Uploaded byEmory Maiden
"Community Without Compromise..." CHEP 2014
The document discusses the importance of cultivating community in online and blended learning environments through the interaction of cognitive, social, and teaching presences. It emphasizes that a strong community can enhance learning outcomes, reduce student isolation, and improve course completion rates. Strategies for building and sustaining community include virtual interactions, instructor engagement, and fostering communication among participants.
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"Community Without Compromise..." CHEP 2014
- 1. Community Without Compromise: CultivatingInteractivity in Online and Blended Learning Environments http://www.flickr.com/photos/cimmyt/8208414962 Tracy W. Smith and Emory Maiden Appalachian State University
- 2. Survey Activity • Cognitivepresence - the extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained personal reflection and shared discourse. • Social presence - the degree to which participants in computer-mediated communication feel affectively connected to each other. • Teaching presence is the instructor’s design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes.
- 3. Session Goals • Articulaterationale for creating community • Describe strategies for cultivating community • Identify tools for building community and enabling communication
- 4. Why Community Matters • • • • Research StudentNeeds Teacher Needs Institutional Needs http://www.flickr.com/photos/zappowbang/2048373555
- 5. Research Says… Psychological distance,or rather lack of community, in the online learning environment, can result in student isolation, frustration, boredom, overload, and low course completion rates (Hara & Kling, 2000; Northrup, 2002; Rovai et al., 2005).
- 6. On the otherhand… Ascough (2007), Cho, Gay, Davidson, and Ingraffea (2007), as well as Pate, Smaldino, Mayall, and Luetkehans (2009) found that creating online social communities creates an encouraging environment of shared activities that results in deeper learning, higher final course grades, and successful online courses.
- 7. Functioning in acommunity can enhance learning, improve academic success, and contribute to persistence in higher education (Hargis, 2005; Kember, 1987; Powers & Mitchell, 1997; Shea, Sau Li, & Pickett, 2006). Yuen (2003) asserts that a learning community can help individual learners “achieve what they cannot on their own” (p. 155).
- 8. Transactional Distance A psychologicaland communication space to be crossed. If learning outcomes in distance education are to be maximized, transactional distance needs to be minimized or shortened. http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/5249681172/
- 9. Transactional Distance “I believethat the main objective in either teaching environment is for the subject matter to be so inspirational, exciting, and challenging that students think about it beyond the time in class, whether on campus or online” (Bender, p. 9). http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/5249681172/
- 10. Student Needs Clear expectationsand procedures Interaction with classmates and instructor Communication http://www.flickr.com/photos/familymwr/5322740412/sizes/l/
- 11. “…the professor hasdone a great job at having a voice in our conversations” “design of the course makes sure we all interact with each other” “great way to have virtual conversations with my peers” http://www.flickr.com/photos/familymwr/5322740412/sizes/l/
- 12. “There was NOparticipation…I could have gotten the same information reading the book on my own.” “No communication, unorganized. Almost as if he forgot he had an online class.” http://www.flickr.com/photos/familymwr/5322740412/sizes/l/
- 13. Teacher Needs What issacred to you about your teaching? What does your best teaching look like? What do you worry that you will have to compromise as more of your classes or class meetings go online? http://www.flickr.com/photos/cybrarian77
- 14. Community of Inquiry CoI,a process model of online learning, represents the online educational experience as arising from the interaction of three presences: social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence. At the heart of the CoI framework is the idea that community, critical reflection, and knowledge construction are integral to learning, especially online learning. https://coi.athabascau.ca/
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- 16. • Cognitive presence- the extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained personal reflection and shared discourse. • Social presence - the degree to which participants in computer-mediated communication feel affectively connected to each other. • Teaching presence is the instructor’s design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes. Each core element on its own is complex and multidimensional – and then the three together are interdependent. In a single activity, online teachers and students can exploit many aspects of the core elements to cultivate a sense of community.
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- 18. Tools vs. Strategies •Discussion Forum/Webinar as a tool (how) • Discussion Forum/Webinar as a strategy (why) • Screencasting, Skype, Google+, Questionnaire, Quizzes http://www.flickr.com/photos/nowhere/773969151427
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- 20. Beginnings/Activities • Virtual coffeeshop – Welcome Message • Instructor Introductory Videos (photos, visual cues, “story”) • Questionnaires • Web Conferencing – Synchronous http://www.flickr.com/photos/clothpaperstring/2108137806
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- 22. Beginnings/Activities • Virtual coffeeshop – Welcome Message • Instructor Introductory Videos (photos, visual cues, “story”) • Questionnaires • Web Conferencing – Synchronous http://www.flickr.com/photos/clothpaperstring/2108137806
- 23. Sustaining • Virtual CoffeeShop – Referencing participants’ interests, questions • Personal Emails • Virtual Office Hours • Synchronous Meetings • Discussion Forum and Webinars to provide “inprocess” feedback on assignments – Screen sharing and student ownership http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonpegg/434134713/
- 24. Ending/Transitioning • How doesthe content of this course matter going forward? • How does community continue? • Harvesting http://www.flickr.com/photos/doug88888/5542586880
- 25. Goal Setting andDiscussion • Which type of PRESENCE would you like to increase in your online teaching? • What might be a first step or strategy you would like to try? http://www.flickr.com/photos/free-stock/7007481395/
- 26. References - 1 • • • • • • Ascough,R. (2007). Welcoming design: Hosting a hospitable online course. Teaching Theology and Religion, 10(3), 131-136. Bender, T. (2012). Discussion-based online teaching to enhance student learning: Theory, practice, and assessment. Sterling, VA: Stylus. Cho, H., Gay, G., Davidson, B., & Ingraffea, A. (2007). Social networks, communication styles, and learning performance in a CSCL community. Computers and Education, 49, 309-329. Hara, & Kling. (2000). Students’ distress with a web-based distance education course. Information, Communication, and Society, 3, 557-579. Hargis, J. (2005). Collaboration, community, and project-based learning: Does it still work online? International Journal of Instructional Media, 32(2), 157-162. Kember, D. (1987). A longitudinal process model of drop out from distance education. The Journal of Higher Education, 60(3), 278-301.
- 27. References - 2 • • • • • • Northrup,P.T. (2002). Online learners’ preferences for interaction. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 3(2), 219-226. Pate, A., Smaldino, S., Mayall, H.J., & Luetkehans, L. (2009). Questioning the necessity of nonacademic social discussion forums within online courses. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 10(1), 1-8. Powers, S.M., & Mitchell, J. (1997). Student perceptions and performance in a virtual classroom environment. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL. Rovai, A., Wighting, M.J., & Liu, J. (2005). School climate. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 6(4), 361-374. Shea, P., Li, C.S., & Pickett, A. (2006). A study of teaching presence and student sense of learning community in fully online and web-enhanced college courses. Internet & Higher Education, 9 (3), 175-190. Yuen, A.H. (2003). Fostering learning communities in classrooms: A survey research of Hong Kong schools. Education Media International, 40, 153-162.
Editor's Notes
- #2 Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy, February 5, 2014 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
- #5 96% of public and private colleges and universities now offering online courses Researchers have identified a feeling of isolation as one factor associated with higher dropout rates among online students (Galusha, 1997; Kubala, 1998; Soles & Moller, 2001). Some researchers contend that psychological distance, or lack of community, in the online learning environment, can result in student isolation, frustration, boredom, overload, and low course completion rates (Hara & Kling, 2000; Northrup, 2002; Rovai, Wighting, & Liu, 2005). On the other hand, Ascough (2007), Cho, Gay, Davidson, and Ingraffea (2007), as well as Pate, Smaldino, Mayall, and Luetkehans (2009) found that creating online social communities creates an encouraging environment of shared activities that results in deeper learning, higher final course grades, and successful online courses. Functioning in a community can enhance learning, improve academic success, and contribute to persistence in higher education (Hargis, 2005; Kember, 1987; Powers & Mitchell, 1997; Shea, Li, & Pickett, 2006). Yuen (2003) asserts that a learning community can help individual learners “achieve what they cannot on their own” (p. 155). Most researchers point to the instructor as the critical player in cultivating a sense of community in online courses. Rovai et al. (2005) as well as Liu, Magjuka, Bonk, and Lee (2007) found that instructors who facilitate a sense of community and student engagement significantly affect student satisfaction and quality of online learning. According to Ascough (2007) and Liu et al. (2007), a welcoming teaching and learning community is central to online student knowledge acquisition, which in turn leads to meaningful learning experiences.