OK, I'm being kind, since this doesn't really rise to the level of mediocrity. I should give one caveat, though, since I'm working from a short news story not, yet, from the research report itself.
Anyway, a new study purports to show that taking a course online by watching videos of lectures ressults in slightly worse outcomes, especially for certain groups, than does live lectures. Here's the news report. It includes a link to the report, although it is not clear to me yet whether it has been peer-reviewed (by the right peers): http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Video-Lectures-May-Slightly/24963/
Why is this bad research? First, because it is asking a question that we shouldn't even be asking. We have decades of research of this sort--comparing video to "live" and similar things. The only reason that the live might have come out better is because something more than lecture took place in the live version of the course. Mor important, why does anyone ---- anywone ---- think that recording lectures and putting them online should or would be considered good online teaching? Why are lectures seen as good teaching in f2f classes? Lectures are good for a few very specific kinds of purposes that do not include being the primary teaching strategy for an entire course.
We need to change how we approach research in online learning. The issue isn't the medium that we use (lecture v. recorded lecture, for Pete's sake). The issue is what we do with the time that students spend on a course. Most notably, do they sit and watch a person talking or a person talking on their TVs? Or are they engaged in understanding concepts, practicing skills, and other important things. This research just doesn't ask a very interesting question: Mediocre teaching compared to mediocre teaching. Let's compare different teaching strategies. Let's find out which can be implemented online and which should be done best f2f. Let's start to understand how we can make the best use of classroom time as well as the things that can be done most effectively onlien. And, since Internet-based teaching is reaching down from the college and adult levels into P-12, let's look at how the strategies differ at different ages.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Time and the Internet
I have noticed that some of the students in the class have noted the time constraints that they might be under. I do not dispute that, and I often feel exactly the same way. I am reminded of a couple of things that I have seen/read recently, though, and I think those things may be relevant to the course.
First is a video of Clay Shirky, who writes on topics of the Internet, new media, and others. Recently, he has been talking about the "cognitive surplus," by which he means the extra free time that has been created by our prosperity and the various time-saving things it has produced. A student sent me this video from a couple of years ago:
Among the tings he talks about the issue of "where do we find the time for that."
The other thing that I am reminded of is a a small book for professors (especially in psychology but it applies to most of us) on "How to Write a Lot." The usual excuse given for not writing is that we "can't find the time." The author reminds us that it is not a matter of searching for time, it is a matter of allotting time to what we really think is important.
Hmmm, maybe not directly about this course, but still....
First is a video of Clay Shirky, who writes on topics of the Internet, new media, and others. Recently, he has been talking about the "cognitive surplus," by which he means the extra free time that has been created by our prosperity and the various time-saving things it has produced. A student sent me this video from a couple of years ago:
Among the tings he talks about the issue of "where do we find the time for that."
The other thing that I am reminded of is a a small book for professors (especially in psychology but it applies to most of us) on "How to Write a Lot." The usual excuse given for not writing is that we "can't find the time." The author reminds us that it is not a matter of searching for time, it is a matter of allotting time to what we really think is important.
Hmmm, maybe not directly about this course, but still....
Friday, June 18, 2010
New Semester, New Try at Regular Blogging!
I set up this blog because I thought it was only fair that if the students in Instructional Applications of the Internet were expected to blog regularly, then probably the professor should, too. Then, of course, I only actually used it for half the semester, at most.
Time to try again.
The idea here is to reflect on the course and comment on new ideas in using the Internet in instruction. So, let's see: This summer's course is off to a good start, I think. It is much smaller than in Spring, in two senses. First, there are half the number of students--11 rather than 22. Second, it is only five weeks long rather than 15/16 weeks. I usually have this course be a Summer II course, which is 7 or 8 weeks. I think what happened was that I wanted to do only two courses at a time, so I made Instructional Design Summer II but made this one Summer I so that it did not overlap with Learning Theories in Summer III.
Anyway, the initial reactions are probably intensified in a five week session. Yes, it seems pretty chaotic right at first. Everyone is trying to set up accounts in different places, usually learning some new technologies, and trying to figure out what to work on when. And yes it may seem overwhelming.
But all this is kind of how things work these days. We really can't spend just a few days on blogging and expect to "get it." Blogging has to take place over a period of time, and five weeks is about the minimum for that. Similarly with working together on a wiki: it is done best over a period of time. As are discussion groups and other social aspects of the course.
That's why these are all things that we try to get started quickly. Then we work on them sort of "in the background" the rest of the semester, while doing more traditional kinds of projects such as WebQuests, podcasts, websites.
Time to try again.
The idea here is to reflect on the course and comment on new ideas in using the Internet in instruction. So, let's see: This summer's course is off to a good start, I think. It is much smaller than in Spring, in two senses. First, there are half the number of students--11 rather than 22. Second, it is only five weeks long rather than 15/16 weeks. I usually have this course be a Summer II course, which is 7 or 8 weeks. I think what happened was that I wanted to do only two courses at a time, so I made Instructional Design Summer II but made this one Summer I so that it did not overlap with Learning Theories in Summer III.
Anyway, the initial reactions are probably intensified in a five week session. Yes, it seems pretty chaotic right at first. Everyone is trying to set up accounts in different places, usually learning some new technologies, and trying to figure out what to work on when. And yes it may seem overwhelming.
But all this is kind of how things work these days. We really can't spend just a few days on blogging and expect to "get it." Blogging has to take place over a period of time, and five weeks is about the minimum for that. Similarly with working together on a wiki: it is done best over a period of time. As are discussion groups and other social aspects of the course.
That's why these are all things that we try to get started quickly. Then we work on them sort of "in the background" the rest of the semester, while doing more traditional kinds of projects such as WebQuests, podcasts, websites.
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