SOS: Save Online Students (from Social Isolation)

All Alone in the World?
In high school I played a devious old woman who poisoned lonely people with arsenic-laced elderberry wine. My character’s famous line was, “All alone in the world?”. It signaled to the audience that another victim had been chosen.

Otterbein University Theatre & Dance from USA
[CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

This phrase, no less deadly, seems to play out in online learning. Students in online classes who don’t feel part of a community frequently struggle to ever find success with e-learning. (Berry, 2017; Aghaee, N. et. al, 2016)

Maslow - Enter Stage Right
It should be no surprise that students are seeking a sense of belonging in their online learning environment. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs shows that a sense of belonging is a strong motivator for individuals.
Pick your scientific study: Berry’s work in 2017, Kyvec and Olson’s work in 2013, or even a large research project conducted by the Ph.D Completion Project in 2008; all of them have found that attrition in online programs has largely been identified as stemming from a student’s sense that he/she was not part of a supportive and social learning community.

The Role of “Hero” to be Played by the Instructor 
Aside from the obvious facilitation of learning activities and assessment, instructors in an online environment play a large role in ensuring students find and fit into their online-course communities. Research has shown three basic methods of developing community with online learners:

1. Model appropriate social interaction in asynchronous discussion groups. Students need coached to develop written communication skills and language use appropriate to an online education environment. (Arasaratnam-Smith and Northcote, 2017) Instructors can support this development by scaffolding their involvement in asynchronous discussions. Instructors should focus on appropriate language, positive tone in writing, and use of names in posts to make writing feel like dialogue and not expository writing.
2. Develop opportunities for socializing, not just learning. A 2017 survey of students revealed that e-learners with tools to support socializing with online classmates were more satisfied than those without such tools (Raspopovic, Cvetanovic, Medan, and Ljubojevic, 2017). Instructors could leverage this research by creating social media groups for students to engage in outside of class.
3. Personally connect with students early and often. Earlier this year (2018) Law and Law conducted a study of students in an online MBA course and found that pre-course correspondence from instructors was the number-one rated tactic for increasing a student’s sense of belonging in an online course. Instructors should consider this prior to the start of a course and reach out to their students to meet, greet, and connect with students as individuals. Periodic communication through email, video, and phone calls are also ways to help students break through a feeling of isolation.

The Final Act
In 2006 Mishra and Kohler shared the TPACK model with those in the online instruction world. They have asserted with this model that knowledge of content is not enough for effective online teaching. A strong understanding of the pedagogy specific to online learning plays an equally important role for educators. Owning the development of social constructs for e-learners fits into this online-instructional pedagogy.

References:

1. Aghaee, N., Jobe, W. B., Karunaratne, T., Smedberg, Å, Hansson, H., & Tedre, M. (2016). Interaction Gaps in PhD Education and ICT as a Way Forward: Results from a Study in Sweden. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 17(3), 360-383. doi:10.19173/irrodl.v17i3.2220
2. Arasaratnam-Smith, L., & Northcote, M. (2017). Community in Online Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities. Electronic Journal of E-Learning, 15(2), 188-198. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1141773.pdf.
3. Berry, S. (2017). Building Community in Online Doctoral Classrooms: Instructor Practices that Support Community. Online Learning, 21(2). doi:10.24059/olj.v21i2.875
4. Kyvik, S., & Olsen, T. (2014). Increasing Completion Rates in Norwegian Doctoral Training: Multiple Causes for Efficiency Improvements. Studies in Higher Education, 39(9), 1668-1682. doi:https://eric.ed.gov/?redir=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2013.801427
5. Law, M., & Law, M. (2018). Assessing connectedness in an online MBA course. Journal of Instructional Pedagogies,21. Retrieved from http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/182786.pdf
6. Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for integrating technology in teachers’ knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108 (6), 1017–1054
7. Ph.D. Completion Project.(2008)Promising Practices. (Council of Graduate Schools Ph.D. Completion Project).from http://www.phdcompletion.org/promising/environment.asp
8. Raspopovic, M., Cvetanovic, S., Medan, I., & Ljubojevic, D. (2017). The Effects of Integrating Social Learning Environment with Online Learning. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(1), 141-160. doi:10.19173/irrodl.v18i1.2645

Using a tool versus using a tool effectively; online teaching for dummies*

*This blog post has no endorsement from the publishers of the very popular "..for dummies" series of books.  I just liked the sentiment.

Part I: Effective Tool Use

In a past life I used to teach students in a construction apprenticeship program. One of the first lessons students were taught in that program was how to use a hammer. It seems like an intuitive tool right - hold handle, use metal head to pound nail. However, there is some real physics to be explored if you want the hammer to do the work, not your forearm.

In my present iteration of “Amanda the Professional”, I help teachers and students use online tools to enhance their teaching/learning. Same concept as my previous job, I spend time helping others use tools effectively.

In a prescribed literary review examining the value on online learning, I wasn’t surprised to see the same theme I encounter everyday - tools aren’t effective if you don’t know how to use them.

Part II: Marketing Schemes

“Touted for its cost effectiveness and convenience, online learning provides opportunities for more learners to continue their education in various settings (Oliver, 1999).”

“Technology now enables schools to offer online programs with better student and instructor collaboration, flexible (asynchronous) learning, problem specific feedback, automated interactive lessons or presentations, and simulations of almost anything conceivable (Byrd, 2012).”

Written a decade apart, these two papers reviewing online learning tout the value of e-learning in terms of features, not effectiveness.  There is nothing wrong with buying a product for its features.  As an ed tech professional, I would just like to encourage others to then pursue how to use such products to improve their efficacy.

Maxpixel Under CC0 Public Domain

So, buckle in. I’d like to offer you a short lesson on how to make online learning effective; because I think by now, we all get that educational technology tools can be fun and flashy and offer flexibility to our instructional practices - but if we take a moment to learn how to make these tools effective everyone wins.

Part III: A Short Ride to Success

Have faith, this will be a short ride as there are only two major themes for effective online learning:

• Student engagement
• Teacher involvement

Let’s start with student engagement. Research shows that students who feel engaged with their coursework perform better(Koc, 2017), enjoy the class more(Burke, 2017), and are more likely to stick with their education(Shea 2006). Specifically, students who are given responsibility for their learning feel more engaged. One way to increase responsibility is to require students to reflect on what they have learned(Angiello, 2010). Competency-based education practices that help students identify learning targets and then empower them to seek information and experience to prove mastery of learning also favorably ramp up student engagement(Mayeshiba, 2010).

Now, if the key to effective online learning is student responsibility and engagement, then you may be asking - “what then, is the role of the teacher”. Abundant amounts of research show that an instructor in an online class brings the most value through creating an online community where learners can feel safe exploring thoughts, asking questions, and seeking feedback(Majeski, 2017). “...a strong and active presence on the part of the instructor—one in which she or he actively guides the discourse—is related both to students sense of connectedness and learning(Shea, 2006).

Part IV: The Final Destination

Casey, A.(2014). End of the Road
Licensed Under CC-BySA 2.0

I mentioned that this was to be a short ride, right? This is the end of the line. Teachers seeking to create EFFECTIVE online learning environments should work toward identifying ways to promote student responsibility for learning so as to free him/herself to be responsible for the development and maintenance of a safe and active online learning community.

To slaughter a perfectly good movie line:

If you build it (the community), they will learn.

References:

1. Angiello, R. (2010). Study Looks at Online Learning vs. Traditional Instruction. Education Digest, 76(2), 56–69.
2. Burke, A., & Fedorek, B. (2017). Does “flipping” promote engagement?: A comparison of a traditional, online, and flipped class. Active Learning in Higher Education, 18(1), 11–24.
3. Byrd, R. (2010). Using Appropriate E-learning Systems to Optimize Teaching and Learning. GSTF Journal on Computing, 2(3), 47–52.
4. Koc, M. (2017). Learning Analytics of Student Participation and Achievement in Online Distance Education: A Structural Equation Modeling. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 17(6), 1893–1910.
5. Majeski, R., Stover, M., Valais, T., & Ronch, J. (2017). Fostering Emotional Intelligence in Online Higher Education Education Courses. Adult Learning, 28(4), 135–143.
6. Mayeshiba, M., Jansen, K., & Mihlbauer, L. (2018). An Evaluation of Critical Thinking in Competency Based and Traditional Online Learning Environments. Online Learning, 22(2), 77–89.
7. Oliver, R. (1999). Exploring strategies for online teaching and learning. Distance Education, 20(2), 240–254. doi:10.1080/0158791990200205

"You aren't doing it right" - A Call for Defiance in the Use of Digital Technologies

“Necessity is the mother of invention.” Richard Franck

The TPACK framework identifies a collection of competencies necessary for mastery of technology use in the classroom. One element of this Venn diagram includes competencies related to technical knowledge - or the knowledge of and ability to use digital technologies. Practitioners of TPACK might suggest that mastery of technology skills would enable an instructor to choose a tool to best accomplish his/her goals.

By Matthew Koehler [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest alternately, that mastery of technology skills would enable an instructor to critically evaluate a digital technology in terms of what it might be capable of. Where would be if the creators of Google Docs only set out to re-create the overdone wheel of a word processing tool? Thankfully, they envisioned collaboration, citation, use of web resources, etc.

Scientists have proven that humans are inclined to stick with tools that are familiar, regardless of the original intentions of the tool and regardless of options for more effective tools. But, when I think about my four-year-old son’s passion for the phrase, “You’re doing it wrong”, a little oppositional defiance is sparked. My go-to response for him is, “No, I’m just doing it differently.”


So, while those of us in educational technology and instructional design might have “intended” uses for tools and applications; I salute those brave souls who are willing to experiment to see what awesomeness they can elicit.

(Seriously, the instructional designer in me hesitated with this post. Have you had the client who kept trying to get a tool to work in a way NEVER intended and then swore the tool was “broken”? But, in the spirit of encouraging learn-through-play, I hope educators will read this and not feel restricted to only using technology they “know.”)