and engaged in the learning process." Read pages 107 – 124 from Chapter Seven, "Working with the Virtual Student" and take note of the characteristics of the successful and struggling student in the online classroom. We will address other parts of this chapter later.

Reaching and Teaching Struggling Students

Now that you have considered the characteristics of successful online students, spend some time thinking about when students struggle to learn online. Look back at "Key Facilitator Roles" and reread pages 52 – 64. As you read, identify problems that students might have and solutions that you as the virtual teacher might provide.

Now, look back at SREB's "Essential Principles of High-Quality Online Teaching." As you reread the standards, mark those standards that relate to identifying and helping a struggling or reluctant student.

Community Building Tips: Rubrics

As you know, in this course the facilitator is using assessment rubrics to grade and provide feedback on your assignments and coursework. Rubrics are an important element to the online learning environment. Shelton and Saltsman (2004) state,

"Grading scales and rubrics should be defined for each assignment. If the courseware management system allows, each assignment could be linked to the rubric for clarity. When group assignments are utilized, instructors should use a grading rubric for the students to grade each other individually as well as the entire group. This motivates students to participate and provides for equity in grading of group work."

Take some time to review the assessment rubrics in this course as the virtual teacher and notice how they are designed to foster communication and community while also providing an effective assessment tool for students and teachers.

The PBS TeacherLine Discussion Forum Rubric has been carefully crafted to encourage collaboration in an asynchronous environment. Note the emphasis on:

Answering the question early in the session to give time for responses.
Responding to more than two peers' posts.
Answering on different days to encourage frequent visits to the forum and class.
Adding to the discussion rather than just agreeing—in other words, quality rather than quantity.

As you consider your expectations as a virtual teacher of your students' work, you will want to consider how you can craft your expectations so they will encourage collaboration.

Characteristics of the Virtual Student

Reflect on what you have read and learned in this session. Go to the "Characteristics of the Virtual Student" discussion forum and discuss the following prompt with your fellow learners. Be sure to refer to the readings from this session and what you have learned so far in this course to support your comments.

What characteristics of effective virtual students surprised you and what strategies and techniques might you use, as the virtual teacher, to ensure students are successful in the online learning environment?

Citations and References

National School Boards Association (NSBA). (2007). Creating & connecting: Research and guidelines on online social—and educational—networking. Retrieved from http://wwwnsba.org/site/view.asp?CID=63&DID=41340

Nesbitt, B. (2007). A vision of K-12 students today [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8&feature=fvw

Palloff, R. M., and Pratt, K. (2001). Lessons from the cyberspace classroom: The realties of online teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Inc.

PEW Internet & American Life Project. (2009). Trend data for teens. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/Static-Pages/Trend-Data-for-Teens.aspx

Prensky, M. (2008). NSBA study on online behaviors [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/blog/archives/000050.html

Shelton, K., & Saltsman, G. (2004, October). Tips & tricks for teaching online: How to teach like a pro! International Journal of Instructional Technology. 1(10), 53-63.

SREB. (2003). Essential principles of high-quality online teaching: Guidelines for evaluating k-12 online teachers. Retrieved from http://info.sreb.org/programs/EdTech/pubs/PDF/Essential_Principles.pdf

Virtualstudent.com. (n.d.). Profile of students seeking online degrees. Retrieved from http://www.virtualstudent.com/html/profile.html

Wesch, M. (2007). Web 2.0…the machine is us/ing us [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Discussion Forum Participation Rubric

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Participation in the discussion forums is critical for maximizing your learning experiences in this course. You are required to be part of an online community who interact, through discussion, to enhance and support the professional development of the group. Part of the assessment criteria for the course includes assessing the quality and quantity of your participation in the discussion forum.

Some characteristics we consider to be part of excellent discussion contributions are outlined below. Your facilitator will consider these characteristics when assessing the quality and level of your participation.

You should submit your initial post(s) early in the session, and your subsequent responses to the posts of other learners at timely intervals within the duration of the session. Keep in mind the goal is to have a dynamic discussion that lasts throughout the entire session.
Your posts and responses should be thorough and thoughtful. Just posting an "I agree" or "Good ideas" will not be considered adequate. Support your statements with examples, experiences, or references. You are, however, encouraged to be brief — keep each post and response to one or two short paragraphs. Keep in mind that your fellow learners will be reading and responding to you, too.
Make certain to address the discussion prompt(s). This does not mean you should not extend the topic, but do not stray from the topic.
Discussions occur when there is dialogue. So, build upon the posts and responses of other learners to create discussion threads. Make sure you revisit the discussion forum and respond (if necessary) to what other learners have posted to your initial responses.
When relevant, add to the discussion by including prior knowledge, work experiences, references, Web sites, resources, etc. (giving credit when appropriate).
Your contributions to the discussions (posts and responses) should be complete and free of grammatical or structural errors.

This rubric point scale will be used to assess your work based on a 100 point scale that is cumulative throughout each session.

	Unsatisfactory	Satisfactory	Exemplary
	20/50 points	35/50 points	50/50 points
1st Visit: Initial Post (1 post)	Criteria: Quantity and timeliness Does not create an initial post. And/or does not submit early in the session.	Criteria: Quantity and timeliness Creates an initial post.	Criteria: Quantity and timeliness Creates an initial post. Submits early in the session.
	Criteria: Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of content and applicability to professional practice Post does not demonstrate evidence of knowledge and understanding of course materials and content.	Criteria: Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of content and applicability to professional practice Post demonstrates some evidence of knowledge and understanding of course materials and content.	Criteria: Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of content and applicability to professional practice Post demonstrates clear evidence of knowledge and understanding of course materials and content.
	Criteria: Generates learning within the community Post is not applicable to professional practice.	Criteria: Generates learning within the community Post is applicable to professional practice.	Criteria: Generates learning within the community Post is applicable to professional practice.
	5/15 points	10/15 points	15/15 points
Note: A reply is made in visits 2, 3, or 4 by using the 'reply' or 'add a new discussion topic' functions. Learners may earn the extra five points described in the Exemplary column of 3rd & 4th Visit in any message submitted after the Initial Post (1st Visit).
2nd Visit: Reply to Other Learner(s) (1 post early in the session)	Criteria: Quantity and timeliness Does not reply to another learner. And/or does not submit the reply early in the session.	Criteria: Quantity and timeliness Replies to another learner.	Criteria: Quantity and timeliness Replies to another learner. Submits early in the session.
	Criteria: Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of content and applicability to professional practice Response does not demonstrate evidence of knowledge and understanding of course materials and content.	Criteria: Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of content and applicability to professional practice Response demonstrates some evidence of knowledge and understanding of course materials and content.	Criteria: Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of content and applicability to professional practice Response demonstrates clear evidence of knowledge and understanding of course materials and content.
	Criteria: Generates learning within the community Response is not applicable to professional practice.	Criteria: Generates learning within the community Response is applicable to professional practice.	Criteria: Generates learning within the community Response is applicable to professional practice. Response elicits responses and reflection for others.
	5/15 points	10/15 points	15/15 points
3rd and 4th Visit: Reply to Other Learner(s) (2 posts later in the session)	Criteria: Quantity and timeliness Does not reply to a second learner. And/or does not submit the reply before the end of the session.	Criteria: Quantity and timeliness Replies to a second learner.	Criteria: Quantity and timeliness Replies to a second learner. Continues to participate in discussion threads until the end of the session.
	Criteria: Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of content and applicability to professional practice Response does not demonstrate evidence of knowledge and understanding of course materials and content.	Criteria: Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of content and applicability to professional practice Response demonstrates some evidence of knowledge and understanding of course materials and content.	Criteria: Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of content and applicability to professional practice Response demonstrates clear evidence of knowledge and understanding of course materials and content.
	Criteria: Generates learning within the community Response is not applicable to professional practice.	Criteria: Generates learning within the community Response is applicable to professional practice	Criteria: Generates learning within the community Response is applicable to professional practice. Response elicits responses and reflection for others. Response integrates multiple views or provides outside resources from others to take the discussion deeper. (+5 pts- once per discussion which will be added to the 3rd or 4th visit score)

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Other Course Resources

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These additional resources supplement the course content and may be explored as needed.

Digital Citizenship
WebQuests and Web 2.0
Web 2.0 Tools and Technologies
Educational Organizations and Technology Resource Sites

Digital Citizenship

Webonauts Internet Academy This fun game from PBS KIDS GO! enables students to explore digital citizenship issues.

"Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project" This summary provides an overview of a research project that studied online interactions among American youth.

PBS Parents: Children and Media (English / Spanish)
This Web page from PBS Parents provides tips and guidelines for how students can become media-literate.

NetSmartz Workshop This site provides information on how to stay safe online and address current issues such as, cyberbullying and identity theft.

SchoolFamily.com: Computers and the Internet Articles This Web page includes tips on how to evaluate the safety of Web sites and resources for Internet safety.

WebQuests and Web 2.0

Dive into WebQuests: Reading, Writing, and Web 2.0 This page is full of resources for using WebQuests with Web 2.0 technologies.

Web 2.0 and Emerging Learning Technologies/WebQuests This wiki provides information on WebQuests along with the teaching and learning possibilities.

Web Quest Generator This Web page contains links to online authoring systems as well as templates for creating your own WebQuest.

WebQuests and Web 2.0 Screen Design This study compared a pre-Web 2.0 WebQuest with a Web 2.0 styled WebQuest in order to rate their effectiveness as a teaching tool.

Web 2.0 Tools and Technologies

"Back to School with the Class of Web 2.0: Part I" This page contains descriptions and links to many Web 2.0 tools. Be sure to visit: Part II, where you can find information on Web word processing programs, and then in Part III, where you can find information on educational blogging, photo sharing with Flickr, educational podcasting, Wikipedia, and video sharing.

Blogger Create your own blog by using the process as described. This site contains easy to follow, step-by-step instructions about how to create, name, and use an educational blog for a teachers' classroom. Go to the Web site and click on "Take a Quick Tour." After the tour, click on "Create a Blog" and follow the directions to create your own blog.

"Blogging Basics: Creating Student Journals on the Web" Read this simple tutorial to learn what blogging is and how to create classroom blogs

"Building a Blog Portal" Read this simple tutorial explaining the steps necessary to create a teacher or student blog.

"Introduction to Blogs and Blogging" In this article, learn about blogs, visit sites that show how they are used in education, and read tips on setting up your own.

Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators: Teaching Tools Review a great collection of resources on this page. Scroll down to the section entitled Web 2.0 Tools.

Live Journal This Web site allows you to start your own free blog.

PBworks: Education Create a free wiki at PBworks.

"Working with Wikis" Read this simple tutorial to learn how to edit, format, and revise a wiki.

Educational Organizations and Technology Resource Sites

AdLit.org – All About Adolescent Literacy This national multimedia project offers information and resources to the parents and educators of struggling adolescent readers and writers.

ASCD This organization (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) is an educational leadership organization dedicated to advancing best practices and policies for the success of each learner.

¡Colorín Colorado! This free, Web-based service provides information, activities, and advice for educators and Spanish-speaking families of English language learners (ELLs).

Edutopia The George Lucas Educational Foundation states that their "vision is of a new world of learning." Edutopia is "a place where kids and parents, teachers and administrators, policy makers and the people they serve, all are empowered to change education for the better."

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Learn about the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS•T) and how to use them in the classroom.

LD OnLine LD OnLine.org is the world's leading Web site on learning disabilities and ADHD, serving more than 200,000 parents, teachers, and other professionals each month.

The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills This site is created and maintained by an alliance of leaders in education, business, and government. This site contains resources and tools for the education needs and challenges of work and life in the 21^st century.

PBS LearningMedia This digital resource library houses thousands of multimedia lesson plans and activities for educators in grades PreK–12.

Thirteen Ed Online This Web service for teachers offers standards-based lesson plans, classroom activities, multimedia primers, online mentors, and reviews of curriculum-based Web sites.

Reading Rockets This national multimedia project offers information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S4.4 Look Ahead

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In this session, you looked at ways virtual teachers can foster learning using collaboration. In Session 5, you will spend more time examining the discussion forum, with emphasis on communication techniques, and you will create two different communication tools for your eLearning Toolbox: a landscape post and an announcement. Remember, your Group Collaboration Assignment is also due by the end of Session 5. There is a lot of work to do in Session 5. Make a schedule for how you will complete the assignments and coursework by the end of the session so you don't fall behind.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S5.4 Announcements

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Up to this point in the course, we have focused on posts that initiate discussions, foster community, encourage collaboration, and provide useful interventions to help students go deeper into their analysis or reflection. A virtual teacher also has to initiate other kinds of communication in areas like course management, logistics, etc. In this section, you will explore techniques for writing effective announcements.

Using Announcements

Creating a warm and welcoming tone involves the text and voice you use in all of your communications with your students. You will also want to establish a formula for where and how often you contact students. The three main areas where you will communicate with your students are in emails, announcements, and discussions. You've already created your first email message with your welcome email, and it told students how to get to the course. The next communication you will want to consider is your announcement for the week or session (depending on the structure of your course).

Announcements, or news items, should be the first thing your students see when they open their course. They provide navigational cues, planning suggestions for completing coursework, and they humanize the course by making it a friendly place for students to visit. Look at this week's announcement from this PBS TeacherLine course to get an idea of how this is done.

Next, carefully review this list of guidelines for creating an announcement. You will need to refer back to this list for your next eLearning Toolbox assignment.

The announcement:

Is concise and keeps the audience's attention.
Describes the main idea or theme for that week, much like a headline on a newspaper.
Provides a brief synopsis of what the content is for the week and helps the learner to focus and connect with the previous week.
Uses appropriate HTML customization: size, bold, italics, color and images to humanize and enhance the announcement.
Is free of spelling and grammatical errors.
Uses white space or bullet points to break up text.
Avoids the "too much" trap - too much text, too many colors, too large of a graphic.

The course homepage is the first page students see each time they enter a course. This page is often where the teacher posts announcements in order to communicate information to all learners simultaneously. You've seen several in this course already.

Read "Guidelines for Crafting Effective Announcements" and think about what tools and techniques you could use to write an engaging and effective announcement for students and their parents.

Next, go back to the announcements posted by your facilitator in this online course. Notice which strategies were employed from the guidelines you just read and analyze their effectiveness. Have you found the Announcements in this course to be helpful to you as a learner? What ideas do you have for creating helpful announcements for your virtual students?

eLearning Toolbox 5: Announcement

In this section, you have explored how to create an announcement. In this assignment, you will add to your eLearning Toolbox by creating your own course announcement. Follow the directions for the assignment carefully and remember to review the rubric to understand how your work will be assessed.

Refer back to the sample syllabus.
Imagine that you are about to begin Session 3 of the sample course. Craft an announcement that reflects the style guidelines you read in this section and includes the following:
- Welcomes students to the third week of the course.
- Connects what they did in Session 2 with what they will be doing in Session 3.
- Gives a brief summary of course expectations and coursework for Session 3.
- Tells them you will be out of town for the weekend and how to get in touch with you if they need help.
Go to the eLearning Toolbox discussion forum and find the discussion topic that your facilitator has created for you. In this topic area, create a new message that briefly describes your announcement and upload your announcement. Your announcement should be posted to this forum by the end of this session. NOTE: You will be reviewing your fellow learners' announcements in Session 6.

Assignment: Group Collaboration

Remember, your Group Collaboration Assignment is due at the end of this session. Make sure your group is planning accordingly and remember to review the rubric for this assignment to understand how your participation and work will be assessed.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S6.3 Rubrics and Feedback

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As you have read in iNACOL's "National Standards for Quality Online Courses" and have experienced through this course, a rubric is an authentic assessment tool used to evaluate students' work according to criteria based on the critical attributes of the assignment. In this section, you will explore how you can use rubrics for assessment and to provide feedback. You will also practice providing feedback by reviewing your fellow learners' announcements from Session 5 and crafting rubric-based feedback.

Using Rubrics for Assessment

There are many advantages to using a rubric: When students are given rubrics before an assignment is due, they do better because they know what is expected of them and where to focus and emphasize their attention. The rubric provides the scaffolding necessary to improve the quality of their work. Rubrics are also helpful for teachers as they provide written support for how and why they assigned a grade.

Read Heidi Goodrich Andrade's article "Understanding Rubrics." As you read, pay particular attention to the definition of a rubric and why we should use rubrics.

Then, explore Kathy Schrock's Assessment & Rubric Information for both formative and summative assessment purposes. This is a comprehensive list of resources so don't spend more than 30 minutes exploring the links. Focus on rubrics and resources that will be helpful to you in your professional practice as a virtual teacher.

Providing Feedback

"The ability to make thoughtful replies to content is, of course, a necessary skill for all teachers and facilitators. But in the online environment, carefully articulated written responses are fundamental —the student has no other way to receive feedback and encouragement from you because there are no face-to-face interactions."

— Collison, G., Elbaum, B., Haavind, S., & Tinker, R. (2000)

In "When Failure Is Not An Option: Designing Competency-Based Pathways for Next Generation Learning" you read about competency-based approaches and how assessments should be meaningful and positive. Providing students with immediate feedback following an assessment is part of making it meaningful and positive. Virtual teachers should also provide detailed feedback that includes words or phrases taken directly from the rubric along with supporting comments/reflections directly related to what the students wrote. Feedback should be given for each grade item and should be left within the course itself (in the gradebook or the dropbox). Keep in mind that, in most virtual platforms, students cannot see the feedback unless some type of number grade is assigned to the item.

Some tips to consider when providing feedback include:

Use the student's name to help build a relationship.
Keep the feedback focused on the rubric, using words and phrases taken directly from the rubric.
Think quality rather than quantity: Short and to the point is better.
Post feedback as soon as possible after the assessment has occurred.

Read 'Assessment and Feedback' on pages 5-6 from "Discussion, Participation and Feedback in Online Courses." As you read, focus on the research-based guidelines for providing feedback and think about some of the elements your facilitator in this course has modeled through feedback to you.

eLearning Toolbox 6: Providing Feedback

In Session 5, you completed the fifth assignment for your eLearning Toolbox by creating an announcement. In this assignment, you'll read and review your fellow learners' announcements and will offer specific, rubric-based feedback based on what you have learned in this session. Follow the directions for the assignment carefully and remember to review the rubric to understand how your work will be assessed.

Read your fellow learners' announcements in the eLearning Toolbox discussion forum. Choose an announcement that has not yet received feedback.
Reread your chosen announcement while referring to the rubric for the eLearning Toolbox 5: Announcement assignment.
Using the rubric, craft your feedback for the announcement. Make sure that your feedback includes the following criteria:
- Mention positive aspects of the announcement.
- Give specific suggestions for improvement (as needed) using specific examples from the announcement.
- Use specific words and phrases from the rubric.
- Use a professional yet motivational and encouraging tone.
- Provide an assignment grade (Unsatisfactory, Satisfactory, or Exemplary).
Post your feedback as a reply to your fellow learner's post in the forum by the end of this session.
Go back to your announcement and read the feedback provided by a fellow online learner.

Community Building Tips

Providing feedback is an integral part of building community in your online courses and collaborating, sharing ideas, and constructing knowledge together. Student-to-student feedback should be constructive, specific, and respectful. You, as the virtual teacher, should insist on it and provide guidelines and model the process.

Citations and References

Fisher, C. (2010, November). Discussion, participation and feedback in online courses. Proceedings of the Information Systems Educators Conference (ISECON), Nashville, TN. Retrieved from http://proc.isecon.org/2010/pdf/1382.pdf

Goodrich Andrade, H. (1997). Understanding rubrics. Retrieved from http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/thinking/docs/rubricar.htm

iNACOL. (2011, October). National standards for quality online courses, version 2. Retrieved from http://www.inacol.org/research/nationalstandards/iNACOL_CourseStandards_2011.pdf

Additional Resources (Optional)

"Cracking the Code: Synchronizing Policy and Practice for Performance-Based Learning" This proposed policy framework is written by the same authors as "When Failure Is Not An Option: Designing Competency-Based Pathways For Next Generation Learning" and explores ideas for how states can create policies to implement performance-based education systems.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S5.5 Look Ahead

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In this session, you looked at how you can use communication techniques to enhance the learning for your students. You created a landscape post using a specific tone of voice and created an announcement.

In Session 6, you will look at different types of assessments and how you can provide feedback to your students to help them manage their own learning and be successful. You will also finish your work in the eLearning Toolbox and will finish your Course Expectations & Learning Goals Assignment that you began in Session 1.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S2.3 Virtual Teacher as Course Manager

2019-03-19T15:56:55-04:00

As a virtual teacher, you may be responsible for "building" your own course, in which case you will be responsible for the instructional design, curriculum content, and the technical aspects of the course. In other cases, you will be the course manager--teaching and facilitating a course developed by others. As the course manager, you will be charged with a number of responsibilities. In this section, we'll explore and practice some of these responsibilities.

Teaching a Course Developed by Others

As you read in Section IV, Skills of Online Teachers from NEA's Guide to Teaching Online Courses during Session 1, some of the skills that online teachers are expected to demonstrate include the following:

Use CMS (Course Management System) elements effectively to facilitate course design.
Revise course documents to maintain accuracy and currency.

Let's spend some time looking at these two skills. First, what is a CMS (Course Management System)? A CMS is a tool that provides an online learning environment. You are participating in this course through Moodle, which is an example of a CMS. As a virtual teacher, you should be familiar with all the features available to you within your CMS and be able to select the appropriate elements while teaching online. In most cases you will have control over elements such as announcements, managing the discussion boards and forums, the dropbox, and some features of the grading system. You may need to add course content to provide for local, district, and state level initiatives and standards or find substitutions for resources that have gone out of print or are no longer available. Virtual teachers rarely have the ability to remove content.

In order to revise or add to the content, virtual teachers must be intimately familiar with the course content. This is accomplished by:

Reading the course content carefully from start to finish as if you were a learner in the course.
Knowing and understanding all the organizational policies and procedures you'll be expected to fulfill. Seek answers for all your questions.
Determining who will be taking the roles and responsibilities that you are not fulfilling.
Reading any teacher's guide provided with your course to learn what instructions and information the course designer provided for you.
Finding out what you can and cannot customize in the course. The more you can customize, the more personable your course will be.
Being comfortable with all aspects of the features and tools within your course from a technical perspective.

Keep these steps in mind as you read Chapter 6, "Teaching Courses Developed by Others." This chapter discusses the pros and cons of facilitating a course designed by someone else and provides tips for building community. As you read, notice the tips and strategies for personalizing courses as you will be practicing some of those skills in this session.

Assignment: eLearning Toolbox

Now it's your turn to try on some of the virtual teacher's "hats" and practice some of the strategies and skills you have explored. In this session and the remaining sessions of the course, you will build an eLearning Toolbox with samples and resources that you will be able to use as a virtual teacher when this course is finished. Your facilitator will be assessing your work in the eLearning Toolbox and you will be able to look through your fellow online learners' eLearning Toolboxes as we grow and learn together as a community. You will complete the first assignment for your eLearning Toolbox by creating a Welcome Message.

eLearning Toolbox 1: Welcome Message

One of your first duties as a virtual teacher will be to virtually meet and welcome your students to the course. Although this may seem like a simple task, it is important as your message sets the first impression of you and the course you are teaching. A well-composed welcome message should include, but is not limited to the following information:

Explain the nature of online courses.
Outline the technology requirements.
Explain the course communication plan.
Share the overall course objectives.
Briefly explain your roles as an online teacher.

Read "Welcome Messages" for some more considerations for crafting an effective welcome message. Although this list is extensive, you may find that some items are more applicable than others and that's fine! Just remember that this message is just like meeting your students on the first day of class.

Go back to the welcome message the facilitator of this course sent to you and reread it with a more critical eye based on what you have read about welcome messages. Next, review the "Welcome Letter," which is provided by the University of Connecticut. Although this is a university sample, it is an interesting letter to review for our purposes. As you read the sample letter, think about what is missing from the letter and what you would add.

Now that you have learned about welcome messages, you are going to create your own welcome message in your eLearning Toolbox. Follow the directions for this assignment carefully and remember to review the rubric to understand how your work will be assessed.

Read this sample syllabus for a virtual course that you have been asked to teach online.
Using the sample syllabus as your content, design and create a welcome message to send to your students. Your message should include the logistical and content information listed in "Welcome Messages" and reflect your own personal style and personality.
Go to the eLearning Toolbox discussion forum and find the discussion topic that your facilitator has created for you. In this topic area, create a new message that briefly describes your welcome message and upload your welcome message. Your welcome message should be posted to this forum by the end of this session.
Read your fellow learners' welcome messages and note any exemplary samples that you may wish to save for future use.

Community Building Tips:

The welcome message is the first email you send out to students (and potentially parents) so your tone and voice are just as critical as the logistical information you share. Be professional, but friendly and welcoming. You may want to utilize the html editor in your CMS or LMS to help you add graphics, URLs, colors, etc. to your message.

Citations and References

National Education Association. (2006). Guide to teaching online courses. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/onlineteachguide.pdf

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2001). Lessons from the cyberspace classroom: The realties of online teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Inc.

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. (n.d.). Sample welcome letter to students in an online course. Retrieved from http://www.uww.edu/icit/instructional/teachingonline/welcome_letter.html

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Session Summary and Schedule

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Session Summary

This course is divided into six sessions:

Session 1: The Online Environment
Session 2: The Effective Virtual Teacher
Session 3: Working with Virtual Students
Session 4: Fostering Learning with Collaboration
Session 5: Communication Techniques
Session 6: Assessment and Providing Feedback

Schedule

It will take about 45 hours to complete this course. Each session should take approximately seven to eight hours. If you find yourself spending several hours more than this in any given session, please contact your facilitator to make sure this is necessary to complete the given assignments.

Sessions 1-6 will be offered in succession (usually one per week).
You should expect to complete one session per week.
Your facilitator can adjust the schedule if a special circumstance arises.
Your facilitator will notify you of any schedule changes in the Announcements section.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Roles and Responsibilities

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The following paragraphs describe the role of the online community, the role of a course facilitator, and your role and responsibilities as a learner. Please read this information carefully.

Role of the Online Learning Community

An online learning community is one that is created around an electronic learning environment like the one for this course. Members (facilitator and learner cohort) of this special community are expected to explore and reflect on various topics, socially construct knowledge through collaboration, openly share ideas with others, and provide support to each other.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Learner

As a member of this learning community you are expected to support the learning and professional development of your fellow learners. Specifically, you must:

Participate and actively engage in discussions with your fellow learners while contributing to the social construction of knowledge. The sooner you post your ideas and questions, the more time others have to respond and deepen the discussion
Reflect on newly acquired knowledge and assess your own progress.
Create a time management structure that works for you and complete all assignments accordingly.
Be self–directed and self–motivated.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Facilitator

With the emergence of online learning communities, the roles of learners and instructors have changed from those found in traditional educational settings. Most significantly, in learning communities, facilitators help guide the group toward collaborative group learning, rather than providing traditional "teacher–led" instruction. Therefore, you can expect that your facilitator will:

Guide and support your learning of the subject matter.
Share his/her knowledge and experience, but also participate as a learner when he/she is not an "expert" in a certain topic.
Provide additional resources when appropriate.
Facilitate productive and collaborative discussions.
Establish a comfortable learning environment and help you with any problems or questions.
Provide feedback and assess your work:
- For the activities and assignments.
- For participation in discussion forums.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Rubric: eLearning Toolbox 5—Announcement

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Criteria	Unsatisfactory	Satisfactory	Exemplary
Completion of Assignment and Timeliness	The learner did not complete the assignment and/or did not upload the assignment to the discussion forum on time.	N/A	The learner completed the assignment and uploaded the assignment to the discussion forum on time.
Clarity	The information in the announcement is inconsistent and difficult to understand. The announcement contains many errors in spelling and grammar.	The information in the announcement is presented clearly. The announcement contains few errors in spelling or grammar.	The information in the announcement is clear, thorough, and well organized. The announcement does not contain any errors in spelling or grammar.
Announcement	The announcement does not include all four requirements: Welcomes students to the third week of the course. Connects what they did in Session 2 with what they will be doing in Session 3. Gives a brief summary of course expectations and coursework for Session 3. Tells them you will be out of town for the weekend and how to get in touch with you if they need help.	The announcement includes all four requirements: Welcomes students to the third week of the course. Connects what they did in Session 2 with what they will be doing in Session 3. Gives a brief summary of course expectations and coursework for Session 3. Tells them you will be out of town for the weekend and how to get in touch with you if they need help.	The announcement includes all four requirements: Welcomes students to the third week of the course. Connects what they did in Session 2 with what they will be doing in Session 3. Gives a brief summary of course expectations and coursework for Session 3. Tells them you will be out of town for the weekend and how to get in touch with you if they need help. There is a clear and instructionally appropriate connection between the announcement and the sample syllabus.
Announcement Style	The announcement does not address at least three of the following criteria: Text is concise while keeping the audience's attention. Uses appropriate HTML customization. Uses white space or bullet points to break up text. Avoids the "too-much" trap. The style and formatting are appropriate for an announcement.	The announcement addresses three of the following criteria: Text is concise while keeping the audience's attention. Uses appropriate HTML customization. Uses white space or bullet points to break up text. Avoids the "too-much" trap.	The style and formatting are appropriate for an announcement. The announcement address all four of the following criteria: Text is concise while keeping the audience's attention. Uses appropriate HTML customization. Uses white space or bullet points to break up text. Avoids the "too-much" trap.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Rubric: eLearning Toolbox 6—Providing Feedback

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Criteria	Unsatisfactory	Satisfactory	Exemplary
Completion of Assignment and Timeliness	The learner did not complete the assignment and/or did not upload the assignment to the discussion forum on time.	N/A	The learner completed the assignment and uploaded the assignment to the discussion forum on time.
Clarity	The information in the feedback is inconsistent and difficult to understand. The feedback contains many errors in spelling and grammar.	The information in the feedback is presented clearly. The feedback contains few errors in spelling or grammar.	The information in the feedback is clear, thorough, and well organized. The feedback does not contain any errors in spelling or grammar.
Learner Support and Tone	The feedback does not include positive aspects of the announcement and/or does not give specific suggestions for improvement. The tone of the feedback may lack warmth or be abrupt.	The feedback includes positive aspects of the announcement and gives some suggestions for improvement. The tone is professional, but also warm.	The feedback includes positive aspects of the announcement and gives specific suggestions for improvement. Tone is professional, but also warm. The feedback includes positive encouragement.
Rubric Criteria	The feedback does not use specific examples from the announcement and/or does not use specific words or phrases from the rubric to justify the assessment. The feedback does not include an assignment grade (Unsatisfactory, Satisfactory, or Exemplary).	The feedback uses specific examples from the announcement and uses specific words or phrases from the rubric to justify the assessment. The feedback concludes with an assignment grade (Unsatisfactory, Satisfactory, or Exemplary).	The feedback uses specific examples from the announcement and uses specific words or phrases from the rubric to justify the assessment. The feedback concludes with an assignment grade (Unsatisfactory, Satisfactory, or Exemplary). There is a clear and consistent connection between the feedback comments and the assignment grade.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Sample Virtual Teacher Introduction

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Hi, everyone! My name is Sharon, and I live in the beautiful city of Norfolk, Virginia, close to the beach. After receiving an undergraduate degree from James Madison University and a Masters Degree from Old Dominion University, I taught for 30 years at Bethel High School in Hampton. Yes, hard to believe, but all of my 30 years were at the same school!

I was one of the first teachers to become a Technology Integrator many years ago. When I retired in 2003, I became the Blackboard Manager in Hampton and developed many online professional development courses. I've been teaching online for WHRO and PBS TeacherLine for almost 10 years now, and I have developed some classes for them as well.

So, I stay busy but I find time for my husband and my beautiful dog. She's a Border Collie/Chow mix that someone dumped in our neighborhood about 4 years ago. She has definitely taken over our lives. My daughter, Allena, is in the Masters Program at ODU in the Elementary Education department. That's normally a 5-year program, but she decided to get a minor in Jewish Studies also so we are hoping she will be out in 6 years! Does it ever end????

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this class. It's one of my favorites. Let me know if you have questions.

Sharon

Phone number

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Rubric: Course Expectations & Learning Goals

2019-03-19T15:56:55-04:00

Criteria	Unsatisfactory	Satisfactory	Exemplary
Completion of Assignment and Timeliness	The learner did not complete the assignment and/or did not submit the assignment on time.	N/A	The learner completed the assignment and submitted the assignment on time.
Clarity	The reflection is inconsistent and difficult to understand. The reflection contains many errors in spelling and grammar.	The reflection is presented clearly. The reflection contains few errors in spelling or grammar.	The reflection is clear, thorough, and well organized. The reflection does not contain any errors in spelling or grammar.
Content	The reflection does not address all the questions from Session 1 and Session 6.	The reflection addresses all of the questions from Session 1 and Session 6, but not all the responses are complete and some details are missing.	The reflection addresses all of the questions from Session 1 and Session 6. All the responses are clear, detailed, and comprehensive.

Criteria

Unsatisfactory

Satisfactory

Exemplary

Completion of Assignment and Timeliness

The learner did not complete the assignment and/or did not submit the assignment on time.

N/A

The learner completed the assignment and submitted the assignment on time.

Clarity

The reflection is inconsistent and difficult to understand.

The reflection contains many errors in spelling and grammar.

The reflection is presented clearly.

The reflection contains few errors in spelling or grammar.

The reflection is clear, thorough, and well organized.

The reflection does not contain any errors in spelling or grammar.

Content

The reflection does not address all the questions from Session 1 and Session 6.

The reflection addresses all of the questions from Session 1 and Session 6, but not all the responses are complete and some details are missing.

The reflection addresses all of the questions from Session 1 and Session 6. All the responses are clear, detailed, and comprehensive.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Rubric: eLearning Toolbox 1—Welcome Message

2019-03-19T15:56:55-04:00

Criteria	Unsatisfactory	Satisfactory	Exemplary
Completion of Assignment and Timeliness	The learner did not complete the assignment and/or did not upload the assignment to the discussion forum on time.	N/A	The learner completed the assignment and uploaded the assignment to the discussion forum on time.
Clarity	The information in the welcome message is inconsistent and difficult to understand. The welcome message contains many errors in spelling and grammar.	The information in the welcome message is presented clearly. The welcome message contains few errors in spelling or grammar.	The information in the welcome message is clear, thorough, and well organized. The welcome message does not contain any errors in spelling or grammar.
Logistical Information	The welcome message does not include logistical information about the course including: Course title and name, Login information, Important dates, Confirmation of students' contact information, and Virtual teacher's contact information.	The welcome message includes logistical information about the course including: Course title and name, Login information, Important dates, Confirmation of students' contact information, and Virtual teacher's contact information.	The welcome message includes logistical information about the course including: Course title and name, Login information, Important dates, Confirmation of students' contact information, and Virtual teacher's contact information. There is a clear connection between the logistical information in the welcome message and the sample syllabus.
Content Information	The welcome message does not include content information about the course including: Where students can find the content areas and assessment criteria, An overview of the course structure and pacing, and Course expectations, grading criteria, and process for feedback.	The welcome message includes content information about the course including: Where students can find the content areas and assessment criteria, An overview of the course structure and pacing, and Course expectations, grading criteria, and process for feedback.	The welcome message includes content information about the course including: Where students can find the content areas and assessment criteria, An overview of the course structure and pacing, and Course expectations, grading criteria, and process for feedback. There is a clear connection between the content information in the welcome message and the sample syllabus.
Style and Personality	The welcome message does not convey a welcoming or friendly tone and/or does not give the reader any insight to the virtual teacher's personality.	The welcome message conveys a welcoming and friendly tone and gives some insight to the virtual teacher's personality.	The welcome message conveys a welcoming and friendly tone and gives clear insight to the virtual teacher's personality.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Rubric: eLearning Toolbox 2—Introduction

2019-03-19T15:56:55-04:00

Criteria	Unsatisfactory	Satisfactory	Exemplary
Completion of Assignment and Timeliness	The learner did not complete the assignment and/or did not upload the assignment to the discussion forum on time.	N/A	The learner completed the assignment and uploaded the assignment to the discussion forum on time.
Clarity	The information in the introduction is inconsistent and difficult to understand. The introduction contains many errors in spelling and grammar.	The information in the introduction is presented clearly. The introduction contains few errors in spelling or grammar.	The information in the introduction is clear, thorough, and well organized. The introduction does not contain any errors in spelling or grammar.
Content	The content of the introduction includes one or two of the following characteristics: Written in the first person. Warm and friendly language (not too formal). Combination of both personal and professional qualifications. Understandable, straightforward content (no intimidating jargon, etc.).	The content of the introduction includes three of the following characteristics: Written in the first person. Warm and friendly language (not too formal). Combination of both personal and professional qualifications. Understandable, straightforward content (no intimidating jargon, etc.).	The content of the introduction includes all four of the following characteristics: Written in the first person. Warm and friendly language (not too formal). Combination of both personal and professional qualifications. Understandable, straightforward content (no intimidating jargon, etc.).
Style and Personality	The introduction does not include any personal details or a photograph.	The introduction includes appropriate personal details and a photograph.	The introduction includes appropriate personal details and a photograph. The introduction gives clear insight to the virtual teacher's personality.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Rubric: eLearning Toolbox 3—Web-based Tool Review

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Criteria

Unsatisfactory

Satisfactory

Exemplary

Completion of Assignment and Timeliness

The learner did not complete the assignment and/or did not upload the assignment to the discussion forum on time.

N/A

The learner completed the assignment and uploaded the assignment to the discussion forum on time.

Clarity

The information in the review is inconsistent and difficult to understand.

The review contains many errors in spelling and grammar.

The information in the review is presented clearly.

The review contains few errors in spelling or grammar.

The information in the review is clear, thorough, and well organized.

The review does not contain any errors in spelling or grammar.

Description and Review of the Tool

The review does not name the tool selected and/or provide the Web site URL and/or does not include a description of the tool along with an overview of how the tool may develop students' academic skills, how the tool may build the online community and/or any challenges of using the tool.

The review names the tool selected and provides the Web site URL.

The review includes a description of the tool along with an overview of how the tool may develop students' academic skills, how the tool may build the online community and any challenges of using the tool.

The review names the tool selected and provides the Web site URL.

The review includes a clear and thorough description of the tool along with a clear overview of how the tool may develop students' academic skills, how the tool may build the online community and any challenges of using the tool.

There is a clear and instructionally appropriate connection between the tool and the sample syllabus.

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Assessment Criteria

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Your overall performance will be determined by the facilitator. He/she will check that you have met all the course requirements: your facilitator will also determine the extent to which you have met the performance expectations for this course using the rubrics below. Throughout the duration of the course you will be required to:

Participate in discussions during each session.
Submit assignments at the end of each session.
Reflect on your learning.
Create an eLearning Toolbox.

Discussion Forum

Discussion Forum Participation Rubric

Online Journal

Online Journal Rubric

Session 1

Course Expectations & Learning Goals Online Journal

Effective Virtual Teachers Discussion Rubric

Session 2

Effective Virtual Teachers Discussion Rubric

eLearning Toolbox 1: Welcome Message Assignment Rubric

eLearning Toolbox 2: Introduction Assignment Rubric

Session 3

Characteristics of the Virtual Student Discussion Rubric

eLearning Toolbox 3: Web-based Tool Review Assignment Rubric

Session 4

Communication as a Means to Collaboration Discussion

Group Collaboration Assignment

Session 5

Full-Spectrum Questioning in the Real World Discussion

Group Collaboration Assignment

eLearning Toolbox 4: Landscape Post

eLearning Toolbox 5: Announcement

Session 6

Competency-Based Approaches Discussion

eLearning Toolbox 6: Providing Feedback Assignment

Course Expectations & Learning Goals

Assignment: eLearning Toolbox 1: Welcome Message

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Due:

Assignment: eLearning Toolbox 2: Introduction

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Due:

Assignment: eLearning Toolbox 3: Web-based Tool Review

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Due:

Assignment: eLearning Toolbox 4: Landscape Post

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Due:

Assignment: eLearning Toolbox 5: Announcement

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Due:

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Introduction and Goals

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Introduction

New research from Ambient Insight (2010) predicts that the number of K-12 students taking online classes will jump to more than 10 million by 2014--either attending a virtual school for all their classes or a blended/hybrid situation where they combine virtual with face-to-face experiences. With this increase, school districts need highly-qualified educators who can meet the needs of all students in the online environment. The highly-qualified virtual teacher knows a lot more than how to use the technology and tools involved in learning online. Virtual teachers understand how to build community, how to develop tone and voice, and how to effectively assess virtual students. This course has been designed to meet the demand of qualified virtual teachers and will prepare you to be an effective virtual teacher. In this course you will learn about the national standards for quality online courses, how to build community, strategies for working with virtual students, and assessment techniques. This course is a project-based learning experience during which you will practice what you learn throughout the course.

Standards addressed in this course are:

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

The following ISTE Standards for Educators align to this course:

1-Learner: educators continually improve their practice by learning from and with others and exploring proven and promising practices that leverage technology to improve student learning. Educators:

Set professional learning goals to explore and apply pedagogical approaches made possible by technology and reflect on their effectiveness.
Pursue professional interests by creating and actively participating in local and global learning networks.
Stay current with research that supports improved student learning outcomes, including findings from the learning sciences.

4-Collaborator: educators dedicate time to collaborate with both colleagues and students to improve practice, discover and share resources and ideas, and solve problems. Educators:

Dedicate planning time to collaborate with colleagues to create authentic learning experiences that leverage technology.
Collaborate and co-learn with students to discover and use new digital resources and diagnose and troubleshoot technology issues.
Use collaborative tools to expand students' authentic, real-world learning experiences by engaging virtually with experts, teams and students, locally and globally.
Demonstrate cultural competency when communicating with students, parents and colleagues and interact with them as co-collaborators in student learning.

5-Designer: Educators design authentic, learner-driven activities and environments that recognize and accommodate learner variability. Educators:

Use technology to create, adapt and personalize learning experiences that foster independent learning and accommodate learner differences and needs.
Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards and use digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning.
Explore and apply instructional design principles to create innovative digital learning environments that engage and support learning.

6-Facilitator: Educators facilitate learning with technology to support student achievement of the ISTE Standards for Students. Educators:

Foster a culture where students take ownership of their learning goals and outcomes in both independent and group settings.
Manage the use of technology and student learning strategies in digital platforms, virtual environments, hands-on makerspaces or in the field.
Create learning opportunities that challenge students to use a design process and computational thinking to innovate and solve problems.
Model and nurture creativity and creative expression to communicate ideas, knowledge or connections.

http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/for-educators (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

National Standards for Quality Online Courses & National Standards for Quality Online Teaching (iNACOL) (more details)

iNACOL is a nonprofit organization with the mission to drive the transformation of education systems and accelerate the advancement of breakthrough policies and practices to ensure high-quality learning for all.

Goals

The overall goal of this course is for you to know and understand the fundamental roles and skills exhibited by virtual teachers in the K-12 online environment.

By the end of the course, you will understand and be able to apply the following in your own professional practice:

Understand the current educational landscape for online and blended learning.
Know and understand the characteristics of an effective virtual teacher and the many roles he/she plays in the online learning environment.
Know and understand the characteristics of a successful online student.
Know strategies and techniques for working with and assessing virtual students.
Know how to facilitate learning through communication and collaboration.

Citations and References

Ambient Research. (2010). The state of the mobile learning industry. In The US market for mobile learning products and services: 2009-2014 forecast and analysis. Retrieved from http://www.ambientinsight.com/Resources/Documents/Ambient-Insight-Mobile-Learning-Market-2009-2014.pdf

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S4.3 Collaborative Learning

2019-06-10T09:36:50-04:00

"Students of today enter an increasingly globalized world in which technology plays a vital role. They must be good communicators, as well as great collaborators. The new work environment requires responsibility and self-management, as well as interpersonal and project-management skills that demand teamwork and leadership."

- Pearlman, B. (2006)

Collaborative learning is more than just assigning students to participate in a discussion or a collaborative assignment, but the process by which we establish the expectations and nurture the culture of the online learning community. When preparing students to learn in the traditional classroom, teachers frequently communicate rules and procedures to manage the classroom environment. The virtual teacher also has to establish a climate for learning and the way we use online tools to create that climate is key. An effective learning community offers students a welcoming environment where they can feel comfortable trying out new ideas, asking questions, and offering solutions. In this section, you will explore how to manage the online learning community and will have the opportunity to work collaboratively with your online peers.

Collaborative Activities

View the video "My Online Learning Community," which is a student's visual interpretation of an online learning community. As you watch, note the main ideas that describe the online community for this student and the role collaboration plays. Then, read "Course Design and Online Group Collaboration - What’s the Connection?," which suggests strategies for effectively facilitating group activities. Take note of the activities you feel will be most effective in your practice as a virtual teacher.

In the article from Edutopia Online, "New Skills for a New Century: Students Thrive on Cooperation and Problem Solving," the importance of skills such as communication, problem solving, and collaboration as helping to lead students into the 21^st century are described. As you read, think about how problem solving through collaboration can work in the virtual classroom.

For your next assignment in this course, you will be collaborating with your fellow peers in the discussion forum. The following articles give advice on how to work on a collaborative online project. Read one or more of these articles as you prepare to work with your group on the Group Collaboration Assignment for this session. Also, consider how you can prepare your students to have a successful collaborative experience.

"Collaborative Classrooms" Richard Goldsworthy discusses key elements of effective collaborative and cooperative learning, provides specific strategies for increasing the effectiveness of collaborative groups, and offers several online resources for beginning electronic collaborative projects.
"Collaborating Online: How to Get the Most From Group Work" Jennifer Williamson gives tips and a short video that you can use with your students.
"How to Survive Virtual Group Work" This article explores potential problems and solutions during group work.
"Collaborative Learning: Group Work and Study Teams" Barbara Gross Davis provides strategies for each stage of a collaborative project.

Technology Tip -- Collaborative Writing

If you wish to implement collaborative group projects with your virtual students, explore the "Four Web 2.0 Collaborative-Writing Tools" article about additional online writing tools and how they can be integrated into instruction.

For more specific information on using Google Docs in the classroom, read "Google Docs," or Google for Educators: Teach Collaborative Revision with Google Docs.

You can also view a video created specifically on the use of Google Docs in Google Docs in Plain English.

Netiquette

When developing collaborative, group activities for virtual students, it is important to address the rules of "netiquette" as their work together will depend on effective communication. Read "Toolbox: Netiquette Resources" for a set of general guidelines for communicating online. This resource can also be shared with students as expectations on how to act in their communications with each other.

In addition, you will want to emphasize with students the consequences of what they share online. This is a topic of rising importance with the prevalence today of social networking. The light-hearted, yet effective video "Protecting Reputations Online in Plain English" is an appropriate resource to share with students. You may also wish to utilize the many resources and information from the NetSmartz Workshop, which provides cyber safety materials for a range of ages and audiences.

Assignment: Group Collaboration

In this assignment, you will work with your fellow online learners in small groups to create a document of strategies that build community through collaborative activities. Your facilitator will assign the groups in the Assignment: Group Collaboration discussion forum. Remember to carefully review the rubric for this assignment to understand how your participation and work will be assessed. NOTE: This assignment is due by the end of Session 5, but you should begin working on it during this session.

As a group, collaborate and brainstorm to create a document of collaborative, group strategies and activities that will build community in an online course.
Organize the strategies and activities into four grade-band sections (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12). You should aim to create 4-5 strategies or activities for each grade band (16-20 in total).
Provide a title, brief description, and any additional links or information for each strategy and activity.
As you work collaboratively to create this document, refer back to the articles you read in this session about collaborative group work to make sure your group is successful.
Create a new message in your forum with the final version of the document by the end of Session 5. Make sure you clearly indicate it's the final version for your facilitator so the correct version is assessed.

Community Building Tips

As you work with your fellow learners on the Group Collaboration Assignment, notice the different roles that group members assume and the skills and strategies you all employ to work together on an assignment. Focus on what it takes the group to create the document and think about the skills your virtual students will need to work through a similar process.

Collaborating with Parents

When families and school staff work together to support student learning, the results are powerful! When implemented properly, these ties can yield results that mutually support each segment of the education community--especially the students.

Dialogue between teachers and parents can provide teachers with information about a student's individual needs, thus allowing for customized activities and strategies. Parents, in turn, recognize their children's role as students, as well as the family's role of reinforcing the importance of school, homework, and school activities. The results of all of these coordinated efforts are that students show increases in positive attitudes about school and homework, leading to higher report card grades and increased participation. Research conducted by founder and director of the Harvard Research Project, Heather Weiss (2007), verifies that students have higher achievement scores when their parents or families get involved in school. Students benefit especially when their families:

monitor school behavior,
check or help with homework assignments,
listen to them read,
reinforce good study habits, and;
talk regularly about what they learned in school.

Community role models, mentors, career counselors, and tutors can also improve student achievement through supportive encouragement, motivation, and inspiration. When the various sectors coordinate their skills with students' needs, they are able to weave together a stronger educational environment for students. This is particularly true in the online environment where the student is doing some, if not all of the work, within the home. When parents are involved, the student will work harder.

Read, "Research Committee Issues Brief: Examining Communication and Interaction in Online Teaching" and think about how you will share policies and information with your virtual families.

Citations and References

Cavanaugh, C. (2009). Research committee issues brief: Examining communication and interaction in online teaching. Retrieved from http://www.inacol.org/research/docs/NACOL_QualityTeaching-lr.pdf

Common Craft. (2010, January 6). Protecting reputations online in plain English [Video file]. Retrieved March from http://www.commoncraft.com/protecting-reputations-video

eLearners.com. (1999-2011). How to survive virtual group work. Retrieved from http://www.elearners.com/guide/success-in-an-online-program/tips-for-tests-papers-and-homework-assignments/how-to-survive-virtual-group-work/

Goldsworthy, R. (1999). Collaborative classrooms. Learning and Leading with Technology, 27(4), 7-17.

Gross Davis, B. (2002, April). Collaborative learning: Group work and study teams. In Tools for Teaching. Retrieved from http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/collaborative.html

Millis, B. (2001). Managing--and motivating!--distance learning group activities. Retrieved from http://www.tltgroup.org/gilbert/millis.htm

Mood07. (2007, January 7). My online learning community [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a32eDsxDfjY

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. (2010). Netsmartz Workshop. Retrieved from http://www.netsmartz.org/Educators

Pearlman, B. (2006, June). New skills for a new century: Students thrive on cooperation and problem solving. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/new-skills-new-century

Weiss, H. (2007, October 7). Ensuring quality across out-of-school programs and systems. Retrieved from http://www1.extension.umn.edu/youth/training-events/events/quality-across-programs.html

Williamson, J. (2009, October). Collaborating online: How to get the most from group work. Distance Education. Retrieved from http://www.distance-education.org/Articles/Collaborating-Online--How-to-Get-the-Most-From-Group-Work--170.html

Discussion: Get to Know You

2019-06-19T13:12:56-04:00

What grades and classes you teach or plan to teach.
Why you are taking this course.
A candy bar that symbolizes your personality and why/how.

Assignment: Get to Know You

2019-06-19T17:13:29Z

Due:

What grades and classes you teach or plan to teach.
Why you are taking this course.
A candy bar that symbolizes your personality and why/how.

What grades and classes you teach or plan to teach.
Why you are taking this course.
A candy bar that symbolizes your personality and why/how.

Assignment: Effective Virtual Teachers

2019-06-20T18:18:45Z

Due:

How can you blend content-based instructional strategies and online learning strategies to become an effective virtual teacher?

Discussion: Effective Virtual Teachers

2019-06-23T06:01:08-04:00

How can you blend content-based instructional strategies and online learning strategies to become an effective virtual teacher?

Announcement: Week 3 Announcement

2019-06-25T06:00:00-04:00

We are moving on to Session 3.

Session 3 begins on Wednesday, June 26th and will end on July 2. Can you believe it is already April?

I hope you are feeling more comfortable and confident about the class. During this week you will:

Look at the characteristics of virtual students and learn how to enhance course content to ensure their success.
Discuss the characteristics of effective virtual students and how to ensure students are successful in the online learning environment in the discussion forum.
Complete a review of a web-based tool for their eLearning Toolbox.

You will notice that there is a lot of reading this week so I want to encourage you to get started early. Remember to explore the eLearning Toolboxes of your classmates. You are not required to post a response to your classmates but looking at what others are doing will help you to get new ideas for your own classroom.

Now it is time to move on to session three.....

Discussion: Effective Virtual Teachers Continued

2019-06-26T00:01:12-04:00

Now that you have explored how a virtual teacher can serve as a facilitator of learning continue to discuss the following question:

How can you blend content-based instructional strategies and online learning strategies to become an effective virtual teacher?

Assignment: Effective Virtual Teachers Continued

2019-06-26T11:26:29Z

Due:

Now that you have explored how a virtual teacher can serve as a facilitator of learning continue to discuss the following question:

How can you blend content-based instructional strategies and online learning strategies to become an effective virtual teacher?

Now that you have explored how a virtual teacher can serve as a facilitator of learning continue to discuss the following question:

How can you blend content-based instructional strategies and online learning strategies to become an effective virtual teacher?

Announcement: Week 4

2019-07-02T06:00:01-04:00

Wow! It was so much fun to read the reviews of all those cool web tools! Using a variety of tools with your students will keep them energized and excited about their learning. Well done!

Session 4 could be considered the most important session of the course. In the virtual environment, if the teacher can't model good communication techniques and encourage collaboration among the students, the students will not benefit fully from the learning experience. The course readings this week will focus on this.

In "Roles of Interaction" the focus is on how much the teacher should interact with students in the class. In "Collaborative Learning" the focus moves to strategies the teacher can use to encourage the students to take control of their own learning and work with their peers.

The group collaboration assignment will begin in this session and I hope you enjoy a chance to work in smaller groups. I have assigned each of you to a group and these are located in the discussion forum called "Group Collaboration." If you do not see your collaboration area let me know. The collaboration activity will be finalized in Session 5.

I am looking forward to another fantastic week! Jacqui

Discussion: Characteristics of the Virtual Student

2019-07-02T17:34:53-04:00

Assignment: Characteristics of the Virtual Student

2019-07-03T10:08:02Z

Due:

Announcement: Week 2 Announcement

2019-07-04T06:00:11-04:00

Welcome to Session 2: June 19 - 25

I can tell everyone enjoyed the first session discussion as much as I did. There were lots of good descriptions of candy bar similarities and great creativity in the introductions — nice job!

Reminder:

Please keep all questions in the Help forum, where I’ll be looking for them.

Session 1 was an introduction to the online environment and got you to think about the differences between traditional face-to-face teaching and virtual teaching.

In Session 2 we will focus on the virtual teacher and the possible skills needed to be an effective virtual teacher. You will actually work on the first two assignments for your eLearning Toolbox during this session. The assignments you will be completing for your eLearning toolbox can be used as templates for your future teaching jobs. Remember to make copies of these assignments so you will be able to access them after the course is finished.

You will find your own eLearning toolbox space in the eLearning Toolbox forum (under “General Forums” in the “Course information” area) Look for the discussion topic with your name. Think of the eLearning Toolbox as a portfolio. You will be posting all of your eLearning assignments in your toolbox. If you have any questions or are confused - just ask!

Here's a list of what's due this week.

Discuss Effective Virtual Teachers - Post your original answer and your first response early in the week and then post your 3rd and 4th responses later in the week.
Create and submit your Welcome Message to your eLearning Toolbox by Tuesday evening.
Create and submit your Introduction to your eLearning Toolbox by Tuesday evening.

I will start grading today and I should have grades posted within the next couple of days so don't forget to view the feedback and grades.

Have a great week!

Jacqui Derby

Announcement: We are moving on to session 5

2019-07-09T06:00:00-04:00

During this session you will be looking at ways your communication, as a facilitator can support and foster student communication. You will learn about landscape posts and the importance of announcements.

This week you will complete the following:

Answer the discussion board question
Complete the eLearning Toolbox 4 Landscape post
Complete the eLearning Toolbox 5 Announcement post
Complete the Group Collaboration Assignment

I know this sounds like a lot but you can do it! We are almost at the end of the class.

Discussion: Communication as a Means to Collaboration

2019-07-09T12:53:46-04:00

What do you think? Do you agree with Collier and Yoder or Savery and why? Remember to support your statements with references to the readings and resources you have explored in this course.

Assignment: Communication as a Means to Collaboration

2019-07-10T10:16:05Z

Due:

What do you think? Do you agree with Collier and Yoder or Savery and why? Remember to support your statements with references to the readings and resources you have explored in this course.

Assignment: eLearning Toolbox 6: Providing Feedback

2019-07-10T10:18:01Z

Due:

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S5.3 Guiding the Conversation

2019-07-12T16:20:34-04:00

"If, as moderator, you hope to stay out of the middle of the dialogue, there is one critical skill you must develop: Identifying comments or phrases, already posted in the dialogue, that can serve as bridges to the next level of understanding for the group."

-- Collison et. al. (2000)

In this section, you will continue to explore the virtual teacher's role as a facilitator of online discussions, and will focus on creating landscapes in the discussion forums.

Creating Landscapes

With well-designed questions to jumpstart interactions among learners, the virtual teacher need only make occasional posts to keep the discussion moving forward. These posts or interventions (the teacher intervenes in the dialogue for a particular purpose) must be thoughtful and targeted. You saw such targeted interventions with full-spectrum questioning. Another important technique is the landscape post, which serves to paint a picture or "landscape" of the dialogue to date.

Landscapes can be effective after as few as five or six learner posts, particularly if those posts exhibit signs of coherence or coming to consensus. They can also be used effectively when tensions exist between different points of view. The general idea is to quote from students' ideas, showing the main thrust of the conversation, while avoiding a "this is it, nothing more need be said" summary. Read "Just What Is a Landscape?," which was written by a PBS TeacherLine facilitator for her fellow facilitators of online courses. This document succinctly describes what to do and what not to do in a landscape post. Read this document carefully as you will be creating your own landscape post in this session.

Next, read "Why Don't Face-to-Face Teaching Strategies Work In the Virtual Classroom?" for information on what makes a landscape post and how it differs from a summary. Now, go back and reread the landscape posts that your facilitator has provided in this course from PBS TeacherLine and analyze how you can use them as a model for your own landscape posts.

Using Tones of Voice

As you consider the type of posts the virtual teacher will create to facilitate a conversation, it's important to learn about the importance of tone. Read Chapter 6, "Tone" from Facilitating Learning Online for information on eight tones of voice facilitators can use to communicate through text. The list is not exhaustive, but provides a good starting point of different tones that are used online effectively. As you read, think about the tone you have used in the different discussions for this course.

Next, explore the Tones of Voice interactive to see sample facilitator posts in the different tones of voice identified in the reading. Look at the language in each sample for specific phrases that either convey or elicit particular emotions or reactions. Based on the examples, can you identify the different tones of voice your facilitator in this course has used?

eLearning Toolbox 4: Landscape Post

In this session, you have explored how a virtual teacher can use a landscape post as a discussion facilitation technique. In this assignment, you will add to your eLearning Toolbox by creating your own landscape post. Follow the directions for the assignment carefully and remember to review the rubric to understand how your work will be assessed.

Read the four sample discussions of teacher-learners in an online course. NOTE: We are using discussions by adult learners for this assignment as they are easier to use to practice this difficult skill.
Imagine you are the facilitator for these adult learners and draft a facilitator's landscape post that helps the discussion move forward and reflects the best practices described in "Just What Is a Landscape?." Your landscape post should include:
- An introductory sentence or two inviting learners to look closely at the selected posts and see what connections can be made or what tensions can be explored for productive further discussion.
- 3-5 quotations with author citations woven together with some connecting narrative.
- A question that invites learners to dig more deeply into the issues the quotations represent.
Review your draft post in light of what you've learned about tones of voice. Now choose one tone of voice (imaginative, curious, neutral, analytical, nurturing, whimsical, informal or humorous), and revise your landscape post to reflect this tone. Try to choose a tone outside your comfort zone, and be creative!
Go back to the eLearning Toolbox discussion forum and find the discussion topic that your facilitator has created for you. Create a new message that indicates which sample discussion you used and upload your landscape post. Your landscape should be posted to this forum by the end of this session.
Read at least two of your fellow online learners' landscape posts and reply to their posts with a guess of which tone of voice they were trying to convey.

Community Building Tips

We are all human. Any experienced virtual teacher can think of a time when they might wish they had paid more attention to the tone of a post or email, or when a student misinterpreted their tone. Pay careful attention to tone when you are frustrated with a student or a course, when you are fatigued, or when you are just trying to provide a quick answer to an email as you run out the door. Use this assignment to reassess the linguistic ingredients that you can use to achieve the proper tone for a task. Keep in mind that as a virtual teacher, you may even have opportunities to help students communicate more effectively.

Citations and References

Haavind, S. (2000). Why don't face-to-face teaching strategies work in the virtual classroom? The Concord Consortium, 4(3), 3-4.

Discussion: Help

2019-07-12T16:31:02-04:00

Having trouble understanding what to do in the assignments? Need some help on technical issues? This is the place to post your questions or help others.

Discussion: Emails from the instructor

2019-07-16T06:14:08-04:00

Each week I send out an email to let you know what to expect the next week. I know that sometimes these emails can be "lost" in cyberspace. To make sure that everyone is receiving my emails I will also post a copy here.

Discussion: Full-Spectrum Questioning in the Real World

2019-07-16T23:39:37-04:00

Do you think full-spectrum questioning will be an effective tool for you to use while facilitating discussions with virtual students? Why or why not?

Assignment: Full-Spectrum Questioning in the Real World

2019-07-17T10:44:45Z

Due:

Do you think full-spectrum questioning will be an effective tool for you to use while facilitating discussions with virtual students? Why or why not?

Discussion: Group Collaboration Assignment

2019-07-17T09:42:58-04:00

Use this forum to work with your fellow online learners on the Group Collaboration Assignment. When your assignment is complete, create a new message in this forum with the final version of the document (due by the end of Session 5). Read your fellow learners' group assignments and note any exemplary samples that you may wish to save for future use. Don’t forget your facilitator will be assessing your submission according to the rubric for this assignment.

NOTE: In the subject line of each initial assignment post, please include all your group member’s names.

Assignment: Group Collaboration Assignment

2019-07-17T13:48:47Z

Due:

NOTE: In the subject line of each initial assignment post, please include all your group member’s names.

Announcement: Final Week

2019-07-22T13:42:13-04:00

We are at the final week. This session you will be looking at competency-based learning as well as using rubrics to provide feedback. I hope you have been able to see how I have used the rubrics in this class to assess your learning and how these can be valuable to both the instructor and the student. During this week you will also reflect on what you have learned and how it will help you in the future.

Here's a list of what's due during session 6:

Discuss competency-based learning. Post original answer and first response early in the week and then post your third and fourth postings later in the week.
Post your feedback to a landscape post by the end of the day on Tuesday.
Finalize your Course Expectations and Learning Goals by the end of the day on Tuesday.

As you know there were a lot of assignments due last week and I am working to grade these as quickly as possible. I appreciate your patience. I have enjoyed the discussions during this class and look forward to our final discussions. Jacqui

Discussion: eLearning Toolbox

2019-07-23T09:53:51-04:00

This is where you will build your own eLearning Toolbox. Look for the discussion topic with your name. That is the space where you will work and post all your eLearning Toolbox assignments.

Assignment: Competency-Based Approaches

2019-07-24T10:04:00Z

Due:

What is your reaction to implementing the types of assessment and feedback associated with competency-based approaches as a virtual teacher?

Discussion: Virtual Café

2019-07-24T06:05:31-04:00

Use this area for general conversation. You will introduce yourself in the "Get to Know You" activity under Session 1.

Assignment: Course Expectations & Learning Goals

2019-07-24T10:31:26Z

Due:

Please upload your Course Expectations & Learning Goals assignment here.

Discussion: Competency-Based Approaches

2019-07-24T08:18:17-04:00

What is your reaction to implementing the types of assessment and feedback associated with competency-based approaches as a virtual teacher?

TECH570.43 Feed

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S3.3 Course Enhancements

Blooms Taxonomy for the 21st Century

Digital Media

From Multimedia to Dynamic Media

Using Media in the Classroom

Technology Tip

Course Enhancements That Appeal to Different Learning Styles

eLearning Toolbox 3: Web-based Tool Review

Citations and References

Additional Resources (Optional)

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Session Resources

Session 1

Readings

Videos

Additional Resources (Optional)

Session 2

Readings

Additional Resources (Optional)

Session 3

Readings

Videos

Interactives

Additional Resources (Optional)

Session 4

Readings

Videos

Additional Resources (Optional)

Session 5

Readings

Interactives

Additional Resources (Optional)

Session 6

Readings

Additional Resources (Optional)

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Rubric: Group Collaboration Assignment

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S1.4 Virtual Teaching Tools

Electronic Communication

Educational Blogs

Community Building Tips:

Get to Know Each Other

Citations and References

Additional Resources (Optional)

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S2.1 Introduction

Overview

Objectives

Community Building Tips:

Citations and References

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S3.4 Look Ahead

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S1.5 Look Ahead

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Course Design and Elements

Course Design

Course Elements

Course Icons

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S3.1 Introduction

Overview

Objectives

Citations and References

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S4.1 Introduction

Overview

Objectives

Citations and References

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S6.4 Look Back

Assignment: Course Expectations & Learning Goals

Course Evaluation Survey

Say Goodbye

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S6.5 Look Ahead

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S5.1 Introduction

Overview

Objectives

Citations and References

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: S2.5 Look Ahead

Wiki Page, TECH570.43: Assignment Checklist

Before You Begin

Session 1: The Online Environment

Getting Started

Online Learning Today

Effective Virtual Teachers

Virtual Teaching Tools

Session 2: The Effective Virtual Teacher

Blooms Taxonomy for the 21^st Century