Reflection and Analysis of Online Learning

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Introduction

Over the past 5 weeks, I’ve built a course for introducing students to Trigonometric functions. Basic trigonometry is introduced in Geometry. Students study angle relationships, special right triangles, and even trigonometric ratios (SOHCAHTOA). Our precalculus curriculum starts with a semester of trigonometry and the assumption that students readily recall the basic concepts from Geometry. However, having taught Precalculus for several years, I’ve noticed that students don’t remember the concepts they learned from Geometry needed to develop their learning in Precalculus.

 

The course progression in our district is Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, then a math elective such as College Algebra, Advanced Algebra, Statistics, or precalculus. Many of the concepts needed for Precalculus are learned in the second semester of geometry. Given the mathematics course progression, students must wait for one to two years between the concepts in geometry and their precalculus class. Because Algebra 2 and the other classes after Geometry don’t include the geometric foundations for Trigonometry, which is the first semester of Precalculus, students often struggle to remember concepts they need to be successful. They get frustrated and give up early in the school year.

 

This 5-week, online, mostly asynchronous course has been designed to help students bridge between Algebra 2 and other math electives courses, to Precalculus. It is a refresher course for concepts learned in geometry and a scaffold to more complex trigonometric topics. After completing this course, students should feel more confident embarking upon a precalculus course.

Instructional Design Theories 

The constructivist model best supports blended and online learning. I’ve built this course using a discovery learning model, developed by Jerome Bruner (Discovery Learning (Bruner), 2020), which is based on the constructivist model of teaching. This learning model encourages experimentation and collaboration between students. This model closely resembles how we learn in life outside of school. When we learn on our own, we investigate, play, and ask questions to deepen our learning. As we move through this process, we connect our discoveries to what we already know which makes our learning meaningful. Students in this course have the opportunity to play with the concepts through interactive lessons to make connections to prior learning.

 

UbD Plan Implementation 

I designed my course with the end learning goals in mind. Understanding By Design (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005) helped me organize the course around the desired learning outcomes for my students. By starting with the final assessment project and working backward, I was able to ensure all relevant information was presented during the course. 

 

In stage 1 of my UbD plan, I established the overall learning goals for the course. In stage 2, I established the evidence I would use to evaluate the student learning. In stage 3, I developed the learning activities, foundational, application, and integration, that would lead to student learning success.

 

This is an overview of my UbD plan.

 

Importance of Online Learning 

The importance of online learning could be seen clearly during the 2020-21 school year. Many schools shut down in person or went to a hybrid solution where students had to be educated remotely due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Online learning and technology in classrooms had been around for decades but were largely underutilized. During the 20-21 school year teachers had to quickly adapt curriculum and teaching styles to serve students they would never see in person. It was a challenge but using technology resources, and reassessing the way they teach, teachers found ways to reach those students with online learning.

 

Online learning gave students the ability to learn in their own location and gave them tools to learn at their own pace. These are values that are core to giving our students COVA. COVA means that students are given choice, ownership, voice, and an authentic learning experience. Students learn better when they can choose the pace, place, and path in which they learn. Being able to choose the pace, place, and path, gives them ownership over their learning, and an online platform, in a well-constructed course, gives students a place to use their voice so they can be heard. 

 

Successful Online Learning Programs

In the past 20 years, I’ve seen several online learning programs. As a student, I used a distance/online program through the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) to work on my math degree,  completed online courses through Lone Star College, our local community college, and used MIT OpenCourseware and The Great Courses to study topics independently for my own knowledge. Now, I’m enrolled in an online program for my master's through Lamar University. Because of the Covid 19 pandemic, I’ve also taught courses online to varying degrees. I would say that all of these programs have successful components and parts that could be improved. 

 

My experience with UIS was asynchronous. The materials were posted on Blackboard and we had weekly assignments. Our tests were not online, but paper copies proctored in a local facility. The year was 2007 and test security was still an issue, so this was the best solution they had. For the time, this was very forward-thinking and the biggest benefit was that I could complete every part of the course on my schedule. 

 

During that same year, I took an online course through Lone Star College. It was entirely online and asynchronous. They assessed my learning through project-based activities so there were no tests to be proctored. I appreciated this program because I could display my learning in a project format instead of a high-stress testing environment.

 

I have really enjoyed MIT OpenCourseware because it opens up college-level education to everyone. You may not get credit for the course, but every component of the course is online, including tests. The best part - every course is entirely FREE! This program really embraces knowledge sharing and learning for all.

 

The Great Courses are wonderful because they are a way to learn more about a variety of topics, not just college courses. For instance, if you like national parks and geology (like I do) there is a course for you (Wonders of the National Parks: A Geology of North America). They are not free, but they are inexpensive. 

My coursework through Lamar University has been entirely online, using Blackboard, and instead of tests, we have projects we display on our ePortfolio. This program can be asynchronous, but there is a weekly online meeting that can be joined live. The live meeting portion is really helpful because you can ask questions and get answers in real-time, and others can hear the responses and learn from them, too. The live meeting platform changes with the teacher, some use zoom, some use Adobe Connect, and some use the Blackboard live meeting app. 

 

The asynchronous class model is extremely helpful for working adults. One thing I would improve, though, is making the class formats more consistent. Something I have learned in the Applied Digital Learning program is that students need a consistent environment so that they can focus on the learning in the course. This is where professors can work as a team to make decisions like what live meeting platform to use and expectations for where assignments should be turned in.

 

Enduring Understanding 

In this course, I have been able to take what I’ve learned in the rest of my Applied Digital Learning program and put it into action in an online learning environment. In the end, I have found that good teaching is more important than technology, and learning is learning whether it takes place in a classroom or online. 

 

Technology is a tool that opens the door to a wealth of constructivist learning opportunities – more than have existed in the past. Our world is changing rapidly and the way we teach our students has to, as well. We can’t rely on the simple knowledge transfer of the factory model where one teacher is the only source of information. Embracing technology and our 21st-century learning environment means changing the way we view teaching in the classroom – bringing imagination and vision rather than technical expertise (Bates, 2016). We are part of a team teaching our students, whether that be a content team in a school, or a team of experts our students have access to online. 

 

Using the OSCQR Scorecard to Grade My Course

When setting up an online course and learning environment, there are a lot of details that should be considered and implemented. To ensure I incorporated as many as possible I used the OSCQR Course Design Review Scorecard from the OSCQR SUNY Online Course Quality Review Rubric (Online Learning Consortium, 2019). Below are my findings from grading my course on the scorecard. All of the stars in the ‘Minor Revision” column have been addressed to improve the quality of my course.

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