Effective Online Teaching for

Theological Education(EOT4TE)

R. Dale Hale, PhD

Director of Distributed Learning

Asbury Theological Seminary

Distributed Learning

in the 21st Century

Think Different!

Think Different!

Think Different!

Think Different!

Think Different!

Think Different!

Definition of Distance Education

• “…education or training courses

delivered to remote (off-campus)

location(s) via audio, video (live or

prerecorded), or computer

technologies, including both

synchronous and asynchronous

instruction.” » National Center for Education Statistics

Technologies Used in Distance Education

• The rate of growth of internet use is

currently 2 million new internet users

per month

• More than half the nation is online

• About two-thirds of the population use

computers. » (2001 U. S. Census)

WORLD INTERNET USAGE AND POPULATION STATISTICS

March 2010

World RegionsPopulation

( 2010 Est.)

Internet Users

Dec. 31, 2000

Internet Users

Latest Data

Penetration

(% Population)

Growth

2000-2010

Users %

of Table

Africa 1,013,779,050 4,514,400 110,931,700 10.9 % 2,357.3 % 5.6 %

Asia 3,834,792,852 114,304,000 825,094,396 21.5 % 621.8 % 42.0 %

Europe 813,319,511 105,096,093 475,069,448 58.4 % 352.0 % 24.2 %

Middle East 212,336,924 3,284,800 63,240,946 29.8 % 1,825.3 % 3.2 %

North America 344,124,450 108,096,800 266,224,500 77.4 % 146.3 % 13.5 %

Latin America/Caribbean 592,556,972 18,068,919 204,689,836 34.5 % 1,032.8 % 10.4 %

Oceania / Australia 34,700,201 7,620,480 21,263,990 61.3 % 179.0 % 1.1 %

WORLD TOTAL 6,845,609,960 360,985,492 1,966,514,816 28.7 % 444.8 % 100.0 %

INTERNET USAGE STATISTICS

The Internet Big Picture

World Internet Users and Population Stats

WORLD INTERNET USAGE AND POPULATION STATISTICS

March 31, 2011

World RegionsPopulation

( 2011 Est.)

Internet Users

Dec. 31, 2000

Internet Users

Latest Data

Penetration

(% Population)

Growth

2000-2011

Users %

of Table

Africa 1,037,524,058 4,514,400 118,609,620 11.4 % 2,527.4 % 5.7 %

Asia 3,879,740,877 114,304,000 922,329,554 23.8 % 706.9 % 44.0 %

Europe 816,426,346 105,096,093 476,213,935 58.3 % 353.1 % 22.7 %

Middle East 216,258,843 3,284,800 68,553,666 31.7 % 1,987.0 % 3.3 %

North America 347,394,870 108,096,800 272,066,000 78.3 % 151.7 % 13.0 %

Latin America / Carib. 597,283,165 18,068,919 215,939,400 36.2 % 1,037.4 % 10.3 %

Oceania / Australia 35,426,995 7,620,480 21,293,830 60.1 % 179.4 % 1.0 %

WORLD TOTAL 6,930,055,154 360,985,492 2,095,006,005 30.2 % 480.4 % 100.0 %

National Telecommunications

and Information Administration

ATS Access

Connection Speed Visits % visits

Cable 12,048 41.36%

DSL 7,082 24.31%

T1 6,266 21.51%

Unknown 3,539 12.15%

Dialup 189 0.65%

State of Online Learning

• In the 2006–07 academic year, 66 percent

of the 4,160 2-year and 4-year Title IV

degree-granting postsecondary institutions

in the U. S. offered college-level distance

education courses.

• The overall percentage includes 97% of

public 2-year institutions, 18% of private for-

profit 2-year institutions, 89% of public 4-

year institutions, 53% of private not-for-profit

institutions, and 70% of private for-profit 4-

year institutions.– SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for

Education Statistics. (2008). Distance Education at Degree-

Granting Postsecondary Institutions: 2006-07

• In examining the various technologies used

in distance education, Waits and Lewis

(2003) reported that 90 percent of

postsecondary education institutions made

use of asynchronous Internet instruction,

which was the most widespread media for

course delivery.

• 2010 – 2015

– Traditional Campus decline from 14.4 to

4.1 million students

– Online classes will grow at a compound

rate of 11.08% (Traditional and Online)

– Exclusively online students will grow at an

annual rate of 23.06%

– IF trend is correct, by 2018 we could see

more online than in physical classroom

Learning Theories

• Pedagogy: Study of teaching

(education, attendance on children)

• Andragogy: methods or techniques

used to teach adults

Pedagogy

• Lecture

• “Minds full of mush”

• Rote memory and

regurgitation

Androgogy

• Adults learn when they see the need

• Adults learn when they can apply the lesson

• Adults learn best when it is based on their experience

The Online Lab

What better way to educate our students

than to meet them where they are. It is

possible for an online student to receive

instruction on Thursday and put it into

practice by Sunday.

Our Guiding Concerns

• Equivalent or superior educational

experience in terms of learning

objectives

– teaching the same thing differently

– training for faculty, initial and ongoing

– syllabi review at multiple levels

– means of assessment

Our Guiding Concerns

• Theological education as (trans)formative educational experience

– the collaborative classroom (Not correspondence courses)

– students must be fully present/engaged

– discussion forums

– student responses, Virtual to Geophysical

Transformations

“Tools of our trade”

Communication patterns

Library utilization

Passive to active learners

Knowledge enablers

Local to global

Changing Teaching Tools

Typewriter to computer

Mimeograph to scan-to…

Chalkboard to PowerPoint

PowerPoint to Electronic Whiteboard

Hardware to software to web 2.0

Card catalogs to online databases

Benefits of New Tools

Access to more information

Variety

Engage multiple learning styles

Enhanced organization of materials

Anytime, anywhere, with any device

capabilities

“We’ll try anything once.”

- Joel Greenformer VP for Academic

Affairs/Provost

Gadgets or Tools?

What’s Next?

• Mobile Learning

– Mobile phone/smart phone

– “Slate” Tablets

– E-readers

– Lighter/faster computers (matching cost)

• Learner-generated content impacts

future learners

• “Access” will be overtaken by application

What’s Next?

• Virtualized world

– Multiple entry points to one “classroom”

• Open education

– “The world is my parish” – J. Wesley

• Web 2.0 diaspora?

• “To infinity and beyond” ???

– Not unwise to consider “Star Wars” tech

• Think “next generation”

Building the Course

Tweaking the Syllabus

Making your syllabus work online

Building the Syllabus

• Course Title

• Number of Credits

• Prerequisites

• Course Description

Contact Information

• Name of Professor

• Email address

• Office Phone

• Office Fax

• Office Mailing Address

• Picture of Professor

• Date of Course

• Enrollment Limitations

• Competencies to be developed by the student

• Required Textbooks

• Recommended Textbooks

• Additional Course Bibliography

• Course Requirements and Due Dates

• Means of Evaluation

– reviews

– research papers

– examinations

– interaction in classroom

• Course Schedule

Introduction

• Personal Introduction

• Important piece to online syllabus

– Students gain insight into who you are

– Sets the tone for the class

– Connect with students

– Put your own flavor into your introduction

– Passion can come out here

Break-time

Aaaaah!! Stretch. Stand up.

Breathe deeply. Flex fingers,

arms, legs. Stretch. Sit down.

What does “MOODLE” mean?

a. Sound a Swedish cow makes

b. Deep confusion (eg – “someone is be-

moodled”)

c. Mobile objects or deep learning exercises

d. Modular object-oriented dynamic learning

environment

The Grand Tour

What is in Moodle?

Profile

• Purpose of the Profile

– Introduce participants, faculty, and

staff to each other

– Builds community

• Allow participants to make connections

• Reveals the person behind the name*

Course Components

Resources and Activities

Course Information Center

• Course Related

– Course News

– Course Syllabi

– To Professor

– Course Questions

• Community Related

– Prayer Forum

– Open Forum

• Community is built here

– Consider video welcome

– Welcome the posting of prayer

concerns and praises

– Class related questions are asked

here

– Open forum = the hallway

• Video streamed introduction

– Similar to the first day of an on-

campus class

– Introduce yourself

– Introduce the course

– The challenge: Be brief! (2-3

minutes)

Resources

• Generally passive in nature – meaning

students are not required necessarily

to perform.

• Possibilities

– Web page

– Text page

– Web link: video link, other page, etc

– Uploaded file

Resource Use

• Instructions

• Written lecture

• Link to extra information

• Ideas?

Activities

Assignments, forums, quizzes,

other.

Assignments

• Assignments allow the teacher to

specify a task that requires students to

prepare digital content (any format)

and submit it by uploading it to the

server.

The Forum

Heart of the collaborative classroom

The Forum

• Threaded discussion format

– Limitless “conversation” is possible with

the threaded discussion option

– Threaded discussions allow coherent

conversation over a period of time

– Give explicit directions

• Tell your class where to post or respond

• Tell your class how many postings or

responses to make

– Example: “By Tuesday May 23, post a response of

75 words or less in the Discussion Center

explaining why it was necessary to develop the

Nicene Creed and how this affects the church

today. Then reply to two of your classmates

responses.”

Expectations

• Feedback and Interaction from you

– Continual feedback in forums, and on assignments, is VITAL to student’s success

– Respond to student posts daily - it doesn’t take much time!

• Prof.’s frequency of response correlate’s with student’s perception of “successful” class

• Lack of prof. response and posts communicates that you do not care

• Students will begin to post less then

Expectations, cont…

• Feedback and Interaction from student

– State in modules and syllabus that they are required to interact on a regular basis

• Requires you to create discussion questions and stimulate conversation in each module

• DO NOT assume this will automatically happen, it requires planning and direction

– Ask students to give you feedback on a regular basis - this works!

• Course Modules

– Course modules are the lessons for your

class

– Modules are designed within a time frame

• Professor sets the time allowed per module

(example: one module per week)

• Necessary for ExL participant’s schedules

• Keeps the entire class on task

• Items each module must include:

– Beginning and ending dates and time (ET)

– Reading assignments

– Other assignments (Papers, group projects)

– Instructions for collaboration with peers in the

Discussion Center, team folders

– Collaboration topic

– Where to send all course material (each time)

Creating An Online

Learning Environment

And

Online Etiquette

Paradigm Shift

• Professor moves from role of “lecturer”

to role of “leader” and “facilitator”

• Requires frequent online interaction in

smaller amounts of time

– On-campus class: class time = 3

hours/wk (not including office hours,

grading papers, etc…)

– Online class: interact with class once/day

or at least once every other day - time

spent will differ

• Same learning “shift” required for

students

– Frequent interaction leads to success

– Unlike some on-campus learning

environments, participation is required!

• Effective communication is the key to

success!

Online Etiquette

Learn how to communicate

effectively online

Be . . .

• Aware of communication styles

– The verbose

– The quiet

– The “lurker” – Financial Aid problems

• Vigilant for student safety

– Design a class where student’s feel welcome to participate

– Where it’s safe to ask questions and discuss

Be . . .

• A professional

– ALWAYS read your message again before

sending

– Check for spelling

• Aware of how your communication is

perceived by others

– Explicitly state your position

– Place “body language” or implied

communication in quotes (no, really!)

Be . . .

• Aware of how your communication is

perceived by others

– Read your own posts with student’s eyes

– Be sensitive

– Use emoticons

Common Emoticons

:) or :-) Expresses happiness, sarcasm, or joke

:( or :-( Expresses unhappiness

:] or :-] Expresses jovial happiness

:[ or :-[ Expresses despondent unhappiness

:D or :-D Expresses jovial happiness

:I or :-I Expresses indifference

:-/ or :-\ Indicates undecided, confused, or skeptical.

:Q or :-Q Expresses confusion

:S or :-S Expresses incoherence or loss of words

:@ or :-@ Expresses shock or screaming

:O or :-O Indicates surprise, yelling or realization of an error ("uh oh!")

Do . . .

• Use introductions for class community

builder

• Facilitate interactivity

Do . . .

• Engage

• Not ignore bad

behavior/conversation

Introductions

Online discussions

Group projects

Prompt answers Calendar

Use media

Conflict

• Occurs

• To be expected

• Learning is change

– Change is a conflict

– Expect some students to be conflicting/conflicted

• Lack of communication can cause conflict

– Remember online etiquette

Teaching Presence

• Difference between true facilitation and

teaching

• Teaching happens before, during and

after “hours”

• TEACH the course – be the teacher

Social Presence

• Does NOT refer to social networking

• Immediacy – at once present as a

living, breathing human being.

• Different from the non-personal

computer interface

• Personhood established and

maintained

Spiritual Presence

• Theological training

• Prayer forum

• Application

Finding your “virtual”

voice• Face-to-face course personality/skill

• Who are you online?

– Allow your personality to come through

– Does your content define who you are or

do you deliver the content from your

perspective?

– The way you present is a reflection of

your personality

– Community is built here

• Introduce yourself here with a

“Welcome” message

• Have your class introduce themselves

• Welcome the posting of prayer

concerns and praises

• Ask students to post extended absence

notices here

– Class related questions are asked here

• All course related questions from the ExL participants need to be asked in the Discussion Center

• Compare to on-campus classes, when students ask questions the whole class hears it

• Course Modules

– Course modules are the lessons for your

class

– Modules are designed within a time frame

• Professor sets the time allowed per module

(example: one module per week)

• Necessary for ExL participant’s schedules

• Keeps the entire class on task

• Items each module must include:

– Beginning and ending dates and time (ET)

– Reading assignments

– Other assignments (Papers, group projects)

– Instructions for collaboration with peers in the

Discussion Center, team folders

– Collaboration topic

– Where to send all course material (each time)