Creating Outside Instructional Activities for Online and Accelerated Courses

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Chad Moore
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1 Creating Outside Instructional Activities for Online and Accelerated Courses Diane Pevar, J.D. Chair, Business, Technology and Legal Studies Manor College

2 The Traditional Classroom All instructional activity takes place face-to-face in the classroom or laboratory. Mandated number of instructional hours fulfilled through: Lecture Teacher guided class discussion Teacher guided collaborative in-class work Teacher guided research Flipped classroom teacher guided student teaching

3 New Teaching Modalities Online Classes Synchronous Asynchronous Blended Classes Hybrid Classes Accelerated Classes 7 week 5 week 3 week

4 Effective Instruction How do we ensure that the proper number of instructional hours take place when the instructor is missing from the learning environment? How do we ensure effective learning?

5 Consistent Learning Outcomes Course, program and learning assessment must be consistent across all delivery platforms.

6 How Many Instructional Hours? Be sure you know how many instructional hours per course your Department of Education mandates. This number remains the same regardless of delivery modality.

7 Example: A semester credit hour represents a unit of curriculum material that normally can be taught in a minimum of 14 hours of classroom instruction, plus appropriate outside preparation or the equivalent as determined by the faculty. 22 Pa. Code 31.21

8 When face-to-face instructional time is less than that mandated by the appropriate Department of Education, remaining instructional time can be achieved through the use of additional outside of classroom structured instructional activities. The number of hours equated with these activities must be justifiable.

9 Prep Instructional Hours Preparation for class, such as reading assignments is not an outside instructional activity. Homework assignments are not outside instructional activities.

10 Your Pedagogy Must Change The classroom must remain teacher centered. Feedback becomes essential in alternate delivery modalities. Be pro-active.

11 Your Outside Instructional Activities (OIAs) Should be related directly to the objectives of both the course and your program. Must be measurable. Need to be supervised by the instructor. And should be equivalent to an activity conducted in the traditional classroom.

12 The Instructor Becomes the Facilitator As described by Alison King 1 You are no longer the sage on the stage. You are now the guide on the side. 1 Alison King, From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side, College Teaching, vol. 41, No. 1 (Winter, 1993) pp

13 Curriculum Development It s unrealistic to believe that you can merely move your traditional class into another environment and succeed. Examine your traditional curriculum to see what works and doesn t work outside the classroom.

14 Examples Moving a classroom discussion to an online chat room or discussion forum will work provided the instructor monitors and moves the discussion along as he/she would in the classroom. Having students do oral presentations or demonstrations may not work if the class is asynchronous or accelerated.

15 Adapt Wherever Possible Your in-class lecture has OIA equivalencies: PowerPoints Lecture notes, outlines, materials. Videos (of you and others) Remember to layer your lecture equivalent with links to other resources that can help explain the content of your lecture; and Link that lecture equivalent to a teacher guided project to measure student learning.

16 Reinvent the Wheel When Needed. Instead of just having the class brief a case (which would be homework you grade, return and, perhaps, discuss briefly in class) make it a case study that you guide as the steps are taken: Understand the basic legal principle through lecture equivalent. Read and brief a case. Work with a team to collaboratively analyze and apply the legal principles to a hypothetical client situation (IRAC). Prepare a memo describing findings and conclusions.

17 The LMS is Your Friend Your institution s learning management system can help you manage OIAs. It is an extension of your classroom: Chat rooms Discussion forums Live chat Teams / Groups Links from your lecture material to other resources that increase understanding.

18 What Qualifies as an OIA? 2 Discussion boards or forums; Chat rooms for class or group projects; Case studies and problem solving scenarios related to course goals and objectives that require analytical skills; Blogs, journals, or logs in which students share the most relevant aspects with instructor and classmates;

19 Internet searches that address specific course objectives and are shared with class and instructor mediated; Library research analyzed and presented to the class; Lecture materials that ultimately relate to class discussion or support learning opportunities;

20 Field trips or tours (real or virtual) that culminate in discussion, paper, project or other presentation that demonstrates learning. Capstone projects that demonstrate student learning. 2 Misericordia University, Guidelines for Instructional Time Equivalencies Across Formats.

21 Common to All OIAs Instructor guided. A measurable learning opportunity. The student must do something that can be quantifiably evaluated to demonstrate his level of understanding. Related to course learning goal and/or program learning goals.

22 How do I Calculate OIA Hours? Misericordia University has developed a rubric that establishes a standard amount time for setting equivalencies to hours of classroom instruction for various online and out of the classroom instructor- mediated activities.

25 Where Can I Find Guidance? Illinois Online Network the network provides instructional strategies for online courses. These ideas can be adapted to hybrid and/or accelerated courses that, by definition, have an online component.

27 Other Sources National Academy for Academic Leadership Misericordia University /instructional_equivalency_guidelines_ pdf /alternative_instructional_equivalencies_template.pdf Using Active Learning Instructional Strategies to Create Excitement and Enhance Learning Handout.pdf

Centenary College. Guidelines for Alternative Instructional Equivalencies

Centenary College. Guidelines for Alternative Instructional Equivalencies Centenary College Guidelines for Alternative Instructional Equivalencies Credit Hour Definitions The federal government defines a credit hour as the amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes