Revised September 2007

Course description: This course is designed to enable teachers to migrate their courses in part or in whole to a Moodle-based online environment. The primary focus of the course is the development of online pedagogies that teachers can apply in order to answer the essential question, "What can we achieve online that we cannot achieve as well or as fully in a more traditional face-to-face environment?" To respond to that question, participating teachers will study, discuss and apply proven online pedagogies designed to improve individualized attention, to provide intensive collaborative learning approaches, to provide additional opportunities for teachers to mentor their students, and to provide better opportunities for school-home communication.

Overview: Participating teachers will integrate these pedagogies within the context of improving student achievement in ways equal to or greater than those of face-to-face courses of the same title. This course can be completely online (asynchronous - no on-site class meetings) or blended/hybrid (mix of in-class and online) depending on local needs. Either way, a major component of this course includes highly interactive online discussions emphasizing the relationship between student achievement and collaborative learning. Through participation in this course, teachers will develop their own course site on Moodle. (See Student Assessment section at the end of this syllabus.)

Instructor: Romeo Marquis is the developer of this graduate level course and is its instructor. He is a former teacher, principal and associate dean for academic technology and distance education. He continues to teach in three graduate programs for teachers and administrators at Framingham State College - Curriculum & Instructional Technology, Educational Leadership, and TASO (Teachers in American Schools Overseas). He is a Board member of Massachusetts Computer Using Educators (MassCUE) and a member of the Academic Program Committee of Massachusetts Colleges Online (MCO). He partners with Learning Networks (Portland, ME) and The Education Cooperative (Dedham, MA).

Individualized support
Email
508-395-0090
Skype (romeomarquis)
Elluminate
 

Texts: There is no required textbook for this course. All materials will be posted in the Moodle course site. Before the course begins, please read The Promise of Online Learning in Elementary and Secondary Schools.

Course
objectives
 

1.   Participating teachers will demonstrate understanding of the advantages of online learning for their students.

2.   Participating teachers will prepare dynamic course content including a detailed syllabus with links to relevant Web sites for students and their parents.

3.   Participating teachers will prepare online surveys to measure student interests and attitudes and online quizzes and tests for their students' self-assessment and preparation for major examinations and other forms of authentic assessment.

4.   Participating teachers will search for and find various media relevant to their own teaching areas.

5.   Participating teachers will prepare online opportunities for student interactivity designed to improve student achievement through content engagement. Tools will include threaded discussion board forums and secure online chat.

6.   In order to successfully achieve these objectives, participating teachers will develop a course site of their own within which there will be examples of all of the above.

Course
outline
 

Module 1: Why online? The ongoing migration to an online environment began several years ago and continues to expand at exponential rates. While the initial thrust was in higher education, elementary and secondary schools are now adapting to this environment at a rapid pace. During this module, participating teachers will answer the essential question, "What can we achieve online that we cannot achieve as well or as fully in a more traditional face-to-face environment?" They will answer this question through assigned readings and through threaded online discussions. They will combine their thoughts with those of their colleagues in order to develop specific objectives for the online course that they plan to develop.

  • Instructor's notes to be supplied

  • Guide to Online High School Courses (NEA)

  • Week 1: Developing an online learning community; answering the essential question

  • Week 2: Developing and sharing your preliminary plan for your online course site; creating your initial course site in Moodle; configuring your course site
     

Module 2: Developing a dynamic syllabus. An effective syllabus is much more than a course outline. It is a summary including a course description, instructor background, course objectives, description of text (if required), outline of major topics, and student assessment procedures. In a K-12 environment, the syllabus should also include a brief section for parents - how to contact the teacher and other relevant information. The syllabus becomes a contract of sorts between instructor and students. In a traditional environment, the syllabus is a rather static document. In an online environment, however, the syllabus is a dynamic document that includes links to related topics. In this module, participating teachers will develop a dynamic syllabus for the online course that they are preparing. They will complete this assignment with the benefit of assigned readings coupled with interactive online discussions allowing for collaborative learning.

At the conclusion of Module 2, a conference with the instructor will be required. This conference will be conducted online as you and your instructor “walk” through your course site as it exists to date. Together you will review your original focus paper from Module 1 and your syllabus as posted in your course site. Detailed procedures for this conference will be available in the course site.

Module 3: Adding dynamic course content. Without content there is no course. On the other hand, simply uploading "stuff" to a course site is often referred to as "shovelware" in online circles. The opposite, of course, includes a content overview supplied by the teacher in a thoughtful manner. For example, if I were a high school chemistry teacher, as I was many years ago, "shovelware" would mean that I would simply list the assigned chapter or pages being studied. On the other hand, it would be much better if I prepared a brief overview of the assigned readings and described what we will be doing in class. This involves some thoughtful writing, of course, resulting in a dynamic overview that takes the student far beyond the limitations of a traditional textbook - by way of links to Web sites that I would have selected very carefully. Why would I do this? Because as a teacher I recognize that students have different learning styles and that as a teacher I must help them interpret course content that is presented by way of a textbook that is definitely not "one size fits all." Your own well prepared overview of how course content fits within the context of a well developed online course is very important to your students' content mastery. Teacher prepared content can also be in the form of MP3 files or even video clips.

Go back to the top of your own course site. To what extent does your online course site begin to answer our essential question, “What can we accomplish online that we cannot accomplish as well or as fully in a more traditional setting? Here is another essential question: In what ways can your online course site help you make better use of the time that you have in class with your students?

Module 4: Online content engagement. Collaborative learning works! Yet many teachers have experienced the frustration of trying to conduct a productive classroom discussion. Several students willingly participate. Others sit back and listen although we know from research and practice that actively engaging the content through participation is far more effective than simply listening. Once the discussion has ended, how much do students actually take away with them for further study? Were they able to take notes? Even if the teacher makes use of small groups, how much time is actually available to analyze the discussion in each group? In an online environment like Moodle, these barriers disappear if the teacher knows how to organize and lead a highly interactive discussion board forum to actively engage course content. When this happens, all students participate. Students who are reticent in class often flourish online; they don't feel intimidated by more confident and verbose classmates. The discussion need not be limited to classroom time; out-of-class participation is content-focused. The forum can include all students or can be organized into smaller groups. At the end of the forum, all students have a written transcript of the discussion including the teacher's direction and comments. What great study notes! The key is for the teacher to understand and apply the critical thinking concepts studied on Module 3.

  • Instructor's notes to be supplied

  • Same reading assignments as Module 3. Note, however, the critical thinking articles and how these apply to the design of effective online discussion forums. In this module you have an excellent opportunity ti give serious consideration to redesigning homework.

  • Week 10: Understanding the different levels of learning and retention; developing online tools for content engagement

  • Week 11: Preparing discussion forums and assignments to reflect course content

At the conclusion of Module 4, a second conference with the instructor will be required. This conference will be conducted online as you and your instructor “walk” through your course site as it exists to date. Together you will review your original focus paper from Module 1, your syllabus as posted in your course site, and the discussion forum and assignments that you have developed to date. Detailed procedures for this conference will be available in the course site.

Module 5: Advanced tools. Sometimes we can get so completely caught up with the bells and whistles of technology that we can easily lose track of what constitutes effective teaching and learning. So far in this course we have studied enough tools to create extremely challenging learning opportunities for students. Keep in mind that, although many additional tools are available, it is unwise to use them simply because they are available. Once you study the information below you can decide to skip this module or to integrate some of its tools into your online course site. If you decide to skip this module, then keep in mind that you should continue to develop your course site as an extension of Modules 3 (content) and 4 (content engagement).

This is an extremely important choice for you to make. It must be made in consultation with the instructor. Either way, the intent is for you to work one-on-one with the instructor to develop your own course site in a manner that will make it most effective for your students.

So far this course has focused on fundamental online tools and processes that enable you to answer the essential question that I posed earlier, “What can we accomplish online that we cannot accomplish as well or as fully in a more traditional classroom?” You can put together a truly excellent online course site with only the tools and processes that we’ve explored so far. The basic elements of an effective online course are:

·         a dynamic syllabus (Module 2)

·         dynamic course content (Module 3) and

·         effectively designed discussion forums and assignments that encourage and demand critical thinking and collaborative learning (Module 4)

There is every reason to believe that you can develop an extremely productive and effective online course site using only the tools that we have used so far. One of my personal and professional goals in this course has been to model the essentials within the context of effective pedagogy supported by Moodle. However, you have perhaps come to the correct assumption that Moodle includes additional online tools that allow you to enhance and strengthen your course site. True!

So! If you choose to integrate some or all of the tools described in this module, go right ahead. Experiment and play with these tools until you get the hang of them. But do so not just because they are available but because you will integrate them in a pedagogically sound manner. To find these tools, go to your course site and click on “Turn editing on.” As you already know, that will produce two pulldown menus, one for resources and the other for activities.

In addition to Moodle's tools, you might also want to do some experimenting with audio files and even with video files. You can produce these if you have the tools. I can point you to some free and low cost production tools that are easy to use and very sound from an educational perspective. If you don't want to produce your own audio and video files, you can conduct searches for them. Many of them are royalty free and can easily be integrated into your Moodle course site.

  • Preparing an individual work plan for the remainder of this course

  • Meeting the production goals established with the instructor

Module 6: Welcoming your students. Depending upon your location and upon specific local policies and procedures, we will develop a specific approach to welcoming your students into your online course site.
 

  • Follow-up support is available to you for the remainder of the academic year.

 

Assessment of
participating teachers
 

  • 30% online discussions reflecting understanding and application of assignments. These discussions are held in a threaded discussion board. Participants are required to submit an initial entry for each assigned topic and then respond to their colleagues within the discussion forum. Entries are evaluated on the extent to which they reflect the subject matter or each module and the extent to which they reflect critical thinking. Letter grades are given in each required forum.
     

  • 30% preparation of assigned materials in some of the modules. These assignments must reflect the intent of the assigned modules (preparation of syllabus, course materials, etc.) and must show evidence of critical thinking. Letter grades are given to each assignment.
     

  • 40% final product: an online course site ready for student enrollees.