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Moving Out of the
Middle
Course
Description:
Moving Out of the Middle is a 12 week netcourse that widens the set of online teaching strategies instructors
bring to the role of moderating for learning. MOOM is offered by The Concord Consortium. The course is taught entirely
over the World Wide Web in the Blackboard netcourse environment.
Course
Objectives:
Although there will be a variety of activities that will teach you the
specifics of moderating online courses, there are four overarching goals we hope you'll achieve in Moving out of the Middle. You'll learn how to:
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Focus netcourse dialogue to target
learning objectives; |
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Optimize learning by deepening the
dialogue around key topics; |
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Foster cohesive online
communities; |
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Utilize a variety of voices tones and
critical thinking strategies to meet these goals. |
Course
Requirements:
Participants are expected to be working on course assignments approximately seven hours weekly. The netcourse is
conducted on a scheduled asynchronous basis. This means that students may "attend class" at their own convenience, but
within weekly parameters. The course is not self-paced; instead, students are expected to work together and complete
assignments by their due dates. Comments on content are expected within a short timeframe, so everyone will have the
advantage of reading and reacting to the comments of others within seven to ten days.
A
course packet of off-line media is provided via surface mail. It includes the required text for the course,
Facilitating Online Learning by G. Collison, B. Elbaum, S. Haavind, and R. Tinker. If you haven't received the
packet by the time you are reading this, don't worry, the first few assignments are in pdf format and available right
here in the course. (Aren't we clever?) ;-)
The
Learning Support Agreement you have recieved via email outlines support The Concord
Consortium faculty and staff provide participants of their netcourses, and the responsibilities of participants to the
netcourse community. If you haven't already, don't forget to read the agreement and reply to Sarah that you have seen
it and understand its terms.
Evaluation:
Participants are expected to do the reading and post as assigned weekly. Understanding of course concepts grows as
participants read and post in course discussions actively. Feedback on skill development is offered on a weekly basis
via private online discussion.
Methodology:
This
course is designed to provide an interactive, firsthand experience to both novice and experienced virtual course
instructors that will expand their palette of strategies for intervening in course discussions. Opportunities for
learning are maximized when moderators foster knowledge co-construction and lead participants to take responsibility
for their own learning. Moving Out of the Middle combines the resources of off-line
reading material with online dialogue and practice at utilizing new skills for moderating to meet these objectives. The
off-line reading is filled with examples of appropriate techniques that improve the potential for learning in the
framework of a netcourse. Dialogue is central in the cyberclassroom. Step-by-step methods for moving virtual course
dialogue in a constructive direction are described, modeled and practiced by participants. Learners critique each
others' attempts and revise their own work often over the course of the semester.
Topical Outline:
Week 1: Meeting Each Other
Participants get to know each other and become familiar with the BlackBoard course environment. They learn how to
converse in a virtual discussion space and meet one another online. Activities will include commentary on this week's
assigned reading.
Reading: Introduction, and Chapter 1: Principles that Support Effective Moderating from
Facilitating Online Learning by G. Collison, B. Elbaum, S. Haavind and R. Tinker.
Week 2: Facilitating as a Guide on the Side and Kinds of Dialogue
Participants continue getting to know each other and begin practicing moderating techniques. They learn about typical
patterns of dialogue in online discussions. The ability to identify kinds of dialogue better enables a moderator to
intervene in ways that move the discussion forward. Setting a culture where the instructor is on the "side" instead of
at the "center" of a course and classroom dialogue means targeting restrained interventions into student dialogue that
have a clear rationale and goal. Activities include commentary on the reading and a scavenger hunt for commonalities
among participants.
Reading: Chapter 2: Negotiating Space: Forms of Dialogue and Goals of Moderating from
Facilitating Online Learning by G. Collison, B. Elbaum, S. Haavind and R. Tinker.
Week 3: Expanding Your Repertoire of Questioning Strategies
Those who have tried teaching online will recognize the need for a wider palette of strategies for optimizing online
learning after the netcourse is designed. How does a facilitator foster interactive knowledge co-construction? What
kinds of questions do you easily ask? What areas of questioning do you often miss? This week's activity will help you
expand your palette of questioning strategies as a way of beginning the process of improving your skill as a leader of
online learners. The assigned reading will also be discussed.
Reading: Chapter3: Key Facilitator Roles and Chapter 4: Healthy Online Communities from
Facilitating Online Learning by G. Collison, B. Elbaum, S. Haavind and R. Tinker.
Week 4: Anatomy of an Intervention
Using Strategies and Voices: Why and How? Participants get started by working with sample posts and crafting their
own. Activities also include discussion of the reading.
Reading: "Using Strategies and Voices: Why and How?" from Facilitating Online Learning by G.
Collison, B. Elbaum, S. Haavind and R. Tinker.
Week 5: Use of Voice and Tone
Participants learn how to take on different roles or voices that are matched with varied tones to get a desired effect
in a moderator's intervention to a dialogue. Exercising restraint in the dialogue so participants' learning is
optimized by stepping outside of oneself when crafting a moderator posting. Activities include crafting more posts,
critiquing those of course colleagues and commentary on the reading.
Reading: Chapter 5: Voice and Chapter 6: Tone from Facilitating Online Learning by
G. Collison, B. Elbaum, S. Haavind and R. Tinker.
Weeks 6 & 7: Sharpening the Focus of a Dialogue
Participants work with sample moderator postings as they learn to employ strategies that sharpen the focus of a
dialogue that is unfocussed or lacking in positive or clear direction. Early on in new content, netcourse participants
may "wallow in the shallows" of the material, either missing the doors to learning or avoiding them. A capable
moderator can cut through the shallow discussion and help participants see the route to new understanding of content.
Talented facilitators of real-time discussions know these skills, but online, many more instructors can expand their
capacity to orchestrate forward movement in dialogue and learning. Steps are mapped out for moderators to employ in any
learning dialogue. Activities include crafting additional posts, critiquing those of course colleagues, commentary on
the reading and a mid-term self-assessment.
Reading: Chapter 7: "Sharpening the Focus" from Facilitating Online Learning by G.
Collison, B. Elbaum, S. Haavind and R. Tinker.
Weeks 8 & 9 Digging Deeper into Learned Content
Participants now turn to approaches they can use when learning is focused and underway. How can the moderator assist
participants in a pragmatic dialogue to push more deeply into acquired knowledge? What can be done to further insight
and access deeper conceptual understanding? Activities include crafting more posts, critiquing those of course
colleagues and commentary on the reading.
Reading: Chapter 7: "Deepening the Dialogue" from Facilitating Online Learning by G.
Collison, B. Elbaum, S. Haavind and R. Tinker.
Week 10: Common Roadblocks and Getting Back on Track
Participants review their crafted interventions and those of others to identify defined roadblocks to furthering
dialogue, and re-craft to foster greater learning potential.
Reading: Chapter 8: Roadblocks and Getting Back on Track, from Facilitating Online Learning
by G. Collison, B. Elbaum, S. Haavind and R. Tinker.
Week 11: Assessing Our Learning
Participants review the revisions of others and revise their own. Insights and challenges are explored.
Reading: Epilogue: Evaluation of Success, from Facilitating Online Learning by G. Collison,
B. Elbaum, S. Haavind and R. Tinker.
Week 12: Surveying the New Landscape
What are the insights gained? What challenges lie ahead? Participants synthesize their learning by defining the new
ground the class now shares. Opportunities for continued, advance discussion are opened to all.
Additional Suggested Resources
Hanna, Donald E., Glowacki-Dudka, M., and Conceicao-Runlee, Simone. 147 Practical Tips for Teaching Online Groups:
Essentials of Web-Based Education. Atwood Publishing, Madison, WI. 2000.
Harasim, L., Hiltz, S.R., Teles, L., and Turoff, M. Learning Networks: A Field Guide to Teaching and Learning
Online. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. 1995.
Ko, Susan, and Rossen, Steve. Teaching Online: A Practical Guide. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 2001.
National Research Council. How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice. National Academy Press, Washington,
DC. 2000.
Palloff, Rena M. & Keith Pratt. Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom: The Realities of Online Teaching.
Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco. Ê2001.
Schrage, Michael. Shared Minds: The New Technologies of Collaboration. Random House, New York. 1990.
White, Ken W., and Weight, Bob H. The Online Teaching Guide: A Handbook of Attitudes, Strategies, and Techniques for
the Virtual Classroom. Allyn and Bacon, Boston. 2000.
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