STO Chapter 2

I recently attended a professional development event for my 9-to-5, and a majority of the attendees were faculty or hold faculty-adjacent roles. Several times over the course of the event, the book Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning by James Lang was praised. I put the book on my TBR list, but I couldn’t find it in the library. But all was not lost: its companion book, Small Teaching Online by Flower Darby with James Lang was available. I checked out the book to get some tips on improving my online courses, but I also thought it might have some applicability to designing eLearning experiences. I am learning a good bit about linking learning theory to practice in online environments, so I thought I would share. For the next several weeks, I’ll go over a chapter of the book each Wednesday and how it relates to instructional design. 

In Chapter 2: “Guiding Learning Through Engagement” Darby presents the following:

📖 Theory: Meaningful Writing Project: Learning, Teaching and Writing in HE by Eodice, Geller, and Lerner

💡Models

• Break down Complex Tasks

• Release Content Strategically

• Scour Class Interactions for Cues

• Provide Module Discussion Highlights

📌 Principles: 

• Break Down Complex Tasks

• Notice and Respond to Cues

• Give Feedback–Frequently

🎯 Quick Tips:

• Create several mini-assignments that become the cumulative assessment

• Create conditional release assignments that guide students’ learning, let them know whether they’ve mastered course concepts, and help students discover connections between class activities.

• Seek out cues that indicate students may be confused

• Post summaries of each module’s discussion forums

How do we use some of these Models, Principles, and Tips in eLearning projects? 

🚀 Application to Instructional Design

Scaffolding makes sense in any learning environment– in-person, online, eLearning, etc… as the cliche goes, you can’t learn to run until you learn how to walk. Any learning needs to be broken down into simple blocks that are stacked to form structures of learning. I formally learned this concept in my undergraduate education classes, and I witness it every day. 

One way of scaffolding that Darby mentions is to release content strategically. For eLearning experiences, my mind immediately goes to gamification. Sure, we could have quizzes that have to be completed before the next lesson is opened (conditional release in a LMS), but wouldn’t a game be more fun? And by being fun, the information might “stick” better. 

Darby also emphasizes the importance of feedback in this chapter, and for good reason. Effective teaching involves feedback in both directions–instructor to student and student to instructor. In a large-scale eLearning project, feedback is often regulated to quizzes. However, we are entering an age where feedback can be more personalized– through AI. Creating a learning scenario where the learning interacts with a bot who is acting the part of the customer is a powerful learning opportunity. Or, having a custom bot as the mentor in a learning simulation can offer a personalized learning experience with immediate feedback– at scale. After reading this chapter, I will definitely be putting more energy into learning how to integrate AI into learning projects.

✨ Next week, I’ll look at how chapter 3, “Using Media and Technology Tools” relates to Instructional Design.