Online Learning – Using Technology to Foster and Assess Student Learning

Distance learning is no passing craze!  The growth of online education continues it’s upward momentum as society gets more involved with their devices and social media. More and more online only schools are popping up.  So…what can the traditional school do to keep up with the flexibility and attraction of online learning?

The use of blended learning can easily help liven up any classroom by infusing technology.  The use of a Learning Management System (LMS) is an excellent technology source to allow instructors to put part of their courses online.  This provides the positive benefit of flexibility that the online forum affords.  It can be used on devices with access to wifi or use of data so that students can access the courses anywhere. Tablets, laptops, iPads, and mobile devices work similarly to a computer and allow multiple functions.  Smartphones are possibly the most common as the fastest growing handheld device (Backer, 2010).

The LMS gives the instructor creative ways to engage students when they are not on campus.  Caminero, Hernandez, Ros, Tobarra, Robles.-Gómez, and Pastor (2013) stated “LMSs provide a number of tools, among others, communication tools such as video-conferencing, forums or email, evaluation tools such as questionnaires, or grading tools” (p. 29).  One aspect that I find most interesting about the LMS is the idea of embedding video.  This could allow the instructor to create their own lecture videos that students could watch outside of class.

This could be beneficial in blended learning, but could also enable a flipped classroom.  As an educator in science, the use of TeacherTube could be very useful. It is a collection of videos that can be downloaded onto different types of devices (Lucking, Wighting, & Christman, 2009).  Instructors can also add to the library.  These videos have been vetted so the material is appropriate for the educational sphere. Links could be embedded into the LMS so that students can download the videos in preparation for class.

Backer, E. (2010). Using smartphones and Facebook in a major assessment: the student experience. E-Journal Of Business Education & Scholarship Of Teaching, 4(1), 19-31.

Caminero, A. C., Hernández, R., Ros, S., Tobarra, L., Robles.-Gómez, A., & Pastor, R. (2013). Comparison of LMSs: Which is the most suitable LMS for my needs?. International Journal Of Emerging Technologies In Learning, 829-36. doi:10.3991/ijet.v8iS2.2758

Lucking, R. A., Wighting, M. J., & Christmann, E. P. (2009). TeacherTube for science. Science Scope, 32(8), 62-64.

Skype to Sustain Technology Use

At my former institution I develped a hybrid program in which theory is taught online and laboratory courses are taught on ground.  The challenge was the engagement of students in the online courses.  There were 18 campuses among many states and students from any campus may be in class together online.  This meant that they may not ever meet their online instructor or some of their fellow students.  One of the goals of course development was to make students feel connected to each other and their instructors through improved communication channels.

While the courses included online discussions, our plan was to use a forum like Skype to connect students and instructors in live discussions and lectures.  Olson and McCracken (2015)  reported that students who synchronously communicate in an online classroom perform higher than those that do not.  This is an important factor in the success of  students.  The goal of the program was to create a flexible program in which students did not need to come on to campus as frequently, but still engage students at a high level.  This type of technology can also pose a challenge.  Technology sometimes fail.  Power outages, disruptions in WiFi, or students needed to use public connections may prevent participation.  Another challenge is that students living in different time zones may have struggled to make online meeting times.

Within the online course, we set a requirement for students to attend one weekly synchronous meeting per week.  Multiple times were made available to ensure that all students could make at least one session.  Synchronous meetings were presented via Skype.  In a study by Strang (2012), it was shown that the use of Skype for synchronous experiences showed significant improvement in student grades.  Two groups taking the same course were compared.  One in a traditional face-to-face model and the other in a blended model.  Similarly,  we used Skype in a blended model to improve student engagement and maintain or perhaps even surpass current student performance.

To maintain this use of technology, instructors worked in teams to ensure that multiple times for synchronous events using Skype were available to students.  Instructors were provided with a framework to ensure that each session is equal.  Students had the option to attend multiples sessions.  Sessions were recorded and posted so students could view and listen to other sessions.

 

Olson, J. S., & McCracken, F. E. (2015). Is it worth the effort? The impact of incorporating synchronous lectures into an online course. Online Learning, 19(2), 73-84.

David Strang, K. (2012). Skype synchronous interaction effectiveness in a quantitative management science course. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, 10(1), 3-23. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4609.2011.00333.x