It's all about engagement and how this can be fostered in online learning. I touched upon this in my last post when I discuss the Community of Inquiry model Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000) and how each of the elements of this model contribute towards the final educational experience.
Through the interaction created during the instructional design you ultimately have a goal, which is to engage the group in discourse and then I thought about one of frameworks we discussed " The Phases of Engagement " framework Conrad, R., and Donaldson, J. (2011). How could this framework have been a reference point for my instructional design? Although interaction is a thread that runs through many learning theories, contructivism considers it central to learning. According to Smith and Ragan, ( 1999, p 15) the key assumptions are the following:
- Knowledge is constructed from experience
- Learning results from a personal interpretation of knowledge
- Learning is an active process in which meaning is developed on the basis of experience
- Learning is collaborative with meaning negotiated from multiple perspectives.
One of the goals that I have when designing online learning is to ensure a high degree of interactivity and participation a view equally shared by Kearsley (2000) I attempt to design activities that result in engagement with the subject matter and the fellow students. Active versus passive. Is an passive knowledge absorber going to benefit from online learning designed to created engagement with others and the discourse? Online Learning tends to appeal to the Active learners, who I believe take on the responsibility for constructing and managing their own learning experience. It's all about learning centered environments, where the instructor, myself takes on the role of generating resources and leading discussion shifts to the learners.
I took another look at the each of the 4 phases that make up the phases of engagement and tried to associate the phases to elements of my instructional design. I could certainly see links with at least the first three phases
Phases of Engagement Model
Phases of Engagement Model
How? Stage one was achieved during the first guest speaker session with housekeeping, interaction and small talk encouraged during the pre-session period. Whilst I was working as a Online Event Consultant I would use the opportunity at the beginning of an event and trying for the presenters and audience, depending on size to introduce themselves to each other and this was achieved with larger audiences, by asking them to chat their name and where they were logging from. Looking at Phase 2 Questions posed during the session request some kind of opinion on the topic in question and clearly a sharing of ideas. Finally the guest speaker sessions allowed for the instructor, me to provide activities that need small groups to collaborate and reflect. This model has had a much greater influence on the design of the second guest speaker session a recording of which will be shared in one of my later posts.
Resources:
Resources:
- Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education 2(2-3), 87-105. - PDF Full text
- Kearsley, G.(2000) Online Education: Learning and teaching in Cyberspace. Belmount CA,: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
- Phases of Engagement Model - Phases of Engagement. 2012. Phases of Engagement Model Phases of Engagement. [ONLINE] Available at: http://phases.wetpaint.com/page/Phases+of+Engagement+Model. [Accessed 29 March 2012].
- Smith,P.L., & Ragan, T.J. (1999). Instructional design (2nd ed.). Uppersaddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
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