Distance Learning Amatyc Access 2008

Who?What?When?Where?Why? How?

Of Distance Education

Before we start

Who has taught on-line? Who uses the web in a traditional class? What are the biggest positives to

teaching an online course? What are the biggest negatives?

Interesting Facts

Last year, almost 3.5 million college students nationwide were taking at least one online course representing nearly 20% of all U.S. higher education students.

In Ohio, almost 50,000 students were taking at least one online course representing nearly 11% of all publicly educated Ohio undergraduate students.

Why the

Increase in

Students in Distance

Classes?

Increase in Students in Distance Classes

Attributed to

enrollment growth,

shrinking public funding for higher education

student demand

need to improve access for non-traditional students.

What are the

Types of

Distance Learning

Classes?

Types of Distance Courses

Totally online courses Hybrid (or blended) courses where

students meet part of the time with a faculty member and part time on their own using the web as a resource

Web-enhanced courses where faculty make use of the web for the posting of documents and online discussions

What are sound

Pedagogical

Components

of distance classes?

Pedagogical Components

Best Practices for Online Education Pedagogy for Online Education Designing Online Content Providing Feedback to Online Students Active Learning Student Collaboration

Best Practices for Online Education

Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever Follow-up on Chickering’s Seven Principles

Distance Education, Guidelines for Good Practice 14 standards based on a survey of DL

practitioners

Good practice in undergraduate education:

1. Encourages contacts between students and faculty.

2. Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students.

3. Uses active learning techniques.

4. Gives prompt feedback.

5. Emphasizes time on task.

6. Communicates high expectations.

7. Respects diverse talents and ways of learning. (Chickering, 1987)

Guidelines for Best Practice

Faculty must retain academic control Faculty must be prepared to meet the

special requirements of teaching at a distance

Course design should be shaped to the potentials of the medium

Students must fully understand course requirements and be prepared to succeed

Guidelines (Continued)

Close personal interaction must be maintained In real time (synchronously) In virtual time (asynchronously)

Class size should be set through normal faculty channels

Courses should cover all material Experimentation with a broad variety of

subjects should be encouraged

Guidelines (Continued)

Equivalent Research opportunities must be provided

Student assessment should be comparable

Equivalent advisement opportunities must be offered

Faculty should retain creative control over use and re-use of materials

Guidelines (Continued)

Full undergraduate degree programs should include same-time same-place coursework

Evaluation of distance coursework should be undertaken at all levels

American Federation of Teachers, 2000

What are the

Course Design

Components

of distance classes?

Course Design Components

Course Management System/ Authoring Platform

Course Content

Electronic Tools

Assessment Methods

What is a

Course Management

System?

Course Management System/Authoring Platform

Course Management Systems provide an environment in which students may work on course materials within a curriculum. These environments provide tracking and data collection capabilities of registered users.

Examples WebCT & Blackboard (they have merged)

(http://www.blackboard.com)

Ecollege (http://

www.ecollege.com/index.learn)

Angel (http://www.angellearning.com/)

Moodle (http://moodle.org/)

D2L (http://http://www.desire2learn.com/)

How do instructors

choose appropriate

software packages?

Software Choices

Course Management System chosen at College level

Additional Software chosen by department or instructor MyMathLab WileyPlus Mathzone Webassign, etc.

First Criteria

Compatibility with MAC and PC Browser check (Auto or manual)

IE7, IE8 or both Software Check

Adobe Flash Player Java other

User Friendly

For You Content management File control Multiple sections

For Your Students Easy to navigate? Online tutorial? Install Wizard?

How Much Support for You and Your Students

Video Lectures PowerPoint® Online Textbook (ebook) Online Homework Online Discussion Instructor-Student Communication

Each Package has Strengths and Weaknesses I use MyMathLab

Cynthia Young College Algebra (WileyPlus) Plain language (talks to students) “Go Tutorials”

Enhanced Web Assign “only” an Online HW management system supports every major publisher

What are the

Types of Course

Content used in

Distance Learning

Classes?

Course Content

Can be textbook specific or stand-alone Consult courseware support site for

training materials

What are the

Types of Tools used in

Distance Learning

Classes?

Electronic Tools

• Audioconferencing• Blogging• Chatrooms• Digital drop box• Electronic bulletin board• Electronic mail• Fax• Instant messaging• Interactive video• Vodcasting• Wiki

• iPod• Listserv• Newsgroup• Print (textbooks, etc.)• Software tutorials• Telecourse• Telephone• Threaded discussion• Videoconferencing• Webcams• You Tube

http://www.youtube.com/

What are the Types of

Assessment Methods

Used in

Distance Learning

Classes?

Let’s try a live

Webcam

Using Windows

Live Messenger

Assessment Methods

Traditional (in the classroom) Online Proctored

In Institution’s Testing Center By arrangement with proctor (faculty

member or supervisor)

Using Technology to Assess

Create your own testswith MicroSoft ClassServer

Computer Generated Tests (example: Coursecompass.com)

Turning Points™ (instructor can ask any question, get a response from the audience then immediately display results in a PowerPoint presentation!  After data has been collected from the audience, data can be downloaded into Excel Word for further analysis, trend recognition and reporting.)

How can you prepare

to be a successful

Distance Learning

Teacher?

Prepare to Teach Online Successfully!

Find a mentor Have a trusted colleague review your

materials Enroll in an online course or participate

in online training

Internet Resources

A website for TI-83 & Ti-84 Graphing Calculators:

http://mathbits.com/MathBits/TISection/Openpage.htm#General

A website for math "notes”: http://purplemath.com/

A website for Conics: http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/jbconics.htm

Print your own Graph Paper (rectanglar, polar, logarithmic): http://www.mathematicshelpcentral.com/graph_paper.htm

A website for Derivatives: http://distlearn.amatyc.orgMath Type is a product for including mathematics notation in

documents: http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathtype/?t

Internet Resources

Get a TI Calculator emulator: http://www.mtsu.edu/~smcdanie/CSS_Site/VisualAlgebra/Visual_Dev_algebra2.htm

That one has lots of good help menus for Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and has the virtual TI as a download.

Math GV: http://www.mathgv.com/

This is a free grapher. Have your students use this to create graphs to copy and paste into Word documents

Free Resource on the Internet

A free graphing utility http://www.padowan.dk/graph/ A resource for math teachers http://www.mathbits.com/ Texas Instruments ready-made lessons http://www.timath.com/ Video tutorials for algebra to calculus http://www.hippocampus.org/

Questions?

Contact Information

Mary Beth Orrangeorrange@ecc.edu

Nancy J. Sattlernsattler@terra.edu

Vera Hy-Hynevmanhuhynev@sunysuffolk.edu

Sharing Session Homework Projects Course material delivery Office hours Communication Class Participation Books All the other things that go in a math

course