Adding video instruction makes all the difference
Introduction
Quality instruction and interaction between teachers and students leads to more effective learning and deeper relationships. Horizon's online instruction began in 2006 with a few high school teachers utilizing the Apex Learning curriculum and email to communicate with students and their parents. The program experienced regular growth each year. Then the closing of the school's Rocklin Learning Center meant even more Horizon students were learning online. This change made it necessary to support teachers and students in an online program that included instruction and clear communication. I quickly discovered that a new form of online instruction was needed to support the program growth - we needed to switch to new technology.
Background
Online education and "distance learning" are two very different approaches. In distance learning, assignments and communication are mostly accomplished through the use of email. It is an adequate way to assign work and collect work while answering questions. Though it provides less than minimum interaction of teachers and students. Our program, from 2006 to 2010, was a distance learning program provided to the students at their homes. There was no face-to-face interaction among students with teachers, but they were sharing their experiences through online platforms. There were no live teaching sessions. The program lacked a key, essential component of teaching and learning - the connection between the student and teacher.
Another drawback was using only email. Communication via email was not meeting all the needs of teachers and students. Too often the communication was incomplete or lacked clarity to fully accomplish learning goals. Email helps with answering questions but cannot be used to provide instruction or quality support for students. Most students who need help or might be lost and lacking basic skills need more than a short video or a PDF with steps to follow for an activity.
Our online teaching team tried Google Hangouts, but this resource lack adequate tools and access. Hangout rooms had limits to the number of students who could participate. Access was clunky and students were often dropped out of a session. There were no tools for teaching or sharing of responses. Another important drawback to Hangouts was that there was no whiteboard available to present. Finally, Hangouts offered no way to safely record teaching session and follow COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) guidelines to protect students.
We needed to move to online learning by using the resources compiled from past practices, but it was important to also add the vital elements needed to accomplish live teaching. The essential element needed was interaction, between teachers and students and students with each other. There was also a need for an online “location” to meet.
My investigation lead me to Adobe Connect. This tool was being used by many schools and businesses and had a price point for education that was appropriate. This tool was used to facilitate live sessions for many years. As we experienced increase success with online learning and Adobe Connect, we also found some challenges. Both staff and students encountered and observed these issues, even as our program grew; while participating in live sessions users would lose their connection, students and staff were often “kicked out” of classrooms. Using Connect required the Flash plug-in to be used, which had inherent issues and security challenges. The overall online learning experience was worth the trials and challenges. Teachers found value in leading live classrooms with recordings available to students to watch. Also, features such as the built-in chat, screen sharing, file transfer and breakout rooms were found to be essential tools for learning and feedback. In some cases, we needed to create student accounts due to inappropriate students entering classrooms using fake or even inappropriate names. Hacking in and fake student names were an important issue I could not ignore and had to address.
As our program grew, the online learning techniques and approaches were the keys; student interaction was directly connected to the interaction and other activities used to blend in with the learning. Through blending, students had access to live teachers (not many schools provide for this). Also, the students had opportunities to interact and communicate with each other while developing social skills. Interaction lead to deeper learning while students completed online and written assignments as well as other home-based activities. Furthermore, teachers developed skills and techniques to engage their students in an online class more effectively. I implemented teacher professional development focused on using online learning techniques and approaches as well as training in using digital curriculum and a learning management system.
Evaluation
If you look back at the past ten years, there were many opportunities for learning while implementing online classes. I had several opportunities to learn from many failures and successes while building the program. We needed to develop a plan to make sure all our students had access to the same technology. Some students do not have solid access to the internet. Many parents were worried about the amount of screen time students might spend on their computers. We spent many hours planning and developing ideas for creating a balancing between screen time, online work and research, and other homework activities. Over time we have found that the live access to teachers, whether during class or one-on-one tutoring is the essential component for success.
Cheating was also an issue we met head-on while building our online program. We re-wrote many assignments to discourage cheating by having students create original projects and work. We also integrated tools like “Turnitin.” Turnitin is used to help teachers check written assignments for plagiarism, mechanics, spelling, grammar, and proper English. Cheating is still an issue, but we continue to find ways to help students create original work and not plagiarize.
During my time leading the program, there has been a steady climb in enrolment. Horizon's program is recognized for great teachers who engage and challenge their students. Every year we request feedback from students. We find that the time spent on course assignments has increased as well as the overall satisfaction with the courses and the online teachers. We continually re-think our implementation and investigate new ways to make the program better. Over the past ten years adding live instruction has made all the difference.
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