Almost done! Drexel U Masters in Education, Distance Learning

This re-post is more convoluted. Sorry.
Originally posted here.

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Drexel University, almost graduating.
Also, an article making the case for deeper learning in online courses

Jan 7, 2009
Current mood: Adventurous

...Moving on, school just started up again at Drexel University. I am in the e-Learning program getting my master in the science of instruction, training to be a high school physics teacher. I have learned so much, and I'm almost done with the program! I do my student teaching in March 2009, and get my master in June 2009. I am also certifying as a teacher (no brainer) but on top of that, I am also certifying as an Instructional Technology Specialist. Basically I could design distance learning courses for students and/or professional development courses for teachers. It has made me more aware of many of the new technologies that can be used for instruction and promote higher-thinking skills. It is great! What a good investment.

I was reading some posts of fellow students and I found out that incoming Freshman at Drexel's School of Education get FREE IPOD TOUCHES! I want one! I was searching websites to see if I was eligible to receive one and it doesn't look like I am. I wasn't an incoming Freshman, I came in as a grad student. I want one because this same student who was telling me about his also is teaching now and uses it in the classroom with his SmartBoard and Wi-Fi and I said, "How cool is that?" I didn't realize you could use it to control presentations on a SmartBoard, etc. Smart phones and ipod touches can do the coolest things when you really decide to learn of their capabilities and "open 'er up," if you know what I mean.

Speaking of the usefulness of a Drexel education, I came across this article during my ipod touch hunt, and it sums up why a distance learning education can be great! I got the article from e-Insights. So if you think I'm just goofing off in my e-Learning education, think again. But it's not all work, I really like the format and a lot of my learning is FUN! I get to research things I wanted to know more about anyway, like handhelds (SmartPhones and PalmPilots) in education, SmartBoards and interactive white boards, how to make educational Podcasts, and of course, we learn all the up-to-date teaching methods like Teaching for Understanding, Understanding by Design, Direct Instruction, and many others. I've also learned about the Constructivist Learning Theory of Teaching and Instruction, assessing school's technology programs with the STaR Chart, as well as the ISTE NETS standards for Web 2.0 learning for students, teachers, and administrators. Anyway, there are a lot of good resources out there. And I'm not going to school at a degree mill, thank you very much. I did my research, I was just as wary of signing up at a program that was nothing more than a paper mill. Okay, rant over. Here's the article.

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Study Shows Online Courses Require Deeper Learning Approaches
December 08, 2008

Think that online learning is less engaging or not as challenging as face-to-face? Think again. A recent survey conducted by The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) found that online learners reported deeper approaches to learning than traditional classroom-based learners. The survey explored experiences of online learners who said that their courses required deeper approaches to learning.
The NSSE, conducted by Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, surveyed nearly 380,000 freshman and seniors at 722 four-year schools nationwide. The report shows that 37% of freshman learning online and 45% of seniors said they often participated in course activities that challenged them intellectually compared to only 24% of traditional classroom-based freshman and seniors. And 58% of online learners reported using higher-order thinking in their coursework compared to 55% of classroom-based learners.

The majority of online degree students are adult learners, who typically seek a higher and more substantive dialog with their instructor, because of this online instructors tend not to take engagement for granted and as a result have to structure assignments that help students to stay more connected. For example, Missy Harvey, an online instructor for The iSchool at Drexel, says she uses weekly discussion boards and project-related boards, and shares her own experiences to keep students engaged.
Here are some tips to keeping online students engaged:

-Meet early and regularly with your department's instructional designer, ideally 6-8 weeks before the start of the course.

-Foster high interaction with and among online students.

-Seek to organize your online course in a highly structured manner, where each week/unit is clearly identified, and the required content (text, audio, video) and assignments are easy to locate.

-Build a community among your students by, for example, having them post their picture, a brief bio, and by having a synchronous participatory kickoff session at the beginning of the course.

-Review and utilize your end-of-course evaluation. The best suggestions I've received (vis-à-vis, improving my online courses) have come from my students.

For more tips contact me at kenhartman@drexel.edu or to read more about this survey go to: National Survey of Student Engagement
Posted by Kenneth Hartman on December 08, 2008 at 02:55 PM in In the News