Working online
- 1. WORKING ONLINE Tutor skills for handling online chats, discussions and content Caroline Gwatkin and Dace Praulins E-moderation course, February 2014
- 2. Contents (1) ENCOURAGING PARTICIPATION/MOTIVATION Select appropriate technology Building motivation into online education Multiple intelligences SYNCHRONOUS AND ASYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION Synchronous communication Asynchronous communication 2
- 3. Contents (2) DEALING WITH PROBLEMS IN LEARNER PARTICIPATION Course building changes or additions Personal contact with student having problems SAMPLE RUBRICS THAT GIVE RATIONALES FOR COURSE DESIGN DECISIONS Using rubrics Rubric six-step process FURTHER RESOURCES 3
- 5. Select appropriate technology E-learning technologies eLearning activities Motivation factors Moodle ePortfolio Turnitin Chat room Online assessment Google Assessment Uses quizzes, student can repeat to gauge progress Good for reflecting on tasks Helps identify plagiarism & aids marking Useful for enhancing 1-2-1 support Prime focus is assessment Can be used to support assessment prep Tutor-2student Good for chat, messaging on mobile etc. can sort queries/ worries informally Use for chat, messaging on mobile etc Good for 1-2-1 online feedback for tasks Very good for sharing video, voice and desktop Can give feedback if set up correctly Useful for 1-2-1 communication Tutor-2many Good for forum, chat, wikis, etc. Use for chat, messaging etc No Very good for sharing video, voice and desktop No Useful for sharing docs Student -2student Facilitates discussion, group activities. Tutor can make ‘guidance’ comments Set up groups to share docs & communicate No, but students could discuss the benefits of using Supports communication with student as presenter and maybe tutor as facilitator Not really, but could discuss in group communication Useful for sharing docs Reflection Aids tutor/ student reflection – forum, journal Designed for personal reflection If students have access before handing in, they can avoid failure Useful for tutor/ student reflection Reflecting on results may be useful Useful for student discussion Adapted from: Portsmouth Universlty online courses 5
- 6. Building motivation into online education (1) • Have a positive attitude (e.g. smile when speaking, even if your learners can’t see you, it’s reflected in your tone of voice) • Build rapport and trust by answering questions as soon as possible • Show interest, open a café to encourage participants to socialise • Use a pre-course questionnaire for needs analysis 6
- 7. Building motivation into online education (2) • Make document layout visually appealing; chunk information and use plenty of white space • Gain the interest of learners, make content relevant, understandable, and meaningful; remember shorter modules/units are more achievable • Ensure the content makes sense (logical flow of information) and is organised in well-staged tasks with detailed information such as due dates • Use active voice, short sentences, and language that learners understand • Praise learners, but don’t over-praise as it can sound patronising Adapted from: Jordan, C. (2006) Building motivation into online education. ITEC 860 7
- 8. Building motivation into online education (3) • Use the same navigational tools throughout the content (headers and footers, heading and subheadings, and/or clickable options) • Be consistent with terminology and formatting • Use a variety of media and different group interactions • Offer choices aimed at different learning styles in a wide range of task types (chats/discussions/blogs) using different formats (audio/video/slides) Adapted from: Jordan, C. (2006) Building motivation into online education. ITEC 860 8
- 9. Building motivation into online education (4) • Try not to jump in too soon, give participants time to expand and explain • Support participants who fall behind in a positive manner, contact them promptly, clarify doubts and provide reassurance • Support participants who fall behind in a positive manner, contact them promptly, clarify doubts and provide reassurance • Offer further challenges, these can be presented as “if you’ve got time you can…” so as not to be intimidating • Allow participants to act as group leaders and to create their own tasks 9
- 10. Building motivation into online education (5) • Set reasonable timings – it is very frustrating for participants to always take longer than the recommended time • Use participants reflections to improve your future courses and tasks • When giving feedback include both strengths and weaknesses in easy-to-understand comments – this gives participants future aims and objective 10
- 11. Motivation: multiple intelligences Intrapersonal Reflect in journal (e.g. Moodle/Campuspack blog or journal, Mahara e-portfolio) on weekly (?) activities undertaken to improve English, difficulties in undertaking tasks set, etc. Adapted from: Green, C. and Tanner, R. (2005) Multiple intelligences and online teacher education. ELT Journal 59,4 11
- 12. Motivation: multiple intelligences Interpersonal Synchronous: Group online chat with a topic relevant to learners’ needs and interests (e.g. text: Moodle Chat, Facebook; audio: Skype; video: Google Hangouts, BlackBoard Collaborate) Asynchronous: Group collaboration (e.g. text: Moodle Wiki, Padlet; audio: VoiceThread, Voxopop) Adapted from: Green, C. and Tanner, R. (2005) Multiple intelligences and online teacher education. ELT Journal 59,4 12
- 13. Motivation: multiple intelligences Linguistic Write a review of a website which is useful for English language learning, review of book recently read, film recently seen (e.g. Moodle Wiki, Moodle discussion forum); essay writing (e.g. Moodle/Turnitin, Google Docs) Adapted from: Green, C. and Tanner, R. (2005) Multiple intelligences and online teacher education. ELT Journal 59,4 13
- 14. Motivation: multiple intelligences Logical-mathematical Read a list of items and rank them in order of importance, individually then pair/small-group work – probably synchronous chat (e.g. NASA Moon Landing Game, Lost at Sea) Adapted from: Green, C. and Tanner, R. (2005) Multiple intelligences and online teacher education. ELT Journal 59,4 14
- 15. Motivation: multiple intelligences Visual-spatial Use videos as basis for language work (e.g. TEDEd, British Council Learn English, EFL SMARTblog, Film English) Adapted from: Green, C. and Tanner, R. (2005) Multiple intelligences and online teacher education. ELT Journal 59,4 15
- 16. Motivation: multiple intelligences Musical Use songs with quizzes for language work (e.g. Busy Teacher Songs and Lyrics; Moodle Quiz, Google Forms, LOC tool, Xerte) Adapted from: Green, C. and Tanner, R. (2005) Multiple intelligences and online teacher education. ELT Journal 59,4 16
- 17. Motivation: multiple intelligences Naturalist Do a communicative writing task using either an image or a real object from nature (e.g. Busy Teacher Creative Writing Prompts, ELTpics); take a picture – upload it and write or talk about it (e.g. Instagram, Fotobabble) Adapted from: Green, C. and Tanner, R. (2005) Multiple intelligences and online teacher education. ELT Journal 59,4 17
- 18. Motivation: multiple intelligences Bodily-kinesthetic Create flashcards which can be downloaded and printed out (e.g. Quizlet) or used as an app (e.g. StudyBlue); write and direct a short video/podcast/presentation (e.g. Moodle, YouTube) Adapted from: Green, C. and Tanner, R. (2005) Multiple intelligences and online teacher education. ELT Journal 59,4 18
- 20. Synchronous communication (1) Use synchronous communication when: – You want an instant response – A message is not enough – It’s important for participants to see and hear each other 20
- 21. Synchronous communication (2) • • • • Communicate the goal and the timeframe Establish the rules of communication Encourage all to contribute Deliver sensitive feedback/information in a “closed” channel • Use a calendar for online meetings (e.g. Doodle) Adapted from: Shepherd, C. (2000) The real-time online tutor. Fastrak Consulting. Retrieved from: http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/Features/realtime/realtime.htm 21
- 22. Synchronous communication (3) • Control discussions that are straying off course • Summarise outcomes at each stage of the discussion • Act any against misuse of the facility • Ask quiet participants direct questions • Have a Plan B if the technology fails Adapted from: Shepherd, C. (2000) The real-time online tutor. Fastrak Consulting. Retrieved from: http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/Features/realtime/realtime.htm 22
- 23. Synchronous communication Text chat Text chat is the most basic of synchronous methods and the easiest to implement. It's not surprising, therefore, that it's also the most popular (e.g. Moodle Chat, Facebook, Skype). Adapted from: Shepherd, C. (2000) The real-time online tutor. Fastrak Consulting. Retrieved from: http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/Features/realtime/realtime.htm 23
- 24. Synchronous communication Electronic whiteboards An electronic whiteboard makes it possible for participants to contribute to a common visual working space. They can draw on the whiteboard, type text or paste images and each participant sees the same end result (e.g. WiZiQ, VYEW). Adapted from: Shepherd, C. (2000) The real-time online tutor. Fastrak Consulting. Retrieved from: http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/Features/realtime/realtime.htm 24
- 25. Synchronous communication Audio conferencing With audio conferencing, participants can talk to each other in real time. With half-duplex audio, only one person can speak at a time. With fullduplex audio, more than one person can speak simultaneously (e.g. Skype). Adapted from: Shepherd, C. (2000) The real-time online tutor. Fastrak Consulting. Retrieved from: http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/Features/realtime/realtime.htm 25
- 26. Synchronous communication Video conferencing Video conferencing allows participants to see as well as hear each other. Multi-way video conferencing requires a great deal of bandwidth so most virtual classroom packages allow only one video stream to be transmitted at a time (e.g. Skype, Moodle/BigBlueButton, BlackBoard Collaborate, Google Hangouts). Adapted from: Shepherd, C. (2000) The real-time online tutor. Fastrak Consulting. Retrieved from: http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/Features/realtime/realtime.htm 26
- 27. Synchronous communication Application sharing This feature allows participants to view and work on documents jointly or for one participant to take over and work on another computer (e.g. Google Docs, Dropbox, SkyDrive). Adapted from: Shepherd, C. (2000) The real-time online tutor. Fastrak Consulting. Retrieved from: http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/Features/realtime/realtime.htm 27
- 28. Synchronous communication Polling Another possibility is real-time polling of all the participants in the meeting. This could be to gauge opinions or to gather answers to a test question (e.g. Poll Everywhere, Padlet). Adapted from: Shepherd, C. (2000) The real-time online tutor. Fastrak Consulting. Retrieved from: http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/Features/realtime/realtime.htm 28
- 29. Asynchronous communication (1) Use asynchronous communication when: – Participants need time to prepare what they have to say – It’s difficult for participants to be online at the same time – It’s important for all participants to get the message 29
- 30. Asynchronous communication (2) • • • • • • Introduce yourself to establish rapport Establish the rules of communication Initiate discussion topics Encourage students to initiate their own topics Control discussions that are straying off course Summarise outcomes at each stage of the discussion • Act any against misuse of the facility • Delete dead topics Adapted from: Shepherd, C. (2000) The asynchronous online tutor. Fastrak Consulting. Retrieved from: http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/Features/asynch/asynch.htm 30
- 31. DEALING WITH PROBLEMS IN LEARNER PARTICIPATION 31
- 32. Course building changes or additions (1) • Organise some collaborative group tasks (as official assignments), mixing the silent and participative students • Design and implement some socialising-type activities which can only be completed through the interaction of ALL the participants • Send out a questionnaire that would tap into learners’ motivation and involve the silent learners (ideally at the start) • Set tasks and activities which are specific with the criteria fully set out Adapted from: Clandfield, L. (2014) Summary of E-moderation course forum discussion on social skills. Consultants-E. Retrieved from: http://www.train2do.com/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=40806 32
- 33. Course building changes or additions (2) • Set activities for smaller groups and sub-groups that lower anxiety - less daunting and easier to contribute • Make contributions part of the grade received on the course • Make your presence as facilitator very visible, developing forum discussions, giving prompt feedback, summarising, following up threads and showing a personal interest and involvement in what is going on in the group and the individuals in that group; a caring attitude and being “visibly involved” is perhaps more critical in online teaching than in F2F situations Adapted from: Clandfield, L. (2014) Summary of E-moderation course forum discussion on social skills. Consultants-E. Retrieved from: http://www.train2do.com/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=40806 33
- 34. Course building changes or additions (3) • Review and rephrase the instructions or topic, possibly with an example • Remind students that the topic will be fully discussed later if the topic has been programmed for a subsequent module • Remind students to use café, other forums or direct emails to talk about other topics; this will make it easier to go back and search for each topic in the future Adapted from: Clandfield, L. (2014) Summary of E-moderation course forum discussion on social skills. Consultants-E. Retrieved from: http://www.train2do.com/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=40806 34
- 35. Course building changes or additions (4) • Explain/show benefits of pair work/group work, e.g. more ideas generated, helping each other, as team they will produce more complex work (two heads are better than one, and three even better!) • Provide time management tips or article about this to individual or group; could also include it in netiquette or intro part of course Adapted from: Clandfield, L. (2014) Summary of E-moderation course forum discussion on social skills. Consultants-E. Retrieved from: http://www.train2do.com/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=40806 35
- 36. Personal contact with student having problems • Contact silent students individually, find out reasons that are preventing them from participating, then offer any support necessary to overcome situation • Contact student, but also make clear to the whole group that involvement in discussions is compulsory and part of the (final) mark so it must be part of the course and not just when deadline is approaching • Send email to student describing the situation, expressing real concern and offering help Adapted from: Clandfield, L. (2014) Summary of E-moderation course forum discussion on social skills. Consultants-E. Retrieved from: http://www.train2do.com/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=40806 36
- 37. Personal contact with student having problems • Try to work out possible cause for lack of interaction in order to decide on best next step, e.g. participant having technical problems may need assistance, whereas participant trying to take short cuts or unwilling to work collaboratively will need guidance/reminders about purpose and goals of assignment Adapted from: Clandfield, L. (2014) Summary of E-moderation course forum discussion on social skills. Consultants-E. Retrieved from: http://www.train2do.com/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=40806 37
- 38. SAMPLE RUBRICS THAT GIVE RATIONALES FOR COURSE DESIGN DECISIONS 38
- 39. Using rubrics (1) Use rubrics to: • Make grading/ marking easier • Fulfil student expectations • Establish (peer) feedback activities by providing checklists for students to revise, review and improve 39
- 40. Using rubrics (2) Use rubrics to act as guidelines to: • • • • Give clear instructions Identify learning aims Identify what quality performance looks like Facilitate correction and marking 40
- 41. Using rubrics (3) Rubrics should: • Be adaptable (adding or omitting bands/ criteria/categories) • Be easy for both teachers and students to understand • Help teachers to plan syllabus and/or design curriculum • Help teachers to mark consistently • Provide sound justifications for marks 41
- 42. Rubric six-step process (1) 1. Identify the outcome/s and purpose 2. Identify the knowledge level Factual – basic knowledge of subject matter Conceptual – organisation/classification Procedural – process steps Attitudinal – beliefs and emotions Meta-cognitive – self-regulation, persistence 42
- 43. Rubric six-step process (2) 3. Group criteria (approx. 4 – 8 categories) – these are the key components of the task 4. Develop a marking scale (3 – 4 levels) – Identify the qualities of excellence – Write as “can do” and keep them positive, e.g. accomplished / competent / developing / beginning 43
- 44. Rubric six-step process (3) 5. Assign weighting – which are the most important skills to reward, e.g. Participation 30% (important to take active part) Chat interventions 30% (necessary to comply) Language accuracy 10% (need to be clear not accurate) Punctuality 30%, etc. (important to respect time) 6. Share and discuss with students by giving feedback – their results will improve! 44
- 45. Sample marking rubric Marking chat/ discussion/presentation etc. Explanation of what is needed to attain the mark Comments Feedback on each category/ criteria Categories/ criteria levels 45
- 47. Articles and videos Chattopadhyay, S. (2011) Lurking is not a static state. Retrieved from: http://idreflections.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/lurking-is-not-static-state.html Denmeade, N. (n.d.) Moodle for motivating learners. Retrieved from: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/33611569/live/Moodle_For_Motivation_Gu ide.pdf Green, C. and Tanner, R. (2005) Multiple intelligences and online teacher education. ELT Journal 59/4 Hockly, N. (2011) Online teaching tips. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEa-2S1oOg0 Jordan, C. (2006) Building motivation into online education. ITEC 860 Lehmann, L. and Chamberlin, L. (2010) Time management strategies for online instructors. Retrieved from: https://www2.uwstout.edu/content/profdev/rubrics/time_management.html Shepherd, C. (2000) The real-time online tutor. Retrieved from: http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/Features/realtime/realtime.htm Shepherd, C. (2000) The asynchronous online tutor. Retrieved from: http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/Features/asynch/asynch.htm Photo credit: @aClilToClimb at http://www.flickr.com/photos/eltpics/6952155348/in/faves-116934108@N08/ 47