Training In-Service Teachers to be Online Instructors and Online Course Developers

Texas Education Agency

21st Century Skills for the Digital Learner February 8, 2010

Richard A. SmithClinical Associate Professor

&

Caroline M. CrawfordAssociate Professor

Instructional Technology Program

School of Education

Typical University Distance Ed Courses

– Offered online• Occasionally face-to-

face

– Concentration upon discussion activities for transmission of course information

– Few external applications taught

– Not linked directly to a particular course management system

– Little, if any, hands-on experience in building and teaching a real course

University of Houston-Clear LakeInstructional Technology Program

• Offers a 36 hour Master’s of Science degree in Instructional Design and Technology, and the– Online Distance Educator Professional

Development Certificate (9 hours)• Can be a component of the instructional

technology master’s degree course of study• All UHCL DE certificate courses approved for

professional development by the Texas Virtual School Network

UHCL New Model

• Courses1. Required Core: Interactive Distance

Learning

2. Elective Course Options (two required):a) Technology and eLearning

b) Multimedia Design Applications

c) Advanced Technology Applications

Underlying Philosophy

Enable students to Create high quality distance education courses upon program

completion Hit the ground running

Provide students with A comprehensive background in instructional design History of distance education Use of web based applications Professional outlook

Produce students who are In control of web page design Can understand and apply html to the design of web-based teaching

Typical Course Structure

Professional Standards Addressed

– iNACOL – International Association for K-12 Online Learninghttp://www.inacol.org/

• Interesting requirements

– International Society for Technology in Educationhttp://www.iste.org/

• De rigueur

Distance Education Training at the School of Education - UHCL

A Course-by-Course OverviewAll courses adhere to iNACOL Standards

And are approved for professional development training for the

Texas Virtual School Network (TxVSN)

Interactive Distance LearningThe “Core” Course

Emphasis upon Instructional systems viewCourse design and development

Author-Editor Model

Course evaluation Interactive designer feedback

Roles of the Instructor Modeling of good practice by the prof

Research studies focused upon distance learning effectiveness

Interactive Distance Learning Apps

– Tools for course design• Graphic organizers

– a) Mindomo b) Exploratree c) IHMC Cmap Tools

– Tools for instruction• Video

– a) Jing, b) DimDim

• Google Docs– Google Sites

– Resources• Merlot• MIT Open High School

Software

• Course Management System– UHCL Moodle

Students Extend Teaching

• As students develop resources they are integrated into Interactive Distance Learning– Students serve as distance education

• peer tutors • role models

Course Methods

• Explain how to design a Moodle-based course– Integrate design principles

• Use of the Author-Editor model– Roles are switched

• Heavy emphasis on evaluation of the course design

• Evaluations are assessed and graded• Weekly discussions

– Including a help discussion

Moodle Features Studied

• Lessons• Assignments• Quizzes• Managing the class• Forums, Chats, and

Messaging

• Glossaries• Blogs• Databases• Grades• Surveys and Choices

Technology and eLearning

• Links current understanding of human cognition with advances in computer technologies

• Addresses how technology-rich learning environments are based upon a firm grounding in educational psychology and cognitive science

• Focuses upon distance learning instructional enhancements within the Moodle environment

Technology and eLearning: Course of Study

• Belief systems– learning styles – Instructional

(teaching) styles

• Developing communities of learners

• Multimedia representations of information– Graphic– Audio– Video– Synchronous Events and

Web Conferencing– Assistive and Adaptive

Accessibility Support

• Formative and Summative Evaluations

Technology and eLearning

• Framing the course knowledge: Beyond text-based information and towards– Graphic representations of information– Audio support enhancement– Video support enhancement – Synchronous events & web-conferencing– Assessment & evaluation

Technology and eLearning:Areas of Production Emphasis

• Software– Open source– Freeware– Shareware

Internet-AccessibleSoftwareWeb Conferencing SystemsVideoAudioePublications

eBooks eJournals eArticles Blogs eTutorials eConferences

Multimedia Design Applications

• Goals– Use information technology to

• produce web pages• disseminate web pages

– Increase global perspectives by publishing web pages within the world wide community, and

– Increase self-directed learning through the opportunity to

• extend the basic information presented through links • web sites with additional information.

Multimedia Design Applications

Examples of Unit Topics– Understanding design

strategy– Applying multimedia to

online courses– Utilizing HTML and

XHTML– Sources of digital

images

– Exploring graphics software

– Basic animation on the web

– Understanding 3-D animation, special effects, and VR

– Using audio on the web

– Video on the web

Advanced Technology Applications

• Goals– Understand key

educational psychology and cognitive science terminology

• Identify• Define• Explain

– Identify current issues pertaining to the use of advanced technologies in f2f classrooms and online

– Align classroom and teaching strategies with advanced forms of online instruction

– Identify and apply various technologies contained within the course

Advanced Technology Applications

• Examples of Topics– Using Audacity to create an advanced audio podcast– Developing and using avatars– Implementing virtual reality tools– Using online educational gaming tools– Evaluating online tools and programs– Using advanced accessibility tools– Identifying current trends and issues

Questions, Comments, and Discussion

Hmmm, I wonder what the students think of these courses?

Funny you should ask.

• end

Instructional Web Design and Development

• Course Assignments:• Final portfolio. The culmination of this class will be the creation of a final portfolio. The final portfolio will be an

instructional web site that you have designed, developed, and disseminated. In addition, you will also complete a series of projects. You can skillfully build your responses to the projects to fit into, complement, and reinforce your final portfolio's web site. The final portfolio Web page contains links to 10 sample portfolios as well as additional information about the assignment.

• Projects. To develop the HTML skill needed to build your final portfolio's web site, you will complete five projects that demonstrate your mastery of page development skills. Requirements, specifications, grading template, and a sample of these projects are available in the lessons which assign them.

• Project 1 — Prepare a proposal for your final portfolio's web site. • Project 2 — Create a basic text-only Web page which demonstrates your ability to handle text attributes and lists. • Project 3— Design and develop a web page illustrating your ability to use links, images and formatted text. • Project 4— Create a Web page illustrating your ability to use tables in a Web Site. • Project 5 — Create a Web page illustrating your ability to create and use an image map. • Project 6— Create a Web page which demonstrates your ability to use Frames in a Web Site. • Project 7— Create a Web page illustrating your ability to use Forms on a Web page. • Project 8— Create a Web page that illustrates your ability to use Style Sheets. • Project 9— Create a Web page that illustrates your ability to use JavaScript. • Project 10— Create a Web page that illustrates your ability to create Pop-Up Windows, Scrolling Messages, and

Validating Forms. • Project 11— Create a Web page that illustrates your ability to use DOM to enhance your Web page. • Project 12— Create a Web page that illustrates your ability to create and use XML. • Project 13— Create a Web page that illustrates your ability to use Flash to enhance your Web page. • Final Portfolio - Create a unit of on-line instruction in a subject of your choice.

s

Mindomo

Exploratree

IHMC Cmap Tools

Discussion Topics