Online Learning Update

by Suzanne C. Wagner, et al; JOLT

This article presents a longitudinal comparison of online versus traditional instructional delivery methods. Significant research had been conducted comparing online and traditional courses. However, there is no consensus regarding student performance considering the two instructional methods. Additionally, previous studies have focused on a limited number of courses or a short time period. This research study involves a single introductory business application software course, delivered as a traditional course and as an online course, offered over a period of ten years. The course was taught by the same instructor using the same criteria and standards across all classes, however, new versions of the software were utilized. Student performance was analyzed across 30 sections of the course from the years 2001 to 2010. Results indicate that there was no significant difference in student performance between the two modes of course delivery.

http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no1/wagner_0311.htm

by Donna Gayle Anderson, JOLT

As online course formats become an accepted long-term strategy in education, instructors who personalize their courses with humor can positively contribute to the students’ learning experiences. The purpose of this paper was to determine student perceptions of humor added to an online undergraduate production operations management course and how that humor influenced student engagement through participation in online discussion forums. Results indicate a statistically significant difference (p = .000) between the two groups, where group 1 had little to no humor added to the course and group 2 had humor added. The addition of humor accounted for 33.76 percent of the effect. In addition, the results of student evaluations from the second group showed that humor positively enhanced the online learning environment. This study supports previous research findings and further advances limited studies on humor and learning online pedagogy. Conclusions are drawn that humor incorporated in online courses helps motivate students to participate more in discussion and contributes to a positive learning environment.

http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no1/anderson_0311.htm

by Jeffrey L. Bailie, JOLT

In this sequel investigation, the author utilized a modified Delphi technique to validate whether graduate level online faculty and learners could reach a consensus on the criticality of previously identified online faculty competencies. Comparisons of the leading competencies identified for online instruction and the differing modalities from previous investigations were examined in this study to determine whether they continue to be representative of those contained in the literature. This investigation confirmed that when a modified Delphi approach was instituted, competencies that were identified by similar research studies over the past decade continue to be regarded by vested constituents as important. Finally, it was shown that a consensus between what online faculty and online students perceived as important instructional competencies continues to be possible.

http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no1/bailie_0311.htm

by Joanne Badge, et al;  JOLT

The impact of social networks on lives of the majority of young adults has been enormous, although their impact on education is less well understood. Some consideration has been give to the role Facebook plays in higher education and in the transition from secondary to tertiary education, but little analysis has been conducted on the role of the microblogging social network Twitter. By examining the use made of this service by two cohorts of students, this study found that Twitter is easy for students to use and popular with the majority once they have experience with it. For this study different patterns of use between individuals in the study and between the two different student cohorts were observed, as was the emergence of informal online peer support networks. The results of this study suggest models for future use of microblogging services.

http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no1/cann_0311.htm

by Ji-Yong Park & Jeong-Bae Son, JOLT

A number of instructors have recently adopted social network sites (SNSs) for learning. However, the learning design of SNSs often remains at a preliminary level similar to a personal log book because it does not properly include reflective learning elements such as individual reflection and collaboration. This article looks at the reflective learning process and the public writing process as a way of improving the quality of reflective learning on SNSs. It proposes a reflective learning model on SNSs based on two key pedagogical concepts for social networking: individual expression and collaborative connection. It is expected that the model would be helpful for instructors in designing a reflective learning process on SNSs in an effective and flexible way.

http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no1/park_0311.htm

by David Starr-Glass, JOLT

Distant learning utilizing Web-based technologies has provided learners and educational providers with unprecedented opportunities. One sector rapidly adopting distant learning is the military learner, represented by active service persons and veterans. Military learners clearly exhibit the characteristics of adult learners; however, they may also represent a special class with unique strengths and weaknesses. The values and problems of classifying student populations are explored. Experience of dealing with military learners is analyzed in an attempt to highlight the opportunities and challenges that this group brings to online learning environments. While conclusions are drawn, it is emphasized that the military learners at the center of this study were re-enlisted and had long service records, making findings difficult to generalize to all military learners

http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no1/starr-glass_0311.htm

by the Next Web

Is English your mother tongue? If not, you know how difficult it can be to learn it. Or used to be, according to the company Open English, which is using the Internet to change the way Latin Americans study “the language of business”. Founded in 2006 and launched commercially in 2008 in Venezuela, its founders’ country of origin, Open English is an interesting example of a successful Latin American startup. Following its first expansion in 2010, it is now present in 15 Spanish-speaking countries, and plans to launch in Brazil in the second half of 2011 thanks to the new round of funding it closed earlier this month.

http://thenextweb.com/la/2011/05/29/a-latin-american-success-story-online-learning-startup-open-english/

by John Sowash, EdReach

A new learning modality has emerged and it has the potential to turn the current model on its head. Online learning offers greater flexibility and fewer overhead costs (busing, building maintenance, etc) making it a financially viable solutions. Some, including Clayton Christenson, have predicted that online learning will become the dominant form of education within the next 20 years. Despite this bold prediction, there are a few of challenges to an educational system that is entirely online.

http://edreach.us/2011/05/31/challenges-to-online-learning/

by the Sloan Consortium

The 2011 Sloan-C Fellows are:

Patsy D. Moskal, University of Central Florida

“In recognition of her groundbreaking work in the assessment of the impact and efficacy of online and blended learning.”

Mary P. Niemiec, University of Illinois at Chicago

“For remarkable vision and national leadership in conceptualizing and advancing blended learning.”

Lawrence C. Ragan, Penn State World Campus

“For national leadership in preparing faculty for online teaching success and for creating innovative approaches to the design of online learning environments.”

Peter J. Shea, University at Albany

“For outstanding research that has advanced our understanding of online learning and for noteworthy contributions to the field of online education.”

Robert N. Ubell, Polytechnic Institute of New York University

“For exceptional leadership in scientific and technical online learning programming, international collaboration, and enterprise learning.”

http://sloanconsortium.org/2011fellows

by Chareen Snelson, JOLT

YouTube has grown to become the largest and most highly visited online video-sharing service, and interest in the educational use of YouTube has become apparent. Paralleling the rise of academic interest in YouTube is the emergence of YouTube scholarship. This article presents the results of a review of 188 peer reviewed journal articles and conference papers with “YouTube” in the title that were published between 2006 and 2009. Four questions were answered through the review of YouTube literature : (1) What is the overall distribution of publication activity for refereed journal articles and conference papers with “YouTube” in the title? (2) How are publications with “YouTube” in the title distributed across academic disciplines? (3) What have scholars writ ten about instructional methodologies involving YouTube in a sample of literature containing “YouTube” in the title ? (4) What have scholars reported about the results of studies involving YouTube in a sample of literature containing “YouTube” in the title ? An analysis of the publications revealed that the literature emerged from multiple academic disciplines.

http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no1/snelson_0311.htm

by ASSOCIATIONS NOW

Associations are continuing to expand their use of online learning programs. A new study on association learning management systems, Association Learning Management Systems 2011 by e-learning consultancy Tagoras, reveals plenty of growth in the market. Will that interest in e-learning translate into the purchase of a full-fledged learning management system? Currently 32.6 percent of those surveyed already use an LMS, and 13.3 percent say they intend to purchase one in the next 12 months. Pricing is a leading concern for associations that are thinking about purchasing an LMS; an overwhelming majority of respondents expect their e-learning efforts to at least break even.

http://www.asaecenter.org/Resources/ANowDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=86133

by Beth Knittle, BethKnittle.net

An individual’s learning does not take place online, on a computer, in a library, or in a classroom for that matter. Learning takes place within the learner. The classroom, a learning management system, online resources, books, teachers and other learners are part of the learning environment but are not learning themselves. I continually hear that online classes are not as rigorous or as valuable as a face to face class. I have sat in some pretty useless face to face classes in my day, the same can be said for an online class or two. The delivery method of content is not as important as the content and instruction that is developed and shared. A course should be evaluated on the content, instruction and supports for learning that are part of the class. The delivery method is just one more piece to be considered but should not be the single factor that determines its value and credibility.

http://www.bethknittle.net/WP_Blog/?p=927

By Brian Bridges, BB Blogs

On May 26th the USDOE issued a Frequently Asked Questions About the June 29, 2010, Dear Colleague Letter. In it, they clarify advice provided in their June 29th, 2010 letter to College presidents regarding the use of electronic books/e-readers at the college level. The June 29th letter noted that the Office of Civil Rights (OCR)/Department of Justice had entered into a settlement with colleges and universities that had used the Kindle DX in their classrooms. OCR’s concern was that students with visual disabilities did not enjoy the same access to content since the Kindle did not have a text to speech function and the colleges had not provided a reasonable accommodation, specifically that they “provide reasonable accommodation or modification so that a student can acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as sighted students…” The letter cites that this inaccessibility “is discrimination prohibited by the Americans with Disabilities act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.” Simply, all students must have an equal opportunity to participate.

http://bbridges51.edublogs.org/2011/05/27/online-courses-and-accessibility-part-1/

by Michael Hemphill, Shreveport Times

Colleges can no longer compete like they used to. There are complete universities operating online, for-profit institutions in every other strip mall, and hundreds of free online learning courses from top universities like MIT and Yale. Because of technology and economic realities, the ability of a student to merely access content will only grow. Schools that remain focused on the traditional academic method — the delivery of content in a classroom — will continue to have a tougher time competing against more pervasive, accessible, and less expensive approaches. But, the brick and mortar school is not doomed if it provides an enhanced educational experience to meet the needs of a dramatically changing student body.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20110529/OPINION0106/105280317/Michael-Hemphill-Colleges-can-no-longer-compete-like-they-used-to?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs

By David Nagel, Campus Technology

Moodle 2.0.3 has been released, incorporating more than 200 new features, improvements, bug fixes, and security tweaks (some of them classified as major). Moodle is a widely adopted open source learning management system that supports both small and large deployments (with several sites well beyond 100,000 users) and includes course management tools, various Web 2.0 technologies, online assessments, integration with plagiarism detection tools, integration with repositories and electronic portfolio software, and other features common to learning management systems. It’s used by about 1.12 million teachers and more than 42 million users via 54,000 sites worldwide. Those users participate in some 4.5 million total courses as of this writing.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2011/05/23/moodle-2.0.3-gets-230-fixes-and-improvements.aspx

by Jacqueline Reis, the Worcester Telegram

The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences will wade into the world of online degrees this fall with the debut of several programs aimed at working health professionals. Barbara A. Macaulay, MCPHS’ associate provost for online education and CEO of MCPHS Online, started work in January and said the field has come a long way in the last 10 years. “The world of online education has changed completely from 11 or 12 years ago,” she said. “Now, online education has really earned its right to respect.”

http://www.telegram.com/article/20110528/NEWS/105289967/1052

by the Ky Council on Higher Education

The rapid growth of online learning could radically transform higher education, just as the rise of personal computers revolutionized an industry once dominated by expensive mainframes. This was the message national expert Michael Horn, co-author of “Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns,” delivered to 400 faculty members, college administrators and state policy leaders attending Kentucky’s first Converging Trends in Teaching and Learning conference this week at Northern Kentucky University’s METS Center in Erlanger.

http://www.lanereport.com/articles/fastlane_article.cfm?id=274

By: Maryellen Weimer, Teaching Professor Blog

If teachers focus their attention on the learning experiences of students and make changes based on what we know about teaching that promotes learning:

Students will understand more of what they are learning – When students interact with the content, when they speak about it and work with it, they make it their own and it becomes meaningful to them. It makes sense. They see why it’s important, why they must know it and how it fits with what they already know and still need to learn.

Students will retain what they learn longer – When students are engaged and involved with the content, when they are really learning, as in understanding the material, they remember it longer. Their knowledge goes from being something crammed in their heads which bursts out and drains away on an exam to being a solid foundation on which more new learning can rest.

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/changing-the-way-we-teach-making-the-case-for-learner-centered-teaching/

by Motimeplease

Interesting brief YouTube video. Engagement and learning appear to be taking place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDDG_M4DKDY&feature=youtube_gdata

by Mr. VonBank, Teaching with the Cloud

One of the favorite lessons in my freshman English class, both for me and for the students, is what I call the fractured novel. A few years ago, I decided to try something different, and assign individual chapters to the students, and created a bunch of fun activities where they needed to be detectives and create questions, theories, and explanations for the portions they were assigned. The students found it challenging yet very interesting. Once we had “reconstructed” the story and themes sufficiently in class, we watched the BBC Masterpiece Theater version. This year, trying to move ever closer to a paperless classroom, I decided to try to do it all online. I have been trying to move to Edmodo more and more for months, but this was the big test.

http://www.teachingwiththecloud.com/2011/05/great-expectations-for-online-learning.html

By Valerie Strauss, Washington Post

Rows of desks, teacher lectures, and passive learning won’t lift us into the future. We need a serious, national discussion on what the 21st century classroom can and should look like, acknowledging the variety of ways that students learn, the multitude of tools they use to interact with the world, and the growing use of online learning. A well-designed and well-taught online course can meet the needs of our students and schools by helping to solve teacher shortages, expanding curriculum options, providing options for credit recovery and alleviating scheduling conflicts. Poor quality online curriculum, inadequately prepared teachers, and students without the requisite skills for success will fail to improve education.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/online-learning-the-necessity-and-promise/2011/05/12/AFypkY2G_blog.html