Andrus provides several examples drawn from books intended for primary grade students with appealing graphics as well as interesting stories. And as Kelly points out, many of these stories have deeper implications with which the teacher can address historical and social events as applicable for their grade level. But back to the connections - as Kelly discusses grade leveling books with font sizes, use of white space, etc., I am reminded of cognitive load issues with which we deal in designing text and graphics in a web environment.

And in terms of teaching, notice how Andrus speaks with passion and intensity about these reading issues - just as Epps showed her passion for Understanding by Design, Hooper about Strategy Instruction, or the others professors in this series of office chats.It is clear that each is striving to finds methods to assist learners and ensure that they are successful. Each talks about differentiated instruction - teaching in a manner that recognizes that each student is an individual with unique strengths and weaknesses - and by addressing these unique characteristics teachers can provide the best possible environment in which to learn.

Just as children differ in their interests and abilities, so too do adult learners in face-to-face or online learning environments. Each have their own particular learning style - whether visual, aural, kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, etc.  Adults enjoy a good story with interesting graphics - I know I do and I’m a boomer. So, as we are designing our online courses we should of course incorporate quality academic materials, but lets also remember back to the days when we were children.  Children are excellent learners, full of curiosity, open to new experiences, and fascinated by both story and picture. Let’s take that into account. by looking for those quality academic resources that also appeal to the inner child in all of us.

References:

American Library Association Newberry Award Page. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberymedal.cfm.

American Library Association Caldecott Award Page. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottmedal.cfm.

Reading is Fundamental. http://www.rif.org/.

UMW Literacy Specialist Program. http://www.umw.edu/cgps/med/teaching_literacy/default.php.

PBS Online Quiz on Classics of Children’s Literature. http://www.pbs.org/now/quiz/quiz13.html.

Noteworthy Boooks For Children at Capitol Choices. http://capitolchoices.org/.

I am writing this entry on my iPod Touch using the open source Wordpress app by Automatic and Effigent. Works well connected or offline.

This can include using labels in multiple languages, incorporating cultural symbols, and displays of artifacts from various cultures. But even more significant than these physical signs of inclusiveness is the psychological and social atmosphere of the classroom.  As teachers we can examine ourselves to become aware of any biases we may and strvie to eliminate those. We can gain awareness by talking with our students, with their parents, and with community leaders from that culture.  And in order for that dialogue to be genuine there must be a level of trust established by which students, parents, and teachers feel open and invited to communicate.

In speaking of cultural responsiveness we should be aware that culture involves race, gender, ethnicity, nationality and a host of other factors that influence a student’s background knowledge. By incorporating language, symbols, and ideas from the student’s  knowledge base we have the opportunity to assist the student in gaining a greater understanding as they construct knowledge, to reach for the upper limit of their zone of proximal development as Vygotsky discussed.

We have this obligation and opportunity in teaching online students as well as students in the classroom. Responsiveness in teaching is just as true online as it is face-to-face; as effective a tool for teaching students of varying learning styles as teaching students of varying cultural backgrounds. So, in designing your online course, which is after all a teaching environment - a learning community, we should look for ways to be aware of cultural backgrounds and incorporate symbols and language which presents an inviting environment to the online student.

References:

The Education Alliance: Teaching Diverse Learners — Culturally Relevant Teaching. http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/tl-strategies/crt-principles.shtml

Culturally Responsive Teaching.
 http://www.culturallyresponsive.org/index.html

As Ms. Reynolds explains, Northern Virginia in an incredibly interesting place with a wonderfully diverse population. However, this cultural and linguistic diversity does present some challenges for the local school systems and to those students and their families for which English is not the primary language. To add to the challenge, second language learners participate as all students in the statewide standards-based testing - not to mention the social and family issues present with those second language learners experiencing extreme poverty or under the stress of a tenuous immigration status.

Note: My apologies to the viewer and to Professor Reynolds for the poor quality of the video. However, Ms. Reynolds has such obvious concern for both subject and student that is too valuable to discard.

Many ESL adult learners are now in colleges and universities and some are enrolled in online courses and programs. These “Generation 1.5″ learners continue to need support even though many have graduated after successful high careers in secondary schools right here in the United States. Reynolds suggest that one of the first actions that we can take to assist these students is to examine our syllabus. Just as in the Office Chat about Differentiated Instruction with Laurie Abeel, these students also have individual learning styles and their instruction should incorporate variety in order to allow for individual strengths.

In the case of ESL adult online students, the strength may not be in written language. So take a look at your syllabus - does a primary portion of the grade depend on a written paper? In some cases, it may be appropriate to offer an alternative method by which the student can demonstrate their mastery of the course content. The online environment presents many opportunities for the instructor and student to work together to find a medium in which the student is able certify their understanding - a video, performance, graphic composition, chart, diagram, concept map, etc., are all possibilities in which language is not the central vehicle for communication. Of course conditions vary and what is appropriate and acceptable in one case may not fit at all in another. It is up to the instructor and student to work through together. But as Reynolds explains, this is not a case of the student being unintelligent, the central point here is that the student may be struggling to communicate in a manner that is not natural to them.

References:

Dubarry, M.., and Alvez de Lima, D. (2003). Notes on Generation 1.5. http://faculty.deanza.edu/alvesdelimadiana/stories/storyReader$438.

Harklau, L. (2003). Generation 1.5 students and college writing. http://www.ericdigests.org/2004-4/writing.htm.

Purdue Online Writing Lab. English as a Second Language (ESL) Resources, Handouts and Exercises. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/index.html.

Purdue Online Writing lab. ESL Teacher Resources. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/586/01/.

I am very interested in all that we do at UMW, especially in regards to teaching and learning - and we have a very knowledgeable faculty doing fascinating things in the classroom. Here, Dr. Hayes talks about “making connections” which is one of the parallels in PCM. And that is exactly what this series of office chats is about - making connections between proven pedagogical techniques in the traditional classroom and how they can be adapted for use in the online classroom.

Note: My apologies to the viewer and to Dr. Hayes for the poor quality of the video. However, Dr. Hayes discusses the topic with a clarity and obvious concern for both subject and student that is too valuable to discard.

As Dr. Hayes mentions, the Parallel Curriculum Model was developed by Carol Tomlinson, Joseph Renzulli, and others. The parallels are the Core Curriculum, Curriculum of Connections, the Curriculum of Practice, and the Curriculum of Identity. These in turn have counterparts in the student’s cognitive development within the discipline. The Core is analogous to a novice in the discipline, Connections where the student begins to “apprentice” in the discipline, Practice where the student begins to mature into a practitioner, and Identity where the student attains some degree of expertise or self-identification within the discipline.

This model was developed with school children in mind - particularly in challenging high-ability students (Tomlinson, 2001). However, when we think about the adult online learner several “parallels” between PCM and Knowles’ theory of andragogy come to mind.  Particularly, I am struck with the correspondence between the parallels of connection and identity and the andragological issue of relevance. In online learning, we are continually attempting to make connections betwee the expected learning outcomes and the student’s sphere of experience. By differentiating assignments, small team grouping, and assessment vehicles, the professor allows for connections among and within disciplines.

The parallel of identity is strongly evident in adult online instruction. In many cases adult learners are already professionals early in their careers looking for career advancement or possibly looking for a change in career paths. In either case, the learner brings a wealth of personal and professional experience to the online classroom which in turn the professor can leverage in differentiated instructional opportunities.

Dr. Hayes describes the progression form novice to expert learner. This is exactly our purpose in online learning programs.  Whether the student begins at the novice level or, as more common, at the apprentice level, the online program stresses the complete development of the learner through experiential learning and continued life-long learning and professional development. After completing an online program, the adult  learner should be approaching a mastery of the subject corresponding to the curriculum of identity (or expert level).

References:

Knowles, M.S., Holton, E.F., Swanson, R.A. (2005) The Adult Learner, Sixth Edition: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development. Selections available Amazon Look Inside at http://www.amazon.com/Adult-Learner-Sixth-Definitive-Development/dp/0750678372/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224597899&sr=8-1.

Tomlinson, C.A., Kaplan, S.N., Purcell, J.H., Leppien, J.H., Burns, D.E., and Strickland, C.A. (2006). The Parallel Curriculum in the Classroom: Units for Application Across the Content Areas K-12. Selections available via Google Book Search: http://books.google.com/books?id=teL0_QW53k4C&pg=PA297&lpg=PA297&dq=core+curriculum+practice+identity&source=web&ots=WeCkiAVhpZ&sig=y3qVxFX9UumEjtI1U2Bbcvor4bM&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result

Tomlinson, C.A., Kaplan, S.N., Leppien, J.H. (2001). The Parallel Curriculum: A Design to Develop High Potential and Challenge High-ability Learners. Selections available via Google Book Search: http://books.google.com/books?id=3UNHUxmdEAkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=parallel+curriculum#PPR5,M1

In this office chat, Dr. Norah Hooper describes two systems of visual organizers in use in her field of special education. Again, as I have mentioned before, the topics covered in these office chats have application to online instruction as well. If we listen with our minds open, Dr. Hooper is describing a deliberate and methodical approach to learning and teaching that may be leveraged as part of our teaching tool set.

The first system of graphic organizers which Hooper discusses are “Thinking Maps” as developed by David Hyerle and published in his 1995 book, Thinking Maps: Tools for Learning. She mentions that such meta-cognitive tools are helpful in working with students with learning difficulties. One thing that makes these maps work is that they are constructed by the learner rather than “hand-outs” from the teacher.

The maps are used to exercise eight thinking skills; brainstorming, classifying, sequencing, cause and effect, comparing and contrasting, analogies, part to whole, and describing qualities. These are critical thinking skills used by successful, self-regulated learners to good affect. However, special education school children need assistance in learning these meta-cognitive skills. Although Dr. Hooper discusses these tools in relation to special education, whom of us has not had difficulty learning something along the way? -obviously not as severe as a child struggling in a school setting, but a learning acquisition issue none-the-less.

Students in online classes (or classes taught partially online) have their own unique problems. Sometimes these are related to technology, time management, family and work obligations, accelerated courses, etc. An introduction to these thinking maps might be very useful to these and others learners.

The second system of graphic organizers mentioned by Hooper are those used in conjunction with strategy instruction. In particular, Hooper references the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) developed by Don Deshler and his team at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. These graphic organizers assist the teacher in focusing on the “big picture” while developing a course, unit, or lesson. Hooper shows examples of a Course Organizer, Unit Organizer, and Lesson Organizer from one of her own courses.

Software has been developed to support Thinking Maps.

References:

• University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning
• Thinking Maps at Designs for Thinking
• Graphic Interactive System for Teaching (GIST)
• The Power of Strategy Instruction, Stephen D. Luke
• Adapting Classroom-based Strategy Instruction to a Distance Learning Center, Vee Harris
  
• Strategy Instruction, Pat Beckman

What strikes me in these conversations with our education faculty is how these principles, which are being taught to practicing or future school teachers, are just as applicable in teaching university students both in the traditional classroom or online.

“Understanding by Design” is the title of a book by Wiggins and McTighe and published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development in 1998 (with a revised second edition in 2005).  But as Dr. Epps mentions, teaching for understanding has been the recognized aim of many other educators including Madeline Hunter and Howard Gardner, for example. Understanding by design(UbD) challenges the teacher to recognize that learning is more than knowledge acquisition.

Of course, we all want our students to understand, but phrases such as understanding by design can help us articulate and internalize this intention. Therefore, they serve a useful and important purpose, meta-cognition for meta-cognates.

Dr. Epps explains that we can organize our instruction better by actually considering that old student complaint, “when are we going to use this?” Epps asks us to keep the enduring question in mind as we develop our courses. Some have described this as working backwards or backwards by design. In any case, we should rethink our course organization by keeping the end goal (learning outcomes, enduring question, big picture) in mind as we construct learning activities for use in the course.

In the May 2008 issue of Educational Leadership, Wiggins & McTighe aver that

Learning for understanding requires… helping students (1) acquire important information and skills, (2) make meaning of that content, and (3) effectively transfer their learning to new situations both within school and beyond it. - full text available at ASCD

Their instructional sequence begins with a hook problem (Hunter’s anticipatory set), and includes an essential question (Dewey’s perplexity), direction instruction, practice, discussion, revisiting the original hook problem, assessment, and reflection.

Understanding by design is a great framework for developing online instruction for adult learners as well. Knowles theory of andragogy states that adult learners want problem-centered instruction related to their real-world experience. This problem-centered approach makes the enduring question posed in the form of an essential question the hook that draws the interest of the adult learner.

References:

• Authentic Education, Wiggins
• Put Understanding First, Wiggins & McTighe
• Association for Supervision and Curriculm Development

One such opportunity comes from an examination of “differentiated instruction” as practiced in schools and taught in college and university education programs. At the University of Mary Washington, College of Graduate and Professional Studies I had a chance to talk with Dr. Laurie Abeel about differentiated instruction.  One take away was that, although those teaching online are very aware of learning styles and the concept of student-centered education, we can benefit from hearing the topic addressed in a different way, with varying language and nomenclature, and with a renewed sense of urgency and passion.

In this talk Dr. Abeel discusses the differentiated learning as a philosophy of meeting the needs of all learners at the level at which we encounter them.  The philosophy is implemented by a focus on content, process, and product. Content is what we teach; process is how we teach and how the students learn; and, product is how the learner demonstrates that they have acquired and understand the content.

Again, educators have recognized this need to individualize instruction for quite some time. But, listening to this concept explained using a different vocabulary is illuminating. For example, compacting and tiered lessons are strategies used in differentiated instruction and have counterparts in online teaching and learning. Dr. Abeel’s explains educational growth via formative assessment in a manner that would be easily implemented in an online course.

External References:

In Mapping a Route Toward Differentiated Instruction, Carol Ann Tomlinson, states:

To make differentiation work—in fact, to make teaching and learning work—teachers must develop an alternative approach to instructional planning beyond “covering the text” or “creating activities that students will like.”

This is one of Tomlinson’s earlier publications on differentiated instructions and shows why she is now a recognized expert in this field. This article is a very readable discussion of the basic concepts with examples, both good and bad, from school settings.

Lee Rutledge, in Differentiated Instruction, includes these bullets on what differentiated instruction is:

In DI, the teacher assumes that students have differing needs.

Is more qualitative than quantitative

Is rooted in assessment

Provides multiple approaches to content, process, and product

Is student centered

Is a blend of whole-class, group, and individual instruction

Is dynamic

From Teach-nology.com:

Related research areas:

1) Brain-based Research

2) Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences

3) Authentic Assessment

The Internet has changed the way people think, the relationship between generations, and the availability of instruction. However, it is the learning that matters.

… it is the learning that matters.

As Ruth Colvin Clark and others have found, the interaction with modern technology presents challenges to student cognitive load that must be considered when designing effective online courses. David Jonassen and others have found that technology enables a different type of social constructivism than might be found in a face-to-face classroom.

But in the end, just as in the traditional classroom, it is the quality of the relationships among the professor, the content, and the student which affects learning. As in the on-ground class, the professor presence establishes the atmosphere in which the learner may interact with the content and other learners.

The intent of this short clip is to give an illustration using real people - myself, my daughter, and my granddaughters.  The clip refers to the Myers Briggs Personalty Type Indicator and to the  Oblingers’ information on Educating the Net Generation.

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