Jennifer,
I agree with you. I also find when I begin to improve my level of engagement in my online course is tend to do it with my f2f course. It improves both courses!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Amanda,
I agree the delivery of the content cannot be the same. When you change from f2f to online the objectives are the same it is how your achieve those objectives.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I have found that I miss the "blank look" of the student who does not "get it", especially when teaching a "solid" subject such as accounting (I have heard the same as to math instruction). In a face-to-face course, students who are shy about speaking up (language limitations, not wanting to reveal ignorance) are obvious and re-teaching/individual attention is immediate. Online, there must be MUCH more frequent individual assessments (especially when there is only ONE right answer)even when the student does not "raise their hand" in the Blackboard setting.
The short answer is that it can be appropriate with the proper modifications.
David,
Have you thought of creating cues in your online that students can use to let you know they are not sure? I know I have used a key word or phrase that might be the "don't get it look" I have tried using a clueless discussion board that can be used to determine gaps in learning.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kathy,
Can you make notifications and still meet the objectives of the course?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Much of the content created for a F2F course are lectures delivered through an one-dimensional PPT presentation. In a F2F course, students can see the instructor verbal non-verbal cues in addition, an instructor can see if a student is disengaged. If the same presentation is placed on an online course, those cues will be lost and many students will lose interest in the material. Many times, instructors could adapt their presentations to include video, audio and visual images to accommodate different student’s learning styles and keep students interested. Depending on the course, an entire new curriculum must be developed for the online course.
It actually can, but it depends on what the content is. Most content created for a face-to-face course is delivered in a method where the instructor is synchronous with the students. The content is then being delivered "in-person". I have content in the form of PDFs that I would print out and give to students that is still able to be used for my online classes, so there is the ability to use content, but much of what was created needs to be looked at to see if it fits for an online course. If it does, then it can be reworked to fit an online delivery method. Many of the demonstrations I would do in a live class are now recorded videos that I have an archive of and I can post those for students to watch. That helped a great deal. But there was also a lot that was really tailored for the face-to-face setting and I just gave it away to colleagues who were still in traditional class settings.
Kelly,
Contents created for created for a face-to-face course may not be appropriate for an online course for several reasons. Firstly, online learning removes the traditional boundaries of time and location. A course designed for face-to-face interaction must take place at a specific time and at a pre-arranged place.
Also contents created for online learning offer students a flexibility that is lacking in a face-to-face classroom. Additionally, technology tools are always used to teach online courses. Although technology tools may be used to teach contents that are created for a face-to-face course in a traditional classroom, technology tools are not usually required for face-to-face classroom. For online courses, technology tools are always required.
Marie,
I agree that an instructor should be able see confused looks on students’ faces if concepts that were explained were not understood. Unfortunately, an online instructor will not be able to see the countenance or facial expression of his/her students. Also some students might as for clarification in virtual classroom, there other that will not say anything despite being confused. Dealing with silences in an online environment is a problem for online facilitators.
Well I am not sure that in some cases that it wouldn't be applicable or okay to use, but for the most part face to face content might not "transition" well into an online format and communication medium. Ideally, much of the content for an online course will need to work well in both synchronous and asynchronous formats which face to face content might not always do well.
Students are not able to "read" the body language or intent of the instructor if the course content if presented in the same manner as a F2F course. Information cannot be implied, guidelines have to be specified in the instructions given by the instructor.
Mary Johnston
Face to face content allows for immidiate question and response. It also allows for body language feedback from professor and student. In a classroom we can stop class when we realize our students are lost and have students help each other, or attempt to explain in a different way, or have students do some teaching. In an online course students are working on the topics individually and cannot see what everyone else is doing. As a professor you might not see a question that was asked for 24 hours through an email, or you might not get the results of how a student is doing until you grade their weekly quiz. Therefor content needs to be designed for delayed feedback.
Primarily because F2F learning relies heavily on live, real-time interaction whereas most online courses are asynchronous and require other means of engaging students and evaluating learning.
Online course material must be designed for self pacing and self study. Traditional classroom material is often not designed in this way.
depending on the structure of the content in most ground campus face courses, they are generally not conducive to carry over to online because the same interaction is not possible. For instance, an instructor cannot directly interact face to face in the virtual world when a student needs look at hand gestures and facial inflections for an assignment that requires that.
Face to face delivery methods so not work well in the online environment. By following the list of tasks introduced in this module, course content is developed to maximize the learning based on the platform and delivery methods. As F2F classes are synchronous, transition to mixed or asynchronous content is a lot of work. Even synchronous content presented as a synchronous online presentation will usually have to be modified. We actually use the same lesson plans for online and F2F instruction. However, the courseware and instructor plans are totally different.
The content can be the same in both environments. The delivery of that content is what changes when you move to the online course. In my F2F course, I may show a video clip or other images to support what is being taught. In the online environment, I post the link instead. In F2F, I would provide a verbal introduction. In the online arena, I have to find other ways to introduce it. The bottom line is if a student takes Medical Terminology online versus face to face, they should walk away having received the same CONTENT -- only the delivery method should have changed.
Melissa Caperton
Online courses require space for participation. Face to face classes required immediate responses and therefore move at a much different face. In online setting you need to make sure you give people Time to answer at their own pace. The material itself can be the same, it just needs to be delivered in a different manner.
I'm not sure that it "can't". It just needs to be modified or transformed. The delivery system is different so the way it is "presented" won't be the same. Student engagement, communication, and evaluation will all be different, but the content itself may basically be the same.
