WebliographyResources for Online Instruction

IntroductionMembers of the educational community face a variety of issues, but one of the newest challenges is teaching online. Instructors who optimize the delivery of instruction and instructional materials are using web-based courses increasingly. These include: Web pages, chat rooms, discussion groups, e-mail, animations and video streaming. The following are a collaboration of educational websites for facilitators to use as a resource for online learning.

The goal of this project was to find Web sites that are updated, credible, non-biased, user friendly, enhanced with multimedia technology and most of all, appealing to online facilitators. As facilitators we need to enhance not only our weaknesses, but continue to increase our strengths as well. This Webliography consists of helpful ideas that will address both of these issues.

As educators ourselves, we believe that the following resources will enhance your online learning environments and will soon be added to your “Favorites” list.

Virtual Resource Site for Teaching with Technology

University of Maryland University CollegeDescription

This web site offers a multimedia approach to exploring key issues in developing and teaching online courses.

Click on image to visit this website.

http://www.umuc.edu/virtualteaching/vt_home.html

Posted and Review by Heather:

I found this web site easy to use, very reliable with expert opinions and examples, full of updated resources, and many multimedia options, which made it fun to use. There were 2 modules to work within. Module 1 provides information on selection and use of various web-based media such as text, audio, video, graphics, and more to accomplish different learning strategies. Module 2 focuses on delivery, with actual expert faculty interviews about successful practices in online course delivery.

One of my favorite pages on this site was in module 2 under the managing interaction link. You could choose from 6 different expert presenters each in their own focus area on different realities and aspects of designing and delivering online courses. It was a nice change to watch a video of a facilitator talk about their focus rather than just reading it. The links and examples listed throughout this site are very helpful in providing ways teachers can provide different ranges of disciplines into online teaching. I especially liked the “technologies” page, here they listed each technology and accompanied each one with an icon denoting its level of complexity from easy to hard. This will make it easy for a facilitator to choose which type of technology they would use based on their own, and the classes’ technology comfort level. Overall I highly recommend this site for gathering collaborative information and resources to enrich any online classroom.

Review by: Barb

I had also looked briefly at this site in my search. I passed it by because it did not automatically catch my attention. Lesson learned – look deeper.

I found the entirety of Module 2 to be helpful and I, too, enjoyed listening instead of reading for a change. The presentations were something I believe facilitators of any level would be interested in hearing.

Module 1 focused quite a bit on technology. I did think that the rating scale would be helpful to someone trying to find his or her comfort level in this area.

eSchool News OnlineOnline Learning

DescriptioneSchool News is a leader in providing technology-related news to those in education. Recently it has added an online instruction component to their website. In this section, eSchool News provides an outstanding portal of trends, new developments, and resources to educate, assist, and guide educators.

Click on image to visit this website.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/reports/onlinelearning/index.cfm

Posted and Review by Joanna:

I selected this particular website for many reasons. For starters, I am an eSchool News subscriber. I find this site trust-worthy, credible, and non-biased. In addition, as an online educator, I find this section particularly useful. eSchool constantly updates their websites and seeks to find interesting articles on the topic of online instruction. As online educators, it is vital that we stay abreast of current events and recent advances in this type of instruction. Since we will become PBS instructors, we need to be prepared to answer questions about this exciting trend in higher education, as well as in K-12 education. It’s also important to learn how students learn online, and know how to apply best practices. One article in particular that would benefit the Case Study is “Building 21st Century Collaborative Learning Communities.” Be sure to also check out the study on how “Broken Links Impede Learning.” There is much to learn about online instruction and how to reach the full potential. By having a credible portal such as this one, our opportunities for professional growth are endless.

Review by: Arlette This website is rich in up to date information. It offers an

immense library of articles and resources that at the same time, does not overwhelm the seeker. As Joanna mentioned, the site seems very credible and reliable. As I was reviewing some of the articles, I noticed that many of the authors had been cited in some of the sites I visited.

The website is organized into 5 main topics: Trends and New Developments, Promising Practices, Legislation and Litigation, Costs and Complications and Industry News. Beneath each topic heading are many articles that relate to the topic. The site is very nonbiased, see “Forum addresses virtual schooling myths”. For anyone considering implementing online classes, this website would be a good place to start.

Facilitating OnlineWikiversity

DescriptionThis web site offers basic information regarding online facilitation. It provides information in a variety of formats (graphs, pictures, and lists). It also provides links to further information regarding the topic.

Click on image to visit this website.

http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Facilitating_Online

Posted and Review by Barb:

I chose this particular site because of the ease with which the material was presented. I found this site to offer a great baseline of information regarding online facilitation. It covered material that an online facilitator could either know, need to review of perhaps learn for the first time. The information was presented in a manageable format. I also like that it was arranged in more than just a narrative fashion which helps those who might need that visual to connect to. This site also offers additional links to a variety of explanations and further readings, including textbook type materials. And of course, exploring those links takes you even further into the facilitation world.

Review by Joanna:

The great thing about this website is that it’s a “wiki,” which means it will continuously be updated and revised. With wikis, anyone can add to or revise the information posted, although it will be subject to review. I believe this site is a good place to start for online educators to learn about the lingo associated with online coursework. The advantages/disadvantages table was accurate, and I thought the roles and responsibilities outline were especially helpful. If you’re short on time, and need a “crash course” on online instruction, this is a great resource.

Creating Meaningful Online Discussions

DescriptionThis website describes how to set up a virtual community that focuses on successful collaboration among online learners and the facilitator. Collaboration among all the participants maximizes learning.

Click on image to visit this website.

http://cnx.org/content/m14135/latest/

Posted and Review by: Arlette

This website demonstrates how to set up a virtual online community that focuses on successful collaboration among online learners and the facilitator. It gives the instructor guidance on how to establish a focus among all the participants and weave together responses to lead the learners to more in depth learning.

This page stresses the high degree of interaction between student to student and teacher to student for a positive learning experience. Collaboration among all the participants maximizes learning. However, the most instructive part of this site is actual dialogue among learners and instructors. You actually see the posts written by the students, and then see how the instructor weaves together responses to get them to think about one main idea and then to steer them to a new perspective. So often you hear from others what you have to do to have a meaningful online discussion. This website actually shows you how.

I really liked this website because it presented guidelines for creating meaningful online discussions on only one page. When I want information, I don’t want to have to search a website to get it.

Review by: Heather

Impressive web site from the get go! First of all this site has been peer-reviewed, accepted, and sanctioned by the National Council of the Professors of Educational Administration. Mary Harris-John an online facilitator expert gives her own personal experience testimonies about the challenges in developing online communities. She states many helpful resources and theory ideas. My favorite is the following by Rovai (2001) he defines four aspects of community: 1) spirit (feeling of group identity); 2) trust (feeling of safety and support); 3) interaction (task-related and socio-emotional); and 4) learning (the construction of shared knowledge).

Mary states actual online post examples from students and facilitators. In order to show that “students share more than just course content; they “feel” the tone of the postings of their colleagues and search for common experiences among their peers as they engage in collaborative learning”

I highly recommend the Discussion forum option or you can even e-mail the author directly at mailto:johnm@marshall.edu. Although this is an informative article that I will come back and use again. I only gave it 4 stars because I found it lacked the needed extra resource links, and multimedia elements.