A framework for developing the capacity to deliver e-learning courses

One day, when I was searching for e-learning in the net I found an article about e-learning developments and experiences. This article has described a framework for developing the capacity to deliver e-learning courses as follows:

1. Teaching/ learning context:
For any e-learning initiative to be successful, a number of support mechanisms must have been developed. The most sophisticated learning design will not help students to learn if the technology does not work, if faculty is overloaded and cannot or do not know how to provide support to students, if the students have a negative experience of working in groups, or the students do not value the opportunity to participate in qualitatively different learning experiences.

2. Teacher thinking:
The teachers have to reflect on their views of learning and the ways in which those views impact on the planning of learning, and the use of particular teaching strategies. It is only through increased understanding of how students learn that high quality e-learning opportunities are made possible.

3. Teacher planning:
In the planning the teacher has to analyze the learners and their characteristics. Also, he/she has to plan for information technology that can be used in e-learning and they must be suitable and accessible. Moreover, he/she has to plan for the teaching strategies, the kinds of learning needed, and the kinds of assessment activities.

4. Teacher strategies:
This means the strategies that the teacher might use to deliver learning to learners. Some of these strategies are presentation of a collection of multiple media; presentation of a collection of information, case studies, simulation, tutorial/module, and problem based learning, hypertext, self-assessment and individualized instruction.

The combination of these factors will enhance the student experience of e-learning, improve quality of learning; improve productivity of learning; improve access to learning; improve student attitudes to learning and ultimately enable the institution to realize its particular vision for e-learning.

Trigwell’s (1995) levels of influence on student learning

Elements of the e-learning process

E-learning process has several elements to be successful. Some of them are:

1. Motivation:
There are two kinds of motivation; extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation. The former means that the learner learns for in order to get grades or jobs for example. However, the latter means that the learner learns because they want to learn and they have interest to learn. Intrinsic motivation is much better than extrinsic motivation.

2. Communication:
It is an important part of learning. The learner has to communicate with the instructor and the other colleagues in order to share information and knowledge.

3. Cooperation:
It requires communication and it is beneficial for the learner since he/she can get experiences from those who he/she cooperate with.

4. Self-Assessment:
It is important for the learner to assess him/her self to see whether he/she actually learned or not.

e-Instructor

As we know that nowadays, a new type of learning has appeared to the world which is e-learning. Constructivist approach is applied to this type of learning where the learner has to build his/her own knowledge. So, it is a learner-centered approach rather than a teacher-centered. As a result of this, the role of the instructor does not remain the same as it is in the face to face teaching. We can say that the role of the instructor has been shifted from "the sage on the stage" to "the guide on the side".

I found a research paper about The Role of the Instructor in Online Learning for Educators in this site http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/PDF/3.1.5.pdf which describes the role of the e-instructor as multidimensional since he/she plays the role of a planner, a role model, a coach, a facilitator and, above all, a communicator.

Here is some explanation about each role:

1. Planner:
The e-instructor has to plan for the course, set the goals and expectations as well as to provide a timely help throughout the duration of the course.

2. Model:
The e-learners consider the e-instructor as a leader in modeling online behavior so the e-instructor has to provide day to day leadership, clear directions, and organizational structure. If the leader sets the example of responding to postings and being timely with other correspondences, it will motivate the students to do so.

3. Coach:
As a coach, the instructor should, “challenge people who are bound by a common purpose to think differently, try out new methodologies and initiatives”. He/she should “motivate students to take initiative and responsibility for their learning”. The instructor must “foster an environment that keeps discussion going and weaves discussion threads” at the same time he/she “provides support and catch up time to those who are struggling, which includes checking on quiet students”. He/She must be aware of differences, and “bring out diversity, not only of community, but of individuals.”

4. Facilitator:
The e-instructor has to facilitate student success and develop online participation. He/she must also operate democratically, and “give everyone an opportunity to express opinion, respect opinion and ideas, identify need and keep lines of communication open“. He/she has to “not dominate, and keep it simple. Ask leading, open-ended questions that beg thoughtful responses and foster interaction.”

5. Communicator:
Here the e-instructor has to communicate effectively with the e-learners by responding to their queries and giving them feedback.

ICOET 2008

On March 3-5, 2008, there was an International Conference of Educational Technology (ICOET 2008) in my university which is SQU.

Before the conference:
On the 2nd of March, there were workshops in the SQU as a part of the conference activities. The first one was about the "Interactive classroom". The second was about "the implementation of blended model of education delivery in higher education".

Actually, I attended the second workshop. It was done by Professors from Universal Knowledge Solutions (UKS) group. They talked briefly about the modern pedagogical techniques such as case-based learning (CBL) and problem-based learning (PBL). You may wonder what the difference between them is. I will tell you that in a CBL the learner analyzes a problem without trying to solve it. However, in PBL the learner is trying to solve a problem.

Also, another topic which was discussed in the workshop is Learning Management Systems (LMS). I got that there are different LMSs which can be used to design courses. The can be divided into to categories; open source such as Sakay and moodle and the other category is not-open source such as WebCT and blackboard.

There is one more interesting topic which was discussed in the workshop which is Web 2.0 Technologies. I really liked it very much. I knew that Web 2.0 tools are used for a tow way communication which means that the user can create them, use them, and share the views through them with others. Examples of Web 2.0 tools are; Wikis, Blogs, Flickr, Facebook, social Bookmarking, Mashups and Virtual Reality Collaboration.

During the conference:
From 3-5 of March 2008, several research papers were presented in the conference which was conducted at SQU by different participants from different countries of the world. Actually, I found some difficulties in understanding the language of some of the presenters. However, that doesn't mean that I didn't get any thing from the conference!!

Here is some of what I got:
1. We can engaged students through learning process using some techniques such as "digital storytelling" which means that the teacher can produce a story about any thing he/she would like to teach using some software such as "photo story". Using this software, the teacher can combine some still pictures of any event together and synchronized them with a sound to look as a movie that can then be presented to the students in the class.

2. There is a good educational innovation which I really liked that is "Interactive/smart Whiteboard". This whiteboard uses a special software that enables the user to draw, write, edit the pictures, enlarge the size of writing and many other things. It serves many purposes and help in teaching all the subjects. Instead of taking the materials of maps, rulers….etc to the class, you can use this type of whiteboards since it has everything.

3. Web 2.0 tools can be designed to promote social networking and developing effective learning communities.

4. From one of the presentations I got something which is new to me. I learned that "taxonomy" is designed by one person and "folksonomy" is designed by the public.

5. Also, from one of the presentations I got this say which I liked "A stitch in time saves time".

6. There were some presentations about e-learning, blended learning and their effectiveness in the acheivement of the students.

7. Which I liked also from the conference is a lecture was presented by Professor Sung Hyon Myaeng from Information and Communication University (ICU), Korea. It was presented through video conferencing. He talked about e-learning and the relationship between the Korean Universities and SQU; exactly about the network learning.