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ONLINE INSTRUCTORS’ GUIDE School of Education April 2004
ONLINE INSTRUCTORS’ GUIDE
School of Education April 2004
Online Instructors’ Guide The purpose of this manual is to highlight some of the current research in the area of distance education in regard to course design, development, and delivery. Areas such as syllabus development, course organization, and communication are included. In addition, the manual offers many practical suggestions for improving these areas and increasing the overall effectiveness of all School of Education’s online offerings. This document is divided into several sections. You may access each section using the links below, or move through it page by page. Throughout the text are relevant hyperlinks to web sites or online documents. Each of these links contains information designed to supplement what’s being discussed in this manual. SyllabusCourse OrganizationTypes of Online LearnersCommunicationNetiquetteTechnically SpeakingTop Ten Hints for SuccessWRITE ModelAppendix AAppendix B
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SYLLABUS The syllabus is the basis of success for an online student. Several factors are of particular importance for the design of your course syllabus. [Adapted from Fullmer-Umari, M. (2000). Getting ready: The syllabus and other online indispensable. In K.W. White, & B.H. Weight (Eds.), The online teaching guide: A handbook of attitudes, strategies, and techniques for the virtual classroom (pp.95-111). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.] Course Description and Overview
• Lets students know what they are getting and what they are not getting. • Connect the course description with the course competencies.
Instructor Biographical Sketch
• This is a student’s first look at who you are. • Highlight your professional background that clearly relates to the course. • Personal information gives a student ideas of what you value, your humor, openness
to try new things and an openness to communicate freely. Instructor Contact Information
• Give all contact information. • Office hours and other available meeting places. • Clearly state how quickly they can expect to have all questions or telephone calls
returned. Schedule of Reading and Assignments
• Reading and assignments for each week should be included in your syllabus. • Schedule in holidays and other important dates.
Review of Class Policies
• Attendance o How will attendance be taken? Define “attendance” for an online course. o How will missing required weekly posts impact their grade?
• Grading o Include the grading policy and scale. o How quickly the student can expect to get papers and assignments returned. o Refer students to the Student Handbook
(http://www.regent.edu/admin/stusrv/student/intro.html) for information about grade disputes and other issues.
• Participation
o Emphasize the importance of participation to the learning experience. o What constitutes a participation post? Modeling posts that would and would not
receive participation credit is helpful. This will help calm some of the students' fears over their posts and receiving credit.
o Use a formal Participation/Discussion rubric. (See Appendix A for examples)
• Tone in the classroom
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o The tone in the classroom should be set at the very beginning of the course. The syllabus can set expectations for a respectful and professional tone in comments and feedback.
o Sarcasm should be avoided at all times.
• Late Assignments o Will they be accepted? o Will there be penalties? If there are penalties, what will they be? o What about different time zones? o Will late papers from students who experience system difficulties also be treated
as late in terms of penalties?
• Exams o The syllabus should include the instructor's policy and schedule for taking exams. o What are the consequences if the professor gives a timed, online exam and a
student experiences system difficulties?
• Academic Honesty o Refer students to the Student Handbook
(http://www.regent.edu/admin/stusrv/student/intro.html) for information about plagiarism and other academic honesty issues.
What are your competencies for the course?
• Do all your materials and activities clearly support the competencies? Be prepared to explain how.
• Do they need all the textbooks to be successful in the course? • How will you measure if the competencies have been met? What will you do if they
are not met? How much time?
• How many credits is your course worth? • When does the course begin, end and are there breaks? • What is the school’s or professor’s recommendation on how much time a student is
expected to spend on each class? • Can your assignments (including reading) and activities be successfully accomplished
within the time restraints of the course? • Students should keep their socialization and relationship building, which are very
important in an online course, to a designated spot within the discussion board. Back to top
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COURSE ORGANIZATION Where can your students locate things within your site? Announcements The Announcements section is the first page you will see when you login to a course on Blackboard. This is where the professor should post important messages. Ask your students to be sure to check this page regularly to ensure they do not miss important information. Only very recent announcements are visible when you first enter the course. To view older (or all) announcements for a course, click the “View All” tab at the top of the Announcements page. Syllabus The Syllabus section usually contains the course syllabus, course schedule, study guide (if applicable), and any other materials that pertain to the course in general. When you access your course, you should click on the Syllabus button to view and print a copy of the syllabus. Faculty Information The Faculty Information section contains information about the professor(s) teaching the course. You should include phone numbers, office hours, and email addresses, as well as any biographical information you may wish to share. Course Material The Course Material section is where professors usually provide resources for use in completing assignments or to shed further light on subjects being discussed in class. There will often be several documents for students to download and view. These documents are generally in the form of PowerPoint presentations or Word files. Assignments The Assignments section often provides additional guidelines and tips for successfully completing the assignments in the course. It is appropriate to load prepared quizzes or exams for students to take online through Blackboard in this section. Task specific instructions should be given to the students when asking them to take these types of assessments. Bibliography The Bibliography section holds the bibliography (if applicable) for the course. Bibliographies are often found in the course syllabus rather than in this section. Consistency is Key
• When placing information within your site, make sure you use the same placement each time. For example, always place instructional materials, such as PowerPoint presentations or lecture notes in the Course Materials area. Don’t put them in Course Materials one week and in the Assignment area another week (even if they pertain to a specific assignment, keep the placement consistent.)
• When directing students to information, use the correct term. Use Course Materials or Assignments (corresponding to the appropriate Blackboard areas) rather than "task section” or other terminology.
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• If you have loaded something important for the students to know or retrieve, use the announcement section of the course site to let them know it is available and where to find it.
• Use the email function to send a message to everyone in the course, certain groups, or individuals when important/new materials have been placed in the course site.
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TYPES OF ONLINE LEARNERS Online learners come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some are self-motivated and take charge of their own learning. Others are much more dependent on the instructor for guidance and support. As you approach your online learning environment, it is helpful to identify the various types of online learners and understand how your instructional strategies impact each. [Adapted from: Martinez, M. (2004). Know thyself: Taking charge of your online learning. In K.W. White & J.D. Baker (Eds.), The student guide to successful online learning: A handbook of tips, strategies, and techniques (pp. 65-78). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.]
Transforming Learners – Transforming learners use self-directed, strategic planning, and holistic thinking to achieve long-term goals. These learners are generally risk-takes, innovators, and highly committed, passionate learners. They most often:
• Place importance on self-managed learning, committed effort, independence, and long-term vision
• Use personal strengths, ability, persistence, challenging strategies, high-standards, learning efficacy, and positive expectations to manage learning successfully
• Lose motivation and become frustrated or resistant in environments that interfere with their assertive learning patterns.
Performing Learners – Performing learners are typically more self-directed in areas that they value or that interest them. Otherwise, they may overly rely on external sources for motivation, encouragement, and support. Typically these learners are more short-term, project-oriented thinkers who systemically achieve average to above average learning goals and tasks. They may:
• Enjoy and prefer to focus on concrete details, process, and procedures rather than on abstract concepts and ideas
• Prefer hands-on, competitive, collaborative, or team environments • May selectively take less responsibility for their learning and rely on external
resources for motivation, goal setting, schedules, and direction Conforming Learners – Conforming learners depend largely on the quality of instruction and support from the environment and social relationships. They prefer to rely on explicit guidance and simple steps provided by the instructor. Complex online learning environments may frustrate them with too many opportunities to make mistakes. These learners are concerned with safety, security, and acceptance. Confirming learners generally:
• Prefer progress in a step-by-step fashion • Are less confident learners • React strongly to external influences • Prefer supportive, structured environments
Naturally you can expect to have a mix of all three types of learners in any online classroom. As such, you’ll want to provide a variety of instructional experiences to try to meet the needs of each learning type. Although you won’t be able to perfectly match every instructional activity to each type of learner, it’s important to be aware of these tendencies and do all you can to better meet the needs of each student in your class. Appendix B offers an overview of how various instructional experiences impact each type of learner, as well as some suggestions for maximizing learner success in each situation. Back to top
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COMMUNICATION When communicating online, many of the cues normally used to discern meaning and intent are absent within an online environment. Consequently, there are certain aspects of online communication that instructors must be aware of as they begin the process of communicating with students via distance.
• Students and groups communicating in an online environment are relatively more uninhibited. Online students and group members are generally more willing to disclose personally sensitive information about themselves than students in face-to-face interactions. [NOTE: This may impact how closely an instructor must monitor discussion boards, curtail certain discussions, or struggle to keep the group on task rather than engaging in very personal interactions.]
• Status differences play a lesser role in an online classroom. Interaction in online groups tends to be more evenly distributed among group members, and the fact that a person is “The Teacher” or “The Professor” or “Knows What He or She Is Talking About” has a less inhibiting effect on interaction. [NOTE: This phenomenon can have a positive impact on the discussion in that anyone can be called upon to act as teacher, facilitator, mentor, etc. at any given time. Try to use this to your advantage by encouraging or assigning various roles to keep everyone involved and active in the discussions.]
• Online consensus decision making takes significantly longer than when group members interact face-to-face. Tendencies to be interactive and outspoken in electronic discussions sometimes lead to increased group conflict, which makes it more difficult for online students to reach agreement. [NOTE: Keep this in mind when assigning group projects or activities. You may need to give online groups more time to work on group projects than you would face-to-face groups. Another option is to modify group assignments to better fit within an online environment, such as assigning specific roles/tasks to each student to help avoid some of the potential conflict.]
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The WRITE Way to Communicate Online
The WRITE way involves communicating online in a manner that is (W)arm, (R)esponsive, (I)nquisitive, (T)entative, and (E)mpathetic. Here’s an explanation of each component: Warmth Words on a screen are two-dimensional. Reading these words in isolation of nonverbal communication cues lends itself to “coolness” that can lead to overreaction. Online communicators sometimes lose perspective – acting as though messages are going into the relative privacy of a text file saved to the user’s hard drive, rather than begin downloaded and read by perhaps hundreds, even thousands, of people. People, in turn, read two-dimensional words in isolation, misinterpret fuzzy language, or experience faulty attributions, and react. Increasing warmth means to decrease the psychic distance among communicators. Being warm online is a way of reminding others (and you) that it is people who are engaged in communication. There are several effective ways in which to improve online warmth.
• Use the telephone when necessary. Phoning a student to clarify a point or to negotiate a particularly sensitive issue should occur when email just does not cut it.
• Send sensitive information to private mailboxes. It is usually much more helpful to
offer “constructive feedback” privately.
• Incorporate warmth into written text. It is helpful to write occasionally about family and interests.
• Describe the setting from which you are writing, or the weather or music to which
you are listening. Online warmth of this kind helps students place you in a human setting.
• Play with language. This suggestion adds warmth and contributes to understanding as
long as it is not overdone. One way to have fun with language and symbols online is to use an occasional emoticon.
Responsiveness Online communication is usually asynchronous. As such, responses between parties can take hours, if not days. This waiting period itself can feed into invalid attributions, many of which are negative. There are several ways in which to improve responsiveness.
• Set deadlines and be consistent in terms of when you give feedback. This reduces anxiety and creates an expectation on the part of students of when they should bear back from you, ultimately building trust.
• Try to return personal messages as soon as possible and be consistent in your
response times.
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• Remember to provide occasional reminders to students. Think of issuing reminders as a proactive type of responsiveness. Do not be surprised if students fail to act on an online request or forget, particularly if information is part of a larger message or part of a succession of messages on related topics. The use of short messages and redundancy helps to allay this problem. (Use the Announcement area of Blackboard or the Send Email feature to be proactive in your communications with students.)
Inquisitiveness Defensiveness is reduced if people ask questions rather than make statements. It is usually more constructive to ask a person why than it is to tell a person what. Besides reducing defensiveness, inquisitiveness often provides information that is useful for solving a problem or resolving a conflict. Tentativeness Defensiveness is reduced when people hear or read, “It appears that…” as opposed to, “It is…” Inquisitiveness and tentativeness work well together. A question, framed in a tentative manner, reduces defensiveness and can also contribute valuable information (e.g., ”Don’t you think it’d be better if we…?”).
• Use tentative language and posturing with students, unless the situation dictates otherwise. The concept of sending “I-messages” rather than “you-messages” works as well in online writing as it does in oral interaction. It is often better to say or write, “I believe…” rather than to say or write “You are…”
• Sometimes, instructors must make absolute statements. You must occasionally send
“You-messages,” but try to offer them with warmth and care. Empathy An important aspect of online communication is to put yourself in the shoes of your audience. Always consider the position of your students. A wide variety of issues should be kept in mind.
• A student can be a highly effective, intelligent contributor in the virtual classroom even if he or she misspells words or uses poor grammar. What if this student speaks and writes English as a second language?
• Sometimes students send email excuses for tardy work or offer all types of interesting
reasons for failure to perform. You’ll have to decide on a case by case basis if the excuses are valid. Strive to be fair and extent as much grace as possible while still holding all students to the highest possible standards.
• Empathy also involves inquisitiveness. Inquisitiveness is helpful if information is
needed to better understand the audience. Ask questions if necessary. Gathering valid information helps increase the likelihood of effective online communication.
[Adapted from: Lewis, C. (2000). Taming the lions and tigers and bears: The WRITE way to communicate online. In K.W. White & B.H. Weight (Eds.), The online teaching guide: A handbook of attitudes, strategies, and techniques for the virtual classroom (pp. 13-23). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.] Back to top
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NETIQUETTE Proper form (following the rules) is important in most human undertakings. This advice is based on a 1994 post concerning “netiquette” from Time Magazine’s website. All of these kernels of wisdom work well in the classroom as well as in general online communication: • Keep your posts brief and to the point. A variation on this piece of advice is to use short
paragraphs. • Encourage students to stick to the subject of a particular thread or classroom discussion.
Occasionally, you will run into a classroom full of exuberant students who genuinely like one another and want to talk about everything. You may want to consider setting up another outlet for classes that are particularly chatty. [NOTE: Create a general discussion area where students can come together to simply chat. It should not be related to a particular assignment or activity—just an informal discussion setting where more personal interaction can take place.]
• If you are responding to a message, quote the relevant passages or summarize it for those who may have missed it. Do not copy in the entire message to which you are replying unless it is short. [NOTE: Learn to use simple HTML formatting codes to highlight the text you are replying to—that will help others follow the thread and your responses more clearly. Instructions for adding formatting to Blackboard can be found at http://www.regent.edu/acad/schedu/bb-html.html]
• Never publish private email without permission. Sometimes, students need to be encouraged to direct their questions to the classroom, rather than to the instructor’s private email address. Obviously, truly private messages need to be kept private. However, if a student asks a question privately and the answer to that question would benefit the entire class, publish the question without indicating where it came from, and then provide your answer.
• Discourage students from posting test messages or cluttering up the virtual classroom with ”I agree” and “Me too!” messages. Participation is an important component of an online class. To the extent that this is true, the question of how to define participation invariably pops up. Students need to be encouraged to upload substantive replies to course-related messages. Be sure that your syllabus addresses the issue of quality and quantity in discussion responses. [NOTE: Most instructors find that having some type of formal rubric for discussion/participation helps eliminate much of the confusion about what is required and makes grading discussion/participation much easier. See Appendix A for participation rubric examples.]
• Do not type in all caps. (IT IS RUDE AND IS LIKE SHOUTING!) Back to top
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TECHNICALLY SPEAKING As a faculty member or adjunct instructor, you are granted access to various portions of the University’s computer system/network. Some of these areas, called drives, are only available from on campus, while others are available to you no matter where you are located. Network Drives M: This drive is where departments and schools store/share data files. You may be granted
access to this drive if deemed necessary by the dean or administrative dean. P: This is your personal storage space on the administrative network. If you are working on a
computer on campus, saving to your hard drive (C drive) will essentially save to this area. This area is backed up frequently by Information Technology to ensure that data is protected and can be recovered in the event your computer crashes.
R: This drive is used for updating the Regent University web pages. You must have school or department permission to be granted access.
S: This is the drive that houses faculty, staff, and student personal homepages. Along with your Regent login and email, you are given access to personal web space on this drive. You can use this space to create a personal web site, display pictures or other types of files.
U: This is the drive used for personal storage space on the academic network. This space can be used to store and retrieve files from any of the computer labs on campus.
Software Regent University works within a Windows XP environment and uses Microsoft products for word processing, database, spreadsheets, etc. All instructors should use these products as well, which include Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, and Outlook. We require students to use these programs in the completion and submission of assignments so there are no compatibility issues. Login and Password Network/Email Login - Your username, password and email address are provided by Information Technology. Student Labs Login - Your username and password are provided by Information Technology and will be the same as your Administrative login. Blackboard Login - Until you change this, your Username and Password should be the same as your Login ID. Genisys Login - Your User ID and PIN are provided by Information Technology. Email All faculty and adjunct instructors should use their Regent email account for course-related communications. If you are on campus, the IT department will configure your computer to have Outlook check your Regent email account whenever you login to that system. From off campus, you can manually configure your Outlook to do this (see instructions located at http://www.regent.edu/acad/schedu/configure-outlook.pdf). Another option is to use Regent’s
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web-based email system (https://paul.regent.edu/) to check your Regent account. You will need your network/email login in order to access this system, but it can be done from anywhere off campus as long as you have an Internet connection. Technical Assistance There are two primary ways to get help for Blackboard, Genisys, email, and other areas: School of Education Coordinator of Distance Programs Jackie Bruso 757-226-4259 or 757-323-9608 [email protected]
Information Technology Department 757-226-4076 [email protected]
Training and Tutorials The Center for Teaching & Learning offers a number of tutorials and other online resources for Blackboard, Banner, Genisys, Microsoft Office, ROMA, Smart Podium, and web page development. Links to these resources can be found at http://www.regent.edu/admin/ctl/onlinetraining/home.cfm. Back to top
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Top Ten Hints for Success 1. Encourage online students to seek help if they run into technical difficulties. The sooner
technical problems are solved, the better. (See above, TECHNICALLY SPEAKING) 2. Remember the 4-F motto: Be Firm, Fair, Flexible, and Fun! 3. Reply to student autobiographies with a personal note about something the student said.
Online students love to be warmly welcomed. Talk about their dogs, children, hobbies, or anything not related to work or school.
4. Have your syllabus ready to go at the beginning of an online course and be sure it clearly
states when all assignments are due and the points or percentage of the grade for each assignment. (Having it ready and available a few weeks ahead of time is even better!)
5. Always have course materials (e.g., lectures notes, PowerPoint presentations) uploaded
prior to the first day of the week in which it is to be used, or whenever you previously said materials would be uploaded. Be consistent!
6. Always respond to questions from your online students as soon as possible and within the
timeframe you indicated in your syllabus or other course materials. Aim for a response time of 24-36 hours. [NOTE: Even if you can’t take the time to fully answer a student’s question, you can acknowledge receipt of the question and provide an indication of when you’ll be able to respond more fully.]
7. Never leave your online class for an extended time without telling students when you will
be back. If, for some reason, you cannot get through online (computer crash, etc.), contact the Education school’s staff so they have the opportunity to inform your class of the problem. [NOTE: Jackie Bruso is our Blackboard system administrator and can post announcements or send messages to your class if the need arises.]
8. Try to send students a handout, message, thought for the day, or something every few
days. Online students need to know you are there. One idea is to shorten longer uploads into handouts that can be submitted periodically during the week.
9. Give feedback and grades on a regular basis. Online students hate not knowing how they
are doings, so be sure to offer feedback, return assignments, and/or post grades in a timely manner. Always provide some positives in your feedback.
10. Maintain your sense of humor. [Adapted from: Hiss, A. (2000). Talking the talk: Humor and other forms of online communication. In K.W. White, & B.H. Weight (Eds.), The online teaching guide: A handbook of attitudes, strategies, and techniques for the virtual classroom (pp. 24-36). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.] Back to top
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Appendix A Participation Rubric Examples
These participation rubrics are taken from various online courses with the School of Education. Some are very specific in terms of number of posts, time limits, etc., while others are more general. These may be used as a guide to help you come up with whatever works best for you and your students. Example 1:
Grade "C" Grade "B" Grade "A" A lurker, tends to read messages in the discussion forums on a weekly or more frequent basis but contributions are sporadic.
Accesses main and group discussion forums at least once each week. Reads most messages. Posts at least two constructive messages each week in forums other than the Water Cooler and Class Chapel.
Accesses main and group discussion forums several times each week. Reads most main discussion forum messages, reads all group discussion forum messages. Posts three or more constructive messages each calendar week in forums other than the Water Cooler and Class Chapel. Postings tend to be spread throughout the week indicating frequent access to the discussions.
Messages tend to address peripheral issues and/or ramble. Content is generally accurate, but with some omissions and/or errors. Tendency to recite fact rather than address issues. Rarely includes Christian/ biblical perspectives.
Messages tend to provide good general answers but may not always directly address discussion topics. Messages may also have a tendency to ramble. Content is dominated by opinions rather than by analysis and creative thought. Assertions are not supported by evidence. Rarely includes Christian/biblical perspectives.
Messages are characterized by conciseness, clarity of argument, depth of insight into theoretical issues, originality of treatment, relevancy, and sometimes include unusual insights. Arguments are well supported. Frequently includes Christian/biblical perspectives.
Never includes questions that stimulate discussion. Rarely responds to questions raised by others.
Rarely includes questions that stimulate discussion. Sometimes responds to questions raised by others.
Sometimes includes good questions that stimulate discussion. Frequently responds to questions from others.
Shows little evidence of collaborative learning. Most comments are directed student-to-instructor. Rarely critically
Collaborative learning is evidenced by comments directed primarily student-to-student rather than student-to-instructor. Evidence of support and encouragement is exchanged between students, as well as willingness to critically evaluate the work of others with
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evaluates the work of others. constructive comments.Members of this course follow the model of Jesus Christ by being empathic rather than aggressive. Postings and e-mail reveal the ability of students to conduct themselves appropriately in professional relationships by manifesting such qualities as sociability, sensitivity, discernment, concern, kindness, and gentleness. Self-control is also demonstrated in qualities that would include respectfulness, flexibility, temperateness, discreteness, humbleness, forgiveness, and confidence. Some messages may contain numerous errors in spelling and grammar.
Messages contain few if any errors in spelling and/or grammar (indicating proofreading). Messages are well-formatted with appropriate spacing and are easy to read.
See below for more rubric examples. Back to top
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Example 2: Total possible points for each discussion assignment = 10. Initial posting (5 points): Replies on time = 1 point Provides well-written, clear, and complete responses to question(s) = 1 point Demonstrates thoughtful application of reading material = 1 point Demonstrates analysis, synthesis, and depth of thought = 2 points
Follow-up discussion (5 points): Replies on time = 1 point Provides well-written, clear, and complete responses = 1 point Demonstrates analysis, synthesis, and depth of thought = 1 point Actively communicates with fellow classmates by asking informed question(s) and/or
providing relevant feedback = 1 point Posts a minimum of 2-3 responses throughout the week = 1 point
Example 3: Participation grades will be assessed using the following rubrics:
Number of postings: 50% Time dispersion (do not wait until the last minute to post!): 20% Quality of postings (content plus stimulating thoughts): 30% Example 4: The purpose of dialogue in this course is first and foremost for you to acquire and test your understanding of the required and recommended literature. You can read the material, but the test of whether you have some mastery of the concepts and relevance is the extent to which you can discuss and apply the concepts. If we met in class, we could discuss the topics verbally.
The threaded discussion dialogues replace classes. As doctoral learners looking ahead to comprehensive exams, you should eagerly look forward to testing your understanding of every concept with your study group members and professors. You will find some topics and concepts more useful than others or easier to understand and apply. Not everyone will see things the way you do, so we will all benefit from your comments if you find something particularly useful - or if you find something particularly worthless. The idea is to contribute to the common learning.
Dialogue etiquette requires that posts not be longer than about 200 words. Please, do not use an attachment. A characteristic of good writing is to be able to say what you mean in well crafted, tightly worded documents. The focus of dialogue is on critical thinking about the material and how well you can engage in scholarly discourse with your colleagues. You are expected to use the discussions and other weekly interaction assignments to show your understanding of, questions about, and application of the content of the readings.
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Evaluation of dialogue considers a balance of quality and quantity. Dialogue is a process rather than an assignment thus it is important that you engage other colleagues early on in the forum's time period and continue to engage those colleagues throughout the open time period. You should pose new thoughts and questions as well as respond to the thoughts and questions of other learners. It is important that you demonstrate mastery of the material through new application or evaluation of the material. Evaluation also includes how well you introduce outside reading materials. By this stage of your doctoral program you should be adept at using Regent's on-line databases to locate full-text articles to help you explore the topics. As a scholar, it is important that you use the work of others in the literature to support your own claims and positions. My expectation is that you will post quality responses of substance.
Learners, who actively engage other students throughout the open time period, demonstrate exceptional mastery of the material in application and evaluation. and post questions that seek to learn more will earn grades in the 90 - 99 range. This could be accomplished with four excellent posts. Learners who make occasional posts and are more reactive than proactive in demonstrating their insights will earn grades in the 70 - 89 range.
Learners who make minimal posts, provide unsubstantiated opinions or comments and/or demonstrate surface level insight into the material will earn grades in the 40 - 69 range.
No participation earns 0.
There is a subjective component to the dialogue evaluation. The instructor will provide comments and advice during the open time period to help students know where to improve and where they are doing well.
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Appendix B Overview of Learner Types and Instructional Activities
Instructional Experience
Transforming Learner Performing Learner Conforming Learner
General learning situation
• High learner control • Needs an open learning situation Instructor Should: Offer learner many opportunities to control the learning environment, such as choice of assignments, ability to work ahead, some control of discussion topics, etc.
• Consistent coaching and interaction • Needs collaboration Instructor Should: Offer learner opportunities for group work/interaction, shared responsibilities, and frequent instructor support.
• Simple learning situation • Needs continual guidance and
reinforcement Instructor Should: Offer learner very few (if any) choices along with frequent instructor contact and support.
Feedback • Needs praise and recognition from mentors
Instructor Should: Recognize and verbalize learner’s ability, initiative, and performance privately and before entire class.
• Needs praise and recognition from peers
Instructor Should: Create opportunities for successful group work with learner as recognized leader and where group members evaluate one another’s performance.
• Needs praise and recognition from peers for incremental development
Instructor Should: Create structured activities for successful group work based on small steps and ample opportunities for recognition throughout the entire process. Require groups to interact using private group discussion areas in Bb to closely monitor group work and provide recognition at each stage of the process.
Type of information • Needs holistic, theoretical information to solve long-term problems
Instructor Should: Provide opportunities for learner to discover and understand the “big picture”, apply
• Needs practical, specific information to solve short-term problems and demonstrate expertise
Instructor Should: Provide opportunities for learner to apply specific knowledge to a problem and
• Needs simple, guided information to solve short-term problems and complete assignments
Instructor Should: Provide assignments that can be broken
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knowledge to complex situations, and practice problem-solving skills. Offer assignments that can be expanded or extra credit for work above assignment requirements.
build upon a series of successes. Require several small assignments that build upon one another and demonstrate mastery of specific course objectives.
into several very small, simple, and structured components. Require frequent progress checks and keep due dates as close together as possible for each component of the assignment.
Interaction • Requires a high-standards environment with complex and challenging goals.
• Easily frustrated by too much focus on simple, short-term goals.
Instructor Should: Provide complex and challenging discussion activities and explain the relationship between activities and long-term goals of the course. Assign learner group leader tasks when possible.
• Requires competitive, interactive environment focused on project completion
• Easily frustrated by extra time and effort required for slow peer interaction and long-term goals.
Instructor Should: Keep project steps clear and concise. Offer opportunities for group interaction with clear beginning and ending points.
• Requires highly guided environment with detailed directions provided by instructor.
• Easily frustrated by fast pace, complex processes, and high-level standards.
Instructor Should: Break project down into easily completed steps. Offer opportunities for group interaction with realistic goals and structured interaction. Allow ample time for interaction or project completion.
Relationship to instructor
• Requires resources to expand knowledge-building opportunities and attainment of personal long-term goals.
Instructor Should: Supplement course materials with current events and new resources that build upon course content. Act as a peer in creating an atmosphere of mutual learning between instructor and student.
• Desires instructor to be a “coach.” Instructor Should: Offer as much encouragement as possible. Display confidence in learner’s ability to succeed given the right tools and equipment. Act as a mentor in creating an atmosphere of guided learning between instructor and student.
• Requires high level of guidance from instructor.
Instructor Should: Offer constant encouragement and direction. Demonstrate leadership and control of the course. Act as a strong leader in creating an atmosphere of directed learning between instructor and student.
Assessment • Able to self-assess achievements based on challenging standards and
• Able to self-assess at times, but often seeks assistance from others.
• Seeks assessment from others. Instructor Should: Provide fewer
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long-term personal goals. Instructor Should: Provide numerous opportunities for self-assessment and self-evaluation (Bb testing, textbook companion sites that offer tests, etc.). Encourage reflection activities based on growing knowledge/skills.
Instructor Should: Provide some opportunities for self-assessment and self-evaluation (Bb testing, textbook companion sites that offer tests, etc.), but provide as much or more instructor-driven assessment. Allow for peer evaluation of group projects and activities.
opportunities for self-assessment and self-evaluation (Bb testing, textbook companion sites that offer tests, etc.), but provide more instructor-driven assessment. Require peer evaluation of group projects and activities.
[Adapted from: Martinez, M. (2004). Know thyself: Taking charge of your online learning. In K.W. White & J.D. Baker (Eds.), The student guide to successful online learning: A handbook of tips, strategies, and techniques (pp. 65-78). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.] Back to top
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