Shallow waters: a mile wide and an inch deep

How do we get our students to dive deep into learning as opposed to just skimming the surface?

In several discussions lately I have heard instructors share concerns that their students are barely skimming the surface of learning. Given practically any topic, they are able to quickly retrieve the information online but then are unable to discuss the significant, subtle, or underlying ideas.

While information has never been more accessible than it is today, we don’t always dig deeper to get the full story, or consider the sources, or necessarily draw conclusions or relationships. As educators, we craft opportunities for learning – building assignments and  developing/ activities that we hope will foster critical thinking. Carefully designed learning activities can challenge students to develop and apply higher-order thinking skills, helping to draw them out of the shallows.

One approach is to help learners become more personally connected to the subject. By requiring students to come up with their own questions, chances are they will be more invested in finding answers.

How can we help students develop good questions?

I recommend devoting some time with students discussing what makes for a “good question”. Develop a grading rubric using criteria that help to describe the process of developing meaningful enquiry.

1) is the question thoughtful?
The learner has taken time to think about the question and its importance before asking.

2) is the question relevant?
Is the question related to the topic or does it draw focus away from the issue?

3) is the question open-ended?
The answer is not yes or no, right or wrong, but provokes discussion and debate.

4) is the question clear?
Avoid jargon, run-on, and repetition which can lead to ambiguity.

5) is the question unbiased?
The question does not lead to a predetermined answer (e.g How did you like the state-of-the-art facility? vs. What are your thoughts regarding the technology at the center?)

Some ideas for activities using technology…

It seems like Twitter might be a good tool to use for such an activity. Students could be given a problem to research and when they find relevant material, rather than just sharing the link, they must pose a question along with the resource. This would require them to limit the question to 140 characters. An example…

Another option might be to use Google+ Communities. The links as well as related graphics can be more visually engaging. other students can get involved in helping to answer the questions and share in the discussion by posting their own resources. An added benefit is Google Communities can be made private if you prefer to only engage your class in the activity.

Other resources:

The IDEA Center:IDEA Item #2: Found ways to help students answer their own questions

For Dummies: Ten Tips for Asking Good Questions

Learning through Play: the role of Imagination

‘Imagination …begins with two words – “What if”. The ability to imagine things differently than they are and the incredible power that can come out of those two words…’ – Doug Thomas

In our book discussion group we have been reading and talking about Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown’s book, A New Culture of Learning. This week we are discussing play. Doug Thomas says that “play can be defined as the tension between the rules of the game and the freedom to act within those rules”.

“Take me to Mars”
CC-BY-NC-SA by Keoki Seu on Flickr

I read in the news this morning that 20,000 people have submitted an application to take a one-way trip to Mars. Talk about stirring the imagination! It occurs to me this is a terrific opportunity for learners to engage in play in the classroom.

Our discussion group includes faculty teaching in the disciplines of Sociology, English, Engineering Technology, Graphic Arts, and others. In each of these areas students might engage in imagining this trip to Mars and how it relates to their areas of study;

• How should we prepare to journal the events? What has been written in fiction about trips to Mars? How might the reality compare?

• Who will likely be selected to take this trip? What are the dynamics of this population? How might culture and language impact the social interactions? How will the economy work for these people (no stores – no money)?

• How will they sustain life over time (food, water, air to breath)? What will the shelter be like? How will materials degrade over time?

• Can we represent the trip through design projects? What is the business or marketing perspective (someone is making money on this)? Who is their target market?

There are myriad questions in this “what if” scenario for students to engage in – not only within their major discipline but across other areas of study. I can envision creating an online learning space (possibly in Google+ Communities) where students from several classes work on their questions as well as to contribute to discussions within other disciplines, thereby increasing the level of engagement with the content – learning more deeply as they consider the numerous aspects to the problem.

increased feedback = increased engagement = increased retention

The benefit of frequent and relevant feedback is that students are much more likely to be engaged in the assignment, topic, and course. The more we can engage the students, the greater the likelihood they will stick with it.

“Archery” CC-NC-SA by Alex Ragone on Flickr
This student receives feedback in multiple ways as her instructor helps her correct her form – thereby improving her score – another important source of feedback

A number of years ago I participated in two back-to-back semester-long Faculty Learning Communities studying the topic of Learner Engagement. The findings of both these communities was the same: in order to increase learner engagement, provide more feedback. You might think this is a no-brainer but it is something we need to keep in mind especially as we design and deliver distance learning.

Distance learning as defined by the US Dept of Ed and the Higher Learning Commission means…

“to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor and to support regular and substantive interaction between the students and the instructor, either synchronously or asynchronously.”

This separation can sometimes be cause for concern for students who lack experience with distance learning formats. There can be a sense of disconnectedness for students unfamiliar with the technology or what is required to succeed in an online or blended course. By offering frequent and relevant feedback we may provide an increased sense of connectedness and perhaps help to alleviate some anxiety for the new-to-online student.

Effective feedback can come in many forms, including comments on an assignment submission, using the question feedback features for online quizzes, and online games are all about feedback. Group discussion and peer review of research papers / presentations are other effective methods of building feedback into your course by enlisting the help of your students.

Some quick wins include using old exams as practice quizzes.  Upload quizzes from past exams into the LMS assessment tool and edit the feedback section for each question.  Hint: the quizzes don’t have to be exhaustive – just representative of the material. A thirty question exam might be re-purposed for a databank of ten – three question sets. This method permits students to retake a short ten-question quiz several times, each time with a different set of questions.

Peer-review for class research projects or presentations can be a great way to provide more feedback. Provide students with clear criteria about what effective feedback looks like – maybe begin with a discussion about what feedback they have found helpful in their own learning. Have students offer suggested improvements in the early stages of their assignments – give additional points for pointing to helpful examples or resources.

Ask students to subscribe to discussion threads or other social media tools such as Twitter tags or Google+ Communities for the course. Don’t assume your students know how to manage SMS subscriptions, you may need to include a short tutorial… (e.g. Twitter: Receiving SMS notifications for Tweets and interactions) The majority of your students communicate by texting.  SMS notifications offer a familiar and effective means of engaging students in just in time class discussion.

The key to effective feedback is in the “regular and substantive interactions between the students and the instructor”. By seeking ways to build upon these interactions with frequent and effective feedback, students will experience greater confidence in where they stand and a better understanding of how to make it to the finish line.

What the Future Holds

How do we recognize the difference between a passing fad and substantive change?

We began a group discussion this week focusing on Doug Thomas and John Seely Brown’s book, “A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change”.

A member of our group said she wasn’t so sure the change we were experiencing in education today was any different than that of days gone bye. I was surprised to hear this. From my perspective the impact the web and online learning have had on education over the past several years has been upending. On the other hand, it occurs to me that not everyone perceives these changes in the same ways.

How can we know whether an innovation is significant and whether (or when) it will reach that tipping point – the point of no return?

I am reminded of a recent USA Today Article regarding cell phone adoption and the persistent landline.

…35.8% of U.S. households have gone wireless-only, a 77.2% bump over late 2008. In addition, 9.4% of households remain landline-only, a decrease of roughly 46 percent during that same period. The same study showed that 52.5% of households have both wireless and landline service…

I gave up my landline about eight years ago – shortly after I got my first cell phone. Although cell phone service was not available everywhere at that time, it was pretty reliable where I lived and for most of the places I traveled. In other words, it was “good enough” for my purposes. Once cable Internet service became available I had the phone shut off,  as at that point in time, I used my landline only for the dial-up connection.

I was under the assumption that most others had done likewise and was surprised to learn that I was in the minority @ 35.8%. Apparently, the majority of people still have landlines. It goes to show that our perceptions are not always accurate – we see through the lens of our own experience.

Nevertheless, I do not need a crystal ball to predict the landline will one day go away.

According to Clayton Christensen, innovations are disruptive when they provide a service that need be merely “good enough” to customers who might not otherwise access the service or product (my paraphrase).

We have seen disruptive innovations… the printing press, the automobile, the train, the plane, the telephone, the television, film and cameras (still and moving pictures), etc., etc… some things are going away – land lines, phone directories (because they don’t include my cell phone number nor are they interactive), newspapers – not because people don’t like them or use them but because we cannot afford to sustain them – the resources become too costly and lack sustainable revenue models.

As I see it the Web and online learning are clearly upending education today. The world wide web permits learners to access virtually all the information necessary at the very point in time needed.  Therefore, learners no longer require experts to deliver knowledge; they just need to have essential skills and the know-how to search and evaluate the quality of their results. It is fundamentally changing how students learn today.

As educators, our role is evolving to more of a facilitator and guide. We can help set the context and teach students to curate and learn how to apply what they discover in this new time of constant change.

Finding a Balance: Teaching with Technology

CC-BY-NC-SA by Foxtongue

I firmly believe instructors should not have to become technologists in order to teach online. We have instructional designers and educational technologists for that very reason.

That being said, educators do need to possess a fair understanding of the technologies they choose for instruction before they can evaluate the effectiveness of the technologies and the return on their investment (transaction costs). These costs may include investments in time and resources on the part of both students and faculty.

Some thoughts on where we might find a balance between these transaction costs and a reasonable return on our investment…

1) Familiarize yourself with the help resources -

Knowing who to call and when to call them can save both you and your students valuable time and relieve potential frustration. Is it a design issue, or a delivery issue? Is it a systems issue or a lack of familiarity with the application? By posting these resources clearly in the course menu, you and your students can focus more on learning and less on technology.

2) Become comfortable with the tools -

If you are planning to use an assignments dropbox, what types of file formats does it accept? If you can only accept a specific format be sure to specify this requirement in your syllabus and again under the assignment instructions. Provide a number for the help desk in case students run into trouble; or better yet, link to a video tutorial on how to resolve the most frequent issues. If you link to a publisher’s website from within your Blackboard course, provide a direct link to their support services.

3) Orient your students to the technologies you have selected for your course -

If you use a wiki, or plan to use Twitter, Polleverywhere, or other web-based tools, provide a tutorial within your online course. If its a blended or enhanced course, schedule class time in the computer lab and help get everyone on-board. By giving them a low-stakes assignment or assessment before the real thing, your students are less likely to have to deal with the anxiety and frustration that may accompany unexpected results when its time  for the real deal.

4) Become well acquainted with your Instructional Designers / Technologists -

These people are the experts on the tools. It’s their job to know what works and what doesn’t and how to find the work-arounds. If they haven’t run into your challenges before, they are likely to know a guy who knows a guy. So give them a call, schedule an appointment or stop in during open lab hours. These are the people who can help you sort out the myriad choices when it comes to teaching and learning with technology – and just possibly help to bring a little more balance into your life and teaching with technology.

The dreaded Group Project

It would appear that no one likes group projects – not the student – not the instructor. Oftentimes with group projects, one or more students will have an excuse why they cannot pitch in and help out,  while others want to control the entire project (they need an A and nothing less) and still others become frustrated or overwhelmed just trying to get the thing done on time.

Group Effort CC-BY-NC-SA by Lester Pyblic Library on Flickr

In communities, people learn in order to belong. In a collective, people belong in order to learn. Communities derive their strength from creating a sense of belonging, while collectives derive theirs from participation.

- A New Culture of Learning,
Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown

In Doug Thomas and John Seely Brown’s book, A New Culture of Learning, they describe the age-old problem of working in groups. They suggest that part of the problem lies in the fact that groups fail to engage the student in the personal.

In group projects we ask students to contribute to solving a problem, answering a question, creating content or media, etc. We then attempt to evaluate their group work based on their individual contribution. The book describes this as the community approach. Whereas in the collective approach, contributors attempt to find their own meaning, recognizing that this may be better accomplished collectively rather than individually.

Consider the student talent show… or any student activity for that matter, that brings together students with various individual and group talents to put on an event. Students with leadership and organizational skills, individual and group musical, dance, comedic talents, etc. all manage to get on stage at a specified date and time and everything works. However, should we try to control the whole thing, we find that students may be  less than willing to participate and some people are hurt and angry – personality conflicts, etc. threaten to stop the show.

The collective approach is intrinsically motivated, resulting oftentimes in less order – more chaos – yet potentially more personal investment, more energy, and more creativity. That being said, there are some things we can do to help students become engaged and stay focused.

Be specific in your expectations for the assignment and provide examples of past student work – or if this is the first time, spend some class time talking about what you are looking for and provide a rubric with detailed indicators – or when possible, have the student review others work and come up with their own indicators for a rubric.

Students may need help making connections with their team-mates. We can encourage open discussion about their own experience with the topic / assignment and where they think they can personally make a contribution. One person may have writing skills, another design skills, someone may have technical skills or access to equipment or technology that can benefit the final product. On the other hand, encouraging people to follow their interests has the potential to be more engaging than assigning a role based only on past experience or existing skills.

Smaller teams are often better as people have less opportunity to get lost or hide in the background. Everyone is accountable. By using social networks or discussion boards no one is left out, or at least everyone has an opportunity to chime in. This can also allow for the entire class to see what other teams are doing and encourage people to share ideas and resources.

As with introducing any technology to the class – spend a few minutes learning how it works.  Don’t assume your students are more tech savvy than yourself. Oftentimes students are reluctant to say they don’t know how to use a technology, thinking maybe they’re the only one. Spending a little time investing in a tech orientation yields better returns later on.

By providing opportunities for students to engage in a project on their own terms – bringing their personal interests and talents to the table, we may find they are more engaged and therefore better positioned to gain something from the experience.

Replacing Google Reader

I see that Google has announced they will no longer support Reader as of this summer.

I have been using Google Reader for the past several years in an attempt to stay informed with Educational Technology in these times of constant change.

So now what?

I’ve decided to give Flipboard a try.

Flipboard is a mobile app – designed to keep people informed and up-to-date with news and social media. It works with your  iPad, iPhone, or Android device. One thing I like about Flipboard is the ability to import Google Reader feeds.

Google Reader – Feeds & Folders set up on Flipboard

To get started, install the app and create an account. Click on the search icon and select the services you wish to import (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc.) – in this case, Google Reader. Your feeds will be displayed from the drop down “Feeds and Folders” menu and you can select the feeds you wish to add individually.

As far as sharing goes… after clicking on a story in Flipboard, open the original article and you will find a share link icon displayed in the upper right corner of the window. – here is where I link my Twitter account to Flipboard – making tweeting using Flipboard very convenient.

That’s it – as far as setting up Flipboard to replace Google Reader. I actually prefer using my tablet over my desktop – I find it much easier to read and share.