The pedagogy of online education: historical overview and future directions

Junaid QadirAssociate Professor,

Information Technology University (ITU), Pakistan

Learning 101 for the online era

The pedagogy of online education: historical overview and future directions

About me

Have taught an online course (MOOC?) for VU

Experienced teacher (~8 years of experience)

Despite the accessibility of a wealth of information in the current era—through books, universities, or online MOOCs—

most students fail to learn as much as they can (despite the intent and will to succeed).

Our focus—both in research and practice—is more on pedagogy and content

(rather than on empowering learners with reliable learning

know-how.)

noun The method and practice of learning

?

The lack of focus on learning can be seen from the fact that there is no widely accepted (single-word) name for the science of learning

Why isn’t there a focus on the method and practice of learning?

Is it because all of us intuitively know what (does not) works for learning?

Our intuition of how learning works is

unreliable and often counterproductive.

Bob Bjork

Paradoxical nature of learning

(Desirable difficulties) It is beneficial for learning to create study conditions that make learning difficult and slow. This is in conflict with the quick-fix desire in learners and instructors to see quick improvements.

Learning 101 (the missing basics)

“The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue”

—Antisthenes.

Rereading text, and massed practice---the most popular study strategies of learners---is also among the least productive, since 1) it is time consuming; 2) the knowledge

gained is transitory; 3) and it contributes to an illusion of learning.

We need to put in the right kind of effort (technique).

Fixed/ Growth Mindset: views intelligence as something that cannot (/ can) be developed through effort.

Carol Dweck

To learn, you must forget

Practice before forgetting is wasteful … while practice after forgetting leads to longer lasting learning

(Some) difficulties are desirable

“One of the most striking research findings is the power of active retrieval—testing—to strengthen memory, and that the more effortful the retrieval,

the stronger the benefit.”

“by spacing or interleaving the practice, retrieval is harder, your performance is less accomplished, and you feel let down, but

your learning is deeper and you will retrieve it more easily in the future.”

Cognitive benefits of disfluency?

Easy come, easy go? It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.

We don’t like failing/ making mistakes, but failure is the

key to success.

Open issues relating to MOOCs

MOOCs for the developing world?

“Technology amplifies human capacity and

intent; it doesn't substitute for them.” ---Kentaro Toyama

Digital dividends depend on key “analog complements” that

include appropriate policies, incentives, accountability, and

capable human workforce.

MOOC’s performance metrics?

HarvardX and MITx: The First Year of Open Online Courses, Fall 2012-Summer 2013 https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/11987422/1%20HarvardX%20MITx%20Report.pdf

The ideal MOOC may be the one that elicits the maximum attrition.

MOOC’s performance metrics?

Effectiveness of OER in Pakistan

How to incorporate OERs into standard university course? -- Blended Learning/ Flipped Learning approaches.

How to incentivize student participation?

Benefit of diverse models

Conclusions

Optimizing learning and instruction often requires

going against one’s intuitions BOB BJORK

Online learning is a tool, just as the textbook is a tool. The way

the teacher and the student uses the tool is what really counts.

Online learning provides great opportunities and also great challenges.

junaid.qadir@itu.edu.pk

Credits/ Acknowledgments

Figures from various sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Ebbinghaus http://www.psychologicalscience.org/redesign/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/bjork_robert_web.jpg http://psych.wustl.edu/memory/Images/roediger.jpg https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/11987422/1%20HarvardX%20MITx%20Report.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey http://www.azquotes.com/picture-quotes/ Various icons of MOOCs (e.g., Coursera, Udacity, TED, EdX)

Books WDR 2016, World Bank. Mindset, Carol Dweck Geek Heresy, Kentaro Toyama

These resources have been used in these lecture slides for educational purpose under the fair use doctrine. The ownership of these resources, if copyrighted, is retained by their respective copyright owners.