MI Online Learning Experience

Anne Thorp

Ottawa Area ISD

athorp@oaisd.org

Guideline Document MDE

• Three manners of meeting requirements– Online Courses– Online Learning Experiences– Online Learning Incorporated into Each

Required Credit • http://www.michigan.gov/documents/

mde/Online10.06_final_175750_7.pdf

Definition of Online Learning

• A structured learning activity that utilizes technology with intranet/internet-based tools and resources as a delivery method for instruction, research, assessment, and communication. – MDE

Rationale for Online Learning

• Allow students to – Become familiar with a key means of increasing own

• Learning skills

• Knowledge

• Prepare students for the demands encountered in – Higher education

– The workplace

– In personal life-long learning

Rationale for Online Learning

• An online learning experience will require students to– Complete assignments – Meet deadlines– Learn appropriate online behavior– Effectively collaborate with others in an

instructional setting

Core Principles of Online Learning

• Be organized in a coherent, sequential manner• Have

– Instructional goals– Objectives– Strategies– Assessments that are aligned with state

• Standards• Benchmarks• Expectations

Core Principles of Online Learning

• Is comparable in – rigor– depth– breadth to traditionally delivered courses

• Include the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) by providing multiple approaches to meet the needs of diverse learners

• Be relevant • Address many learning styles

Core Principles of Online Learning

• Include synchronous (same time) and/or asynchronous interaction between – Teacher and student– Student to student

• Include teachers who are knowledgeable in web-based instruction techniques

• Incorporate resources outside the classroom• Include a monitoring plan

Essential Characteristics of Quality Online Learning Experiences

• Collaborative experience between students

• Integrated

• Sustainability

• Life-long learning skills

• Teacher involvement

• Cyber safety and avoiding plagiarism

Collaborative Experience Between Students

• Develop working relationships with an educator and other students online– Discussion boards

– Podcasts

– Blogs

– Peer collaboration online

– Google Docs and Spreadsheets

– Learning Management System

– Wikis

Integrated

• Aligned to METS and Content Standards – Support curriculum content – Enhance curriculum content

Sustainability

• Develop a comfort level over time– Provide opportunities

• Work in a virtual environment • Learn in a virtual environment

Life-long Learning Skills

• Students will develop proficiencies for online learning throughout their lives

• Develop and embrace online skills through– Accessing information resources– Analyzing information resources– Evaluating information resources

Life-long Learning Skills

• Develop and embrace online skills through– Incorporating communication skills– Practicing problem-solving skills– Practicing interpersonal and self directional

skills

Teacher Involvement

• Guiding

• Facilitating

• Designing

• Monitoring

Teacher Involvement

• Providing feedback

• Interacting

• Supporting

• Assessing/mentoring online learning experience

Online Ethics & Safety

• Teacher will include– Discussion of and access of information for

students regarding• Issues of Internet safety

• Social networking

• Ethical responsibility

Online Ethics & Safety

• Discussion of and access of information for students regarding

• Fair use

• Intellectual property rights– iSafe Curriculum or participation

– WebWise Kids CD Games

– NetSmartz kids Real-life Video Resources

Delivery Methods

• Teacher-Led

• Self-Paced

• Blended Instruction

• Teacher Facilitated

Teacher-Led

• Mirrors the role of a traditional classroom teacher in a virtual environment

– Usually makes use of a Web-based course management system or application such as

• Blackboard or Moodle to create an online learning environment for students

• The online teacher provides the

– Organization

– Direction

– Educational content

– Feedback for the students

Teacher-Led

• The teacher makes– Assignments– Leads threaded discussions – Grades student work– Establishes deadlines and administers quizzes

and tests

Teacher-Led

• The teacher also – Monitors student progress

– Develops differentiated instructional strategies for students

• This delivery format is one-hundred percent dependent on the use of technology tools such as – E-mail

– Chat rooms

– Threaded discussions

– Pod casts to communicate and interact with students

Teacher-Led

• Given the strong reliance on technology, this format requires both teachers and students to have strong computer and Internet skills.

Blended Instruction

• Blended instruction is a mix of traditional face-to-face instructional activities with appropriately designed online experiences.

• Teachers that engage in blended online learning often utilize a course management system as an extension of the physical classroom– Leverages the communication benefits of a traditional

classroom environment and links it to the power of Internet-based learning tools and resources

– Educators utilize this format to expand and reinforce classroom-based instructional activities and to extend learning beyond the classroom walls and the normal school day, including evenings, weekends and scheduled breaks

Blended Instruction

• Provides opportunities for students to work outside the classroom in virtual teams with students from other schools to learn writing, research, teamwork and technology skills

Teacher-Facilitated

• Teacher-facilitated online learning enables an educator to work with one or more students to provide coach-like assistance with their online course or learning activities.

• Teachers can facilitate student learning through a combination of face-to-face interactions and exchanges using communication tools commonly found in most Internet-based course management systems.

Teacher-Facilitated

• This form of delivery places an expectation on students to take significant responsibility for their own learning.

• A key role of the teacher facilitator is to ensure that students are engaged and making progress in their online course or activity.

Teacher-Facilitated

• Teachers providing the facilitation usually know the subject matter well and can provide content-related instructional assistance to students.

• This delivery mode can be compared to some independent study activities used in high schools.

Self-paced

• A growing number of online educational products and services can be used by students with no teacher involvement.

• These products are often referred to as “self-paced” online learning experiences and they usually work best for highly independent learners who regularly demonstrate self-initiative and require little guidance, motivation and direction.

Self-paced

• Self-paced online courses and activities are often shorter in duration than semester-length courses and tend to focus on concentrated topics such as learning a specific software tool or program. – Other examples include online test preparation

tools and online remedial courseware.

Self-paced

• Two common shortfalls of self-paced online learning include: – Inability of students to

• Seek support • Feedback and direction from an educator

online• Be part of a learning community• Benefit from interactions with other learners

for support and assistance on collaborative projects

Preferred Method

• Teacher led is the preferred method of delivery

Online Learning Experience

• Using and incorporating the (Michigan Educational Technology Standards) METS into each of the student’s required credits will ensure that this requirement is met.

• Mets– http://techplan.org (about halfway down the

page)

Online Learning Incorporated Into Each Of The Required Credits

• Most commonly achieved through a Learning Management System such as – Moodle

• http://moodle.org – Instructional Information

– Blackboard• http://blackboard.com

Tracking

• It is up to each district to track the 20 hours of experience– Suggestion

• Use same manner of tracking as for student’s community service hours

– Learning Management Systems have report/log tracking for determining time spent in the course

Online Courses

• Students can take an online course to meet the graduation requirement– Courses are available through

• Michigan Virtual High School– http://www.mivhs.org

• REMC GenNet Online Learning – http://gennetonline.geneseeisd.org

• Career Forward– http://www.mivhs.org/upload_2/

mvu_trailer.swf

Companion Document

• Provides examples of online learning experiences

• Essential characteristics are indicated by an “X”

• An asterisk beside Online Ethics & Safety denotes that this characteristic may not naturally occur in the experience listed – denotes an opportunity to guide students in

online ethics and safety through classroom discussion or an activity online

Experience Tables

• Identifies the Online Experience

• Quality Characteristics marked with an “X”

• Resources are listed

• METS– 6-8 Identified– 9-12 Identified

• Each table includes a commentary about the online experience described in the table

WebQuest Example

• Online Experience – WebQuest

• Quality Characteristics of a WebQuest– Integration– Life-long Skills– Teacher Involvement

WebQuest Example

• Resources– Discovery Education– http://school.discovery.com/– Kathy Schrock's guide for Educators– http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/webquest/

webquest.html– Blue WEB 'N– http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn/– Spartanburg County County School District WebQuests– http://www.spa3.k12.sc.us/WebQuests.html– Best WebQuests– http://bestwebquests.com/

WebQuest Example

• METS– 6 – 8

• 2b-1,2c-2, 3a-2,5a-1,2,3,6b-1

– 9 – 12• 1b-1,2a-1,2b-2,4,5, 5a-1,2,3,4,5b-1,6a-1, 6b-1

Commentary

• Look for a WebQuest that includes online activities, online research, collaboration, and talking with experts via email or real-time conferencing.

MI OLE Team

• Ricki Chowning - rchowning@remc.org• Jim Cowden - jcowden@scresa.org • Tim Davis - tdavis@sisd.cc • Carolyn McCarthy - mccarthy@sresd.k12mi.us

• Mike Oswalt - oswaltm@calhounisd.org• Sue Porter – sporter4@comcast.net • Anne Thorp – athorp@oaisd.org • Melissa White - mwhite@inghamisd.org