What Role do Lectures Play in Online Courses?

In an online course, lectures alone should not be the norm for a multitude of reasons. When we think about our audience of learners, we have to think about how they learn best, not how we would like to teach. Since I work at the elementary level, most classrooms have moved away from lectures even in face to face courses. Students need to be engaged in the learning as much as possible. So if there are lectures, they should be short and interactive in order for students to be able to pay attention for the amount of time and to be able to apply what they have learned. According to McKeachie and Svinicki (2006) as cited in Teaching in a Digital Age by Bates (2015), they believe that lecturing is best used for summarizing material found in a variety of sources, adapting materials based on the audience, as an introduction to new ideas, or to model expert thinking. Another point to bring up is that if students can access the learning themselves, they should be. Vital pieces of information are lost when transferred to a lecture, which could also contain bias. One of the benefits of being in an online course is also to be able to access the learning when it is convenient. I have enjoyed in our courses at Lamar how that we can watch the lecture around our own schedule since all of us work full time and most of us have families, it allows me to learn when it is the best environment at home for me to learn.
In regards to learning by apprenticeship, I think it is a great model and reminds me of my student teaching. Even though there are some downfalls, as mentioned by Bates (2015), overall it at least gives the learner a real context for all of their learning from theory. I don't know that this could be done well in an online environment at least in a trades field. My course does have the learners doing the work on their own campuses, but it doesn't require any machinery or any materials. I think that would be harder to replicate and really feel comfortable in their ability to do the work. It's like if a doctor got their degree without every actually being trained in person or going through clinicals and skills labs. I wouldn't trust that doctor to have the deep learning that the other doctors who studied in person would have.
The experiential learning in my course will be instructional coaches taking teachers through the Impact Cycle, which is a specific structure to grow teachers in something that they care about. It will be a self paced course set up in modules based on distinct parts of the cycle. The assignments will be to submit a video of them coaching or a video of reflection about that portion of the coaching cycle. They will then give and get feedback from their peers. The course will include a reflection portion for each module so that they can remember what they want to do differently in their next Impact Cycle so it gets better and better every time. These instructional coaches will also have mentor coaches to reach out to along the way with questions and to problem solve with, including me as a resource.

References:
Bates, A.W. (2015) Teaching in a Digital Age: Guidelines for designing teaching and learning (Chapters 3-4). Retrieved from
https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/

McKeachie, W. and Svinicki, M. (2006) McKeachie’s Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research and Theory for College and University Teachers Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin

Creating an Online Course

My learners within my course will be new instructional coaches that have started this year for my district. My teaching style is really to be a facilitator to the learning that is happening. I am a big believer in the power of timely, specific feedback. I think that the person doing the talking/typing/reading/watching is the one doing the learning. There should be much more student talk than teacher talk as knowledge builds and connections are made. I have done many professional development sessions and partnering with teachers and instructional coaches through virtual instruction. I also filled in at the beginning of the year for just the first week as we hired a 2nd grade teacher. My experience with the content is extensive as I have read the book, been to at least 6 trainings from the instructional coaching group on this book, and I have taken several teachers through the Impact Cycle both face to face and virtually. I am very comfortable with the technology I will be using, as we are a Google district. I will be using Google Classroom since it will be the most accessible to the coaches.

When it comes to the four learning theories according to Bates (2015) and my online course, here is how I see them fitting in with my online course development.
Behaviorism- Information will be presented in an organized way to the audience of my course. Feedback given to the instructional coaches who will be taking my course, will really help them to know if they are on the right track and will help them to adjust how they are completing assignments. I do not, however, feel as though this course can be black and white, or have one right answer. These instructional coaches will be using this class to create and analyze teacher goals based on data provided.
Cognitivism- This theory will really go well with my course as it will really progress through lower level learning about the Impact Cycle for instructional coaches and into them applying what they have learned by watching someone go through the Impact Cycle and determine how to use the tools, then actually taking a teacher through one themselves where they will analyze data and evaluate the effectiveness of the coaching cycle success. I also feel that the aspect of learning how to learn goes well with online courses since there is not a teacher present at all times. The learner really has to be self-directed and know a lot about themselves as a learner in order to be most successful.
Connectivism- This one was tricky for me. Since my course will be for instructional coaches who are learning about the Impact Cycle, which is a type of coaching cycle where they partner with teachers with job-embedded professional learning through looking at data and student outcomes, I feel like this one does go with my course specifically. It does bring together coaches and teachers where that new knowledge that is acquired daily throughout the cycle really does determine what is learned and how it is learned, at the decision of the teacher. Connections will need to be made between the data, the content, and delivery in the strategy. There are many variables that are dependent on student knowledge levels, teacher delivery and consistency, coaching ability, and choosing the right strategy to implement change. This happens outside of the online component though. It will happen when they go apply the learning at the end of the course.
Constructivism- This theory will be embedded within my online course within the discussion board where instructional coaches will build their own knowledge off of each other's thinking as they analyze a coaching cycle together before they go off on their own. As they partner with a teacher to start their own Impact Cycle, they will also merge their thinking with that of the classroom teacher and it will build as they try out new strategies with students.

References:

Bates, A.W. (2015) Teaching in a Digital Age: Guidelines for designing teaching and learning (Chapters 1 & 2). Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/

How I Will Continue Using my ePortfolio as a Digital Leader

I have many ideas that I would like to implement with my ePortfolio in my new position as an elementary math coordinator. One of them is to write blog posts and send them out via my Twitter feed. This will be a great way to promote learning about upcoming clusters of learning. I can use the timing to push out more conceptual understanding and progressions of math skills leading the skills about to be taught. 

Another way I plan to use my ePortfolio is as a means to promote best practice and give ideas to district teachers about engaging ways to teach number sense, problem solving, and mini lesson structures. 

I have already used it as a means to showcase myself as a leader in order to help me get my new position within my district. As teachers in my district try to progress and meet new professional goals, I will show them how to showcase the things they have done in order to achieve their goals and truly reflect to grow. 

I look forward to having this as a tool at my fingertips. I'm sure many more ideas will present themselves as I learn my new role entirely.

To find my learning throughout my ePortfolio I have linked the main points from the rubric here:

Learning Manifesto ( including issues related to digital learning) and Growth Mindset- 

https://sites.google.com/friscoisd.org/danifryeportfolio5302/learning-manifesto-and-growth-mindset

Professional Learning Communities- 

https://sites.google.com/friscoisd.org/danifryeportfolio5302/resources-for-learning

What Makes an ePortfolio Great?

 After looking through so many ePortfolios today and over the last several weeks, I noticed that there were many that caught my eye and really hooked me in from the first moment. Most of that was set up of the ePortfolio and how aesthetically pleasing it was to the eye. I also noticed that the ones that posted their blog on the first page were very good writers. You could hear their voice through their writing and the passion they felt for the topics they were writing about. If there was too much text though, it was easy to get lost in it and quickly lose interest. 

When I looked at the ePortfolio for Dr. Harapnuik's son, I definitely noticed first how professional the photography was compared to other pictures I had seen on other ePortfolios. They really drew me in, and you could tell that he is an expert in the field by the content that was presented and how it was presented. 

I follow some of the people presented on Twitter already, so I was excited to see their sites and see what else they have to offer. This was reaffirming of how powerful that Twitter can even be as an avenue to get an audience for an ePortfolio as well. 

I have redone mine several times to hold different information, different color schemes, different themes, etc. At first I felt it was very juvenile in appearance, and I just couldn't figure out how to adjust it to be what I was looking for. So after looking through some ePortfolios from some people in my district, who still use theirs within their professional life, I found a way to start to reach what I was looking for in my own site. It is still very much a work in progress, but I love the way it is coming along. 

My Reflections on CSLE + COVA

 As I was reading this weekend about CSLE and COVA (Harapnuik et al., 2018), I feel like these terms make it sound a lot easier than it really is, but also these should be the focus of every educator. CSLE stands for Creating a Significant Learning Environment and COVA stands for Choice, Ownership, and Voice through Authentic Learning. The reading this week focused a lot on taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture. We want students to be learners and not just the producers of a cookie cutter product. Sometimes we get so stuck in the day to day as educators, we forget that if we zoom out, our job is substantial and changes the lives and trajectories of the students we serve. If we can step back, and teach students how to learn, the possibilities for them are endless. If teachers can create learning opportunities where students can own their own learning and really figure out how to learn and create products that really demonstrate their knowledge, that is where the dynamics of a classroom change and become the most effective. Teachers need to be facilitators of student learning instead of directing it. I have loved seeing my district shift its focus over the years to really setting the stage for this kind of learning to happen within our district at all levels. 

Harapnuik, D., Thibodeaux, T., & Cummings, C. (2018). Cova- Choice, Ownership, and Voice through Authentic Learning. Creative Commons License.

Check Out This Great FREE Resource for Instructional Coaches!

 If you are an instructional coach, administrator, or in the position to coach others in any capacity, you need to read this magazine. It is so timely for how to navigate this time in a pandemic with overwhelmed teachers and how to partner with them through this time. 

https://www.flipsnack.com/R13Coach/r13-coach-november-2020.html

There are countless nuggets of information from Steve Barkley's blog post about how to turn a gripe into a goal, how to be a balanced coach, how to support overwhelmed teachers in this time, and how to build trust.

You won't be disappointed by the time you spend reading it. 

How do we get students to "own" the work?

This week in my Masters class, the question was, "Who Owns the ePortfolio?" We read articles about who really owns the creation or learning if it is assigned work. This stirred up so many thoughts and much reflection about my experience as a learner in my last two classes. At first when this ePortfolio was just an assignment for me, I wasn't very invested. I was checking off the boxes of what was required so that I could get the grade. After I got further into the creation of it, saw more examples of how others use theirs in their professional lives, and really reflected about how I want to present information to others, I got really invested in the process. Having an open ended project and being able to make this what I want it to be makes the learning experience a bit uncomfortable and freeing at the same time. All of our ePortfolios will match each of us as individuals instead of being a cookie cutter project that isn't as useful to us. I have already changed mine completely as my thinking has evolved over the last 10 weeks. I adjusted it to showcase my work and as a digital resume when I was applying for a new job recently. Now that I am working outside of that purpose, I am turning it into a place that will work for me as a tool in my new role.

This question is not JUST speaking to me for this class though. How do we get students to "own" their work? I talk to teachers all of the time about giving students voice, choice, engaging work in order for students to own their learning. How can they own their learning if the work assigned is not meaningful for them?? How can they get invested in a worksheet or cookie cutter assignment that doesn't showcase their strengths, creativity, and critical thinking? This goes for any learning experience. As educators, we need students to be able to figure out their strengths as early as possible so they can invest in deep learning in their own element. I know as busy educators, grades really inhibit this action a lot of the time. That discussion is for another time. 

As far as having students create their own ePortfolio early on, I don't know how much I agree with giving young students their own domain to see growth. When I think about students' minds not being developed, and having the ability to put their thoughts out there for the world to see, is just not a good idea. One way that my district is helping students to create an ePortfolio safely is through the app, Seesaw. They will turn in a variety of assignments throughout the year, then choose a certain number of their favorite activities that will be saved throughout their educational career. I don't know when the appropriate age is to set kids free to start creating their digital footprint on the internet. I would hate for something that is posted early on to affect a person negatively later when they may not be mature enough to understand the impact of their words.