Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
TEN LESSONS LEARNED FROM TEN YEARS OF RESEARCH ONK-12 ONLINE TEACHING AND LEARNING
Dr. Susan LowesDirector, Research and EvaluationInstitute for Learning TechnologiesAdjunct Professor, Program in Computing, Communication, Technology and EducationTeachers College/Columbia University
Presentation to the NECC/NYCC Virtual Learning SummitApril 27, 2011
Lessons on the existing research base
Lesson 1: Young field, exploratory research
Research has been based on the need to understand a fast-evolving field Surveys—about experiences, perceptions, and attitudes Case studies—program evaluations, chapters in edited
collections, journal articles Dissertation-level qualitative studies Lots of practical experience, leading to many
standards, but standards are not necessarily built on research
Very few well-executed experimental or quasi-experimental designs
Very few studies that delve deeply into the data to look at correlations, compare cases, do content analysis, or do statistical analyses
A few recent interesting examples
In-depth qualitative single-case studies of pre-service teacher training and of virtual school teachers’ practices, each in a single virtual school
Ongoing evaluation of North Carolina Virtual School, from teacher and student perspective
Using back-end data to show that time spent in a course, not number of visits, is correlated with student success
Using content analysis to understand the dynamics of student interaction in discussion forums and in collaborative group projects
A comparative case study of online and f2f environments that analyzed the benefits of each for teaching a foreign language
A comparative case study of online and f2f teacher professional development that analyzed the benefits of each.
A comparative case study, using network and content analysis to analyze patterns of interaction in an online professional development course in order to understand facilitation practices
Lesson 2: Early focus was on comparing online with face-to-face
Many studies as new field needed to prove itself
Generally compared non-comparables The online students were almost always a self-
selected group to start and even more so after attrition
The curriculum was generally different The teachers are almost always different
Most studies cited are from higher education and cannot be assumed to apply to K-12
Overall, they suggest that online (done well) was at least as good as f2f (done well)
Lesson 3: We now need to ask different questions
We still need to survey the field But we should turn our focus toward making
online courses as good as, or better than, f2f courses
We need to tease out the affordances and constraints of each environment so educators can build on these
We need to understand online better We need to use the data generated by the LMS,
but we must combine it with other analyses
Lessons on teachers and teaching
Lesson 4: Online teachers have certain characteristics
Online teachers are … Experienced teachers Life-long learners looking for new challenges Well-organized
Online teachers agree that teaching online takes at least as much, and often more, time than teaching f2f
Online teachers play many roles (facilitator, technology trouble-shooter, counselor, administrator, customer service representative)
Lesson 5: ... but online teachers are also similar in some ways to face-to-face teachers Online teachers …
Have different teaching styles and beliefs about teaching
Want control over their courses See their courses as works-in-progress and
continually make changes Engage deeply with the students they are
teaching Successful online teachers are able to
establish teacher presence and student presence in their online classrooms
We need to know much more about the intricacies of teaching online and far more about the 1-to-1 model
Lesson 6: Online teachers need tailored training
Online teachers want training that .. Starts early Is substantial Is ongoing Is “bite-sized” Is fully online and facilitated
Some of the training needs to be subject-matter specific
Few colleges that train teachers are training them for teaching online; fewer still have collaborations with virtual schools
We know very little about what makes professional development effective and even less about pre-service training
Lessons on students and learning
Lesson 7: Successful online students have these personal characteristics …
Online students who succeed (complete) tend to be… Motivated Organized Have good time management skills (self-
discipline) Independent learners
BUT taking an online course can help develop these skills
And many different types of students are highly motivated, including at-risk students
… and certain background characteristics
Online students who succeed tend to have … Good technology skills Good academic preparation
Students therefore need to be carefully prepared for online learning using … Diagnostic pre-assessments Technology preparation Mini-courses to try out the environment
We need to know much more about how best to prepare students
Lesson 8: Successful online students are in environments conducive to learning Successful online students are in environments
that … Have technology problems resolved before the class
begins The first weeks of an online course are the most important
weeks in terms of managing attrition Have a set time period reserved for the online course Have a set place to do the work
There must be active supervision and guidance, and active communication/coordination between the student’s site-based supervisor and the online teacher
Lesson 9: Successful online students are also …
In schools where online learning is considered as good as face-to-face learning Less successful students often have two
misconceptions about online courses They are easier than f2f courses They take less time than f2f courses Students pick up these misconceptions from the
attitudes of administrators or teachers Engaged by their courses
Students want interactivity and to have the course connected to the real world
Students want to interact with each other
Lessons on research again
Lesson 10: We have so much more to learn…
We need to continue to survey the field But we also need detailed studies of online
learning We need more comparative studies that compare
online to online We need to compare the same implementations
with different conditions We need to make much more use of back-end data We need more in-depth looks inside courses We need follow-up studies, especially for
professional development Many LMS’s collect massive amounts of data
but most schools are not prepared to use it
