Design for the Virtual Classroom

Read Chapter 10: "Design for the Virtual Classroom"

In your virtual classrooms, effective e-learning is currently defined by nine key characteristics (Elbaum, McIntyre, & Smith, 2002):

1. asynchronous collaboration,
2. explicit schedules,
3. expert facilitation,
4. inquiry pedagogy,
5. high-quality materials,
6. community building,
7. a limited enrollment,
8. purposeful virtual spaces, and
9. ongoing assessment.

Because of advances in technology infrastructure (both apps and bandwidth), we would add synchronous collaboration to this list.

Virtual Classroom Overview

Access the Chapter 10, Part 1 VoiceThread found in the VoiceThread Folder in the right navigation area and reply to the following questions in that VoiceThread file.

1. Compare and contrast medieval and modern classrooms.
2. What are some drivers of and roles of critical thinking in your virtual classroom?
3. Compare and contrast a face-to-face classroom to your virtual classroom.
4. Which tasks/activities should students and instructors complete in a collaborative online environment and which activities should they complete individually offline?
5. When reimagining your classroom, what things will you hold on to from the face-to-face classroom? What do you discard and what new things do you add?
6. In your opinion, are current implementations of virtual classrooms more like medieval classrooms or something else?
7. In corporate training, how are curricula and course content determined? In Pre-K–12 (and higher education), how are curricula and course content determined?
8. What is SCORM? What is learning tools interoperability (LTI)?
9. Do you agree with Horton’s list of typical/common strategies that should be avoided (e.g., RAPRAPAWAP, Pac‘em, yak‘em, rack‘em, track‘em, warn-and-scorn, and fill-in-the-blanks)? Can you think of ways to improve these approaches?
10. Regarding media use (text, voice, music, graphics, animations, simulations, and video) in your virtual classroom, do you agree with Horton about the power of media use and about the time and money costs associated with their development? Explain your answer. If you don’t have unlimited time and money, which media would you choose and why?

Implementing a Virtual Classroom

Access the Chapter 10, Part 2 VoiceThread found in the VoiceThreaad Folder in the right navigation area and reply to the following questions in that VoiceThread file.

1. How can you use webinars in your professional setting?
2. Do you agree with Horton’s list of online teacher qualities and activities? Why or why not?
3. What role, if any, does a repetitious weekly structure play in your virtual course?
4. When you are the instructor, what are your specific intentions regarding responses to students? (e.g., how quickly and how often will you reply to email and comments, will you offer 1-to-1 and small group video meetings, what about virtual office hours, etc.)
5. Does your school or employer already have specific rules/guidelines for learners’ online collaboration? If not, how would you create them for your online setting?
6. What is the role of the syllabus and textbook/readings in your virtual classroom?
7. Do you agree or disagree with Horton’s guidelines for dealing with problem leaners in your virtual classroom? . Explain your position.
8. When establishing a community of inquiry in your virtual classroom, what is the role of online ettiquette, rule enforcement, team contracts, and dealing with free riders?  What is the best place to address these? 
9. What are your suggestions for increasing student satisfaction in your virtual classroom?
10. What is the relationship between engagement and satisfaction in your  virtual classroom?

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References

Elbaum, B., McIntyre, C., & Smith, A. (2002).  Essential elements: Prepare, design, and teach your online course. Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing.