Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Of Distance Education

Before we start  Who has taught on-line?  Who uses the web in a traditional class?  What are the biggest positives to teaching an online course?  What are the biggest negatives?

Interesting Facts  Last year, almost 3.5 million college students nationwide were taking at least one online course representing nearly 20% of all U.S. higher education students.  In Ohio, almost 50,000 students were taking at least one online course representing nearly 11% of all publicly educated Ohio undergraduate students.

Why the Increase in Students in Distance Classes?

Increase in Students in Distance Classes Attributed to enrollment growth, shrinking public funding for higher education student demand need to improve access for non-traditional students.

What are the Types of Distance Learning Classes?

Types of Distance Courses  Totally online courses  Hybrid (or blended) courses where students meet part of the time with a faculty member and part time on their own using the web as a resource  Web-enhanced courses where faculty make use of the web for the posting of documents and online discussions

What are sound Pedagogical Components of distance classes?

Pedagogical Components  Best Practices for Online Education  Pedagogy for Online Education  Designing Online Content  Providing Feedback to Online Students  Active Learning  Student Collaboration

Best Practices for Online Education  Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever Follow-up on Chickering’s Seven Principles  Distance Education, Guidelines for Good Practice 14 standards based on a survey of DL practitioners

Good practice in undergraduate education: 1. Encourages contacts between students and faculty. 2. Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students. 3. Uses active learning techniques. 4. Gives prompt feedback. 5. Emphasizes time on task. 6. Communicates high expectations. 7. Respects diverse talents and ways of learning. (Chickering, 1987)

Guidelines for Best Practice  Faculty must retain academic control  Faculty must be prepared to meet the special requirements of teaching at a distance  Course design should be shaped to the potentials of the medium  Students must fully understand course requirements and be prepared to succeed

Guidelines (Continued)  Close personal interaction must be maintained In real time (synchronously) In virtual time (asynchronously)  Class size should be set through normal faculty channels  Courses should cover all material  Experimentation with a broad variety of subjects should be encouraged

Guidelines (Continued)  Equivalent Research opportunities must be provided  Student assessment should be comparable  Equivalent advisement opportunities must be offered  Faculty should retain creative control over use and re-use of materials

Guidelines (Continued)  Full undergraduate degree programs should include same-time same-place coursework  Evaluation of distance coursework should be undertaken at all levels American Federation of Teachers, 2000

What are the Course Design Components of distance classes?

Course Design Components  Course Management System/ Authoring Platform  Course Content  Electronic Tools  Assessment Methods

What is a Course Management System?

Course Management System/ Authoring Platform Course Management Systems provide an environment in which students may work on course materials within a curriculum. These environments provide tracking and data collection capabilities of registered users.

Examples  WebCT & Blackboard (they have merged) (  Ecollege (  Angel (  Moodle (  D2L (

How do instructors choose appropriate software packages?

Software Choices  Course Management System chosen at College level  Additional Software chosen by department or instructor MyMathLab WileyPlus Mathzone Webassign, etc.

First Criteria  Compatibility with MAC and PC  Browser check (Auto or manual) IE7, IE8 or both  Software Check Adobe Flash Player Java other

User Friendly  For You Content management File control Multiple sections  For Your Students Easy to navigate? Online tutorial? Install Wizard?

How Much Support for You and Your Students  Video Lectures  PowerPoint®  Online Textbook (ebook)  Online Homework  Online Discussion  Instructor-Student Communication

Each Package has Strengths and Weaknesses  I use MyMathLab  Cynthia Young College Algebra (WileyPlus) Plain language (talks to students) “Go Tutorials”  Enhanced Web Assign “only” an Online HW management system supports every major publisher

What are the Types of Course Content used in Distance Learning Classes?

Course Content  Can be textbook specific or stand-alone  Consult courseware support site for training materials

What are the Types of Tools used in Distance Learning Classes?

Electronic Tools Audioconferencing Blogging Chatrooms Digital drop box Electronic bulletin board Electronic mail Fax Instant messaging Interactive video Vodcasting Wiki iPod Listserv Newsgroup Print (textbooks, etc.) Software tutorials Telecourse Telephone Threaded discussion Videoconferencing Webcams You Tube

What are the Types of Assessment Methods Used in Distance Learning Classes?

Let’s try a live Webcam Using Windows Live Messenger

Assessment Methods  Traditional (in the classroom)  Online  Proctored In Institution’s Testing Center By arrangement with proctor (faculty member or supervisor)

Using Technology to Assess  Create your own tests with MicroSoft ClassServer  Computer Generated Tests (example: Coursecompass.com)  Turning Points™ (instructor can ask any question, get a response from the audience then immediately display results in a PowerPoint presentation! After data has been collected from the audience, data can be downloaded into Excel Word for further analysis, trend recognition and reporting.)

How can you prepare to be a successful Distance Learning Teacher?

Prepare to Teach Online Successfully!  Find a mentor  Have a trusted colleague review your materials  Enroll in an online course or participate in online training

Internet Resources A website for TI-83 & Ti-84 Graphing Calculators: A website for math "notes”: A website for Conics: Print your own Graph Paper (rectanglar, polar, logarithmic): A website for Derivatives: Math Type is a product for including mathematics notation in documents:

Internet Resources  Get a TI Calculator emulator: ual_Dev_algebra2.htm That one has lots of good help menus for Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and has the virtual TI as a download.  Math GV: This is a free grapher. Have your students use this to create graphs to copy and paste into Word documents

Free Resource on the Internet  A free graphing utility  A resource for math teachers  Texas Instruments ready-made lessons  Video tutorials for algebra to calculus

Questions? Contact Information Mary Beth Orrange Nancy J. Sattler Vera Hy-Hynevman

Sharing Session  Homework  Projects  Course material delivery  Office hours  Communication  Class Participation  Books  All the other things that go in a math course