Reflection: iNACOL Standards for Quality Online Teaching
Standard A: The online teacher knows the primary concepts and structures of effective online instruction and is able to create learning experiences to enable student successHaving now (nearly!) completed this course, I believe that I have a clear understanding and knowledge of online learning; how to deliver, apply and extend student learning in an appropriate, professional manner. Furthermore, I can understand how critical it is not only to adapt the curriculum content to fit the type of course but also have realised that, as the facilitator, I need to stay abreast of new developments and tools in order to fully support and extend the learners. Standard B: The online teacher understands and is able to use a range of technologies, both existing and emerging, that effectively support student learning and engagement in the online environment.Due to my current role, I feel like this is an area of relative strength; I already have a PLN set up where I follow a number of current experts such as Larry Ferlazzo, Richard Byrne and Jeff Utecht. I also have a Delicious Account to store great online resources. I also am part of a Tech Teachers Ning where I actively participate in forums and I also teach (face to face) a number of classes where we explore current tools. This blog also acts as a space for me to reflect on good practice and specific resources on a regular basis... Standard C: The online teacher plans, designs, and incorporates strategies to encourage active learning, application, interaction, participation, and collaboration in the online environment.This brought some relatively fresh learning to me. In class, I differentiate to the needs of my students through individual support and differentiation by outcome. I realise that for an online course - that may be both synchronous and asynchronous - differentiation needs to be built in to the program and that all learning styles, abilities and confidence levels need to be catered for - scaffolded and supported by their fellow learners. By creating a program that encourages comments, advice and suggestions from other members, the learning is always fresh and authentic. Standard D: The online teacher promotes student success through clear expectations, prompt responses, and regular feedback.Providing clear expectations in any course - online, blended or face to face - is necessary for student success. Expectations - or essential agreements - for behaviour, involvement and quality of responses are key and this is supported through regular contact with the students and this is one of the areas that I would need to take extra care with. As a father, husband and full time teacher, I would need to allocate time to provide 'timely, constructive and personalised feedback.' Standard E: The online teacher models, guides, and encourages legal, ethical, and safe behaviour related to technology use.Essential Agreements of an online course would also include expectations relating to Digital Citizenship and acceptable use of online media. As well as modelling appropriate use when creating course content, I would ensure that there would be clear guidelines for using online resources and citing sources. This is something that I already encourage with my students and fellow teachers here. Standard F: The online teacher is cognizant of the diversity of student academic needs and incorporates accommodations into the online environment.I would say that this is just an extension of Standard C. Now I am familiar with the legal mandates and have used tools such as closed captions & transcripts on YouTube, I would be able to cater for most student needs. I realise that it is essential to get a realistic overview of student confidence & ability before the course starts - and I would use a Google Form (or similar) to collate this information. Standards G & H: The online teacher demonstrates competencies in creating and implementing assessments in online learning environments in ways that ensure validity and reliability of the instruments and procedures.There are a number of ways to administer both formative and summative assessments online to provide reliable data. Through a mixture of various online tools - and clear rubrics shared with the students beforehand - I will be able to implement a range of appropriate assessments that monitor student learning and progress in an authentic manner. Standard I: The online teacher demonstrates competency in using data from assessments and other data sources to modify content and to guide student learning.One of the main reasons for assessing student work is to inform future planning. This requires flexibility (the entire course cannot be planned completely ahead of time) as well as, relating to Standard D, constructive feedback which not only provides ways forward for the student but also enables the facilitator (me!) to personalise the learning for the individual students. At the same time, I need to provide time and opportunities for the students to evaluate their own learning, reflect on their progress and create personal goals and ways forward. Standard J: The online teacher interacts in a professional, effective manner with colleagues, parents, and other members of the community to support students’ success.As with face to face learning, good communication is paramount and liaising with students, parents and other relevant parties is a major part of this. I believe that this is something that I currently do well through email, blogging and use of social media. Standard K: The online teacher arranges media and content to help students and teachers transfer knowledge most effectively in the online environment.In an online learning environment, tasks and prompts need to reflect the tools on offer. There would be little point in teaching online but solely requiring written responses as the assignment - using various media and online Web2.0 tools should be expected. This is definitely an area of strength for me as I am comfortable creating content online and utilising media and Web2.0 tools effectively. Creating and administering online and blended courses seems an obvious step for an integration specialist such as myself. Taking part in this course has allowed me to see the advantages of such methods while also encouraged me to question - and find solutions to - the drawbacks and challenges. It has made me appreciate the face to face contact that I currently have in a 'real' classroom environment and has encouraged me to be creative and find online alternatives to ensure that students still have an identity and personalised 'voice' online.
Providing different ways to assess student progress but also creating a structure and/or routine is very important and I know that I need to make time for providing constructive and timely feedback to the students - realising that this will be one of my major challenges - will only mean that I make more of an effort to do it. Another focus would be to ensure that all students can access learning, and I now realise that, as the facilitator, I am responsible for this. Catering for all individual needs is essential especially in an online environment. Above all, I have learnt that as well as providing structure and clarity when creating an online/blended course, it is essential to also allow for some flexibility to allow for students to follow their own inquiries and self-reflect. Continuing my professional learning about online and blended methods is definitely a priority. I will be continuing to extend my understanding with my Google Reader feeds (or equivalent since it closes down very soon!) and keeping up to date with new Web2.0 Tool developments... I feel that I am ready to extend my teaching to an online space, at least in an informal way. I am currently attempting to develop an online teaching course - for students and teachers - in order to support the new BYOED (Bring Your Own Educational Device) initiative at GWA; how to use the device effectively, how to personalise, how to access material, how to maximise learning potential etc. Online Course Syllabus
Course Details Details for the course will be posted on the Haiku Learning Management System. This is where the majority of content will be posted and responded to. Students are expected to access this space on a weekly basis to check assignments and expectations. From Haiku, participation and as well frequency and quality of posts will be monitored. Course Requirements Each week you are required to:
Grading You will be graded on all assignments including participation in discussions, reference to readings and quality of activities. All tasks need to be submitted in a timely manner, mindful of deadlines, in order to be included in the grading process. Please inform me if this is not possible. Frequently unsubmitted or late assignments may mean that you do not complete the course. Your grade in the class will be based on the following:
Online Interactions Students are expected to be safe, respectful and responsible online and be accountable for their actions online as much as offline. This includes behaviour, language, interactions, academic honesty (including cheating, plagiarism and copyright - please use these guidelines), and overall appropriate use. All students must have signed and agree to adhere to the GWA Digital Citizenship & Acceptable Use Policy Agreement. ReflectionAs with any classroom, online or face to face, there are many factors that ensure that the learning potential is maximised, not least the role - and skills - of the facilitator.
I think we all agree that all skills are important in order to create an online/blended learning environment. The facilitator needs to be organised and sessions need to be well thought out with clear objectives and outcomes fully communicated. The facilitator needs to support the learning and problem solve alongside the students. The facilitator must adapt to the needs of the students and the situation; as Bill stated. flexibility - in all senses of the word - is key. It is also important to note that, as Ed Hootstein stated, the facilitator must also be able to change shoes and wear many hats and I think I am starting to realise why. As an online facilitator, all roles found in a school fall on you and your support network that you would normally have in a regular face to face environment - the teachers, support staff, admin - are not necessarily there. You need to be the guidance counselor supporting the students that are struggling or need a little extra support. You need to provide the structure and organisation as well as the rules and expectations - like the Principal. You are the secretary - and this takes up a lot of the time - communicating, record keeping, updating, adapting, checking and also the janitor, cleaning up and dealing with all the crap... And you are the tech support too. Designing a Comprehensive Assessment PlanObjectives
Standards
Activities This unit is intended to work within a blended learning environment where the Grade 5 students would initially meet with the teacher face to face before exploring poetry further.
Formative Assessments
Summative Assessment (Rubric)SampleReflection This has been a very interesting assignment for me especially since I view this area of face to face teaching as one of the areas for self-improvement.
In a face to face environment, I pride myself on knowing the students; knowing their strengths and weaknesses, knowing their abilities, knowing their triggers and knowing how to 'hook' them. In this way, I struggle to document this on paper as I have a very good understanding of next steps for each of my students. I am working on this! The need for effective, clear and concise formative and summative assessments makes much more sense to me in an online environment. In most cases, face to face conferencing is not going to happen in a blended or online course so therefore it is of paramount importance to share feedback, allow time - and a means - for reflection and guidelines for evaluation and assessment. Below I have listed several factors that I believe would need to be considered when implementing formative and summative assessments: Accessibility Language: Instructions can be challenging at the best of times so there's a need to simplify the instructions as much as possible. have to be clear - and accessible - for all learners no matter their language, special need(s) and/or intellectual ability. Using captions and transcripts can help with this. Expectations: In an online and blended environment, different learners from a variety of backgrounds may expect less or more. Setting clear expectations from the outset is extremely important, especially with regard to quality of work produced, due dates and priorities. Tech Ability: there will always be a wide range of abilities so instructions and tasks need to be carefully worded to be just as applicable to the weakest, non-techy individual as well as avoiding being too patronising for the self-confessed geeks. Connectivity: Internet speed and country/state/school restrictions need to be taken into consideration as some districts block certain tools and certain tools require high bandwidth... Flexibility: All Web2.0 tools need to be viewed as temporary - especially the free ones. As creators get bored, add new features and possibilities, move onto other projects or change the conditions and costs, other similar online tools may need to be used instead. The assessments need to be flexible enough to allow for changes and individual student preferences. Timing: Online and blended students require flexibility in when and how assignments can be assessed. The ability to get asynchronous as well as synchronous feedback means that students and teachers can access assignments and communicate across time zones and around other commitments such as family and work. Confidence: Many different learners with varying needs and abilities means that confidence - or lack of -could be a factor. Providing a support network or buddy system is a great way to alleviate these issues. This has been a very interesting assignment for me especially since I view this area of face to face teaching as one of the areas for self-improvement. In a face to face environment, I pride myself on knowing the students; knowing their strengths and weaknesses, knowing their abilities, knowing their triggers and knowing how to 'hook' them. In this way, I struggle to document this on paper as I have a very good understanding of next steps for each of my students. I am working on this! The need for effective, clear and concise formative and summative assessments makes much more sense to me in an online environment. In most cases, face to face conferencing is not going to happen in a blended or online course so therefore it is of paramount importance to share feedback, allow time - and a means - for reflection and guidelines for evaluation and assessment. Below I have listed several factors that I believe would need to be considered when implementing formative and summative assessments: AccessibilityLanguage: Instructions can be challenging at the best of times so there's a need to simplify the instructions as much as possible. have to be clear - and accessible - for all learners no matter their language, special need(s) and/or intellectual ability. Using captions and transcripts can help with this.
Expectations: In an online and blended environment, different learners from a variety of backgrounds may expect less or more. Setting clear expectations from the outset is extremely important, especially with regard to quality of work produced, due dates and priorities. Tech Ability: there will always be a wide range of abilities so instructions and tasks need to be carefully worded to be just as applicable to the weakest, non-techy individual as well as avoiding being too patronising for the self-confessed geeks. Connectivity: Internet speed and country/state/school restrictions need to be taken into consideration as some districts block certain tools and certain tools require high bandwidth... Flexibility: All Web2.0 tools need to be viewed as temporary - especially the free ones. As creators get bored, add new features and possibilities, move onto other projects or change the conditions and costs, other similar online tools may need to be used instead. The assessments need to be flexible enough to allow for changes and individual student preferences. Timing: Online and blended students require flexibility in when and how assignments can be assessed. The ability to get asynchronous as well as synchronous feedback means that students and teachers can access assignments and communicate across time zones and around other commitments such as family and work. Confidence: Many different learners with varying needs and abilities means that confidence - or lack of -could be a factor. Providing a support network or buddy system is a great way to alleviate these issues. I currently use many different tools to gauge student understanding. I find that both Socrative and Infuse Learning are easy ways to get instant feedback using any device. I believe that blog comments & posts - on Weebly (or any other platform), and the use of Edmodo has been extremely useful. I also use something similar to Bubbl.us called Spiderscribe which is another mind mapping tool with other really useful features too! However, I am going to focus on something relatively new that I use for formative - and summative -assessments, Google Drive... Within the one 'program' you can collaborate on documents and presentations and it is extremely easy to create surveys with a variety of question prompts including images. It is easy to see and comment on the students work at any time synchronously or asynchronously using the comments tab at the top right, you can share the document with colleagues, parents, students and even better you can link it to another tool that I have just started experimenting with called http://121writing.com/ which connects with Google Drive allowing you to give verbal feedback too. Very exciting! A specific example would be to get students to present their work on a Google Document (or upload it from Word) and, as the teacher or a peer editor, insert comments about their work and suggestions for improvements and students can apply these changes. You could also add general comments and suggestions too using the comment button on the top right. You could also give specific verbal feedback while highlighting their work by connecting 121writing with your Google Drive. Once the assignment is completed, you could then ask them to reflect on the process and the product using a simple Google form; asking the students to 'check-in' with their understanding of the subject. I believe this would cover all parts of Tuttle's Stages of Formative Assessment. I am really looking forward to trying Vialogues too - thanks for the suggestion Mick!
Establishing an Accessible Online Presence
In hindsight (and next time!), I will do the tutorial and THEN write the transcription. In this way, the video will be more natural and - I believe - easier to follow. The problem with this is that I am a S-L-O-O-O-O-W typer... :( I tried Dragon Dictation/Siri to help with the transcription but this did not work as well as I had hoped... Any suggestions? Accessibility & Online Learning Discussion Here is my embedded video below. I have SERIOUSLY avoided doing this for the longest time. I have (with copious counselling!) NEARLY got used to hearing the sound of my own voice but the sight of an uncomfortable, self-conscious me on video is another thing entirely. I'm fine talking crap "live" but this is another thing entirely.... Strange! My first ever 'front of cam' experience. Ever. Seriously...: Here is my embedded video below. I have SERIOUSLY avoided doing this for the longest time. I have (with copious counselling!) NEARLY got used to hearing the sound of my own voice but the sight of an uncomfortable, self-conscious me on video is another thing entirely. I'm fine talking crap "live" but this is another thing entirely.... Strange! My first ever 'front of cam' experience. Ever. Seriously...: |
Contents1. Resume/Bio
2. Online vs. face to face Venn Diagram 3. Collaborative Presentation of Web2.0 Tools 4. Designing an online discussion 5. Establishing an Accessible Social Presence 6. Designing a comprehensive Assessment Plan 7. Online Course Syllabus 8. Reflection: iNACOL Standards for Quality Online Teaching About MeHello, I am Tony Potts, the Director of Digital Learning, PK-12 ICT Coordinator, ICT teacher and technology integration specialist at GEMS World Academy, Dubai. Please feel free to ask me ANY questions...
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