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My Personal Online Educational Philosophy

 

Tell me and I forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.

 ~ sometimes attributed to Benjamin Franklin          

 

不闻不若闻之, 闻之不若见之, 见之不若知之, 知之不若行之

Not having heard something is not as good as having heard it; having heard it is not as good as having seen it; having seen it is not as good as knowing it; knowing it is not as good as putting it into practice. (John Knoblock translation, Google Books)

~ XunKuang (Xunzi), 200 BC          

By three methods we may learn wisdom: 

• First, by reflection, which is noblest;
• Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and
• Third by experience, which is the bitterest.

~ Confucius, 500 BC          

     I have taught undergraduate students with little real-world experience. I have also taught graduate students and business professionals in the U.S., China, Japan, Europe, and Africa. I can attest that experience is truly the bitterest!

 

     My classes are often widely diverse in nationality, race, religion, and life experiences. Both undergraduate and graduate students often have expectations to apply course materials to the real world. My philosophy is influenced by this cross-cultural environment, my business experience, and my own classroom and online education experiences as a student and professor.

 

     I prefer an interactive, student lead teaching approach with the professor functioning as a facilitator to allow students to experience learning. To that end, I use interactive technologies in online classes, and these must be used creatively in asynchronous courses.

 

     Tools vary depending on the LMS such as Blackboard, Moodle or Canvas, but I also like to employ other online tools outside of the LMS, including  those such as:

• Zoom, Skype or Google interactive video meetings
• Slack, Google+, or private Facebook groups for group, team and class communications
• Student Response Word Clouds
• Online Polling (anonymous or tagged)
• Online Document Sharing & Editing (e.g., Grammarly, Google Docs, etc.)
• Videos such a YouTube, Vimeo or Professor/Student-led presentations
• TopHat interactive presentations

 

      Consistent with Bloom’s Taxonomy, new topics require some basic pedagogical information to provide a solid platform from which students can then apply critical thinking and other skills. From this point, students can begin to manufacture original positions and supported arguments.

 

     A common teaching challenge is to determine the course and information relevancy for each student (Walshok, 2012). I have taught a diverse classroom mix of students from Asia, Europe, Africa, Central and South America, and the U.S. Students are not all equally engaged. They come with a wide variety of cultural, political, and religious perspectives, and each may have different learning styles. This can present a challenge to maintain university standards and rigor while recognizing each individual’s limitations.

     

     To that end, I utilize a student survey at the beginning of class to help determine student backgrounds, expectations, interests, skills, and goals. I then work to bring this rich diversity into class discussions and student-student collaboration.

Another common online teaching challenge is that asynchronous events never close. Students may expect a professor to be available days, nights, weekends, and holidays, 24/7. It is important for both the University and the professor to set appropriate expectations.

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Here are some sample posts I often provide for asynchronous classes:

 

>>> Welcome! This is an asynchronous online course and there are no required meeting times. As a result, it is a bit more difficult to get to know each other. Remember, your other cohort students in this class will help you learn and can be a wonderful resource during this class and into your future. To make this course effective, it is important that your participation in discussions, assignments, and any group events are timely. See the posted policies regarding participation and assignments.

 

>>> About the Professor, Jonathan Cooley or "Dr Jon": I have posted a brief overview and video to introduce myself. One of your first assignments is to introduce yourself by a written introduction as well. There is an INTRODUCE YOURSELF section in [Blackboard/Moodle/Canvas/LMS].

 

>>> Access to Professor Dr. Jon: I regularly log in to monitor your activities each week, usually in the early morning hours. Expect responses to questions posted in the class or sent by email within 24 hours (although on weekends this may be 48 hours). Do your best to plan the timing of your questions accordingly for a quick, substantive response.

 

>>> Grading: I know students are eager to receive grades after submitting assignments. I put a lot of effort into providing detailed feedback on most assignments in this course, and this takes time. I strive to return all assignments within 3 days of submission depending on class size or as directed by the school. If something comes up and I need to deviate from this schedule, I will let you know.

 

>>> Testing: Everyone is curious about exams and tests for this class. In any subject, there are some things you "just got to know". My major goal for you, however, is for you to understand the material we cover in this class, learn methods and models to be able to think critically,  and for you to know how to find answers! Therefore, most of my tests are open book and you are allowed to search for answers online. The problem is that if you don't understand the material, you will not be able to find the correct answers or complete the exam in the given time frame.

 

>>> Group Events: As this is an asynchronous course (online only) there will be few “group” events scheduled online. Since you may be in widely different time zones, group activities will be only those where you can coordinate via the [LMS] discussion board,Zoom, Slack, Google Docs, Facebook, or other interactive online application.

 

>>> Office Hours: I hold weekly “office hours” as instructed by the school. I often use Zoom (www.Zoom.us) for this purpose to provide face-to-face discussion. Attendance is not mandatory and attendance will NOT affect your participation grade one way or another. This is to provide us both a scheduled opportunity to talk, exchange ideas, or answer questions.

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     In my opinion, to address different student learning styles, courses should optimally include synchronous and asynchronous activities, as well as individual and group activities. A variety of learning forms should also be included – texts, academic and popular literature, current articles, active research, collaborative activities, videos, student-lead activities, and student presentations. I try to provide alternate methods for students to complete certain projects and assignments (e.g., videos, vlogs, papers, narrated slide presentations, etc.)

 

     For students where English is a second language (ESL students), the professor must provide a set of values and standards for discussions, participation, written communication, and presentation abilities. With ESL students, I find myself spending more time editing case studies and providing writing direction as well as more traditional comments regarding the content and logical arguments. This is to provide students additional guidance in future work and communications. In the classroom and the world, poor communication skills may mark a person as "incompetent" and mask the individual’s inherent intelligence, skills, and value.

 

Therefore, I have adopted Ten Key Points in my attempt to be effective. I believe the class must provide “authentic learning” (Lombardi, 2007, pp.3-4) which includes these ten points:

 

1. Real-world relevance

2. Ill-defined problems

3. Sustained investigation

4. Multiple sources and perspectives

5. Student-student and Group Collaboration

6. Reflection (metacognition)

7. Interdisciplinary perspective

8. Integrated assessment

9. Polished products

10. Multiple interpretations and outcomes

 

   A course should challenge students to understand why course content is important and how it relates to course objectives. It is also the professor’s responsibility to help students identify the information relevant for themselves.

 

     Finally, professors must be cognizant of the measures of success. As noted by Walker and Fraser (2005) these may include parameters including teacher-student and student-student relationships. Although most institutions collect student feedback at the end of a class, I also use my own feedback forms both during and at the end of classes. This assists me to improve not only the class but hopefully future classes as well.

 

     I try to communicate four basic concepts from which the student can build their future:

 

1. We all have blind spots.
   • These are our conditioned responses, concepts, core personal values, inherent prejudices, and attitudes we may not be able to see without help.
2. It’s what we know that “just ain’t so”.
   • Students should always be skeptics but not cynics. One must continue to question both personal and group conscious and subconscious assumptions about people, business, and the world.
3. Always question the assumptions.
   • When developing or responding to persuasive arguments, the argument’s logic is often flawless. The underlying assumptions, conclusions, and facts, however, may not be apparent, and one or more may be flawed.

 

1. Life-long learning is key to personal success.
   • To remain relevant and valuable in their careers, students should be prepared to continue to read, read critically, conduct independent research, and learn something new both through studies and experiences. Although eating the bitterest may be difficult, I search for ways to include experience in each class.

 

In summary, I have adapted a quote originally from the associate vice chancellor for public programs at UC San Diego, Mary Wolshok, in 2012. This one hopes to recognize we live in a globally connected Wrinkled World of differing cultural and business norms.

 

We need more places where global, cross-cultural knowledge and real-world practice connect.

 

References

Lombardi, M. (2007). Authentic learning for the 21st Century: An overview. EducauseLearning Initiative: Advanced Learning Through IT, 1-12

Walker, S., & Fraser, B. (2005). Development and validation of an instrument for assessing distance education learning environments in higher education: The Distance Education Learning Environments Survey (DELES). Learning Environments Research, 8(3), 289-308.doi:10.1007/s10984-005-1568-3.

Walshok, M. (2012).Closing America's job gap: The role of higher education. Presentation UC Center Sacramento, Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_HpsLlPiH0 (Part 1) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWv4aVQZGJA (Part 2)