When designing an online course, we have to carefully think about how we want it to look and run. Obviously there a thousand different things you can do, but generally, no student likes having the kitchen sink thrown at him/her. Here are my top three things to consider in online course planning:

1. How can I engage students?

Listen, it’s real simple- if learners aren’t engaged, they’re probably not learning. Research shows that online courses have significantly higher dropout rates than face-to-face courses. A large contributing factor is that online courses are not being designed and run as well as they could be. Online students usually look for the same thing that classroom students do- making meaningful connections with their peers and instructor.

We want to make sure we encourage interaction by designing a course which has social elements in addition to the core information. A great way to kick off the course is to have students introduce themselves to the class (via a discussion forum post, sharing a brief bio, or even shooting a quick video). This gets students interacting and building relationships which will hopefully last through the course and maybe even beyond.

If students feel like they’re a part of a learning community as opposed to alone on an island, they are much more likely to complete their online course or program.

2. How can I best give my learners access to the information they need?

So, this one sounds simple, but it’s actually tricky. Traditionally, instructors finds a great textbook and tell students to go buy it. But, what are we really telling our learners when we do that? We are essentially saying that the student is responsible for reading a bunch of pages and they will have some new knowledge once the reading is done. Of course, this is not usually a good way to learn anything.

A better approach is to get to know your learners and determine which instructional approaches would work best for them. Of course, course prep takes advance time but we can certainly get feedback over time and make tweaks. So what are some innovative ways to put great content into our courses?

First, we should give our learners some options. We can certainly include traditional items such as textbook excerpts, research publications, and the like, but we can also venture into new media like YouTube and snappy web pages or blogs. Second, we can get students contributing directly to the course. We can encourage them to share interesting bits of information on the discussion board, give feedback to peers on their work, and even help build wiki pages.

At initial glance, this might not seem like a big change from getting information from just one textbook, but it makes a world of difference over time.

3. How can I establish and maintain instructor presence through the course?

Students need to know that there is someone there to help them out if the going gets tough. Online learning can be tricky since there are a bunch of moving parts- technology, people from different backgrounds, and a variety of learning goals/expectations. I am a believer in posting an introductory video right off the bat, so students know there’s a friendly face behind the course. Also, make sure you invite students to contact you via email, phone call, chat, Skype, and other. That way, students know they can always reach out for help instead of simply dropping out.

To maintain instructor presence, we should participate regularly in the course, including posting on the forums. This is especially effective if there is inactivity/slowness and/or confusion in the discussions. We can post interesting prompts to engage learners and clarify misunderstandings before issues blow up. Another good way to deal with issues is through live office hours. There is something to be said for getting everyone together (even if it’s online) and talking things through in real-time.

As a few of you know, I’ll be teaching my first online course this semester. In this post, I’d like to share some of the exciting details of an objective and related assessment strategy:

Course name: Fundamentals of Financial Accounting

Learner characteristics: My SFU students are experienced adults who are returning to university under the Continuing Studies program. Typically, these students are highly driven to address knowledge deficits, as they advance to management roles in their respective industries. Hence, they are motivated to learn and utilize all learning tools available to them.

Objective: Establish foundational knowledge of accounting terms and common principles, so practical expertise can be built in more advanced modules.

Assessment strategy: The above objective will be assessed using self-tests, which the students will complete and check on their own (it won’t be handed in). Students will be given clear directions, as well as the self-test, after completing a module in the online course. The directions will state that it is a closed-book self test of 10 to 15 multiple-choice questions and should take about ten minutes to complete. When students check their responses, there will be immediate feedback given on where students can locate the information pertaining to a specific question/concept.

Rationale: I like to maintain a learner focus with everything I do in the teaching world. Since my students take responsibility for their own learning, a self-test approach will be effective. Furthermore, students in my face-to-face accounting classes have mentioned that they would prefer more homework to “solidify” their learning. While the self-tests aren’t homework (they’re optional), this is essentially another low-stakes formative feedback tool for students, in addition to the weekly homework assignment (which they hand in).

However, this assessment strategy is probably not the best approach after the initial few classes (Kelly 2009, Shank 2005). As the course progresses from primarily informative to increasingly practical, students should be assessed in ways which which directly test their ability to make journal entries, T-accounts, and basic financial statements.

Studies show that self-tests are great for boosting learner confidence and helping students regulate their own learning (Shank 2009). Furthermore, this assessment will boost the validity of assessments which are graded for marks (Shank 2005), since students will have seen similar assessments a number of times before.

References

Kelly, R. (2009). Authentic experiences, assessment develop online students’ marketable skills. Assessing Online Learning: Strategies, Challenges and Opportunities. Faculty Focus.

Shank, P. (2005). Developing learning assessments for classroom, online, and blended learning. Workshop Materials. Denver, CO: Learning Peaks.

Shank, P. (2009). Using self-check exercises to assess online learning. Assessing Online Learning: Strategies, Challenges and Opportunities. Faculty Focus.

And there we have it- it’s 2020! We all know what they say about hindsight- it’s 2020. What a great time to reflect… here’s what I’m reflecting on before I catch some much needed ZZZ’s:

How to Boost Instructor Presence in an Online Course

1. Weekly videos: There is nothing quite like reminding students that there is a friendly face behind the course content. A good practice is to make videos as you go (as opposed to making them all in advance or reusing past ones). This allows you address specific weekly events like what your students commonly struggled with on an assignment or something that’s dominating the news at the moment.

2. Online office hours: Similar to the first point, except maybe even better. If you set up a certain time when students can find you, it may allow you to address a whole lot of confusion in one shot. One way communication (such as a video) can be frustrating, so this is a great way to get a live back and forth happening to clear up issues.

3. Communication options: I know it can be unnerving to give out your phone number (even asking for one is rough, but I digress). However, you should give your learners a bunch of communication options, such as email, online chat, Skype, and perhaps even phone. This encourages students to keep in contact with you and allows them to choose the medium they feel most comfortable with.

4. Active discussion: Sometimes forums get real quiet and boring. That’s just a fact. You want to be in the action posting with the students (and encouraging them to stay engaged), especially if things slow down. However, be careful. You don’t want to completely dominate the discussions as an instructor, as that can establish you as an overwhelming authority figure in the learning community. This can cause students to shy away or simply wait for the instructor to address all issues.

5. Monitoring learners: The first four points here have all been about the instructor remaining visible in an online course. But, this is not the only way to let students know you’re around. Sometimes, it’s more appropriate (and effective) to connect with a student one-on-one. If you observe someone struggling in the course or disengaged, shoot them an email and see what’s going on. Chances are, you can do something to help the student succeed, but the student may never reach out to you him/herself.

And… I’m gonna end with something I really want to see this year:

Well hello, hello!

I return to my trusty blog after yet another lengthy hiatus- yes, I’m once again enrolled in a VCC course!

I’ve been asked to answer a few questions here:

Do you currently read any blogs? Why or why not?

Yes and no. I don’t follow any specific blog closely, but I do consume a vast mix of interweb goodness daily. Once in a while, I’ll stumble upon an interesting blog and read it for a few minutes. I only look for blogs on rare occasions such as the NHL trade deadline day. Blogs are great for breaking news quickly, such as hockey trades.

How do you feel about your abilities as a blogger? Do you have any concerns?

I feel confident in my abilities! Not many people read my blog here, but I’ve been told that I’m hilarious. People also tell me that I’m way better online than in person (boo), but I’ll take any backhanded compliment I can get!

A concern would be my students stumbling upon this and thinking I’m a total goofball (but I suspect they feel that way already so who cares).

What do you see as the benefits of blogging?

I think it’s a great reflection tool- I love going back and reading my work. I also think it’s great for getting to know other people and the great stuff they do. I’ve seen blogs by people who have quit their jobs and traveled the world. While I don’t have the balls to do that myself, I do love checking out their amazing photos and videos. Finally, when I made videos to get my accounting course online, I used wordpress to get the silky smooth format I wanted. So, I actually view blogs as great entertainment as well as valuable learning tools.

What goal would you like to meet with this blog?

I would like to see a fellow educator or even accountant get a kick out of it. While there is some information on here, it’s mostly a casual fun activity I have started during my time at VCC. If I get a visitor or two enjoying a laugh with me (or at my expense) or using one of my teaching tips, I would consider this blog a success!

As I try to ignore the roar of American war planes flying in for the Abbotsford Air Show and focus on wrapping up this course, I can’t help but admire the great job VCC does with its online courses. To help my future self (and my beloved readers) do the same, I am posting a list of five things which make an online course GREAT:

1. Learner interaction– Nobody wants to live in a ghost town. Actually, now that I think about it, it might be a fun time with those creaky saloons, giant rolling dust balls, and random eerie music notes… Oops, bad example! Anyway, when you sign up for a course, it’s a whole lot more fun to learn with others. That’s why most of us have decided to sign up for something with a friend, rather than going it alone. In short, lively discussion boards, chat rooms, and group work (sometimes) rock!
2. Instructor interaction– Ok, I’m gonna do better on this one. Nobody likes being lost- we all love a great leader! Gosh, now I’ve steered this analogy straight into Kim Jong territory… another epic fail! Anyway, even if we are discovering our own path in a new course, it is helpful to have someone there with a safety net… and office hours, an email address, and a phone number! If we feel the instructor’s presence in the course, we feel a whole lot better about the learning experience… and spending our hard-earned money on tuition.
3. Grading rubrics– Expectations can really suck! But in education, they’re awesome! If you know exactly what to do to get a great mark, what’s stopping you? Nothing! By having clear rubrics for all assignments, we can ensure our work is top notch and up to expectations prior to submitting our work. Great deal, eh?
4. Images, gifs, and videos– Nothing is worse than a giant wall of text on a computer or phone screen (before you make a snarky comment, see gif below).
   That’s why we should make sure our courses include visuals like diagrams, short instructional videos, and even fun things like funny gifs! These nuggets help keep learners engaged and, equally importantly, help boost student reviews of the instructor/course. 😉
5. Formative assessment– Every student loves long exams which are worth a fat chunk of his/her final grade. OK, they don’t. A better approach is to have lower stake assessment throughout the course, so students get regular feedback on their learning and don’t feel as stressed when the exams do happen. This also encourages students to improve over the course of the semester and gives them a motivational boost when they get a good grade.

Well, that was a fun piece to write (my mood improved as I wrote because the noise outside has stopped for now). I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Bye for now 🙂

Well, I’m nearing the end of my first e-learning course- time really does fly when you’re having fun. In addition to e-learning about learning differences between generations, learning theories, wikis, and a whole lot of other great stuff, I have been introduced to eportfolios.

An eportfolio is a personal website which communicates and showcases skills, contains diverse artifacts, and contextualizes artifacts through reflection (Auburn 2013).  With growing pressure on students to develop skills which the workplace demands, the eportfolio has emerged as a creative way of impressing employers (Pelliccione & Dixone, 2008).

I believe that eportfolios will have growing appeal in the accounting industry. With employers looking for specific skills (experience with certain software, experience in a branch of accounting/finance, etc), an eportfolio can be an excellent way of proving (as opposed to claiming) that you are a great candidate.

However, making an eportfolio can be a little more challenging in the accounting industry compared to, say, visual arts or architectural engineering. We can’t really embed QuickBooks or Excel files neatly into a webpage and it can be difficult to show the exact nature of your work with just an image. Hence, job seekers need to be more creative in presenting their work, perhaps through short videos with commentary. Even with that approach, I’d argue that a better reflective practice is for the learner to actually open the actual file, especially if it has been a while since he/she has done that/similar work.

On a personal level, a teaching portfolio is definitely something I should be working on, considering I have a bundle of artifacts from 4 years of teaching and the PIDP. I pride myself on being a modern teacher and pushing a pro-technology attitude in my classes. An eportfolio would supplement this image quite well, earning me more credibility from my students. Additionally, it might help me obtain more teaching work.

However, I want to make sure I have time to good job on something like this, since it will be on the internet for everyone to see, including my students. I don’t want to put something unprofessional out there, as it might do more harm than good. Also, I want to showcase some accounting software I have worked with and taught, so I will need to think up or research some ways to present it well. Some other artifacts I’d like to include are my teaching philosophy statement, my lesson notes, Kahoot! quizzes, and short instructional videos.

Hopefully, I’ll find time to make a great eportfolio soon. I also want to encourage my students to do the same. I’ll keep y’all posted on how things go!

References

Auburn University (2013). What is an ePortfolio?. YouTube. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/xvqBORISA5k

Pelliccione, L. & Dixon, K. (2008). ePortfolios: Beyond assessment to empowerment in
the learning landscape. In Hello! Where are you in the landscape of educational technology?

Today, I’ll be discussing my plans for linking my new knowledge of learning theories with my online teaching.

First, some background. I’ve always viewed my introductory accounting classes from the constructivist perspective. I get some students coming in with work experience. I also get students with little/no background knowledge. My strategy is usually to get students working in groups, so that the experienced students can help their classmates create some “building blocks”.

When designing the online version of the introductory accounting class, we decided to scrap the final exam and replace it with group case studies. This enhances the social aspect of learning and also moves the class into a more humanist direction. Students don’t need to work on every single element on a comprehensive case study- they can decide what they want to focus on and work at a pace they feel comfortable with.

I have also used Kahoot! in past F2F classes. Students answer questions on the board using their phones. According to Tanya (2018), young learners do appreciate the use of technology and gaming in their learning experience. I will try to incorporate short, fun quizzes into my online classes. This enhances the behaviorist element in the learning experience, with rewards for correct responses. Note that there is already a long-term behaviorist element as students get a reward (final grade) from the course. However, more frequent gratification can be a good motivator.

One point which I really like from the textbook, The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and Practical Pedagogical Tips, by Judith V. Boettcher and Rita-Marie Conrad, is the importance of a great online learning environment. The instructor should make his presence felt and encourage learners to engage also. If I can accomplish this with lively discussion forums and interesting group work, my students will feel more engaged and benefit from the social learning element in the online course. Getting everyone interacting can be tougher in elearning compared to F2F courses, but I will try different things and repeat what works.

References

Boettcher, J. V. & Conrad, R. M. (2010). The online teaching survival guide:
Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Tanya. (2018). The ultimate list of millennial characteristics. Lucky Attitude.
Retrieved from: http://luckyattitude.co.uk/millennial-characteristics/

As I  progress through my Principles & Processes of eLearning course, I am becoming more intrigued by the textbook, The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and Practical Pedagogical Tips, by Judith V. Boettcher and Rita-Marie Conrad.

Here are 10 great practices from the book, along with my own examples:

1. Be present at the course site. It is important for students to know their instructor is around in an online class. Some effective ways to maintain a presence is by participating (even leading) discussion forums, making short videos, and holding live office hours.

2. Create a supportive online course community. Encouraging interaction between learners is an important step in making students feel engaged in the class. I like to try to start with introductions and keep the “group work” going through discussion boards and regular collaboration on assignments.

3. Develop a set of explicit expectations for yourself and your learners. It is important for us to create a set of expectations for ourselves and our learners from the onset. We should clearly communicate what is expected of the learner (and our own obligations such as office hours) through course schedules, grading rubrics, and regular feedback.

4. Use a variety of large group, small group, and individual work experiences. This is not only important for keeping students of different backgrounds engaged, but also for helping develop “soft” skills students need in the workplace, in addition to technical knowledge. I like to have students try a homework assignment on their own, and then collaborate to produce solutions for the class. As a last resort, I make corrections on the board.

5. Use synchronous and asynchronous activities. Some good examples of synchronous activities are live office hours, exams/quizzes held online at the same time, and videoconferencing with group members. Meanwhile, good asynchronous activities are discussion boards, homework assignments, and weekly course material which the student can access at his/her convenience.

6. Prepare discussion posts that invite responses, questions, discussions, and reflections. It can be tricky to engage students in an online course, but we should try to keep things as interesting as possible. A list of “fun” questions such as favourite food or drink serves as a great low-pressure introductory activity. I also like to share, and invite, personal experiences/opinions which tie in to the course material.

7. Plan a good closing and wrap activity for the course. A traditional closing activity for a college course is a final exam. However, there are now other ways to wrap up courses. I like to give group work, such as comprehensive case study, which allows for a more collaborative reflection. A chat about what students learned from the course, as well as their likes and dislikes, serves as a strong reflection and feedback tool.

8. Assess as you go by gathering evidences of learning. Formative assessment is very important for both the teacher and the students. It is a chance for us to gauge how the students are doing individually and as a group. If things are not going well for a chunk of the class, we must consider going in a different direction. For the students, it is a chance to get feedback early and often, as opposed to later on and infrequently. Small homework assignments, short quizzes, and even questions during the lesson help the learning process.

9. Rigorously connect content to core concepts and learning outcomes. It is a good idea to ask students if they can “align” the course objectives to the lessons in the course. If they can do that, you have done a good job of creating clear objectives and maintaining consistency throughout your course. My goal in introductory accounting classes is always to prepare students well for an entry-level accounting position. Hence, there is a focus on the basics, but more specifically, there is an emphasis on doing accounting, as opposed to just learning about it.

10. Design experiences to help learners progress from novice to expert. In introductory accounting classes, I like to test students on the basics in the first half of the course. The midterm exam is quite predictable- the students are given a prep package where they make journal entries, post to T-accounts, and produce a basic income statement and balance sheet. By the end of the course, the students are working in groups to address complex case studies in a comprehensive report.

Reference
Boettcher, J. V. & Conrad, R. M. (2010). The online teaching survival guide:
Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Hi everyone,

It has been a while! I want to let you all know that I have finally graduated from the PIDP  (see all the lovely grad photos on the SIE Facebook page) and am now pursuing the eLearning Certificate.

If you have totally forgotten who I am, I don’t blame you. But… here is a quick refresher:

I am an accounting and finance instructor at SFU and UFV. I have a CPA, CGA designation and an MSc in Finance. I started teaching four years ago and hope to continue in the industry for many more years! I also have my own public practice and blueberry farm, so I tend to be quite busy with work. However, I am not too busy to continue learning, which I absolutely love doing!

Anyways, I have just added a new Links section where I will be sharing cool new eLearning tidbits. I will also be making several more blog posts in the next month, so stay tuned!

As my amazing readers know, I have discussed self-directed learning several times over the past month. However, I have not specifically targeted how educators can inspire their students to engage in such behaviour… until now.

In this blog post, I will analyze an article by Arthur L. Costa, Promoting Self-Directed Learning. This article caught my eye as I was scouring the depths of the internet for something juicy to write about. As a University instructor who strives for constant improvement, I welcome any advice on motivating students to jump into the glorious pool of self-directed learning!

Costa focusses on feedback as the primary motivational tool used by educators in self-directed learning. He ranks five forms of feedback, beginning with the most effective measure.

1. Reflective questioning– Asking questions which force learners to reflect on their work and the entire learning environment encourages further development and creativity. Open-ended questions seem to work better so that learners can fully assess the situation for themselves.

2. Nonjudgmental data- An instructor can aid the learning process by collecting and providing useful data which the student may use going forward. This can work well in a presentation situation where data about the presentation or audience can help the student improve going forward.

3. Inferences, causality, and interpretations– The author doesn’t seem overly enthusiastic about this form of feedback, as it “usurps the self-directedness of the students”. This method of feedback involves the teacher determining inferences, causality, and interpretations about a student’s work. This feedback is then provided to the student for their development.

4. Personal opinions and preferences– Expressing an opinion or preference can be useful for building rapport with the student. However, this is a slippery slope to evaluation and/or judgement which can adversely impact the self-directed learning process.

5. Evaluations and judgments– Costa argues that evaluation or judgement has a minimal impact on a student’s learning, since the instructor is acting as “the final arbitrator of what is good or bad”.  Obviously, this is not a great thing when attempting to encourage a self-directed learning system where the student is responsible for his or her own evaluation and development.

I feel that Costa’s first two forms of feedback would work best for me. I have been trying to ask more open-ended questions to my students to get them thinking about where improvements can be made. I find that this works really well on major projects where I ask for an early submission with part of the work done. My feedback is usually in the form of questions posed back to students which are addressed in their final project submission.

Collecting and providing data to students is a new idea to me. It seems like a really interesting and useful form of feedback. I am strongly considering making myself available as a data collector in future presentations, where students can request what they want from me.