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Fundamental principles in training experienced face to face (f2f) lecturers to moderate online courses Marga Navarrete Imperial College London

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Presentation on theme: "Fundamental principles in training experienced face to face (f2f) lecturers to moderate online courses Marga Navarrete Imperial College London"— Presentation transcript:

1 Fundamental principles in training experienced face to face (f2f) lecturers to moderate online courses Marga Navarrete Imperial College London m.navarrete@imperial.ac.uk 1 st June 2007

2 2 Overview Face to face experienced lecturers need to be trained in online education Courses are starting to add elements of online (blended learning) or offer certain modules in distance mode (distance learning) This presentation suggests a range of strategies and tactics for effectively training f2f lecturers in distance moderation

3 Principles & Strategies

4 4 Become a student before becoming a moderator “Anyone who teaches online needs to have some first-hand experience as an online learner to understand what it means to learn this way. The importance of clear directions, well organized materials, timely feedback, deadlines, and good technical support becomes apparent as an online learner. I don’t think you can learn how to teach online by attending a classroom workshop – even if it involves hands-on activities. Its not the same experience and doesn’t prepare you properly.” (Kearsley)

5 5 Becoming a student means that tutors experience… problems that may arise in online education first-hand how one feels when messages have been responded or not responded how the interaction flows how one needs to go to the point how threads need to be managed efficiently the need for clear headlines By improving their online skills and changing their attitudes in dealing with problems, they will be able to predict and act upon the situations that are bound to occur in a distance format

6 6 Ensure that you create “active” participants Students: actively posting and taking part in the course Set up an attendance requirement Pre-task: creating a student webpage, participants introduce themselves and explain their course expectations, add a photo

7 7 Design individual and group tasks that promote discussion Tutors need to understand how to design tasks that promote discussion Tasks that work for individuals and groups A course could start with individual tasks which are different for each participant Making a formal response to an article, is a different experience from a more discussion based response to another participant’s work “online education brings otherwise isolated individuals into a learning community” (Pincas, 2002)

8 8 Scaffolding of tasks Tasks: encourage collaborative and cooperative work Tailored to individuals and groups “the key to its success is the effective scaffolding of collaborative events and, especially, of the student student-tutor discussions” (Pincas, 2002)

9 9 Scaffolding of tasks: this workshop Tasks: encourage collaborative & tailored to individuals and groups Individual tasks 1.Sending tasks and responding to someone’s: individual tasks (asynchronous discussion) 2.Taking an active part in a synchronous presentation Group tasks 1.Micro-lesson plan 2.Lesson participation 3.Lessons learnt

10 10 Asynchronous and synchronous communication How the learning changes its nature in asynchronous and synchronous communication compared to f2f environments How to plan lessons in both environments Problems (synchronous communication): time-zones and finding space in people’s calendars Both modes of communication different: time delay for the asynchronous one This gives time for the learner to reflect on people’s ideas Synchronic tools: WebCT chat tool

11 11 Optimal group size The more active the participants, the smaller the group size should be When too many threads are created it is hard to keep discussions focused Lecturers need to understand that online education has to be done in small groups because of higher degrees of interaction than in f2f learning For this workshop the optimal group size is about 18 people

12 12 Understand your VLE platform Make the most effective use of your institution’s VLE platform (if you have one) Lecturers need to be confident in using the VLE and providing basic technical instructions in an online environment As the course progresses students will help each other, but it is essential to be confident and be able to act as a reference Take the opportunity to explore different areas and decide which ones may be of most relevance for your teaching

13 13 Common VLE tasks Tutors learn about “communication tools”: –Using the WebCT discussion board –Using the chatroom Post lesson plans and outlines Create suitable lesson plans for their own teaching areas Avoid more advanced features Fundamental aim: to make participants confident with manageable areas rather than overloading them with a lot of advanced features

14 14 Use a reflective diary Effective device in learning and professional environments A lot of activity happens simultaneously: recorded lectures, readings, discussions, tasks to complete and to respond to. A reflective diary might show pre-course expectations, based on my professional development, acts as a compass As Hopkinson states “the reflective assignment requires that the student notices and evaluates the learning community.”(Hopkinson, 2002)

15 15 Conclusion The fundamental principles and strategies we’ve explored: Become a student before becoming a moderator Ensure that you create “active” participants Design individual and group tasks that promote discussion Scaffolding of tasks Asynchronous and synchronous communication Understand your VLE platform Use a reflective diary


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