Online Learning Essentials For Osher Students - College Of William & Mary

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M Online Learning Essentials for Osher Students Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at William & Mary Fall 2020 Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. How I plan to do Zoom sessions This (classroom) course normally includes active feedback from participants, but may be somewhat constrained by Zoom (normally, your audio/video is “off”) Please use the chat box to ask questions or make comments during the presentation I will try to answer as we go along, or pause occasionally Depending on class size and time, I may also try “recognize” you to do some video and audio comments/questions “raise your hand” icon I would like to take a moment and have you practice with some Zoom tools before we get started 1

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M Some Zoom information Move cursor to bottom (or top) of screen to make “menu bar” appear with various icons on bar Click on “Chat” icon to open chat box function – type in questions/comments at the bottom of the chat box and hit “enter” key Click on “Participants” icon to see a list of students Both chat box and participants list can be “grabbed” by locating cursor at the top of the box, holding down the mouse key, and moving the box around anywhere Participant list also includes “gestures” icons at the bottom, to help with feedback – shows next to name Welcome! Please answer via chat: “Have you ever taken an e-learning course before?” “If so, what? where?” Ask questions on chat anytime OR, “Raise” you hand to be recognized with audio/video Hand-outs available Hope this course will be useful, and fun! 2

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M Course objectives: Help you answer the following questions: (.and maybe a few more) What is online learning? Varieties of online learning? What skills do I need before I take an online learning course? What should I expect inside an online learning course? Preview a new distance learning option for Osher courses Course calendar Session #1 What is online learning? Varieties of online learning? ( some examples of courses available) Session #2 What computer/Internet skills do I need? Session #3 What should I expect in an online learning course? A guided tour of “Blackboard” Online learning options for future Osher courses? 3

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M What is online learning? A form of academic instruction which uses electronic digital media and devices, educational technologies, and information and communication technologies May be classroom, online, or both Tends to emphasize “learning” rather than “instruction” An increasing % of college and university activity A way to extend lifelong learning opportunities for Osher Institute members Online learning at colleges Most colleges and universities now offer a substantial number of (credit) online courses as part of the regular curriculum ( but, not too much at William & Mary) Requirements are the same as classroom-based courses, i.e., admission, registration, tuition, etc. Academic schedule, class size, etc. generally similar to on-campus courses May be an option for Osher students, IF credit is desired Some other (non-credit) online learning options exist! ( one purpose of this course!) 4

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M Is “E-Learning” different? Online Learning, E-Learning, Web Learning, Computerassisted Learning, Distance Learning, etc. Various terms for essentially the same thing ( I often use the words interchangeably) Key factor for all is the timing and nature of interactions between instructor and students Synchronous at the same time Asynchronous at a different time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v Cw8WyHL-HLE An online learning glossary etc., etc., etc. 5

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M Understanding online learning “terminology” For adults, much of the difficulty in understanding online learning options is breaking through the confusing “jargon” ( your children and grandchildren grew up with all this stuff !) The glossary should help you make some sense of all these “words” and see how they fit into the online learning world Have the glossary handy during every Zoom session Please suggest any words or online learning terms that don’t already appear on the list ( I will add them for the next course offering) e.g., an online learning glossary ommission “Second Life” a multi-player virtual world, similar to some other online gaming sites, where users establish their own (virtual) identity and build avatars and online content to engage with other online users in community-building activities 6

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M LMS/CMS/VLE? Learning Management System (LMS) Course Management System (CMS) Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Essentially all the same general thing – ways to provide learning opportunities using computer and Internet technologies Some slight differences in tools and capabilities among them “Blackboard” is the learning management system available at W&M, other LMS’s include “Canvas,” “Moodle,” etc. A virtual learning environment is the “classroom space” you go to (on your computer) to engage in online learning Varieties of Online Learning Basic devices and e-books, e-libraries Telecourses Audio conferencing, video conferencing, web conferencing iTunes University – thousands of podcasts and videos Khan Academy – math and science courses YouTube – video clip library OpenLearn from Open University Open Culture (free e-learning content aggregation site) University of the People, Peer 2 Peer University, Alison, Udemy (mostly free content, but pay for certificate or credential) 7

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M Varieties of online learning Hybrid courses (part classroom, part online) Online courses, web courses, virtual learning environments (using an LMS, CMS, Blackboard, Moodle, etc.) Open courseware – MIT and other colleges MOOC’s – Massively Open Online Course (s) (from consortia or companies like Cousera, edX, Udacity, etc.) Online learning – (basic) Nook (or Kindle) and an e-book 8

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M Online learning – (basic) Online libraries Online catalogs from colleges and universities (e.g., W&M) The Internet Archive https://archive.org/ Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/ Michigan E-Library http://mel.org/ Google books http://books.google.com/ Open Library https://openlibrary.org/ Library of Congress (digital collections) http://www.loc.gov/library/libarch-digital.html Smithsonian Institution Digital Library http://library.si.edu/digital-library 9

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M Information literacy The set of abilities that enable an individual to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information Essential for e-learners to know how and what to trust on the Internet and WWW --- to be able to resolve questions about information authenticity, validity, and reliability Set of “information literacy” standards published by the Association of College and Research Libraries at: acycompetency#ildef Telecourses An academic course of study conducted over television Primary method of distance education from the 1960’s through the early 1990’s ( prior to the WWW) Usually, broadcast over the air, or via satellite, or distributed via videotapes More recent versions of telecourses use two-way, interactive communication between class sites (e.g., video conferencing) e.g., Traditional telecourses (one-way, broadcast) on Cox cable digital channel 106 Virginia Tidewater Consortium for Higher Education (VTC) 10

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M Audio conferencing, Video & Web conferencing A form of synchronous instructor/student interaction and communication using telephones, or computers and software, to provide a classroom-like learning environment Video conferencing and web conferencing often the same tools Web conferencing typically includes other e-learning tools such as “whiteboards” or “chat” to engage students Some common web/video conferencing tools include: Adobe Connect, Elluminate, WebEx, GoToMeeting, Skype, Zoom Web conferencing screen 11

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M iTunes University From Apple – free podcasts (audio, video, other media) structured and offered by colleges and universities as courses Podcasts can play on Apple devices (iPhone, iPod, iPad) Thousands of lectures, videos, books, etc. Software available as a separate app on Apple devices Providers include Cambridge, Yale, Oxford, Harvard, Stanford, etc. Being discontinued by Apple in next few years iTunes University 12

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M iTunes University Khan Academy A non-profit educational organization that provides free online courses Content in the form of short (5 – 12 minute) videos, organized by topic, structured as “courses” Very good math and science courses Can use as a student, or in the role of parent, teacher, or coach https://www.khanacademy.org/ 13

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M Khan Academy Khan Academy 14

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M YouTube Social media - video sharing website (user uploads) Millions (?) of video clips on almost every imaginable topic Not necessarily “student” friendly – lacks academic organization Usually, must use search tool to find stuff However, you can subscribe to existing “channels” (organized by topic) or you can create your own personal “channel” Good source of supplemental information on topics, for informal learning, e.g., LBJ speech to joint session of Congress 11/27/63 YouTube 15

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M YouTube Open Learn (at Open University) Free learning component of Open University (United Kingdom) http://www.open.edu/openlearn/ Free OU course materials and other educational resources (i.e., “open courseware”) 800 YouTube videos from OU broadcasts and teaching materials 15,000 research publications available online 16

Online Learning Essentials Scott A. Langhorst, Ph.D. Fall 2020 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at W&M Open Learn (at Open University) Open Culture Free e-learning content aggregation site http://www.openculture.com/ Online course listings MOOC’s listing Free movies Free audio books Free eBooks Free textbooks Free language lessons etc., etc. 17