Transforming learning methods: innovations and applications

¶ … David Thornburg with regard to utilizing technology in the learning environment: "Our challenge is not to do old things differently, it is to do different things."

Transforming our traditional learning methods to the online format is one such challenge.

It is not about doing things differently, but successful learning activities in the online environment demands that we do different things.

Select a traditional learning/training unit with which you are very familiar (hopefully, one that you have taught) and describe the process that you would utilize to transform this unit into one that could successfully be used online. In your description, give examples of how the activity has evolved during the transformation. Present both the traditional activity and the newly transformed activity.

As a global learner myself, I could not just sit down and begin the task at hand. Instead I spent a considerable amount of time reviewing the different theories of instructional design in this area in order to pull out the parts which I felt suited my strengths and weaknesses with regard to instructional design. The following consists of a brief summary of some of the more salient points which I pulled out and used as an underlying thought process during the selection, planning, and transformation of my traditional unit.

As technology begins to take hold across America and enters a place in our classrooms, we have seen quite a proliferation of theories regarding what constitutes best practices with regard to technological innovation and usage in the classroom. While researching the different learning theories, I found myself becoming lost in the details and losing sight of what effective e-learning is about. One study, by Singh and Reed in 2001, reminded me that developing a blended learning strategy is not as easy as one might thing; instead, creating a blended learning strategy is an evolutionary process. As such, I realized that I better actually begin if I am ever to actually evolve. According to Singh and Reed, a good place to begin is to supplement an existing conventional, environment with one or two online activities, a resource website or an asynchronous discussion for example. As experience and confidence are gained, new tools can be introduced and a greater effort put into ongoing revision of the lesson itself.

Another theorist, Stephen Downes, thankfully, brought me back to my ultimate focus as an educator: to make learning comprehensible. He notes that there are many aspects of what to do and what not to do in devising and transferring e-learning lessons; yet, he makes a simple, albeit powerful, statement in which I have struggled to keep in mind as I transform my traditional unit to a computer-based unit: In various contexts these are all important and will play a significant role in determining the success of failure of a given learning enterprise. None of these, though, are as central to the design of effective learning as the three criteria listed herein: interaction, userability, and relevance. Accordingly, as I considered which lesson to transfer, I kept these criteria in mind at all times. Would the activity allow for meaningful interaction to promote the learning? Would the students be able to use the technology to assist learning as opposed to hinder learning? Would the usage of the technology be relevant to the subject or objective?

Furthermore, in determining which traditional activity to transform, I stumbled across Kilpatrick's philosophy wherein he sets forth that the teacher should be placed in the role of the facilitator. This is especially true in the context of project-based distributed learning and adult learners. Accordingly, with regard to userability as well as interaction, two of the criteria mentioned above, the project-based lesson should aim to thrust the learner into a role of active learner as researcher, author, artist, or a combination of the foregoing active roles. Moreover, with regard to relevance, an old reading by Driscoll published in 1998, reminded me that adults prefer problem-based learning (I believe this holds true for junior and seniors) and become motivated to learn as a response to the problems in their lives. As a result, in curriculum design, the content should be organized by particular problem areas. He provides an example of this which uses one of the areas in which I considered utilizing for this particular task: business writing vocabulary, grammar, and writing. Accordingly, in devising the class, I should break down the overall subject into the actual tasks to be performed.

In addition to taking into consider the foregoing concerns, I will try my best to utilize the following steps in working through transferring the content from a traditional unit to a computer-based unit. (I must not that I am a backward planner. I usually know where I want to go and improvise how to get there. In computer assisted learning, it appears that merely knowing where you want to end up does not translate into a smooth transition for utilizing technology meaningfully in the classroom). Basic steps to keep in mind during technologically driving lesson planning include the following tasks and considerations:

Purpose Statement (What is the overall intent of the lesson? Use plain language)

Duration (How long will the unit take? How long will the individual lessons within the unit take?

Prerequisites (What do the students need to know before using the technology?)

Learning Objectives (What are the learning objectives of the unit? What are the learning objectives of the specific units?)

Content/Learning Activities (For each item of content to be addressed, how would the content be communicated to the students and what is the estimated time needed for each activity? Please note that this is the longest part of creating the design document.)

Application of Learning Strategy (How will the learning method be used to be applied toward working students through to their particular agenda/objective?)

VII. Evaluation Strategy (How will student learning be assessed? On a daily basis and on a larger unit basis? What types of assessments will students be given?)

Further, a study by Carmon (2002) adds five key ingredients to creating the actual activities in an online lesson or course:

Live events. These are synchronous, instructor-led events. Traditional lectures, video conferences, and synchronous chat sessions such as illuminate are examples.

Self-Paced Learning. Experiences the learner completes individually on her own time such as an internet or CD-ROM-based tutorial.

Collaboration. Learners communicate and create with others, e-mail, threaded discussions, and, come to think of it, this wiki are all examples.

Assessment. Measurements of learners' mastery of the objectives. Assessment is not limited to conventional tests, quizzes, and grades. Narrative feedback, portfolio evaluations and, importantly, a designer's reflection about a blended learning environments effectiveness or usefulness are all forms of assessment.

Support Materials. These include reference material, both physical and virtual, FAQ forums, and summaries. Anything that aids learning retention and transfer.

The chose to transfer my business letter unit to a blended teaching modality. In creating

my outline, the first three items (purpose statement, duration, prerequisites) essentially remained unchanged with the exception of adding more time for separate chunks of the lesson and adding prerequisites with regard to computer knowledge (how to open a file and save a file; how to do a search query, etc.) and keyboarding (how to indent, how to center, etc.). Additionally, the objectives remained the same with regard to the underlying content; however, I incorporated statements such as "students will use computer-assisted research to…" or "students will create a word document in order to complete the unit objective." The next three areas (content activities, application, and evaluation) was where the bulk of my time was spent transferring the lesson. The content activities now included a web-quest instead of a fill-in the blank. An online interactive grammar review (parallel structure) day with activities that correct the students' writing errors right there. A day of research wherein they found different examples of different types of business letters (typically, I would just bring in a few copies). The overall application and the evaluation activity will be the actual product generated as well as the students' individual daily self-reflection sheets. In thinking about what support materials I needed, I made sure that two days were set aside for classroom review of the content including the textbook pages regarding the physical manipulation of the different parts and the overall power point presentation of a business letter. In order to ensure their participation in the power point, students had a worksheet in which they had to fill out and bring as their ticket INTO the computer lab. Indeed, even I must look at the set-up or use a template to make sure that I have the correct organizational structure as well as all the requisite component parts of a business letter. Without somewhat engaging by filling in their chart and answering pre-planned questions, I am able to see if the students have a basic understanding of the parts and purpose and prose within a business letter.