Going Online? Stay Calm and Consider These Tips

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Ready or not, many teachers are now going to experience delivering instruction online. Prep time has been far from optimal, but there are a few steps teachers can take as they venture into the delivery of online learning to their students. Whether experienced pros or newbies to online delivery, it’s all about the learning, not the technology. Don’t get wrapped up in the technology. Don’t try to use every feature at the get go…or ever. Stay calm. Focus on the learning and continue to be the learning leader, regardless of what technologies your students use—even if you don’t use technology!

If you’re going to do this, here are some considerations when moving instruction online.

It’s about LEARNING, not just being online. Just because your class may have an online component now, that doesn’t mean it ALL has to be online. We learn in a variety of ways, and much of it is offline. Use online components to bring students together, check on their progress, and provide feedback. Then send them off to interact with content, read some things, watch some videos, complete projects, and create new products that they can then share with you.

Ask your students how THEY want to learn. This is a great opportunity to put personalization and differentiation into practice—true personalization, in which students are given the opportunity to determine what it is they want to learn, how they want to learn it, and how they’ll demonstrate what they’ve learned. If your learning goals don’t require writing an essay or answer a multiple-choice question, then don’t force students to do these things. Ask your students for their ideas. They might turn their mad Instagram, SnapChat, and TikTok skills into demonstrations of what they know and can do. And if they’re intrinsically motivated to use the tools at their disposal, you’re likely to get better learning out of the experience.

Focus on the learning, not the technology. At the end of the day, or your class, what is it you want your students to know and be able to do? Learning isn’t measured by time spent watching a video or the number of responses made on a discussion board. Very often, there are a variety of tools students can use to demonstrate their learning, not just one single tool. Give students one simple option—the lowest common denominator—for submitting their work, but encourage them to suggest and justify other tools. As students explore and use other tools successfully to capture their learning, share those exemplars with the rest of the class.

Every online activity is an opportunity to promote digital citizenship, but your students may need support being good digital citizens. Create practice opportunities to model how to use common online tools, like how to engage in an online discussion effectively. I like the simple “compliment-connect-question” format, which I learned from some teachers in Lee’s Summit, MO, but you can find lots of protocols online. Consider creating simple narrated slides or screencapture movies that reinforce appropriate procedures, like using online resources, citing intellectual property, or even how to use some features of your LMS. Share exemplars of past student-generated documents, videos, or other artifacts so students have expectations when creating and submitting their own.

Give your students responsibility for the online environment. Just as you would have helpers in your class, establish ways that students can contribute to the online learning environment. If you’re going to do some synchronous webconferencing, put students in charge of monitoring the chat room, creating a question queue, summarizing main ideas, and determining next steps. If you’re incorporating student groups, consider using students contracts with different roles and have students be responsible for monitoring and reporting on how well the group is meeting timelines and creating information. Most importantly, determine how students can contribute to the online learning activities that you incorporate. You do not have to be the leader of every activity. To do this you need to ask them.

It doesn’t always have to be online. Every day we communicate with others through a variety of means, even at a distance. Consider whether phone calls or texting can support your students as they learn from home. The Remind app sends text reminders to students and parents who have signed up for them. Service like Free Conference Call can let you set up group calls to check in with your students. And while email is technically online, it’s also a great way to interact with students, and automated emails and reminders can be generated through some LMS, calendar programs, and other tools.

Take a deep breath. We’re all going to get through this. Keep focused on what you do well—lead learning for your students—and let the learning continue!

John Ross has been developing and delivering online learning to students of all ages for more than two decades. His astronomy course developed with his friend and expert science teacher Anita Deck was honored as one of the Best High School Courses on iTunes U, and he has shared his experiences in his book “Online Professional Development. Design, Deliver, Succeed!” published by Corwin.

Why Word Problems Aren’t Real-World Problems

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O.K., I should have probably stated, “Why word problems usually aren’t real-world problems,” but that’s not as catchy a headline. As someone who works with a wide range of teachers across the country, I do often run into the misconception that the typical word problem—at least the ones I found used in many classrooms across the country—represent “real-world” problems. For some reason, using words to present problems about baking and fractions or making change tip the scale towards authenticity in many educators’ minds. My goal is to push their understanding of exactly what is meant by a real-world problem.

The primary limitation of simply representing a problem with a single known (and desired) solution with words rather than algebraically or graphically (or musically, or…?) is that changing the representation system somehow elevates it to a real-world problem. But it’s just a different way to represent an academic exercise, not a problem. When a word problem can easily be translated into a different representation system that all result in the same answer, the goal is to determine if a student can use a known algorithm. Real-world problems are usually not that simple, even when dividing pizzas and donuts.

Exercises Problems
Simplistic, well-structured
Distractions have been eliminated		Complex, ill-structured
May contain noise or detractors
Academic setting Real-world connection
One correct answer May be multiple correct answers
Focus is getting correct answer Focus is on the process and strength of evidence

Adapted from Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (expanded 2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe do an excellent job of comparing a real-world problem to an academic exercise in their foundational Understanding by Design instructional design model. The implication here is that a problem is complex; there are options. Using a real world context is not enough if the problem becomes routine and simplified. Real-world problems often have no single correct answer. Sometimes they don’t even have correct answers, but some answers can be better than others. Problems focus on the problem-solving processes students use to develop their solutions, not just a correct answer. In the real world we make decisions about real-world problems using the best information we have available and justifying our decisions with some kind of evidence (What kind of car can I afford? Is college really worth it? Should we clone dinosaurs?). That means my solution to a real-world problem can be different from yours, but both can be used to demonstrate the process we took to come up with our solutions.

I don’t want to imply that simplified word problems are bad. Students do need them to develop foundational knowledge and practice skills. These types of problems are those that fit squarely into what many educators understand as Depth of Knowledge Level 2, in which students apply and practice basic skills, often decontextualized. These problems can use any type of representation system. But if students are only presented with a word problem at the level of basic application, they are not exposed to the cognitive demand implied by encouraging the use of real-world problems—requirements of content standards in many grade levels. Real-world problems require students to draw upon a repertoire of knowledge and skills in order to address a non-routine problem, because whose real world is all that routine? These problems are often associated with Depth of Knowledge levels 3 (strategic thinking) and 4 (extended thinking), and that’s the intent of most content standards that include mention of real-world problems.

Designing Online Learning

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As a coach with Advanced Learning Partnerships, I have the privilege of working school divisions participating in the Virginia is for Learners Innovative Network (#VA4LIN). If you live in Virginia you may have heard about this sweeping initiative launched by the Virginia Department of Education with support from VaSCL, JMU, and Ted Dintersmith. ALP coaches are working with the schools and divisions in the network who have identified their own priorities for promoting innovation.

One of the divisions I’m working with, Bedford County Public Schools, has already initiated efforts related to personalized learning prior to joining the network and asked for some support with developing online and blended learning. Division staff want to leverage online technologies to provide more personalized support for both learning opportunities for students and professional development for adults in the system. I met with a group of ITRTs (Instructional Technology Resource Teachers), library/media specialists, and others in Bedford County on May 9 to review instructional design for online and blended learning. Our goal was to develop design specifications for educators in Bedford County to refer to when designing their own learning materials.

Educators from Bedford County Public Schools discuss designing powerful online learning.

I provided access to materials based on my book, Online Professional Development, Design, Deliver, Succeed! and subsequent publications. We reviewed key instructional design principles, considered how staff are currently addressing them, and considered how these principles might be presented in the first draft of a design specifications document. The key ideas we reviewed include:

  1. Know your audience.
  2. Define your learning outcomes.
  3. Assess your learning outcomes.
  4. Consider your visual design.
  5. Match media to your outcomes.
  6. Evaluate your learning.

You can access the slide deck with links to handouts and templates on Google Drive. Let me know if it’s helpful. Next steps for the, the participants include returning to existing online professional learning to review what has already been developed and determine how the specifications might impact that work.

Considering implications of instructional design principles on practice.