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Meeting the challenges of contemporary online learning head-on
The document discusses challenges in contemporary online learning and how approaches have evolved. It notes that while online learning has been around for over 20 years, what was previously considered good practice is now being challenged by more student-centered approaches enabled by new technologies that allow for greater collaboration. It emphasizes the need for educators to consider changing assessments to be more authentic and interactive to better prepare students for today's environment.
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Meeting the challenges of contemporary online learning head-on
- 1. CRICOS Provider No:00300K (NT/VIC) 03286A (NSW) RTO Provider No: 0373 TEQSA Provider ID PRV12069 Meeting the challenges of contemporary online learning head-on Professor Michael Sankey Director, Learning Futures and Lead Education Architect President, Australasian Council on Open Distance and eLearning (ACODE) Community Fellow, Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE) michael_sankey
- 2. Charles Darwin Universityacknowledges all First Nations people across the lands on which we live and work, and we pay our respects to Elders both past and present. 2
- 3. • Online learningis not a phenomenon discovered in March 2020, it has been very strong for 20+ years • Interestingly, what was seen as good online learning just 5 years ago, is now also being challenged • Challenged by newer student-centred approaches that have evolved, but linked with the advent of more ruthless and dark players in the market • Today technology allow us to do way more in a mixed modes, allowing students to work more collaboratively, as if in the workplace • This greater level of agency in their learning presents more traditional educators with new challenges • We will consider how changing just a couple of assessments to be more authentic, may help you refresh your practice over time. Introduction 3
- 4. Self or cloudhosted •Institution largely either self hosted or hosted an instance with the vendor on a private cloud, allowing customisations that made upgrading more difficult SaaS •Software as a service (SaaS) vendors moving clients onto using the one version of the software. Less customisation possible, but upgrades happen much more easily API • With self hosted systems, institutions had to develop APIs (application program interface) to allow other systems to communicate with each other LTI & xAPI • The advent of LTI (learning tools Interoperability) allows learning system to invoke and to communicate with external systems against a common global standard. This is linked with extra ‘experience’ data available through xAPI Transmission of information • Systems were used to provide links to documents and learning elements contained within a repository. Limited tools in the LMS limited engagement opportunities Participatory creation • The advent of more tools to allow for the co-creation, sharing and peer-review of learning episodes. Greater interoperability has allowed for this to be more easily mediated Walled garden approach • Where the LMS was the central repository for learning and pathways inside the LMS led students to different elements in the one garden Open garden approach • The LMS still has a role but now so do many other systems that can interoperate. Pathways lead between the different gardens providing far more variety Antecedents and descendant in a changing digital ecology
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- 6. LMS & associated tools O365 &associated tools Pre Uni Undergraduate Post-graduate Work Year 1 Year 2 Year 3-4 Work focused patterns for student usage VLE Workplace technologies O365 & associated tools LMS & associated tools Assessment
- 7. Productivity tools andbehaviours 7
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- 9. • I ama visual arts teacher, I went to arts college and did well, so well that I initially became a sessional lecturer, then a lecturer. • Typically, I teach the way I was taught and most of my students seem to be doing OK. I typically use a mastery model (stand and deliver) for my teaching approach in the studio. • I’ve been asked to do more of my teaching online and I hear from others that I should be considering ‘constructive alignment’ (whatever that means). • If I want to apply to be a Senior Lecturer at some point, I really need to be conscious and explicit about my teaching/pedagogical approach (whatever that means), particularly as we move to more blended modes of delivery Scenario 9
- 10. • It isthe interaction between teachers, students, and the learning environment and the learning tasks in and around that environment. • If we say, we’re using a pedagogical approach, we talk about ‘Constructivism’. • In reality we use a much broader range of approaches, as the need arises. • We have developed out of necessity a very eclectic approach to pedagogy. • It’s like having my set of golf clubs. If the hole is 290m, I’ll be using my 2 wood, then I’ll use my 6 iron to get to the green. I then get to use my putter. • The next hole is only 180m, so I’ll use a different combination of clubs. • But I always get to use my putter (assessment). • Similarly, do we teach our 1st year students in the same as our 3rd years? What is Pedagogy 10
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- 13. • Writing assistance •For example, if a piece of writing was 49% written by AI, with the remaining 51% written by a human, is this considered original work? • Grammarly, etc. Other cloud-based writing tools with automatic text generation, extraction, prediction, mining, form-filling, paraphrasing, translation and transcription, etc. • Knowledge banks: Help with revision identifying gaps targeting pre-produced sets of materials • Tailoring exam Q’s • We need to be really really interested in this space before it over runs us Yes and No 13
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- 16. AI doesn’t alwaysget it right 16
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- 18. • There are1281 sites associated with academic fraud and contract cheating blocked by CDU. • 84% of these are provided by TEQSA. • It’s one thing to say we need to change assessment to be more authentic, but we need to be able to back that up in a consistent way. • That means time (proxy for $’s). Or we don’t rush it. • Two steps: Teachers need a meta understanding around how they are teaching, and • Need assessment mentors to help them. Cheating vs Authentic Assessment 18
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- 20. 20 3507 1570 853 1173 1698 10 3742 8060 3023 2690 8608 9971 9999 9117 1312 1278 3212 7533 0% 10% 20%30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Month 2020 2021 2022
- 21. Unit 1 Effective teaching Unit2 Technology enhanced learning Unit 3 Curriculum design Unit 4 SoTL Set up Portfolio 10% Blog post 10% Blog post 10% Blog post 10% Essay 30% Essay 30% Essay 30% Essay + Prez 30% Report 30% Essay 30% Prez 30% Essay 30% Report 30% Posts 30% Essay 30% Teaching Plan 30% Essays and Quiz’s eazy peazy for AI 21
- 22. Instead, can weplease think about: Human voice Images Collaboration Peer-review Poster/infographic ePortfolio/reflection Work Integrated Learning 22
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- 24. Create an onlinesocial media advertisement on the topic you’re learning 24 • Most students today use some form of social media platform and are familiar with seeing ads being put in in front of them. • By students creating an image speaking to a particular topic they can post this into a safe institutional collaboration tool; Microsoft Teams or Yammer, a closed Facebook site, or an ePortfolio platform, where other students can view it, ‘like’ it and comment on it. • It could be put in Voice Thread with the students giving a verbal explanation of why they have chosen to do this in a particular way and what they were trying to convey.
- 25. • This caneasily be done in OneNote or Padlet or even on a shared document on Google. • Students can do this in smaller groups or individually, at the same time or over a set period. • It is like pasting sticky notes on the wall in the classroom, but online. • The key here is that there will be a synthesis of the ideas at some point, again either done individually or by the group. • This is then presented as the outcome of the brainstorming activity and students can reflect on this. Online brainstorming using sticky notes a/synchronous 25
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- 27. • This couldbe done synchronously or asynchronously. If live you would use Zoom, Teams or Collaborate to have students present their ideas. • If a recording is required, they could do this on their phones and post the recording either into the LMS, Teams, or Steaming Media Platform. • Voice Thread is also a good tools for this. • The trick here is to ask other students to ask questions as though they are the novice to try and tease out un-explored concepts. • It a bit of a role play which adds an element of fun to this activity. Ask students to do a description of a process, as though presenting to a novice 27
- 28. • Infographics areall the rage now and students are exposed to these in all walks of life. The trick here is to get them to precis their ideas and to bring them back to the core constructs. • Again, this can be accompanied by a description, either in writing or as an audio explanation. This could be simply created in PowerPoint or Word, or a more sophisticated tool, but the tool is not the point, it’s about how they represent their ideas. • This can be posted onto a forum, put on Voice Thread, hosted in Teams, or presented live in a Zoom or Teams meeting. They could prerecord the explanation also and post this with the visual. • This would also make for a good peer-review activity in something like Feedback Fruits or PebblePad. Create a chart, mind map, infographic, or diagram of a concept 28
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- 30. • Pen palsmay not be the common now, but the point is, we are getting the student to summarise their learning for the week as though they were explaining this to an old friend. • Alternatively, they could create a 5-10-minute audio explanation as though they were explaining it on the phone. They could record it on their phone. • Initially, until they get the idea, this could be set us as a scaffolded scenario where they are given some guidelines as to how much they should cover, or provide an example so they can see what is required. • Really there are many tools that could be used for this. It could be a blog or journal page in an ePortfolio tool, written in Word and posted as an assignment. • But in this case, I would not make it a shared document with other students as this could be seen as a bit threatening by some. Write a letter or email to a friend about what you learned this week 30
- 31. • Asking studentto act out, through something like a play (written), where actors could be used to play out a scenario around a given topic being studied. Think Snap Chat, or an Instagram Story (short and to the point). • The art of creating a dialog from a concept gets them to see a topic from different angles, putting on different shoes, as it were. • A rhyming or acrostic poem may also get them to process information a wee bit differently to what they normally do. Again, this could be done in an ePortfolio tool as a blog or journal. • If it is designed as a play, a group of students could even play this out in Zoom or Teams. It could also be recorded separately and placed online. Write a poem, play, or dialogue about the topic of the week 31
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- 33. • Role play,students pretend to be somebody they are aspiring to be. This provides valuable meta cognitive insights into their aspirations. • Many board meeting are now held online and board members have to present their ideas to their colleagues. • Papers, memos, etc., can be provided ahead of time for others to read, the person presenting does not have to rehearse all the concepts in the paper. • Students post their work into a Team channel or forum set up for this. • Ideally students take on different roles on the board. One might be the CEO, another the chief finance person, another the CIO. • Each one need to see what is being presented through that lens. Create a policy memo or an executive summary for a Board Meeting 33
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- 36. • This canbe done by creating an open text field after a question. • Some systems allow for an audio response. • Typically done in the LMS, could be done in Voice Thread or media streaming platform like Kaltura, Panopto or ECO360. • This is where the use of AI can work for you, as long-form text answers can look for common words or strings. • But AI engines need to be trained, so this would not be used in the first instance, but could be used in subsequent iterations. Give an explanation for a multiple-choice question 36
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- 39. • Consider changingone or two of your assessments to be more active, collaborative or authentic by using some of the suggested approaches • See if you can place your practice in the continuum or evolution of online learning in Australasia • Some of the student-centred learning approaches suggested may even make your assessment more robust, with students less likely to cheat • Post-pandemic higher education is an opportunity for us to consider newer interactive a collaborative forms of teaching • By engaging with more contemporary technology enhanced learning tools can allow students to experience a range of solutions and options they might use in the future So consider 39
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- 42. 42 https://towardsdatascience.com/the-old-saying-two-heads-are-better-than-one-4c7d133e16a4 https://www.copperbottom.net/blog/2016/11/7/why-two-heads-are-better-than-one https://www.teachwire.net/news/two-heads-are-better-than-one-why-teachers-should-talk-to-their-tas • Two headsare better than one • Education designers are a great source of inspiration • Your peers also are a great resource • Partnership pedagogy (students) • Be open to new ideas
- 43. “We are nowrealising that what was conceived as being good online learning is being challenged by some of the newer more student-centred approaches to learning and teaching. Not the least of these being due to the technologies that have evolved to allow us to be way more collaborative.” (p.22) Sankey 2022 Final word 43 https://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol19/iss2/02/ michael_sankey
Editor's Notes
- #7 If we look at the life cycle of the student from pre university through to their work life We see them using Blackboard heavily to scaffold core learning materials We see many students coming to uni having used a LMS like blackboard through to post graduate study, but we do not see a lot of use in the workplace (some but not a lot) We also know that most students also use Office products, but we do know that once students are out in the workplace they will be heavily using office products and workplace technologies, so we need to be preparing our students for the world of work So the sweet spot is how do we make these products more interoperable to make the transition between these as easy as possible