Chapter 9; “The Personalization Principle”

The “Personalization Principle” says that students learn better when they feel more personally involved with their teacher. Because they perceive the teacher as a human being they are interacting with, they do not want to disappoint by not trying their best. Since it is more difficult to cause personalization to happen in an online environment than in a traditional classroom, it is important to see what research has to say about designing a more personal lesson. First, a conversational rather than a formal style is better. With just a few word changes and no content deletions, the wording can become more personally engaging. This personalization includes a pleasing voice quality if narration of any kind is done. Using human narration instead of computer-generated speech and making sure the accents aren’t pronounced are essential.  Polite speech is also important. Students would rather feel like they can choose from several options rather than be told to do something. Typically, students would rather learn male-stereotyped lessons from a male voice and female-stereotyped lessons from a female voice. An exception to this is math -a male stereotype - where students seemed to prefer a female narration. Second, an on-screen coach can help guide a student through the lesson, acting much as a live teacher would in a “brick and mortar” classroom. This coach does not have to look like a real person: it can be an animal, a cartoon, or whatever. However, the coach does have to act like a human, so the student can relate human-to-human. Third, the author of the course should be made visible to the students. This doesn’t mean photographs or videos need to be shared. It means the author’s personal feelings about the subject matter should be shared in some way. The previous chapter should not be forgotten, though. Sidetracking to the author and his viewpoints should not be overdone; the learning objectives should remain the central focus.

This chapter in Clark and Mayer’s textbook fits very well with my usual style of teaching. It is encouraging to know that research bears out what I have seen in the classroom, that when a student relates more personally with the teacher, he learns better. I always tried to get to know my students well and to use examples that related to their own likes and dislikes, making the lesson more personal for them. Since I am a math teacher, I thought it was very interesting that students seem to prefer a female voice for their math lessons, when they usually want the stereotyped gender teaching the class. In fact, the textbook authors specifically recommend using female teachers for online math lessons, based on the outcome of the research that has been done.

The examples in this chapter of how to change text to a more conversational style are very helpful. I don’t know if we will use an on-screen coach for our lesson, but we will definitely try to make our lesson less formal and more conversational. Even though there are four of us writing the lesson, we will try to include some author personalization where applicable. The section on polite speech seems at first glance to contradict the “Avoid extraneous words” advice, but most people prefer to be asked nicely rather than be ordered to do something. To do this requires more words, but tact and diplomacy fit into an e-lesson just as they do in other parts of our daily lives.

References:

Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2008). E-learning and the science of instruction. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Chapter 8, “Applying the Coherence Principle”

This chapter in Clark and Mayer’s textbook focuses on three things we need to avoid when designing an online lesson: extraneous audio, extraneous graphics, and extraneous words. Based on a growing amount of research, we now know that simpler is better in terms of e-learning lessons. The “Coherence Principle” essentially says that we should only focus on the primary objectives when designing a lesson. When background music or sound effects are added, student retention of the material goes down, even if the student was given the option of whether or not to have added audio. When extraneous graphics are added to spark interest or give sidelights of interesting material, learning again goes down. Even when diagrams are necessary to explain the material, the simpler designs promote better learning than a more realistic but more complex diagram. Designers should also be aware of how many words they are using to explain the new concepts. The more direct the content (using fewer words), the better the students will learn. 

The Coherence Principle makes sense to me. I prefer to study in quiet, even though I block out background noises fairly easily. When I play an online game with background audio, I usually turn the sound off on my laptop so I can concentrate better. Since I am a math teacher, I probably use fewer extraneous graphics than, say, a science teacher or a history teacher, since I want my students to concentrate on the operations being performed. From my own experience, though, I know that when there are lots of sidebars on a text page I tend to want to read all of them and I sometimes lose my train of thought. The third principle was the hardest for me to grasp. I have heard over and over again, “You cannot over communicate.” To me, that implies using more words. I tend to be an audio learner, and we “audios” tend to talk more to help explain in great detail. In a classroom, I often tried to explain a concept several different ways to help all my students understand the new material. According to Clark and Mayer, in an e-lesson it is better to go through the concept once as simply as possible with as few extraneous words as possible. Technical depth is rarely necessary in an e-lesson. If a student is interested and wants to learn more, he can research the topic. However, many of the students will get lost in the extra words and miss the main objectives.

As far as our ISD project is concerned, to me this chapter encourages me to compare the actual prepared class with the learning objectives. Being ruthless, we will need to weed out all that doesn’t directly pertain to our learning objectives. This will narrow the focus of the lesson making it more likely that our students actually learn the things we want them to learn. Even though there are lots of fun things we can do to make our lesson more appealing, if it doesn’t directly relate to the lesson, it shouldn’t be included. Designing an e-lesson is not about how many new technologies we can showcase. It is about teaching a lesson in the best way research has shown to be effective.

Reference:

Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2008). E-learning and the science of instruction. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Assessment Blog Educ 633

Although the way humans learn has not changed through the generations, the way students are taught has undergone many changes. With the advent of modern technology – computers and especially the internet and the Web – learning is becoming much less teacher-centered and much more learner-centered. Students want to learn at their own pace, on their schedule, and at a convenient place. These revolutions bring together learners from all over the world, chatting online, learning on the move as they travel to work and play. With the web access available on most cell phones today, learners can research and learn almost anywhere. In formal online classes this instant access brings challenges that were unheard of in a traditional classroom, such as the assurance of the identity of the students and course design, but especially how to assess learning. The instructor must be creative, assuring that the assessment measures the intended learning outcomes. The methods used most frequently in a traditional classroom are not always as effective in an online environment. Because students seldom meet face to face in an online classroom, chats, blogs, and online discussions are effective means of sharing ideas and broadening viewpoints. These can also be evaluated by the instructor to determine if students are learning and understanding. Projects, simulations, role-play, tests, and quizzes are also valid assessment tools. To be effective, assessments should measure higher-order thinking and not just ask for memorized facts (since students can easily look those things up with the powerful search engines available on the web, that search ability is what is being measured).

My personal theory of education says that when one has learned something, one can say it in one's own words and even teach it to someone else. The best methods to assess this level of learning are projects, simulations, and role-play. The chats, blogs, and discussions help a student arrive at learning more than they show that learning has occurred. Quizzes seem to work best as self-assessment tools. Tests can be used, especially if they are not simply multiple-choice and matching, but include short answer or essay-type questions. Since I hope to teach math online, I will have to change my methods considerably to operate in an online environment. I don’t want human calculators, but students who understand how to use the operations they are learning. In the past I never would have considered role play in a math class, but I really liked the examples in our textbook by William Horton. He is very creative in his assessments and definitely thinks outside the “box” where my ideas have been enclosed.

References:

Gaytan, J., & McEwen, B. C. (09/2007). Effective online instructional and assessment strategies. American Journal of Distance Education, 117 - 132.

Horton, W. (2006). E-learning by design. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Robles, M., & Braathen, S. (Winter 2002). Online assessment techniques. Delta Pi Epsilon Journal, 39 - 49.