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Humanizing Your Online Course
This document summarizes a presentation about humanizing online courses. It discusses establishing instructor, social, and cognitive presence to improve the educational experience. Instructor presence is created through setting a supportive climate, such as introducing oneself and providing feedback. Social presence is developed by having students introduce themselves and incorporating collaborative learning. Cognitive presence encourages deep learning through critical thinking strategies like problem-based learning and reflection. The goal is for these three types of presence to work together to support discourse and learning according to the Community of Inquiry framework.
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Humanizing Your Online Course
- 1. Humanizing Your OnlineCourse Slides are available at facdev.niu.edu/fsi2017humanizing
- 2. Presenter Assistant Director Faculty Development& Instructional Design Center srichter@niu.edu @slrichter Stephanie Richter
- 3. Agenda • What isPresence? • Why is it important? • How to build instructor, social, and cognitive presence Handouts are available at facdev.niu.edu/humanizehandouts
- 4. What is presence?Why is it important?
- 5. Presence is… • Sharingperspectives • Constructing meaning through communication • Establishing learners and instructor as individuals • Establishing trust and relationships
- 6. Community of Inquiry Social Presence Cognitive Presence Instructor Presence Educational Experience Garrison,Anderson, and Archer (2000)
- 7.
- 8. Instructor Presence –Setting Climate
- 22. You create theclimate and culture of your course
- 23. Methods for establishinginstructor presence • Introduce yourself with a few personal details • Record video announcements/introductions each week • Provide meaningful, supportive feedback on assessments • Engage with students on the discussion board
- 24. Introduce yourself witha few personal details
- 25.
- 26. Provide meaningful, supportivefeedback on assessments
- 27. Engage with studentson the discussion board
- 28. Instructor roles onthe discussion board Prompts provides clarification or directions to encourage students to begin a discussion Elaboration encourages learners to think more deeply and extend critical thinking skills Clarification helps learners to restate their ideas more clearly and think more deeply Weaving points out important contributions from a number of learners and shows connections between perspectives Perspectives encourages learners to take multiple perspectives Inferences and Assumptions asks learners to identify their own beliefs and assumptions as well as those of the experts in the field, to build stronger arguments based on verifiable evidence Implications helps learners see the impact of their line of reasoning beyond immediate implications Summaries synthesizes the discussion to help learners understand important ideas Stavredes (2011)facdev.niu.edu/humanizehandouts
- 29. Activity - InstructorPresence
- 30. Social Presence –Building Culture
- 31. Social Presence • Establisheslearners as individuals • Builds relationships among learners • Builds trust among learners • Creates a sense of community where learners construct knowledge and understanding
- 32. Strategies for creatingsocial presence • Have students introduce themselves • Design thought-provoking, potentially controversial discussions • Incorporate collaborative learning
- 33. Have students introducethemselves
- 34. Design thought-provoking discussions Levelof Knowledge Discussion Question Stems Application Plan, Design, Solve, Utilize, Implement, Apply Analysis Compare, Contrast, Differentiate, Outline, Distinguish, Discover, Classify Synthesis Dispute, Justify, Support, Verify, Integrate Evaluative Solve, Predict, Improve, Judge Stavredes (2011)facdev.niu.edu/humanizehandouts
- 35. Paul-Elder Model ofCritical Thinking Clarity Could you elaborate further? Could you illustrate what you mean? Could you give me an example? Accuracy How could we check on that? How could we find out if that is true? How could we verify or test that? Precision Could you be more specific? Could you give me more details? Could you be more exact? Relevance How does that relate to the problem? How does that bear on the question? How does that help us with the issue? Depth What factors make this a difficult problem? What are some of the complexities? What are some of the difficulties? Breadth Do we need to use another perspective? Do we need to consider another point of view? Do we need to look at this in other ways? Logic Does all of this make sense together? Does your first paragraph fit in with your last? Does what you say follow from the evidence? Significance Is this the most important thing to consider? Is this the central idea to focus on? Which of these factors are most important? Fairness Do I have any stake in this issue? Am I sympathetically representing the viewpoint of others? Elder & Paul (2010)facdev.niu.edu/humanizehandouts
- 36. Incorporate collaborative learning •Four premises of collaborative learning: – Respect for students and belief in their potential for success – Learning is inherently social – Learning is an active, constructive process – Faculty facilitate learning instead of delivering information Millis (2002)
- 37. Incorporate collaborative learning Collaborativelearning combines two key goals: learning to work and solve problems in the company of others, and sharpening one’s own understanding by listening seriously to the insights of others, especially those with different backgrounds and life experiences. “ ” Kuh (2008)
- 38. Incorporate collaborative learning Tipsfor successful teams: – Call them teams, not groups – Start with a team contract to establish goals, roles, contact information, meeting times/places, expectations – Focus on process not product – Check in frequently on team progress
- 39. Activity – SocialPresence
- 40. Cognitive Presence –Encouraging Deep Learning
- 41. Cognitive Presence • Learnersshare multiple perspectives to construct knowledge • Requires sustained communication • Encourages critical thinking and collaborative reflection
- 42. Strategies for developingcognitive presence • Incorporate critical thinking pedagogy/strategies – Paul-Elder Model of Critical Thinking – Problem-Based Learning – Metacognitive/Reflective Thinking
- 43. Problem-based learning Told whatwe need to know Memorize it Problem assigned to illustrate how to use it Problem assigned Identify what we need to know Learn and apply it to solve the problem Traditional Learning Problem-Based Learning
- 44.
- 45. Reflection Questions • Atthe Beginning of the Course – Why did I take this course? – What do I hope to gain from taking this course? – How will this course help me in the real world? – On a scale of 1-10, what is my current knowledge and skills in relationship to each of the objectives of the course? – What objectives will I need to focus more attention and effort ton? – What are my academic strengths? – What are my academic weaknesses? – What type of support will I need from the instructor to help gain additional academic skills? facdev.niu.edu/humanizehandouts Stavredes (2011)
- 46. Reflection Questions • AsLearners Complete Major Activities and Assignments in the Course – What did I learn from this activity? – What confuses me? – Where do I need to spend more time on concepts? – What knowledge and skills did I use to complete the activities? – What knowledge and skills do I need to work on? – What strategy did I use to make sure that I understood the requirements of the activity? – What strategy did I use to break down the components associated with the activity? – What strategy did I use to ensure I remained on task? facdev.niu.edu/humanizehandouts Stavredes (2011)
- 47. Reflection Questions • Atthe End of the Course – Rate your level of knowledge and skills for each objective for the course. – What objectives were you most successful at achieving? – What objectives do you need to continue to develop? – What objectives did you improve on the most? – What strategy did you use throughout the course to ensure you understood the course content and associated activities? – What strategy did you use to ensure you met the criteria of the assignments? – What academic skills did you use to successfully complete the course? – What academic skills do you need to work on to improve your learning? facdev.niu.edu/humanizehandouts Stavredes (2011)
- 48. Activity – CognitivePresence
- 49.
- 50. References • Elder, L.,& Paul, R. (2010). The thinker’s guide to analytic thinking. Dillon Beach, CA: Foundation for Critical Thinking Press. • Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. Internet and Higher Education, 2, 87-105. • Kuh, G. D. (2008). Excerpt from high-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Association of American Colleges and Universities. • Millis, B. J. (2002). Enhancing Learning--and More!--Through Cooperative Learning. IDEA Paper. • Stavredes, T. (2011). Effective online teaching: Foundations and strategies for student success. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
- 51. Presenter Assistant Director Faculty Development& Instructional Design Center srichter@niu.edu @slrichter Stephanie Richter Slides are available at facdev.niu.edu/fsi2017humanizing