1. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail1 Additional Information For the Workshop Best Practices in Engaging Students with Diverse Learning Styles Diane Holtzman Michael Ciocco (of Rowan University) Mary Ann Trail

2. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail2 Examples Creative Ideas for Different Learning Styles Examples of Best Practices from 75 e-Learning Activities: Making Online Learning Interactive — R. Watkins (2005)

3. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail3 “ LET ME INTRODUCE” Based on an activity that is commonly used in traditional courses, this online adaptation has students interview other students and post online introductions of their partners. This activity is a great ice-breaker at the beginning of a course and you can later have students re-use the introductions when they form teams for group projects. Steps: (a) Pair students with partners, (b) provide sample interview questions, and (c) have students interview each other and post introductions to a shared discussion board.

4. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail4 “ WEBSITES ABOUT MYSELF” Taking advantage of unique resources available to online students, this activity is a wonderful ice breaker and lets students introduce themselves by identifying Websites that illustrate their interests and backgrounds. When students have posted favorite Websites, you can then encourage them to discuss similar and different interests with their peers. Steps: (a) Have students identify three Websites illustrating their interests and explain why they selected each Website, (b) have students post these Websites and explanations to a shared discussion board, and (c) have students explore one posted website from a classmate and provide the classmate with feedback (plus, minus, interesting) about the website.

5. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail5 “ PLAYING ROLES IN GROUPS” By assigning group members to roles within group discussions (for example, discussion leader, idea proposer, cheerleader, devil’s advocate, questioner, nay sayer, example giver, clarifier, tension reliever, encourager, note taker, online resource finder, or conflict negotiator), you can use this activity to add diversity and depth to course discussions. Steps: (a) Assign students to teams of three or more, (b) assign a role to each student, (c) have students play their role in group discussions, and (d) have students reflect on the positive or negative contribution of assigned roles to the discussion.

6. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail6 “IN THE NEWS” This activity capitalizes on the number of newspaper and magazine articles available online to bring discussions of current events into online courses. Either as an individual or group activity, encouraging students to utilize online news articles can engage them to discuss currents events related to the subject matter of most any course. Steps: (a) Identify online resources related to course topics, (b) assign online news Websites to individuals or teams, (c) have students read and reflect on their assigned news stories, and (d) have students discuss the news stories on a shared discussion board.

7. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail7 “COURSE BLOGS” Much like course journals, an online blog (short for “web log”) can be used as an effective e-learning activity that encourages students to work together in reflecting on course experiences. By engaging students in a group exercise where they each contribute to a single online blog that explores their positive and negative course experiences, you can create an online learning community. Steps: (a) Ask students to reflect privately on their positive and negative course experiences, (b) provide a shared discussion board for students to post their reflections, and (c) have students review and respond to the postings of other students.

8. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail8 “ LESSONS LEARNED THE HARD WAY” This activity encourages students to reflect on and share their previous experiences in using online technologies—this generates a list of e-learning study skills that can be applied in their current courses. From lessons learned through sending emails to the wrong person to ideas for structuring file folders on their computer, encouraging students to share the e-learning study skills they have developed can be useful at most any point in an online course. Steps: (a) Create a shared discussion board for the activity, (b) have students reflect on experiences they have had in an e-course, and (c) have students post the lesson they learned (i.e., tips, suggestions, ideas) from each experience. 75 e-Learning Activities: Making Online Learning Interactive —R. Watkins (2005)

9. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail9 Planning the Online Class The next series of slides present additional information that was not discussed in detail during the presentation. We wanted to share these ideas to assist you in planning and developing your online courses.

10. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail10 Planning To ensure the successful implementation of e-learning activities consider the following: a) What tasks you will have to complete prior to starting the activity (for example, emailing instructions, forming groups, establishing chat rooms). b) What tasks students will have to do in preparing for the activity (for example, reading course materials, downloading software, identifying partners). c) The steps that will necessary for both you and the students to participate effectively in the activity (for example, when you will post the instructions, how often will students participate, and what will happen if a partner does not participate?). d) How you will assess the participation of students in the activity and how much extra time will that take you (for example, will the number of postings to the discussion board be important, will you review the content of all discussion postings, and will students summarize their interactions?). (Watkins, 2005)

11. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail11 Planning Considerations (University of Washington, 2009) Gather all the content Start collecting all the documents, images, audio/video, links, presentations and the other material that you would like to include in your class Web site. Save them in a single folder on your computer. This will help you get a sense of what you need to include in your Web site and will save you time once you start building the site. Keep in mind that video and other multimedia need to be prepared before being put on the Web site Organize the site Think through the whole site and make a list of all that needs to be included in it - content, images, links, resources, contact information, and so on. Start "chunking" the content in sections, for example "Syllabus," "Assignments," "Lecture schedule," and so on. Think about what you would like to be included in the home page of your Web site and how you foresee the other pages to be organized and linked to each other.

12. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail12 Planning Start creating a site map Draw a chart of how you want the parts of your Web site to be linked together. To better define the layout of the site you can build a wireframe, a visual representation of the structure of each page. Spending some time planning your Web site will save you a lot of time and trouble when you start building it and, most importantly, will help you make your site more effective and usable. Consider your audience perspective When creating a Web site it is important that you always keep in mind the perspective of those who will be using your site. What are their information needs? What would students like to find in your course? Try showing your site to some of your students before putting it online, or ask for their feedback at the end of the term. This may help you improve your site.

13. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail13 Planning Borrow ideas It is a good idea to look at what other people are doing and develop your own design ideas based on other sites. What do you like or dislike about other course Web sites? A good place to start looking for inspiration is the World Lecture Hall. Images and text are subject to copyright. Link to other resources On your course Web site you can post links to outside resources to help your students quickly find reliable information related to your course. You can create links to research projects at other institutions, YouTube videos, refereed online journals, and Web sites of companies related to coursework, for example. Use the library’s electronic resources The library has information presented on how to use the electronic databases that are available for research, how to order resources through Interlibrary Loans, and how to conduct research. Students have remote, 24 hour a day protected access to peer-reviewed, professional resources. By having students do an introductory library assignment that has them use the online resources, they begin to see that the library and the librarians are resources that are available to them.

14. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail14 Planning Strive for visual coherence Colors or animations may look impressive at first, but tend annoy the viewers. Try to create a sober visual environment where students instantly know they are looking at your course Web site. Use consistent color schemes and formatting conventions across the pages in your course Web site. Keep images small You can easily include digital images to your course Web site. However you should keep in mind that graphics on the Web take much longer to load into a browser than plain text. Students with a slower connection to the Internet may find it difficult to access your Website if you use heavy graphics. When working with digital images you should keep the file size as small as possible. Keep tables small Just as with images, you should consider the physical size when inserting them on Web pages.

15. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail15 Planning Direct students to necessary plug-ins or helper applications Some file formats, such as portable document format (.PDF) or QuickTime movies, can be accessed from the Web only if your viewers have additional software installed on their computers, such as the Apple QuickTime plug-in or Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you are publishing information in these formats, you will want to direct your viewers to locations where they can download these extra pieces of software in order to access your information.

16. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail16 Planning Consider visual issues While viewers can change settings on their computers to make text larger, they can't do much to change the colors you choose for your pages Contrast of foreground and background is too low. Difficulty occurs when print is too small Background is too busy or cluttered to perceive important foreground information Material is not organized in a direct left to right sequence, making tracking difficult Browser window is too small and the pointer is hard to find or use Strive for strong contrast between text and backgrounds, and remember that different computers display colors differently, potentially making your color combinations unreadable.

17. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail17 Planning To make print materials accessible for students who have low vision, consider these alternate formats: Speech outputs Cursor and mouse pointer enhancers Large print--magnification software Reverse display…white on black…to enhance contrast Source: http://atto.buffalo.edu/registered/ATBasics/Populations/LowVision/printmodule. php

18. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail18 Planning Keep site content dynamic Make your content dynamic by posting announcements, ideas, and links that change often on the opening page of the site. You may also want to consider holding back the content you have developed and adding it in stages over the course of the term as it becomes relevant, rather than posting everything at once.

19. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail19 Learning Styles David Kolb’s Learning Styles Model (LSI) and Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) and Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theories

20. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail20 David Kolb’s Learning Styles Model (LSI) and Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) Kolb (1984) found four combinations of perceiving and processing determine the four learning styles. The learning cycle involves four processes that must be present for learning to occur: Activist Reflector Theorist Pragmatist Activist Active Experimentation (simulations, case study, homework). What's new? I'm game for anything. Teaching approach - Problem solving, small group discussions, peer feedback, and homework all helpful

21. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail21 David Kolb’s Learning Styles Model (LSI) and Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) Reflector Reflective Observation (logs, journals, brainstorming). I'd like time to think about this. Teaching approach - Lectures are helpful; faculty should provide expert interpretation (taskmaster/guide); judge performance by external criteria. Theorist Abstract Conceptualization (lecture, papers, analogies). How does this relate to that? Teaching approach - Case studies, theory readings and thinking alone helps Pragmatist Concrete Experience (laboratories, field work, observations). How can I apply this in practice? Teaching approach - Peer feedback is helpful; activities should apply skills; trainer is coach/helper for a self-directed autonomous learner.

22. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail22 Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theories Methods to understand and explain people's preferred ways to learn and develop where individuals differ is in the strength of these intelligences the so-called profile of intelligences and in the ways in which such intelligences are combined to carry out different tasks and solve diverse problems The learning styles are: Visual-Spatial Bodily-kinesthetic Musical Interpersonal Intrapersonal Linguistic Logical/Mathematical

23. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail23 Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theories Visual-Spatial Think in terms of physical space (architects and sailors) Can be taught through drawings, verbal and physical imagery. Tools include models, graphics, charts, photographs, drawings, 3-D modeling, video, videoconferencing, television, multimedia, texts with pictures/charts/graphs. Bodily-kinesthetic – Keen sense of body awareness. They like movement, making things, touching. They communicate well through body language Can be taught through physical activity, hands-on learning, acting out, role playing.

24. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail24 Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theories Musical Show sensitivity to rhythm and sound. Love music, but also sensitive to sounds in their environments. They may study better with music in the background. Tools include musical instruments, music, radio, stereo, CD-ROM, multimedia. Interpersonal Understanding, interacting with others. Learn through interaction. Can be taught through group activities, seminars, dialogues. Tools include the telephone, audio conferencing, time and attention from the instructor, video conferencing, writing, computer conferencing, E-mail.

25. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail25 Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theories Intrapersonal Understanding one's own interests, goals. Tend to shy away from others. Can be taught through independent study and introspection. Tools include books, creative materials, diaries, privacy and time. They are the most independent of the learners. Linguistic Using words effectively. Highly developed auditory skills and often think in words. Like reading, playing word games, making up poetry or stories. Tools include computers, games, multimedia, books, tape recorders, and lecture. Logical -Mathematical Reasoning, calculating. Think conceptually, abstractly and are able to see and explore patterns and relationships. They like to experiment, solve puzzles, ask cosmic questions. Can be taught through logic games, investigations, mysteries.

26. Best Practices: Online Classes Holtzman, Ciocco, Trail26 For More Information contact Diane Holtzman: Diane.Holtzman@stockton.eduDiane.Holtzman@stockton.edu Michael Ciocco: Ciocco@Rowan.eduCiocco@Rowan.edu Mary Ann Trail: MaryAnn.Trail@stockton.eduMaryAnn.Trail@stockton.edu