Nov 2012 Presenter: Sophia Palahicky, MDE

What is my goal?  To spark a discussion about the importance of pedagogy in distance education?

What comes to mind when you think about teaching?

Prioritize these:  Learning  Technology  Pedagogy

What comes to mind when you think about distance education?

Prioritize these:  Learning  Technology  Pedagogy

How would you prioritize these?  Teaching and Learning  Teaching and Technology  Teaching and Pedagogy

Google Results  Teaching and Learning yielded 401,000,000 results in a Google search Nov 13, 2012  Teaching and Technology yielded 621,000,000 results in a Google search Nov 13, 2012  Teaching and Pedagogy yielded 16,100,000 results in a Google search Nov, 2012

Results of Google Search Nov 2012

How would you prioritize these?  Distance education and learning  Distance education and technology  Distance education and pedagogy

Google Results  Distance education and learning yielded 94,900,000 results in a Google search Nov 13, 2012  Distance education and technology yielded 141,000,000 results in a Google search Nov 13, 2012  Distance education and pedagogy yielded 3,370,000 results in a Google search Nov 13, 2012

Results of Google Search Nov 2012

How have these been prioritized?  Technology  Learning  Pedagogy LAST

What is pedagogy?  Pedagogy is the art or science of teaching; the instruction in teaching methods. Retrieved from

What is pedagogy?  The term pedagogy refers to the art of teaching, with "ped" being the Greek root for "child." Retrieved from

What is distance education pedagogy?  Distance education pedagogy is the art or science of teaching at a distance; the instruction in teaching methods for distance delivery.

Active learning pedagogy  Active learning methodology has become a preferred way to change the traditional teacher centered classroom into the newer student centered approach to learning.  The objectives of active learning techniques are to foster a more conducive learning environment for the student so that the student has an active role in his or her learning process. Retrieved from

Social pedagogy  Social Pedagogy is an academic discipline concerned with theory and practice of holistic education and care.holistic education Retrieved from

Distance education pedagogy  Theories of learning (How people learn?)  Collaborative learning  Increasing opportunities for interaction  Multimedia principles  Technology era (What tools are available?)  The use of technology

Do you agree?  Many educators pride themselves on being pedagogically (as opposed to technologically) driven in their teaching and learning designs. (Anderson & Dron, 2011) Retrieved from

The Cognitive-Behaviourist Pedagogy of Distance Education (Anderson & Dron, 2011)  Change in behaviour: 1.gain learners’ attention, 2. inform learner of objectives, 3. stimulate recall of previous information, 4. present stimulus material, 5. provide learner guidance, 6. elicit performance, 7. provide feedback, 8. assess performance, 9. enhance transfer opportunities. (Gagne, 1965)

Social-Constructivist Pedagogy of Distance Education (Anderson & Dron, 2011)  Social-constructivist pedagogy acknowledges the social nature of knowledge and of its creation in the minds of individual learners. Teachers do not merely transmit knowledge to be passively consumed by learners; rather, each learner constructs means by which new knowledge is both created and integrated with existing knowledge. (Anderson & Dron, 2011)

Connectivist Pedagogy of Distance Education (Anderson & Dron, 2011)  The third generation of distance-education pedagogy emerged recently and is known as connectivism. Canadians George Siemens (Siemens, 2005a, 2005b, 2007) and Stephen Downes (2007) have written defining connectivist papers, arguing that learning is the process of building networks of information, contacts, and resources that are applied to real problems. (Anderson & Dron, 2011)

Which do you subscribe to?  Cognitive-Behaviourist Pedagogy (your goal is to change behaviours)  Social-Constructivist Pedagogy (your goal is to provide opportunities for learners to construct their own knowledge)  Connectivist Pedagogy – (your goal is to facilitate information networks)

Does your teaching reflect your pedagogy?  Do you talk or lecture the majority of the time?  Do you ask questions and facilitate discussions?  Do you allow students to interrupt to ask questions at any time?  How often do you have students working in groups?  Do you allow or encourage peer review opportunities?  How soon do you respond to s or questions?  How soon do you return marked assignments?  Do your students mostly read information and then answer questions?  Do your students mostly watch videos and then answer questions?  Do you use any type of threaded discussion forums?

Are you thinking about curriculum alignment? One of the most fundamental things in the process of instructional design is the consideration of alignment of three elements: learning outcomes; learning activities; and assessments. Effective instruction requires that these three elements are aligned in all aspects of the course; modules, units, sections, and lessons. This is what is referred to as curriculum alignment. Curriculum alignment is very closely linked to constructive alignment. The 'constructive' aspect refers to the idea that students construct meaning through relevant learning activities (Biggs, 2003). In order to determine what content needs to be covered in a course, the learning outcomes or learning objectives need to be identified. After the outcomes are mapped out, relevant and appropriate learning activities are selected. These learning activities should then inform content selection.

Access to the content is not enough!

 Read this then do this.  View this then do this.  Listen to this then do this.

 Read this. As you are reading, do this, this, this.  View this. As you are viewing, do this, this, this.  Listen to this. As you are listening, do this, this, this

Are you thinking about levels of learning? Blooms Taxonomy Revised retrieved from

Retrieved from

Are you?  A content creator, a sage on the stage?  A discussion leader, a guide on the side?  A critical friend, a co-traveler? (Anderson & Dron, 2011)

Let’s get our priorities right!  Pedagogy  Learning  Technology LAST