Sylvia wrote, I just happen to have "Facilitating Online Learning: Effective Strategies for Moderators" by Collison, G., Elbaum, B., Haavind, S. and Tinker, G. right beside me. (I always do!) This is where I was introduced to designing generative exchanges.
My first thought when reading Liz's post on the topic was that Sarah's book was the only place where I've run into that concept. But, as Sylvia notes later in her post, what Sarah has to say about generative exchanges may have more to do with facilitating a discussion than with how the course is designed. However, I have seen courses designs that lent themselves to doing this sort of facilitation more than others do -- so it may be both a facilitation and a design issue.
Looking forward to what others -- especially Sarah Haavind -- have to say on the topic. (I am traveling at present and don't have my copy of Facilitating Online at hand, though I usually do!)
~~marsha
Marsha West
Posts made by Marsha West
Sorry Vivian -- I addressed you as Sylvia! Apologies to both of you -- slip of the (mental) chip! I enjoyed visiting with you both at eLearn - and I really do know you apart!!
~~marsha
(I don't like not being able to go back and fix my mistakes on posts!)
~~marsha
(I don't like not being able to go back and fix my mistakes on posts!)
I'm new to Skype and have used it for one-one conversations. Can you tell me/us more about how you'd use it for a group conversation??
Sylvia asks, In the VHS project, did you work with instructional designers, and if so, did they do anything in particular that helped you find that sense of place that you describe so eloquently?
Interesting question, Sylvia. No one wore that title, but everyone at Concord Consortium already had a lot of experience in designing and setting up classes. We were all working together in a collaborative online course (The Teachers' Learning Conference) and that course led us so gently through the process that we seldom recognized we were being led. We were provided a software (Lotus Notes' Learning Space) powered, I believe, by Domino (I'm not techie enough to know how to talk about this properly). We had templates to work from, and a general set of standards to work with -- Courses were to be laid out week by week for scheduled asynchronous delivery. The first three weeks were to be dedicated to ice-breakers/community building, etc. Other than that we were all given tremendous freedom to figure it out on our own -- and to help each other construct the framework.
Since then I've worked in many other situations where I have sometimes participated in instructional design, or provided content, etc. In those situations, the roles were much more clearly defined. But in the VHS we were a bunch of people listening to the same music, and figuring out the dance steps as we went along. Later, the TLC (Teachers' Learning Conference) developed a much more consistent kind of leadership for new teachers who were writing courses. But that first year was really magic.
~~marsha
Interesting question, Sylvia. No one wore that title, but everyone at Concord Consortium already had a lot of experience in designing and setting up classes. We were all working together in a collaborative online course (The Teachers' Learning Conference) and that course led us so gently through the process that we seldom recognized we were being led. We were provided a software (Lotus Notes' Learning Space) powered, I believe, by Domino (I'm not techie enough to know how to talk about this properly). We had templates to work from, and a general set of standards to work with -- Courses were to be laid out week by week for scheduled asynchronous delivery. The first three weeks were to be dedicated to ice-breakers/community building, etc. Other than that we were all given tremendous freedom to figure it out on our own -- and to help each other construct the framework.
Since then I've worked in many other situations where I have sometimes participated in instructional design, or provided content, etc. In those situations, the roles were much more clearly defined. But in the VHS we were a bunch of people listening to the same music, and figuring out the dance steps as we went along. Later, the TLC (Teachers' Learning Conference) developed a much more consistent kind of leadership for new teachers who were writing courses. But that first year was really magic.
~~marsha
I'm finding this discussion very interesting. I am not a course designer, per se, although I have written several online courses. In those situations, I was basically doing all the "parts," with responsibility for content, design, assessment, etc.
The first time around, though, is the one that I'm remembering as I read this discussion. I was one of the "charter members" of the Virtual High School faculty -- and had about 8 months to write a net course for secondary students. I found the beginning very difficult -- and finally realized it was because I was looking for "a place to stand." I knew where I would stand and how I would deliver a course in f2f environment, but online learning was entirely new to me at that time. And as I wrestled with the whole idea of how to get the first few weeks up and ready for VHS faculty evaluation, I needed to find that sense of place.
So I looked for ways to make that virtual place as real as my real classroom -- so to me, one of the most important values that course designers need to keep in mind is that the virtual place must have verisimilitude. The course must be constructed in such a way that people who click on the links and enter feel that they are in a real place where real people interact and do real work.
I'd be interested to know whether this is a concern for those who are real experts in instructional design -- and what principles guide their work as they construct these virtual environments.
~~marsha
p.s. If you're interested, click on this link to read an article which I wrote for VHS back in '97 in which I explored my own efforts in this direction.
The first time around, though, is the one that I'm remembering as I read this discussion. I was one of the "charter members" of the Virtual High School faculty -- and had about 8 months to write a net course for secondary students. I found the beginning very difficult -- and finally realized it was because I was looking for "a place to stand." I knew where I would stand and how I would deliver a course in f2f environment, but online learning was entirely new to me at that time. And as I wrestled with the whole idea of how to get the first few weeks up and ready for VHS faculty evaluation, I needed to find that sense of place.
So I looked for ways to make that virtual place as real as my real classroom -- so to me, one of the most important values that course designers need to keep in mind is that the virtual place must have verisimilitude. The course must be constructed in such a way that people who click on the links and enter feel that they are in a real place where real people interact and do real work.
I'd be interested to know whether this is a concern for those who are real experts in instructional design -- and what principles guide their work as they construct these virtual environments.
~~marsha
p.s. If you're interested, click on this link to read an article which I wrote for VHS back in '97 in which I explored my own efforts in this direction.