EL7006+Online+Adult+Learning


 * ** EL7006-8 ** ||  ||
 * ** Facilitating Adult Learning Online ** || ** 2 Online Adult Learning ** ||
 * Excellent work again, Stephen. Very pleased to see that you use a wiki. You could use an application like Brainshark to embed a narrated PPT on your wiki. Doing so would enable your viewers to watch your presentation on your wiki without having to download large and awkward PPT files. These are often important considerations in the field of elearning as you cannot always count on your viewers having huge amounts of bandwidth, adequate storage capacity or up-to-date equipment. **
 * A few things that you should consider. First, you could make your PPT much more concise, an essential scholarly skill is to determine the proper scope and volume of material for the task at hand. Scholars are expected to be able to explain things to laypersons but not exhaust them :-) **
 * You could work on your scholarly approach as we discussed in our phone conversation. Pick one current theoretical perspective specific to the field of elearning and perform a critical analysis through that one lens. Be sure to cite the originator of the theory, articulate the precepts of the theory and describe the way the theory informs the topic at hand. Cite the peer-reviewed published works of other researchers who have been testing and attempting to verify the theory. Finally, offer an informed opinion as to whether you think the theory is supported and what gaps exist. The role of the doctoral scholar is to test and verify theories as part of the process of developing the body of knowledge in the field. This must be done a systematically and disciplined way that fits with the efforts of others. **
 * This is a very exciting time to be doing scholarly work in the field of elearning as the field is so new and volatile. Many of the earlier theories of learning no longer have the explanatory or predictive power that they were once thought. E-learning scholars must be prepared to not only test and verify extant theories but to discover more and better theories to provide a systematic underpinning for the emerging science of elearning. **
 * This is a very exciting time to be doing scholarly work in the field of elearning as the field is so new and volatile. Many of the earlier theories of learning no longer have the explanatory or predictive power that they were once thought. E-learning scholars must be prepared to not only test and verify extant theories but to discover more and better theories to provide a systematic underpinning for the emerging science of elearning. **

=Reflection on Adult Online Learning Workshop = Teaching adults online is a pleasure and a challenge. The affordances of technology allow techniques for inculcating learning that were not possible a few years ago. For the traditional teacher knowledge of subject matter and a rudimentary ability to convey that knowledge in front of a class are all of the skills that are necessary to teach. Add personality and the ability to interact with and encourage students in the classroom; you get a good teacher. In an online class these skills must be multiplied and amplified. In this workshop I included critical factors necessary to teach adult learners well online. I begin with the advantages and challenges of online learning. Many instructors have the mistaken belief that online learning is just another form of doing what they have always done. Through understanding what is gained online this belief can begin to change. By addressing the challenges that both the instructor and each student face, the new online instructor can understand better what will be required of them. Then I included some of the benefits of using both synchronous and asynchronous tools in an online environment. Due to the challenges each student faces when they first go online I felt it necessary to explore the information that students require at the beginning of an online program of study to foster success. After ensuring that instructors understand what each student needs to know to get started, I introduced the most critical instructor competencies. These competencies establish the important relationships in online learning, and give notice to the online instructor that teaching online requires skills beyond those needed for the physical classroom. Learning requires rich relationships and the four important relationships for online learning are discussed in the last section of the workshop. By encouraging these relationships, the instructor enriches his or her teaching, but also ensures deep learning by the students.

Inclusion Rationale
I chose five elements to include in the online adult learning workshop. These five elements include (a) advantages and challenges of e-learning, (b) technology optimization, (c) student orientation musts, (d) essential instructor competencies, and (e) factors contributing to meaningful online learning experiences. While the PowerPoint associated with this assignment contains the contents and presentation of the workshop, a wiki page called “Online Faculty Guide” contains additional materials for the instructor of the workshop to reference. This guide is located online at http://stevesncujourney.wikispaces.com/Online+Faculty+Guide. To be successful at facilitating online classes the instructor needs a plethora of skills and knowledge. These skills and knowledge are introduced in the workshop and supplemented in the guide. New instructors and students may be unfamiliar with either the advantages or challenges of online learning. Online learning has distinct advantages over traditional classrooms, and it is essential that both online instructors and students are aware of them. Understanding these advantages may motivate students during the sometimes difficult transition to online learning ( Donavant, 2009 ) and the acceptance of more student responsibility for learning ( Martinez-Caro, 2011 ). Unique challenges are associated with e-learning and these should be explored and strategies developed to diminish their effects. The workshop and accompanying guide address a dozen challenges faced by instructors and students. Diverse technologies may be utilized to optimize online learning. The workshop and guide introduce several tools along with specific benefits for their use. Synchronous technologies allow real-time interaction between instructor and students and between students; asynchronous technologies allow a focus on reflection and complete presentation of ideas ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Derrick, 2003 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). Both are essential for learning and online instructors need to know how to use these technologies optimally. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Many students are new to online learning and must be introduced to the technical skills, expectations, and help documentation necessary for them to succeed ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Bhuasiri, Xaymoungkhoun, Zo, Rho, & Ciganek, 2012 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). A student orientation at the beginning of a class, in addition to important information disseminated before class is a necessity due to these needs ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Palloff & Pratt, 2003 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). The student orientation section of the workshop and the student orientation musts section of the guide address the skills and attitude that students require along with the expectations students should have of their instructor, the learning environment, and the institution. This orientation should focus on informing and motivating and is essential for student success online. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">To be successful at facilitating online classes the instructor must ultimately master dozens of skills exceeding mere knowledge of the course materials ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Smith, 2005 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). The competencies addressed in the instructor competencies section of the workshop are indispensable to facilitating the relationships that stimulate learning. Focusing on the student-instructor, student-student, and student-content relationships and fostering them allows the instructor to optimize the potential for learning and student success in an online class ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Bradley, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Learning requires relationships ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">Yoon, 2003 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">) and the factors contributing to meaningful online learning experiences section of the workshop presents each of the vital relationships involved in online learning. By focusing on each relationship instructors will clearly understand their importance to learning. Understanding the importance of each relationship is not enough; implementing stratagems for enriching each relationship is imperative, and specific strategies are addressed in the workshop and guide.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Reflection on Workshop and Guide Design
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Since the assignment was to create a workshop I felt that a PowerPoint presentation was a better medium to convey the critical factors that instructors must know to be successful online. In this way the presenter has something to show the students and focus attention while the material is covered. If the assignment would have been for an online guide I would have used the online faculty guide instead, since this site is available anytime, anywhere. By tying the two together I am able to augment the workshop presentation with supplemental material without overloading either the slides or the delivery. The guides address can be given to participants of the workshop to remind and extend their learning. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">If this workshop was going live I would also include for each major slide a scenario or story that would emphasize student feelings if that factor is absent, to motivate the participants to delve further into the material and research. I began working on the workshop and the guide by determining what content I should have; attempting to determine the most crucial factors beginning online instructors need to know. Once I identified the factors, I determined the flow of the presentation. I created the main page of the guide first and then linked the concept pages to the guide page. I toyed with several formats before arriving at the current format, with the information at the top, navigation in the middle, and references at the bottom. The navigation section took several forms before I was happy with the current routings. Since this is a scholarly site I chose minimal colors and traditional presentation. Once I had the web site laid out I began the outline for the workshop PowerPoint. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Much of the content for the guide was already created from previous assignments but I had to tailor it due to the challenges of representing it in different media. PowerPoint is most effective when representing information in an outline format with bullets, while web pages allow for much more leeway and creativity. I decided to keep my excerpts reasonably intact, but wanted to allow readers to distinguish quickly between material and citations, so I shrank the font on all citations. The effect of this change is that the information on the page stands out and interestingly, the citations as well. An unforeseen result of changing the font on citations and references was that it removed other formatting changes, requiring me to go back through the references and reformat them as close to APA style as is possible on the web. I chose to bullet each reference to separate them since hanging indents are not an option. This same limitation was discovered on the reference pages of the PowerPoint, so bullets were selected to separate them as well. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">The volume of the information was also somewhat problematic; changes to one content page required corresponding changes to other content pages. If this were a site I expected to maintain for any length of time I would create style classes in a CSS stylesheet to represent the various components of each page and how they are to be presented so maintenance would be easier and changes faster. Once I had my content pages in the guide I created bookmarks within longer pages to allow directly jumping to the appropriate sections from either the headings of each content page, or from the PowerPoint slides. (Although the bookmarks are accurately and correctly placed my testing success was intermittent.)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Why is this Format Effective?
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">I chose to present the workshop in the form of a PowerPoint, which allows the workshop presenter to control the flow of information and the discussion to the topic at hand. By including supplemental material in a corresponding web site I made it easy for the presenter to access the material easily as needed, while providing additional resources for participants in the workshop to explore. The PowerPoint allows creating hyperlinks to specific additional material allowing for customization and flexibility in the workshop presentation. Presenting a large amount of information and research is much easier on the web, so the use of the web site is more appropriate for the supplemental workshop material. With the amount of supplemental information, appropriate headings and use of white space are essential for successful presentation. Until printed the PowerPoint permits immediate adjustments, additions, or deletions as new material is found or created; the web site can be altered at any time but should be kept consistent with the PowerPoint presentation. Presenting material regarding online teaching through the web has a certain sense of suitability. I am happy with the PowerPoint and with the supplemental site. The workshop and guide present critical information that starting online instructors need to prepare for teaching. The PowerPoint is reasonably short, well laid out, and has appropriate links to more information, while the site is easy to navigate and understand – with myriad references for instructors who want to dig deeper.


 * = References ||
 * * Bhuasiri, W., Xaymoungkhoun, O., Zo, H., Rho, J. J., & Ciganek, A. P. (2011). Critical success factors for e-learning in developing countries: A comparative analysis between ICT experts and faculty. //Computers & Education, 58//(2), 843-855. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2011.10.010
 * Bradley, J. (2009). Promoting and supporting authentic online conversations – which comes first – the tools of instructional design? //International Journal of Pedagogies and learning, 5//(3), 20-31. doi:10.5172/ijpl.5.3.20
 * Derrick, M. G. (2003). Creating environments conducive for lifelong learning. In S. R. Aragon (Ed.) //Facilitating Learning in Online Environments// (pp. 5-18). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
 * Donavant, B. W. (2009). The new, modern practice of adult education: Online instruction in a continuing professional education setting. //Adult Education Quarterly, 59//(3), 227<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">‐ 245. doi:10.1177/0741713609331546
 * Martinez<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">‐ Caro, E. (2011). Factors affecting effectiveness in e<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">‐ learning: An analysis in production management courses. //Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 19//(3), 572<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">‐ 581. doi:10.1002/cae.20337
 * Smith, T. C. (2005). Fifty-one competencies for online instruction. //The Journal of Educators Online, 2//(1), 1-18. Retrieved from http://www.thejeo.com/Ted%20Smith%20Final.pdf.
 * Yoon, S.-W. (2003). In search of meaningful online learning experiences. In S. R. Aragon (Ed.) //Facilitating Learning in Online Environments// (pp. 19-30). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ||