Sarah+F

Sarah F's Heuristics

Hi everyone. These are my final heuristics. I have included a sample of the explanation underneath.

Heuristic 1 – (DiPietro et. al. 2008)

** Teachers must support online learning experiences by facilitating communication with the students, as well as amongst the students themselves. **
The increased use of online-based learning has led to a fundamental shift in the roles that teachers play within learning environments. The role of the teacher has shifted from that of the “oracle and lecturer to consultant, guide and resource provider” (Berge, 2005, p.10). In order to fulfil this role in an online environment, a repertoire of communication skills are essential. This is a far departure from the traditional teaching role where the teacher is a “provider of answers”, to one where teachers become “expert questioners”, encouragers of self-direction and members of a “learning team” (Brown, 2002, cited in Berge, 2005, p.10).

This heuristic was developed from research conducted by Di Pietro et al. which found that experienced online-based teachers strongly believe that “[f]orming strong relationships with onsite mentors [is] a critical factor for facilitating student learning” (Di Pietro et. al. 2008, p.12). Online-based teachers need to develop a range of communication tools to ensure that there is maximum participation between the participants. The authors also noted the importance of the teacher acting as the facilitator of communication between the students themselves. This creates a positive “social climate that forms as a result [of] the opportunities offered by establishing a community of learners” (Di Pietro et. al. 2008).

Heuristic 2 – (Tan and McWilliam, 2008)

** When designing online learning tasks, incorporate a range of learning styles and motivational elements to promote maximum task engagement. **
Online learning, just as with regular face-to-face teaching environments must be carefully planned and designed to meet the learning needs of individual students. Too often, teachers are caught up in a cycle of trying to implement as many new technologies as possible into their teaching programs, that the bigger picture of student learning is lost and technologies are integrated in superficial ways. This style of online teaching and learning often takes on a ‘one style fits all’ approach and fails to cater for individual learning needs. This heuristic was developed in response to a study by Tan and McWilliam (2008) which found that individual learning styles affect the ways in which students are motivated to “engage with and embrace novel situations and inventions put before them” (Tan and McWilliam, 2008, p.10). It was found that students who “exhibit higher levels of intellectual inquisitiveness” and “cognitive playfulness” (Tan and McWilliam, 2008, p.10) are more able to “explore and play with a problem until it is solved” (Glynn and Webster, 1993; Dunn, 2004, cited in Tan and McWilliam, 2008, p.10). It was also found that students who are “focussed on ‘getting the right answer’…are likely to resist experimenting with new learning technologies that challenge the comfort zones of traditional pedagogical practices” (Tan and McWilliam, 2008, p.10). In terms of student motivation, it was found that social factors, such as “peer support and encouragement” are vital in “motivating students to engage with innovative digital learning opportunities” (Tan and McWilliam, 2008, p.12)

Heuristic 3 – (Levin and Cervantes, 1999)

** Collaborative online learning tasks need to have clear directions and learning goals, and these must be made explicit to all participants from the outset. **
Any learning task, whether it is presented in an online format or within a regular face-to-face setting, requires a clear plan of the learning that the student will acquire, as well as a clear plan about which activities will be implemented to achieve the outcomes. Online learning experiences require careful planning to ensure that tasks do not always become unstructured self-discoveries.

This heuristic was developed in response to the article by Levin and Cervantes (1999) which explored the sequence of processes, or ‘lifecycle’ of network-based learning communities. Here, it was found that collaborative online tasks requires clear planning from the very beginning of the task, and that this planning needs to be reviewed throughout the task as the participants needs change and develop. Levin and Cervantes (1999, p.2) found that network-based tasks are “episodic, unfolding over time through a series of different phases”. Levin et al. (1992, cited in Levin and Cervantes, 1999, p.2) outline the six key stages within the network-based learning ‘lifecycle’, including “proposal, refinement, organization, pursuit, wrap-up, and publication”, and clearly, planning and goal setting are crucial within each of those six steps. It was found within this study that planning also has an effect on the successfulness of a project as “the further along a project reached before ending, the more successful it was judged by the participants” (Levin and Cervantes, 1999, p.3).

Heuristic 4 – (Ravitz, 2010)

** A thorough knowledge of online technologies gives teachers confidence to effectively plan and implement online learning. **
The significant increase in online-based learning and Web2.0 technologies in schools has left many teachers with a feeling of non-confidence when it comes to implementing these into their everyday teaching. Increased teacher confidence with these technologies, through professional learning and experimentation will allow teachers to implement online learning tasks within schools on a wider scale.

This heuristic was developed in response to the article by Ravitz (2010) which explored the ways in which teachers used online tools to help them to implement PBL (project based learning) with their students. The results of the study found that “the more teachers [who] used online features the more prepared they felt and the better they were able to handle PBL-related challenges” (Ravitz, 2010, p.3). It was found that by teachers spending time exploring blogs, Wikis, making online contact with other professionals and viewing online projects, it allowed teachers to feel more prepared to create and conduct their own PBL tasks (Ravitz, 2010, p.4). It was also noted though, that for teachers to get to this point, they must be able to access “ongoing professional development and support” (Ravitz, 2010, p.4).

Just wondering - should I include an introduction to the task or simply jump straight into the heuristics? Sarah F.

SG - FWIW, I just did a very brief one paragraph introduction, then just jumped into each heuristic. Thanks Steve. SF

Shirley 18/8: these look great!