Instructional Strategy and Collaboration
I often get a blank look when I ask faculty or other designers, “What is your instructional strategy?” I use the term Instructional Strategy to “describe the process of sequencing and organizing content, specifying learning activities, and deciding how to deliver the content and activities.”( Dick and Carey, 2005, 1978 ) And by instructional strategy, I don’t mean individual strategies such as mentioned in Stravredes Chapters 7 through the rest of the book, or the steps and processes for organizing an online course. Although debates or problem-based learning activities are very valid instructional strategies, once you have done your analysis, written outcomes or objectives and assessments, now what is your overall strategy for sequencing, delivery method, and activities? The methods are plentiful - all good in themselves, but how do you decide if they fit with the learner, the goal of the course, the type of learning, the environment? I believe that just as objectives and assessments have to align, so does an instructional strategy. And if you analyze that alignment before selecting, you will be able to quickly choose the most effective strategies. For example, if your audience is college first-year students who are required to take the course and a majority are disadvantaged students who may not have as much access to technology or experience using it, would a hybrid course work better than an online course? What techniques will you use to create community? What instructional strategies will you use to scaffold students with lower skills while keeping more advanced students engaged? Which strategies align with the type of learning that needs to take place? Taking the time to answer these and similar questions can narrow the field of options to a set of effective methods that become your overall instructional strategy.
I also think this relates to creating community and opportunities for learner interaction which is especially critical for less advanced students. Workman and Stenard (1996) identified the “need to develop interpersonal relationships with peers as a significant influence on persistence of online learners.”(Stravredes, p747) Stravredes Chapter 12 talks about how collaborative learning strategies build higher-order thinking because they can share perspectives and challenge others.They emphasize well-structured discussion that evokes the application, synthesis, and evaluation levels and interests of the learners.
I found the Hsu, Ching and Grabowski article informative because web tools afford collaboration in online learning and should be part of an instructional strategy: “While Web 2.0 applications can support individual learning, the potential and value of these applications lie in the way they allow learners to collaborate with each other.“ (p 747) When applying these tools in a situated learning context, the benefit can increase. Not only is there knowledge-building collaboration, but “situated cognition emphasizes learning and practices in authentic and meaningful contexts” (Brown et al., 1989 ; Greeno & the Middle School Mathematics Through Applications Project Group, 1998 ; Lave, 1988) (p. 748). The VoiceThread assignment fulfilled situated cognition by allowing us to choose a tool that we were interested in, used, or would like to use. That inspired me to become even better with a tool I have used, Quizlet, in order to be able to explain to the cohort.
Taking this to the level of the learning management system itself, since I work with an LMS everyday, i agreed that the technology needs to allow for collaboration, sharing of artifacts and information, and flexibility in format, although I still see this as a major issue in most systems. The functionality is often constrained by the vendor’s business model, and a desire for user friendliness. The table of web tools and their applications was very useful and provides a way of ferreting through the sheer number of tools. Regardless of the tool however, the key is a good instructional strategy that allows for collaboration and situated learning.
References
Dick, Walter, Lou Carey, and James O. Carey. 2005, 1978. The Systematic Design of Instruction (6th ed.). Allyn & Bacon.
Stravredes, R. 2011. Effective online teaching. Jossey Bass. San Francisco, CA.l
Hsu, Y., Ching, Y.; Grabowski, B.L. 2014. Web 2.0 applications and practices for learning through collaboration.
I also think this relates to creating community and opportunities for learner interaction which is especially critical for less advanced students. Workman and Stenard (1996) identified the “need to develop interpersonal relationships with peers as a significant influence on persistence of online learners.”(Stravredes, p747) Stravredes Chapter 12 talks about how collaborative learning strategies build higher-order thinking because they can share perspectives and challenge others.They emphasize well-structured discussion that evokes the application, synthesis, and evaluation levels and interests of the learners.
I found the Hsu, Ching and Grabowski article informative because web tools afford collaboration in online learning and should be part of an instructional strategy: “While Web 2.0 applications can support individual learning, the potential and value of these applications lie in the way they allow learners to collaborate with each other.“ (p 747) When applying these tools in a situated learning context, the benefit can increase. Not only is there knowledge-building collaboration, but “situated cognition emphasizes learning and practices in authentic and meaningful contexts” (Brown et al., 1989 ; Greeno & the Middle School Mathematics Through Applications Project Group, 1998 ; Lave, 1988) (p. 748). The VoiceThread assignment fulfilled situated cognition by allowing us to choose a tool that we were interested in, used, or would like to use. That inspired me to become even better with a tool I have used, Quizlet, in order to be able to explain to the cohort.
Taking this to the level of the learning management system itself, since I work with an LMS everyday, i agreed that the technology needs to allow for collaboration, sharing of artifacts and information, and flexibility in format, although I still see this as a major issue in most systems. The functionality is often constrained by the vendor’s business model, and a desire for user friendliness. The table of web tools and their applications was very useful and provides a way of ferreting through the sheer number of tools. Regardless of the tool however, the key is a good instructional strategy that allows for collaboration and situated learning.
References
Dick, Walter, Lou Carey, and James O. Carey. 2005, 1978. The Systematic Design of Instruction (6th ed.). Allyn & Bacon.
Stravredes, R. 2011. Effective online teaching. Jossey Bass. San Francisco, CA.l
Hsu, Y., Ching, Y.; Grabowski, B.L. 2014. Web 2.0 applications and practices for learning through collaboration.
RSS Feed