Time to put a little fun into online learning--with good reason: 'Emotional arousal helps the brain learn'. Medina, Brain Rules (2008). Joni Dunlap leads the IDLive team in considering how to incorporate fun into the fabric of a course to provide a more stimulating learning experience.

Susan Ko, Executive Director of the Center of Teaching Excellence at University of Maryland University College, published the first edition of Teaching Online: A Practical Guide 10 years ago. The third edition, published this year, reflects a number of changes that have happened in the field over that last several years such as the: Web 2.0 revolution, growing acceptance of online education, need for special training and continuing support for faculty and students, team course development, growth of open educational resources, and increasing use of mobile devices.

With unassuming clarity, Susan addresses a number of key issues facing designers and faculty in higher (and K-12) education today.

Available on the Web

Aug 20, 2010 10:01:49 AM - IDL 27: SUSAN KO--PRACTICAL ONLINE TEACHING
02:31 - Robert: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415997263/
03:31 - Jennifer: oooh! A kindle edition, too! http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Online-Practical-Guide-ebook/dp/B003AU7E8...
05:38 - Jennifer: What about synchronous teaching options? Is this changing the face of online learning in your experience?
16:31 - Jennifer: how have "perceptions" of oline learning changed (or not) over the years? perceptions of quality, satisfaction, faculty buy-in, etc?
24:05 - Jason: Neiffer: Sure
24:19 - Robert: yes
25:41 - Jennifer: @jason ... I think k-12 is going to be a HUGE driver in online learning ... esp. taking online learning from being for "alternative" adult learners to far more maintream
29:13 - Jennifer: @jason ... good point re: importance of taking an online course (or program) to "get it"
30:30 - Marlene: Yes, continuous improvement is an important aspect of online teaching.
30:42 - Jason Neiffer: Good question, Robert...
31:53 - Jennifer: Great! Thank you, Susan ... another fun virtual "brown bag" lunch for me :)
32:38 - Marlene: Thanks, Susan!
32:38 - Jason Neiffer: Thanks everyone! :)

In May 2009, the US Department of Education issued a meta-analysis and review of online learning studies that compared face-to-face, blended and online delivery modes, and found that: “On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.” Despite the caveats identified in the research, the conclusion, for some, was still: Online learning is better!Shanna Smith-Jaggars, Senior Research Associate at the Community Colleges Research Center challenges this assertion in her response to the meta-analysis  (July 2010). Jaggars more fully explores the comparison of online and face-to-face instruction and finds only 7 studies out of 51 can be used to shed light on this question. Of these 7, Jaggars concludes that there is no significant difference between learning outcome achievement in face-to-face or online courses for certain student populations. Sound familiar? Time to channel our energies into more rewarding directions, perhaps.. As Jaggars puts it in this interesting interview, “what we really need to be doing is spending more time and effort in trying to figure out what are the most effective instructional practices in both modalities”

Xiaojing Liu, Senior Research Analyst at Kelley Business School, Indiana University, joins us this week to discuss how to design effective online cased-based learning courses.  Drawing on her research into cased based-learning startegies used in an MBA program, Dr. Liu considers the benefits and challenges of case-based learning from both a student and faculty perspective.

Having recently discussed the need to avoid cognitive overload in online courses, we take a step back to consider whether or not cognitive overload is actually an issue. As Arlene Walker-Andrews, Associate Provost and Psychology Professor at the University of Montana, points out: “I do not believe that attention and cognitive capacities are limited. In my view, attention shouldn’t be considered a finite resource, rather it should be characterized as “attending,” which suggests flexible, skilled action. Recent theories about attention suggest that although not all stimuli are analyzed, nonattended stimuli are not all filtered out and their impact on learning and memory will vary depending on relevance and/or personal experience.” Great stuff!

Join Arlene and the ID team this week to listen to what this means for individualizing the learning experience and tailoring instructional strategies to the cognitive abilities of learners.

Avaliable on the Web

Arlene's Notes for the Discussion

Chat Transcipt: Jun 11, 2010 10:05:22 AM - IDL 21: COGNITIVE OVERLOAD 'REVISITED'