Reading Notes. Salmon (2013) Cpt 2

Salmon, G. (2013) E-tivities: the key to active online learning. ProQuest (Firm). Chapter 2: ‘E-tivities in the Five-Stage Model’, pages 31-44

A 5 stage model to provide structures, scaffolded, paced, happy learning. Familiar, sequenced and familiar routine.

e-moderators – providing the human support behind the online learning.

Promote action and interaction through purpose and feedback and tech support.

Stage 3 – mutual exchange, learning related contributions, cooperation

Stage 4- group discussions, interaction becomes collaborative, team operational. Knowledge construction begins

Stage 5 – students are comfortable working together. Pursue ideas and reach goals, descover, reflect and present.

E-tivity design for 5 stages.

You can then draw on ideas of gradual group development and the scaffolding (Pea, 2004) provided by the five-stage model.

Stage 1 – ensure easy access. All the time. Are they motivated to keep checking in? Unfamiliar with software when starting. Ability will vary greatly. Show that help is at hand if necessary. Stage 1 increase students confidence at early stages to encourage motivation. Why are students learning in this way? What do they have to take part in? Careful not to demotivate – bad dog, no biscuit.

“One way to consider motivation at Stage 1 is in terms of expectancy theory (Biggs and Tang, 2011).

Expectancy theory says that the learning activity must have value to the learner and that the learner must expect to succeed. So clarity of purpose from e-tivity designers and e-moderators is critical from the very beginning. To demonstrate value at Stage 1, make it very clear to participants the purpose of your programmes of e-tivities (for them) or how Stage 1 links to and integrates with the rest of the learning or networking process, its role in assessed components (tests and assignments) and the amount of time they should allocate to working on it.” Page 35

Some students react well to achievement motivation (McClelland, 1985)

Others need competence motivation. Participant’s belief in ability to achieve.

Expectancy theory suggests two main kinds of motivation: ‘extrinsic’ and ‘intrinsic’.

Extrinsic motivation - Positive reinforcement – financial or marks / or punishment (an outcome)

Intrinsic motivation – Learn to take part, see value in the knowledge. This lasts longer and is valuable.

Social motivator – peoples opinions are important to them (Biggs and Tang, 2011, p. 35).

Anxieties – who is online with them. – not apparent to e-moderators unless expressed - negative

Don’t start by saying: “who are you, post a  photo’ and ‘fill in your profile’ type of message. At the start of a unit or programme, such messages frighten some people, particularly the more reticent or less experienced in the online environment, and are typically unfocused and unproductive to summarize.” Pag 36

Arriving

Some will arrive early, some will arrive late – normally a weeks disparity.

4 – 5 short e-tivities can be completed within week 1, addressing week 1.

Stage 2, Online socialisation

Week 2 e-tivities need to focus on enabling learners to socialise together and interact.

Provide practice in working together. Online groups or teams can be formed to encourage this.

A lack of face-to-face interaction is key for equality, rather than a negative. It can increase comfort levels of e-moderators and learners. “Instead it brings its own special advantages and disadvantages compared to face-to-face working (Friesen, 2011)”

Socialisation is integral to deepening their learning. With cohesion and social support (Holley and Taylor, 2009). So it creates “real opportunities for cross-cultural, cross-disciplinary learning” page 37

Build bridges socially at stage 2! It will help later on.

Geographically diverse students: “When asynchronous computer-based learning first started, there was a belief that there would be a strong discontinuity between people’s location-based physical selves and their online or virtual personae. We now know that this is not the case—and that online learning groups can and do develop their own strong identities.” Page 37-38

“I find the ideas of a community of practice are helpful in this context. Wenger (2006) tells us that there are three main components of a community of practice: joint enterprise, mutuality and shared repertoire.”

Joint enterprise- show students the value in working together. How will they individually contribute to group work? Problem solving, sharing of experience?

Mutuality- They will gradually gain trust from each other. Online writing means in depth sharing and support.

“Developing a shared repertoire includes exploring ‘language, routines, sensibilities, artefacts, tools, stories, styles’ (Wenger, 2000, p. 229; see also Wenger et al., 2009)

No technology will create this. Only social interaction will.

Cross-cultural interaction is most effective when more understanding is created from the sharing of multiple perspectives and different points of view (Osland, Bird and Mendenall, 2012) How can my E-tivity explore opening up viewpoints?

If agreements on topic are made, little is learnt. If differences are found then learning is expanded. A shared framework is required (Tolmie and Boyle, 2000) to avoid over whelming or underwhelming.

Be careful at this stage that differences are kept positive (Goodfellow and Lamy, 2009) Different groups have special and unique perspectives to offer.

Stage 2 is over when all participants have shared a perspective online. Don’t rush on, ensure that a foundation of sharing has been acquired.

Stage 3 – information exchange

Task and action stage.

Impart information to each other and explain, explore and clarify.

Deepen understanding by giving feedback to each other. Scaffold at this stage!

Design activities that explore coordination and communication.

Don’t expect mass communication yet.

You could also try buzz groups (each group is given a topic) or syndicates (each group has an assigned task), which culminate in a plenary debate (Jaques and Salmon, 2008).

“E-moderators should provide regular weaving, feedback, summaries and plenaries.” Page 40

“Clear prior instructions on timing and occasional weaving by the e-moderator will help to sustain motivation and establish presence.” Page 40

Stage 3 is over when participants have learnt how to find, share and contribute to information. Lurking should be at a minimum. Participants are familiar with technology.

Stage 4: Knowledge Construction

By this stage participants recognise the potential for online learning to control and construct knowledge. This is key to interaction (McDermott, 1999).

page 41

This is very relatable to my practice.

Learners by this stage take their experience and build on it what they are learning. Knowledge built on knowledge (Lauzon, 2000)

Students begin to become online authors.

“The development of tacit knowledge and its potential impact on practice can emerge strongly at this stage.” Page 42

Create a balance of structure, but also freedom for students to construct their on knowledge. Create questions that have no right or wrong answers.

1 question per challenge. A sequence of small challenges.

Create activities that explore exploration and interpretation of wider issues. Maybe there are multiple solutions or interpretations?

Ground activities in real-world contexts to build motivation.

“At Stage 4, you can move increasingly towards peer-directed e-tivities and participant work teams. For example, you could try defining a group outcome, or asking the group to provide its own goal and objectives, then give directions on how to collaborate.” Page 42

Reflect critically on previous information learnt.

Stage 5: Development

Learners are responsible for their own learning.

Participants are committed and creative in their learning and can appy learning to their own contexts, preparing them for life after studying. Becoming self-critical and reflective independently.

Activities focus on s insight and reflection.

“Metacognitive skills refer to people’s understanding and control of their own thinking. It’s a valuable form of self-awareness and impacts on a learner’s ability to self-regulate behaviours (Gunawardena et al., 2009)”

Provide e-tivities that foster evaluation and reflection, such as developmental plans enabling evaluation and critiquing.

“Develop e-tivities that enable evaluation and critiquing. Ask participants to demonstrate their ability to work with arguments and examples and to defend their own judgements. Encourage them to explore their metacognitive awareness of positions they adopt—for example, ‘How did you arrive at that position?’ or ‘Which is better and why?’. Don’t forget to explore feelings and emotions about learning, as well as their experience of the topics under discussion.” Page 44

e-portfolios are useful at this stage is supportive for reflective metacognitive learning. (Stefani, Mason and Pegler, 2007).

Moon (2006) reflection allows for mental processing. It also allows for us to process new emotions which relate to a new subject.

Activity: Recall a familiar experience as a way to introduce them to a new one.

“The idea is that in attempting to understand a problem or explore a scenario, experiences need to be interrogated and perhaps tested and challenged to avoid or at least bring to light the unconscious assumptions that may reduce creativity and flexibility.” Page 45

Argument for e-learning: “Emotions can often be noticed, surfaced and expressed, and may be passed over in face-to-face situations.” Page 45

References

(Biggs and Tang, 2011

Friesen, N. (2011). The place of the classroom and the space of the screen: New literacies and digital epistemologies. New York: Peter Lang.

Gunawardena, C.N., Hermans, M., Sanchez, D., Richmond, C., Bohley, M., and Tuttle, R. (2009). A theoretical framework for building online communities of practice with social networking tools. Educational Media International, 46(1), 3–16. doi:10.1080/09523980802588626.

Holley, K.A., and Taylor, B.J. (2009). Undergraduate student socialization and learning in an online professional curriculum. Innovative Higher Education, 33(4), 257–269. doi:10.1007/s10755–008–9083-y.

Jaques, D., and Salmon, G. (2008). Learning in groups: A handbook for face-to-face and online environments (4th ed.). London and New York: Routledge.

Lauzon, A. (2000). Situating cognition and crossing borders: Resisting the hegemony of mediated education. British Journal of Educational Technology, 30(3), 261–276.