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Technology Supported Learning

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Technology Supported Learning (TSL) is a professional development workshop for community college faculty. It is offered as a facilitated online course, but the materials can be used by faculty for self-directed learning. The course is expected to take participants approximately 40 hours to complete over a 10-week period. However, realistically, faculty participants often reviewed the lesson outline and commented in the discussion forums without doing all the suggested activities. Those seeking credit (about 10% of participants) were required to complete the activities.


Technology Supported Learning (TSL) as self-directed learning

Create your own adventure. What do you need to learn about? What technologies would you like to explore? Are there best practices that you want to practice? Based on Chickering and Gameson's Seven Principles, we have notes, activities and reflective questions to help you on your way. You are the self-directed online learner and we are here to support you on your journey of discovery.

This workshop models participant-centered learning. You decide what you want to learn and how. The learning outline will guide you through the workshop materials, open educational resources and suggested activities. Participate in the discussions. Complete the evaluation quiz confirming that your have accomplished your objectives. Then you are done!


Activities - for each of the Seven Principles there are

  • Overview notes
  • discussion topics - Explore, Learn and Apply - with discussion prompt questions and other posts
  • technologies that support each principle to test-drive, develop learning activities for your own course, and describe your experience.


The intent is to focus as much on learning processes as on content. Effective education requires more than skills training. It involves challenging attitudes, values and beliefs and assisting learners to adapt to change. Reflect upon what it means to learn with and from technology, as well as how your students utilize, learn and engage with technology.


Estimated time to complete

For each topic, reading notes, participating in discussions, completing the technology exploration activities should take about 2-4 hours. The workshop is planned as a 2-units over 12 weeks. Total time is flexible but most participants should plan to spend 24-30 hours completing the activities.


Resources

  • TSL Resources - articles, blogs, newsletters, open educational resources (OER), podcasts


Contents


Technology Supported Learning

Technology Supported Learning (TSL) is more than technology enhanced instruction. TSL recognizes that learning is supported in many different ways, even if there is no formal teaching involved. You will be developing and using these practices throughout the TSL workshop.

Your participation is directed questions, for maximum flexibility to meet your needs within your time constraints.

  • tools and skills development to support learning through technology based on Chickering & Gamson's Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education.
  • using blogs, WikiEducator - outline, reading, activities - blogs, discussions, email, collaborative writing projects
  • for faculty, instruction designers, teachers, facilitators, tutors, mentors

The workshop will follow the Connectivism model explained in this animation.


Getting ready

To participate, set up your personal learning environment

  • guide-blog - subscribe to our blog or use the RSS feed for regular posting to guide your progress through the topics and supporting activities
  • prepare to read the postings of others. Receive notification when there are updates to the blogs you read. [Netvibes], [PageFlakes], [GoogleReader], [FeedBurner] all provide similar services
  • track your reading, comments, and ideas. Save links and notations with a social bookmarking tool such as [Digg], or [Delicious]
  • create an account at Moodle for Wikieducators - basic registration information required. We will use this for discussions. Sign up for OTL09 Online Teaching and Learning http://moodle.wikieducator.org/ Some other educators have worked through part of the program in the past and their discussion posts are still here. They aren't currently participating but it is nice to see what others are saying.
  • This is not longer offered - DeAnza CAOS workshop participants: for an introduction to the Catalyst and course management systems, see DeAnza Introduction to Catalyst.
  • create activities and resources in your own course

Now you are ready to begin.


Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education

In 1987 Chickering & Gamson published the now famous Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. These principles are based on the perspective that the goal of a proper undergraduate education should be active, cooperative, and challenging.

  1. encourage student-faculty contact
  2. encourage cooperation among students
  3. encourage active/engaged learning
  4. give prompt feedback
  5. emphasize time on task
  6. communicate high expectations
  7. respect diverse talents and ways of learning

Want to learn by doing? Participate in the discussions and work through the activities outlined. For the Technology Supported Learning (TSL) workshop, each module addresses one of the seven principles and the good practices that support it.


Learning outcomes

  • participate in several forms of technology supported learning
  • discuss applicability of functions to traditional expectations for technology supported learning and identify differences
  • suggest new learning activities


Introduction

  • The Seven Principles were written in 1987. Instructional Immediacy and the Seven Principles: Strategies for Facilitating Online Courses was written in 2003. Why are they still relevant today?
  • Has technology changed the interpretation of some of these Principles?
  • Have students and their expectations changed since the Principles were written?
  • What challenges does today's higher education environment place on faculty and students?
  • What does "learning" mean to you? What happens in a successful learning situation? Make sure to note what constitutes "learning" or "mastery" in your discipline based on the ideas in Getting Started on Your Teaching Philosophy



1. Encourage student-faculty contact

The first principle, Student-Faculty Contact is characterized by instructional tools where the instructor is in charge of the interaction with students. Students interact directly with the instructor for questions, comments and evaluations. The instructor may interact with students as a group in a lecture hall, classroom or online lecture (one-to-many) or individually (one-to-one).

Technology functions available to support student-faculty contact include discussions, assignments, quizzes, and course resources.


Learning outcomes

  • participate in several forms of technology enhanced student-faculty contact
  • discuss applicability of functions to traditional expectations for student-faculty contact and identify differences
  • suggest new learning activities


Overview

There are many simple technology tools available to enhance Student-Faculty Contact. This is one area where small changes can make significant improvements in student learning and retention. ... 1. Encourage student-faculty contact


Explore

  • Are you ready for self-directed online learning? What Makes a Successful Online Student? Are you enhancing your on-campus course or developing a fully online course? Have you had an opportunity to see the student side of online learning first-hand?
  • Introductions and expectations (Explore) - What is your experience with enhancing instruction with technology? What are your expectations for developing and enhancing your own teaching with technology? What would you like us to know about you and your participation in this learning adventure?
  • Can you find your way around the course resources, activities and navigation? Click on any links that sound interesting. Keep a list of links that you follow. Was this what you expected? Is there enough information provided so understand what is going on? Do you know where to start? Can you get back to the main page? What instructions, guidelines and information do students need? Is the technology that is readily available within this workshop presentation clear?
  • What are the stated learning objectives for your course as stated in syllabus and course outline? Is it helpful to map the technologies covered here to support students learning your course content? Are there specific outcomes that you want to support with technology?


Learn

  • Student contact technologies (Learn) - Is this your first encounter with an online course as a student / participant? Are you able to participate in all forms of student-faculty contact activities in this module - discussion, assignment, quiz? What is applicability of these functions to traditional expectations for student-faculty contact. What are some differences? Are these new learning activities? Have you considered blogging? Do you know what blogging is?
  • Learn more about the Seven Principles. Search the web for articles, papers or resources that discuss the Seven Principles. How they can be applied to technology enhanced learning or distance learning? Add a link to a site along with your summary.


Apply

  • How would the technologies outlined in the 1. Encourage student-faculty contact notes be applied to your own course? Suggest ways that you could incorporate these tools into your teaching. Note your thoughts.
  • Effectiveness measures (Evaluate) - How are you grading activities with these learning objectives now? How would you assess the impact of feedback from instructor for students? How do you structure your allocation of points? Do you include high-stakes tests? What is the distribution of points by topic? How could the technology enhance student-faculty contact?


2. Encourage cooperation among students

The next of the Seven Principles is Cooperation Among Students that provides students with the opportunity to work together in groups, usually under the direction of the instructor. Discussions, collaborative learning, share writing in a wiki are all examples of technology enhancing cooperation among students.


Learning outcomes

  • participate in activities as students that require cooperation
  • assess the challenges and benefits of technology in student cooperation
  • discuss the role of group projects learning in higher education
  • use choices and surveys for group selection work on group projects, small group discussions, introduction to the wiki for collaborative writing, introduction to the Online Writing Center
  • discuss peer review process and applicability


Overview

Students often resist working in groups for fear of having their grades pulled down by the least effective member of the group. In practice, students working in groups learn more about the content area and are more engaged in the activity than working individually. In the "real world" people rarely work alone. Learning to work collaboratively in an online environment is an important life skill. ... 2. Encourage cooperation among students


Explore

  • What Color is Your Brain? How do you and your students interact with others? Do you include ice-breaker activities? Do they provide useful information for discussions and online collaborations?
  • Groups (Explore) - What is your experience with group projects in your classes? What is the role of group projects learning in higher education?
  • Group project experience (Explore) - Have you participated in online group projects? What was your experience (and frustrations) as you participated in activities as students that require cooperation? What are some of the challenges and benefits of technology in student cooperation? Your comments can be based on previous courses - F2F or online, and your participation in this discussion.


Learn

  • Student cooperation (Learn) forum - How do you incorporate student cooperation in your on-campus class? What are some of the challenges with the current process? Would adding technology change the group dynamics? Do students do their group work entirely in class? If they work outside of class, how do you know what is going on?


Apply

  • Group project set-up (Apply) - How would you go about adding a group project to your course? How are your dividing up the class into groups? How do you divide up students in an on-campus class? What tasks are students to perform as a group? What is the final product?
  • Which one of 25 key FREE tools did you install or demo? Would this be applicable to your course? How would it fit in with your learning objectives?
  • Peer reviews (Evaluate) - How do you use the peer review process? What is its applicability to student learning? Are there tools available online that will help students perform peer reviews?
  • Will you add a group project to your own course? How will you handle group selection? What is the group projects' "deliverable"?
  • Course development (Apply) - What are some ways that you could incorporate these tools into your teaching.


3. Encourage active/engaged learning

Ideally, all students are active and engaged learners most of the time. However, the reality is that instructors must work to provide the environment that motivates students to participate in their learning.

Students are comfortable with technology in many forms. Enhancing instruction to tap into the media literacy of students is not difficult, as we shall see.

Some of the strategies for promoting Active/ engaged learning include project based learning, and educational games.


Learning outcomes

  • review strategies for including active and engaged learning in instruction
  • discuss problem-based learning in higher education
  • create an activity that requires new approach to instruction of curriculum content and add activity to own course
  • discuss assessing student performance


Overview

Students who have grown up with technology in education and entertainment expect to engage with their learning. Active learning can take on many forms, and students are quick to adapt - often, more quickly than their instructors. ...3. Encourage active/engaged learning


Explore

  • Need some inspiration and video for your course? TED Talks: Every year, a thousand “thought-leaders, movers and shakers” get together at a four-day conference called TED (which is short for Technology, Entertainment and Design). In this collection, you’ll find various talks presented at the conference. They usually run about 20 minutes. Attend a virtual lecture. Why is this interesting? Post the link to the session you visit and 2-3 sentences describing the topic and your experience to the Virtual Lectures discussion. Can be used in class or for personal development.
  • Educational games (Explore) - Games as educational resources and learning activities? Have you discovered an educational game or article describing them? Do you use games in your instruction? Do you have links to good stories? Do you have good (and not-so-good) experiences including games?


Learn

  • Active and engaging (Learn) - How can this principle be enhanced using technology? Are there classroom activities that could be adapted for online learning? What attributes contribute to student engagement?


Apply

  • Graded assignments and quizzes (Apply) - What are some options for assessing student learning? How are concerns about academic integrity, cheating, outside assistance addressed by the options and settings provided?
  • Measuring student achievement (Evaluate) - What are some of the ways that technology is affecting your methods for promoting active participation, engaging students and evaluating student learning? Need some new ideas? Do you have specific questions?
  • What concerns do you have about Privacy and Personal Information as they apply to technology in instruction?


4. Give prompt feedback

It seems that students have shorter attentions spans than ever, and with some justification. "Generation Instant Gratification" has never had to wait for anything. Although the Seven Principles date back to the late 1970s and 80s the principle of Prompt feedback is as important as ever.

Fortunately, technology provides some relief - Self-grading quizzes, comments and annotated assignments, chat, all allow students to work at their own pace AND receive prompt feedback. This can be a big help in the 24 / 7 world where today's students live, work and learn.


Learning outcomes

  • review issues of plagiarism, intellectual property, cheating
  • investigate tools for assessing student learning
  • complete quizzes and develop quiz questions and quizzes in own course
  • complete assignments with feedback and add activity with feedback to own course
  • discuss appropriate level of control and feedback response for learning being assessed


Overview

Be careful what you wish for - you might get it. Technology enhancements can facilitate providing Prompt feedback. Being instantly available to head-off serious problems is good. However, giving students the opportunity to solve problems themselves, or asking classmates for assistance is essential. ... 4. Give prompt feedback


Explore

  • Technology Enhanced Feedback (Explore) - Do you include self grading quizzes? How can quizzes be used for active learning? Should students be limited to one attempt at a quiz? How important are personalized notes in assignment grading? Have you references to articles or sites that describe the use of rubrics for evaluating student work?


Learn

  • Prompt Feedback (Learn) - What forms can feedback take that promotes learning? What can technology be incorporated to improve prompt response or facilitate extending feedback? What technologies are available to change the process of providing feedback?
  • Academic Honesty (Learn) - Do you discuss issues of plagiarism, intellectual property, cheating with your students? Do technology tools for assessing student learning help or hinder?


Apply

  • Adding Feedback (Apply) - How do you plan to incorporate the technology enhancements to provide prompt feedback in your own instruction? To what extent are you planning to have the feedback automated to accommodate student-directed learning?
  • Response (Evaluate) - What is an appropriate level of control and feedback response for learning being assessed? Should quiz feedback be a teaching tools?


5. Emphasize time on task

"Time plus energy equals learning. There is no substitute for time on task." -- Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson

Some assignments and course activities produce wonderful learning experiences for students Some are viewed as drudge work and don't produce the desired results. We think our subjects are important and interesting. Getting students to spend the time is a challenge.

For promoting student Time on task there are a number of technology-facilitated learning activities. These include web-based research, collaboration and presentation.


Learning outcomes

  • review types of media
  • discuss use of media in course work
  • access media types
  • locate and include media appropriate for own course
  • explore other activity types and suggest suitability - books, workshop, etc.
  • discuss accessibility issues, adaptive and resistive technologies


Overview

Learning takes time. There is no substitute for student learning through Time on Task. However, making the time interesting and rewarding for students can be enhanced dramatically with technology. ... 5. Emphasize time on task


Explore

  • Are you considering adding to your course content by including media or open resources in your course? Have you located some "media" or Open Educational Resource (OER) - free course content that apply to your course - lectures, instructional materials, audio, images?


Learn

  • Ready-made instruction (Learn) - Do you have issues around using instructional content created by someone else? What do you think about open source resources, including whole courses? Have you included videos or images from the web in course? MIT, Harvard, Berkeley and Stanford as well as other institutions make lectures available - would you permit your lectures to be available like this? Would you include some of these other materials in your course?
  • Do any of the suggestions posted in the Teaching strategies discussion in the moodle.org Using Moodle Forums apply? Enter the course as a "Guest" or register and be counted as a Moodle user.
    http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=41
    Do you have any questions about these suggestions to determin if something will work for you in the Moodle Teaching strategies discussion?


Apply

  • Enhancing content (Apply) - What are your expectations for student time on task with the additional media or open educational resources? What does this material bring to your course? How do you think students will use the information? Are you requiring students to use the material? How will you determine the effectiveness of this addition? ...This is the "what" discussion.
  • External content (Evaluate) - How could you include content from external sources into your course? Is there video from other institutions that you would consider offering to your students? ... the "how" discussion.

e audio portion of video and screen reader facilitated web pages.


6. Communicate high expectations

Setting High expectations for students lets them know that this important and interesting. Being clear about what you are asking them to do directs their actions. Students coming to higher education at a community college vary enormously in background, recent academic experience and motivation for learning the subject. Expectations can be presented and reinforced through evaluation, communication, and modeling.


Learning outcomes

  • review communication tools
  • understand grading options and displays
  • review tracking features
  • discuss student expectations and instructor's role in setting course expectations
  • participate in communication activities - asynchronous and real-time
  • explore grading options and setting in own course
  • discuss evaluating student participation and performance


Overview

You have the power. Students are sophisticated consumers of tech-based presentation. If your course looks technically proficient and professional, then your students are more willing to accept your high expectations of them. ... 6. Communicate high expectations


Explore

  • Moodle can... (Explore) - What are some of the teaching and learning strategies and how Moodle features are used to support them? Did you get any new ideas for using technology in your course?
    Moodle course management system in the Moodle Teacher's Manual and Moodle Teacher documentation

Learn

  • Setting expectations (Learn) - Are there differences in students learning needs - transfer, career enhancement, lifelong learners? How do you set and communication your expectations to students? Are you considering offering your course as a "hybrid" or fully online? How will that affect your expectations for students learning?
  • Student expectations (Learn) - What are student expectations about you and your course? Are you the "sage on the stage" or the "guide on the side" for your course, or something completely different? To what extent is your presence expected/required? Should students expect to "see" a lot of the instructor? Are there situations where instructor presence can negatively impact student-student cooperation?
  • How does the rubric provided ]http://ldt.stanford.edu/~tacyt/projectrubric.html Assessing Teacher Technology Projects] compare with your course? What is your progress compared with the rubric? Is this Technology rubric applicable? Do you see some areas where you might rework the technology enhancements in your own course?


Apply

  • Are there one or more of the 25 key FREE tools that could apply to setting high expectations?
  • Tracking participation (Evaluate) - How do tracking activity and rating student discussion posts support setting high expectations? Do these features help you assess if your expectations for student participation are being met?
  • I think... forum - What are students' expectations of higher education? What role does technology-supported learning play in meeting their expectations?


7. Respect diverse talents and ways of learning

The seventh and final principle concerns Diverse talents and ways of learning. Learning styles, modality, cultural influence all play significant roles in the differences in students within a class.


Learning outcomes

  • review learning styles, learning modality, cultural differences
  • discuss impact of technology and learning styles
  • plan and add activities to own course to address learning modality differences
  • discuss implications for student / instructor learning style differences


Overview

One of the most exciting aspects of technology enhanced instruction is the ability to provide learning experiences that acknowledge and encourage this diversity, in ways that are not practical, or even possible, in traditional classroom teaching. ... 7. Respect diverse talents and ways of learning


Explore

  • Accessibility issues (Explore) - What are required accommodations for students with disabilities? What kinds of disabilities do your students have? What accommodations have you had to make?


Learn

  • Diversity of learners (Learn) - What learning styles, learning modality, cultural differences do students exhibited in your classes? How to accommodate these differences? Do you offer a choice of assignments? Do you see a connection between the use of technology and learning styles in your students?


Apply

  • Cultural influences (Apply) - How does culture and diversity influence the course presentation and conduct? Does the asynchronous nature of some technology enhancements, such as discussions, change the culture of the class? Does technology promote freedoms or provide restrictions relating to any or all forms of diversity?
  • Online collaborative writing experience (Apply) - Do you include activities for everyone contributes to the wiki? Have you tried collaborative writing yourself? Throughout this workshop, we have talked a lot about technology and learning. Are there specific examples either from your own practice or ideas based on the workshop materials where student retention is improved through application of technology? Add your thoughts and suggestions to the Wiki page - Retention.
  • Whose learning style? (Evaluate) - What are the implications for student / instructor learning style differences. How does the learning style of the instructor affect how the course is conducted? Does the subject dictate the primary presentation style?


Summary and Reflection

This covers a lot of material that can be used in many ways within conventional classroom teaching as well as in hybrid, blended or fully online learning.

  • Reviewing your course against the entire Course Evaluation Checklist, how are you doing? Are there specific areas that will help your students engage in your course content? Are there specific actions that you can take that will contribute to supporting learning and retention?
  • Look back at your introduction and expectations, how would you summarize your learning experience? What were your expectations when you started this course? Have your expectations been met? What one thing could you have done differently that you would have benefited from?


Development guide

If you are working on developing activities for your course, consider where you are in the levels of online courses. Unless you are jumping right in to a fully online course, consider complimenting your classroom course with technology-supported activities that provide new learning opportunities for your students and engages them in new ways.

Develop the actual activities, using your own content, learning outcomes and online access. Share your experiences. Note your progress in the Course development (Apply) discussion. Suggest ways that you plan to incorporate these tools into your teaching.

Here are some suggestions to get you going. Find ideas and activities that will work for your curriculum. The sky's the limit and you know your course and your students best.


Introduction

  • Add a quiz with several different question types to your course. Investigate the quiz options and restrictions - time, access, display.
  • Add several assignments to your course that demonstrate the various submission and grading options.
  • In your own course, develop quiz questions and quizzes.
  • Add other activities with feedback to your course.


Enhancing Instruction

  • In your own class, access student profiles and review the information available about student participation and activity within the course.
  • Look at the options for the feature that allows rating of discussion forum postings. Review the online documentation by clicking in the questions mark "?" in the circle.
  • Features and options (Apply) - discuss the breadth of options provided for each function. When you set up an activity, how do you determine what options to select? How do the options support your learning objectives for the activities?
  • For your own course, plan and add activities to address learning modality differences.


Teaching and Learning

  • There are a number of kinds of learning activities that are supported by functions within course management systems like Moodle / Catalyst. We have looked at the core functions - assignments, quizzes, discussion forums, as they apply to the Seven Principles. However, there are several others that are handy to know about. Select one and review the Student information about the one you select.
    From the Learning activities choice, select one of the activities. Review the Student information about the one you select. Did you understand how it works? Is this something you could use in your own instruction?
  • Add the media or content to your own course. You may want to start by adding the material as "optional" or a resource to encourage students to spend time exploring the subject.
    Note: California Community College course media must be compliant with all accessibility requirements. This includes captioning for audio and the video.


Learn more...

  • Four levels of Courses Explained - Online courses can be divided into four different levels, which are not determined by the LMS used. They are determined by the developer’s approach.


Open learning, learning objects and readings

..see http://www.wikieducator.org/Technology_Supported_Learning/TSL_Resources

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