In this 20 minute video discussion, various educational leaders from MOOC entrepreneurs to professors, sit around and discuss the progression of MOOCs so far. One of the biggest criticisms of MOOCs to date is that studies show they are not solving the "real" problems of education. As Diana Laurillard asks in this video "what are the problems of education that this [MOOCs] solves? I don’t think we specified as one of our major problems how best to give high quality education to well qualified professionals for free". WHO ARE MOOCS DESIGNED TO SERVE? This obviously brings up a major concern, which is, who are MOOCs designed to serve? Laura Czerniewicz, points out that MOOCs never asked what people who needed the service most wanted. Not only that, but there are obvious language and localization issues. This leads many to criticize MOOCs as being nothing more than a clever marketing plan that seeks to introduce students to elite educational brands in the hopes of funnelling them to either a paid campus course, or a paid online course. As discussed in this video, even though MOOCs have altruism built into them by default, their main role isn’t altruistic. Many of them are managed and receive funding from a school’s marketing department. In a Forbes article when Daphne Koller, one of the founders of Coursera (a free MOOC), was asked if they would need to go public she said "We have outside investors, and they expect a return." This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s worth noting that many of the players in "free" education are companies backed by venture capitalists… not philanthropists. You can watch the discussion below. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

In this 40 minute documentary entitled "building the machine" which clearly states which side of the debate the filmmakers are on, educators and policy makers duke it out over the implications of common core standards. Being "career and college ready" might sound great on the surface, but at what price? At the foundation of any educational standardization program rests the assumption that centralization, systemization and data collection are good for students. What do you think about this common core documentary? Is this system dumbing us down or enlightening us?

As an online science teacher and one-to-one tutor the single biggest challenge to teaching online is to create a stimulating and engaging learning environment in a virtual setting. The bottom line is I communicate with students who are on the other side of the world and I need to know that they are engaged and ideally enjoying the course. In short I wish students to be online and on time at the scheduled time, so the question is how can we ensure this happens without having to resort to coercive measures? Creating study groups and learning communities Most of my classes number 4-6 students and are all mixed ability. The very first thing I noticed about on teaching online is that students actually want to be there and this clearly is pre-cursor to student enthusiasm and therefore engagement with the subject. To foster and develop this I encourage all my student groups to form study groups and learning workshops outside of the virtual classroom. Students are able to share knowledge, help and get to know each other and in essence work together to hit their goals. The teaching feels more real to them and they connect as small learning community and feel more confident. Students also take their work very seriously; I have had more apologies for late homework and assignments than I have ever received in a classroom. As with any social setting there will be personality clashes and issues between students, if they feel that they belong to a community these problems will be resolved quickly and positively. Make the learning relevant to their situation. Here there are additional fantastic opportunities to reinforce the content of the course. I teach a student in the Midwest of the US, he lives not too far from tornado alley. I live some 6000 miles away and have never seen a Tornado. At the time we were doing weather patterns and air masses as part of the physical and environmental science course. You can see where this is going, he actually has to go and hide in a shelter and so for the next lesson rather than me tell him how a tornado works, roles were reversed. In online settings it is vital that these learning opportunities are (for want of a better expression) thoroughly exploited. Using the right resources We all know students have different learning styles and so the more media you can employ to accommodate this, the greater will be the overall achievement of all students. I teach one student with major ADHD issues and the only way I can keep her engaged is by having several different activities with different ways of presenting the content. This is nothing unique and obviously applies equally to classroom settings. However, the techniques you employ (often with the cooperation of parents and guardians) need to be even more refined. You don’t need to be an SEN expert but you do need to pay extra attention and be exceptionally flexible. This is by no means an exhaustive list but simply an article which seeks to inculcate that teaching online requires adaptation to your established teaching skills.

By its nature online teaching tents to be highly modular and unit focused. This means that course content tends to be developed so that one or two core concepts are taught in a lesson. In addition, the lessons themselves tend to be shorter than in real school classroom setting. Obviously then, the resources which you employ to teach a lesson and fulfill the learning objectives need to be succinct and to the point. I am fortunate in that I have access to pre-prepared lesson plans and assessment modules of which there are student and teacher versions. However, to facilitate clear delivery and so enhance student understanding there is huge scope to augment these plans with supplemental resources. To ensure that students are actually following the course objectives (remember they can be thousands of miles away) set your assignments to directly reflect the content you have referred them to. For instance, if you send a podcast or YouTube link make sure students use a certain number of quotes from the material. The best way to do this is to have them quote from the beginning, middle and end to support (or not) a given point of view. There are a myriad of websites offering teaching materials specifically geared to online settings. Speak with your course coordinators, Heads of department and indeed parents to ascertain the most appropriate resources for your students. End of unit assessments In an online setting a formal exam has less relevance than in a school setting. Put simply, although students do demonstrate integrity and are trustworthy, the simple fact is that you are not there to invigilate them. I do set end of term exams and students receive direct to their learning portal at the appropriate time, but if they are at home there is nothing to stop them looking up the answers. Even with the benefit of a web-cam without strict supervision formal exams become less valid as an assessment tool. A better method of assessment is to set students a formal project assignment where they have an opportunity to apply what they have learned to the environment where they live. Students are able to analyse and evaluate within a flexible framework. For example I taught ecology to a grade 10 biology student, who lives on a corn farm. After approval from the course coordinator she was required to use a quadrat square to compare the diversity of soil organisms in different fields. This particular student finds key words and terminology difficult and so her assessment was focused on using appropriate scientific language to describe and explain her findings. To ensure that the work was actually done she was required to produce a video diary using an ordinary portable device. In online settings there are ample opportunities to scaffold learning to a particular students overall experience. They have very real and definite scope to adapt formal instruction and apply it and therefore connect their learning with the real world.

It is fair to say that no teacher will ever forget the sleepless night before they stood up for real in front of their first class and the sheer feeling of unmitigated terror when they actually had to do it. Ok, I’m exaggerating but you get the point, sweaty palms and extreme nervousness was the norm for me and this was equally true of the first online lesson I ever presented, especially as the head teacher of the organisation "sat in" for the first few lessons. What I perhaps forgot was that the students were just as nervous as me. This was perhaps exacerbated because I was teaching students from the US. Their big concern (I found out later), was that they wouldn’t understand me and that UK teachers like to shout at students. Both fears proved to be unfounded and we settled down and got on with the course very quickly. I can honestly say and without sounding blasé about it that both classroom and online settings are no longer the daunting prospect they once were. So, to all you new teachers "that" feeling will pass, so how can you accelerate the process of building relationships with students in virtual classrooms? Introduce yourself: Its obvious but true if you explain why your there and perhaps what your qualifications are and how you got to be where you are, students will automatically begin to feel at ease with you. They will also see that you are normal person and not some disembodied robot on the end of an internet connection. It is also helpful to give students access to an edited version of your profile Get them to reciprocate as well as to each other and you’re well on the way to forming productive teaching relationships. This final point is also essential for developing your study groups and learning community. Ice breaking: Again it’s obvious but supremely relevant but add in some fun and relevant activity and you’ll both feel less nervous. For me I added in a google maps link with the village I live in so they could see where I lived. When I said I lived on a working farm they were convinced I was some sort of farmer, which I am not. The point is you need your students to feel at ease with you and vice versa and there are various teaching plugins you can use to accomplish this. As the course progresses you will find that on Monday when you ask how they are, that students will start to tell you about their weekend and also ask you about yours. You start to build rapport and make jokes and basically enjoy your time together. Keep in touch and check your courses: Remember online learning tends to be in a distance learning setting. So as the course progresses respond to emails and do what you say you are going to do. If you are going to be absent let your classes know and set appropriate cover work. Staying in touch is easy I have set up circles and groups for all my classes, so that all students know what is going on. You will find that in the long run that there is productive and positive relationship which is respected by both students and parents. You can be sure that students and their parents or guardian will discuss you and the course, so you have got to get this right. There is no "right" answer just treat your students the way you would like to be treated yourself. Again, this is not an exhaustive list but merely a few pointers to get you started, only you can actually get to know your students. It is an organic process enjoy it as strand of your overall development as an online educator.

One of the topmost concerns of teaching online is making sure that the interaction between teacher and student is sustained and does not fall into the category of merely talking through cyber space. If it already is a challenge for teachers to keep the attention of students in traditional classroom settings, how much more when the environment that connects students and teachers is virtual? So this is a pressing issue among teachers, who are always in need of more ways to keep their students’ attention while of course maximizing the lesson period to ensure that students learn as much as they can. Here are a few tips on what you can do as online educators to keep your students engaged and interested: Built Rapport The first step in online teaching should always be rapport-building. It is very hard to encourage a student that you are not able to connect with. This does not mean that you have to be close buddies in order for you to be an effective teacher, but students have to be comfortable with you for them to be able to open up and receive easily. In order to achieve this, set apart a time during your lessons to get to know your student, make small talk, discover your students’ likes and dislikes, etc. However, make sure that this does not take too long or students might feel that they are being short-changed. Provide as Many Visual Aids as Possible Because you are limited to text chat, audio chat or video calling, there is a big difference in the amount of things that you can do while teaching. This entails that you have to be more creative than most when coming up with teaching aids and lesson ideas. One of the things that can help engage your students during the lesson is the use of appropriate interactive visual aids or materials. This means that you should not be simply talking most of the time. There has to be materials that students can download and use for the lesson so that it would be easier for them to follow discussions or understand ideas that you present to them. Make Lessons Relevant to Everyday Situations There are certain lessons or topics that are already very much relevant to society, everyday issues, etc., and so in these cases you don’t have to exert too much effort to make connections between the significance of the lesson and actual life situations. But topics like grammar can sometimes be thought of as not too relevant in actual life. To make sure that your lessons are engaging, present life applications that will illustrate the importance of lessons learned to students’ success in whatever field it is that they are involved in. The more relevant the lessons are to actual life situations, the more the students will feel motivated to learn them.

Like in all other things, if we fail to plan and prepare for our online lessons, they will most likely be a failure. If you are teaching online, failing to meet the needs of your students is definitely not something that you want to happen. And so, to keep your lessons engaging and effective, you have to prepare and follow certain teaching strategies that are best suited for the kind of online lessons that you give. But the question remains: How do we know that a teaching strategy is going to work? What are the characteristics of an effective strategy? Here are some ways: Matches Student Level This means that you have to determine how much they know and how much they don’t know. The manner of teaching will largely depend upon the current knowledge and skill level of your students. Failure to identify this and weave this information into your teaching strategy will result in a mismatch between your teaching style and your student’s capability to receive and learn. In order to determine your student’s level, you can at first give diagnostic exams, have a sample of works sent to you, or you can even simply have a chat, veering towards you finding out your student’s experiences and knowledge. Fine-Tuned to the Subject Matter There are different ways to teach, like there are different ways to tell a story. Knowing your subject matter well will enable you to make sure that the techniques that you use are well suited to the subject matter you are teaching. This means that the way you teach has to be relevant and significant to what you are going to teach. The techniques should be learning experiences as much as the lesson is. Makes the Lesson Interesting and Fun What many teachers often forget is that learning should not only be an educational experience but also a fun one. We should not neglect the enjoyment of students while gaining new knowledge, because actually, it if more often than not the fun factor that encourages students to keep at it, to stay motivated and interested in the lessons. As teachers, this is our goal: To make sure our students are more and more encouraged to keep learning. Therefore, an effective teaching strategy is one that makes provision for a fun time. This is very important with online lessons, because there is very little that we can work with to make lessons interesting and fun. So the more we are able to achieve it in our lessons, the better our lessons are. Perhaps this entails a change in the way we start our lessons, the way we speak, the kind of materials that we give out.

The medium really is the message, where teaching aids and assessments involving active learning can enhance content retention amongst your clients. Building upon the ideas discussed in the previous article (Multimedia for Multiple Intelligences) concerning Howard Gardner’s book, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, we will be taking a look at how one of the nine multiple intelligences that he discusses plays a large role in information retention, particularly amongst adult learners. Another paradigm that many educators subscribe to is the concept of The Learning Pyramid or The Cone of Experience diagram, often attributed publicly to the NTL (National Training Laboratories) Institute for Applied Behavioral Science located in Bethel, Maine in the United States. There has been some dispute as to the complete origins of this diagram, but it has been linked to a study done at NLT during the 1960s when it was affiliated with the American National Education Association (Adult Education Division). Measuring student retention levels Although there are a few educators and other experts in cognitive development that have critiqued the validity of the concept, it has been pervasive and widely-supported throughout contemporary pedagogical theory and educational studies, and it has continued to find popularity due to its success in demonstrating results with student involvement in active learning. Despite any minor controversy that the paradigm of The Learning Pyramid may have surrounding it, I believe that it still very much an important factor in student learning and information retention, particularly in regards to Gardner’s multiple intelligence involving the Bodily- Kinesthetic learner. For those that are not familiar with The Learning Pyramid, it is a diagram that depicts the amount of new information retained by a student when learning new concepts — dependent upon the method of content delivery - expressed as a percentage of overall retention, with the lowest base-level of the pyramid illustrating the largest percentage and the smallest percentage marked at the tip. Lecturing course content to a class of learners is the least successful, with only 5% of new information being retained. The most successful method of content delivery is through the instruction of one person to another, or immediate use of newfound knowledge, is an impressive 90% retention rate. The second- most successful method of content-delivery is "practicing by doing," which sits at a not-too-shabby rate of 75% retention. Although this is less than ideal, it is the most practical method of delivering content to your client via online courses, and therefore should be one of the most important methods used to develop teaching aids for your clients. As discussed in the previous article, a well thought-out course curriculum will be developed with a variety of teaching aids in mind, in order to satisfy the majority of learning needs of your client base to keep your course offerings effective and efficient. However, knowing that 75% of content retention is activity-based, a deliberate effort should be made to ensure that your course content is delivered with teaching aids designed to have your clients perform an activity connected with introduced material. You can use this as a diagnostic assessment to determine your client’s initial level of familiarity with your course content, as a formative assessment while you progress through your course, or as a summative assessment to fully gauge how successful you were in delivering the content to your client once the course has been completed. Feedback is always useful! Now that you know this… how can you implement it into your eCourse? However, even when keeping this in mind while designing your course curriculum, how do you implement this concept practically? Online courses may be seen as the antithesis of what it means to "learn by doing." But much like the creative approach required to effectively use the concept of multiple intelligences with your students, an open mind with a flair for thinking outside-the-box is also needed to synthesize a "learning by doing" approach to online course development. In teaching the concept of editing and brevity of words to get a point across in English class, I have proposed the idea of using the limitations of Twitter to get students both doing and learning at the same time, all the while involving a practical application many people are already using themselves on their own time. Twitter only permits 140 characters per post, so students would be tasked with transcribing a pre-determined amount of text into a message that would satisfy the limits that Twitter imposes on user posts. The activity would require students to demonstrate content retention of lessons that cover editing techniques, which would include the importance of developing a strong vocabulary while avoiding overuse of the passive voice in one’s writing, and the assessment would actually involve an activity already used in students’ day-to-day lives. When thinking of writing online, many would scoff at the idea of writing well and succinctly, yet an online application itself can be used as a useful teaching aid and assessment for formal, in-class student learning, provided that the instructor is willing to see opportunity where others may only see a roadblock. Be that opportunity for your clients, and see how far you can succeed!

Creative use of multimedia-sourced teaching aids to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your client’s learning experience. Many contemporary educators subscribe to the idea of multiple intelligences, as outlined in 1983 by Harvard-educated PhD, developmental psychologist Howard Gardner, in his book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. For those who may be unfamiliar with the concept, Gardner’s theory proposes that each individual learns and processes new information according to varying degrees within nine specific areas of understanding, namely: Verbal-Linguistic, Visual-Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Mathematic-Logical, Musical-Rhythmic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Naturalistic, and Existential. Although it is understood that these areas of intelligence are present in everyone, the theory further acknowledges that individuals are stronger in some areas while less developed in the others. This variance is believed to explain why people grasp new learning in different ways and different rates from one another. But what does this mean for you and your potential eLearning students? It means that regardless of what new content you may wish to introduce to them through your online course, you will not be having as much of an impact on their learning experience if you do not take the concept of multiple intelligences into account in your content delivery through your teaching aids. Using different learning styles in education If business accepts that time equals money, then you will want to ensure you are maximizing your students’ or clients’ success in learning and retaining the content of your course in the shortest amount of time reasonably possible. They will not be interested in signing up for courses where they are finding content too difficult to understand, or a course that takes too long to master. In today’s busy world where many households are juggling multiple interests both inside and outside of the home, you will want take the time to not only provide content that students will be interested in, but also content delivered in a way that is both appealing and easy to learn. On the plus side, with contemporary society being what it is, the modern multimedia tools available to us in both online and offline formats is definitely an advantage that we can use to our benefit when creating teaching aids. The written word With efficiency in mind, the most common and accessible form of content-delivery is the written word on a (web) page. Therefore it is no surprise that this is the building block many will start with when creating teaching aids for a course, and it is a strong one to build the content of a curriculum around. However, it is also too easy to fall into the routine of creating content in this manner, and the teaching aids that you create will too often fall into this category. The problem is that this method of content delivery only appeals to one of the nine multiple intelligences. What if your student learns better when seeing what is being described (Visual-Spatial)? An online video could be of benefit to this type of learner, or perhaps a Venn diagram and a few pie graphs. Perhaps these videos could be three-dimensional, and the glasses required to view this content could be included in your course fee with delivery to their home. What about a client whose strength is found in Musical-Rhythmic intelligence? Several generations of English-speaking children the world over have learned the ABCs through singing a simple pre-school song about the letters of the alphabet. Bodily-Kinesthetic learners do not have to be limited by the logistics of an online course either, provided you are willing to get creative with how you wish to integrate your students’ learning into their lives. If your eCourse requires some physical activities to master, you could create a downloadable MP3 track outlining routines you have set out in your course for completion that a client can listen to and follow at their own pace when it is convenient to them. Many self-help authors and public speakers have used this form of content delivery with success, and there is no reason why you cannot achieve success with your content as well. Sprinkle in a variety of multimedia Granted, not all course content automatically lends itself to being delivered to a student or client with learning aids appealing to all nine of the intelligences outlined in Gardner’s theory. An online course involving aircraft engine maintenance may not be easily tailored to creation of teaching aids with an Interpersonal or Intrapersonal intelligence-learner perspective. A student whose strength lies within the Existential intelligence may not be entirely catered to with teaching aids explaining how to create a no-fat, low-sugar blueberry bran muffin. But this is where you and your creativity with your course content delivery model can do so well, particularly if you are looking for a niche market. If you can take the time to come up with a myriad of ideas for teaching aids that best use the multimedia realities of 2014 for your client’s learning experience, it is not far-fetched to see many potential learners flocking to you and your course offerings. But the key is sprinkling a variety of teaching aids in each lesson, teaching point, or module that make up the curriculum of your course. Of course it is not possible to include teaching aids that appeal to all of the intelligences all of the time, and nor should you try to, but your student’s success - and in turn, your success - will be greatly enhanced if you account for Gardner’s theory as much as possible. After all, the only thing better than a secret weapon for student satisfaction is a toolbox full of them. So start getting creative!

Delivering course content to your clients with stand-alone modules for self-paced distance learning. Previous articles in this series have covered the ideas of Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences and the simple concept of using practical activities as both teaching aids and assessment tools when delivering the content of your course to your students. However, the one driving force that threads its way through all of these articles is the central idea that the way you choose to deliver the content of your course to your students is directly related to your success through effective and efficient delivery. Achieving this effectiveness and efficiency requires several variables to be considered, and many of these considerations involve you and how you tailor your content specifically for your student base. Diligent attention to student loyalty is a large cornerstone in any successful educational business philosophy, from the largest eLearning corporations to the smallest course vendors offering niche products in smaller markets, and this attention will be a must for your course offerings to succeed as well. Design an eCourse that fits into your students daily lives Therefore, the attention to detail that you demonstrate for your students and clients will be illustrated by how well you create a course that fits into their daily lives. Just as we have discussed how important your method of delivery is for you to stand out amongst others that may be offering similar or other closely-related content, the pace at which you deliver this content must also be taken into consideration when keeping the needs of your students in mind. Many universities, colleges and other post-secondary education providers are now involved with some form of online distance learning to connect to students who may be interested in their courses, but not within physical proximity to the institution to attend in-person. Since distance learning is essentially all that you are doing, how you approach its delivery is of the utmost importance. This is where the pace of content delivery comes into play. Besides the obvious benefits of being able to learn from an institution that is kilometres away, distance learning truly becomes distance e-learning when you consider the Learning Management Systems (LMS) used to deliver this content. But these applications only cover the "e" portion of the equation, and it is the learning part that you have to address. This where you as the content provider must be flexible and put that personal touch to the material that you are delivering to your students. Creating an effective Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) will require you to look at the overall content that you wish to include in your course, and determining the best way to formulate a curriculum that can be properly managed in smaller portions for your students. Breaking your content down into smaller Teaching Points (TPs) The reason that this process is vital is because the medium of e-learning not only has the benefit of facilitating distance learning, but also allowing students to determine when and where they can complete the lessons and assignments determined necessary to successfully complete the course. In order for you to do this for your clients, you must look at your material overall and break it down into smaller teaching points (TPs) that can be strung together according to a larger theme or concept. Once this has been done, you can rearrange and group together similarly-themed TPs into smaller modules that students can complete in spurts throughout the timeframe you have allocated for overall course completion. Broken down in this way, students will find it easier to absorb, comprehend, and reflect upon the content that they have just learned. If they wish to go over it again, all they have to do is repeat the same module over again until they have mastered the TPs within, without having to go through a much larger section just to cover a few small details. Alternatively, students may find your content easy to absorb and do not require the need to go over one particular section again, but the smaller modules will still allow them to fit their e-learning more easily into their busy lives and hectic work schedules. If your students find themselves with a weekend they are free, they can go through several modules in one sitting, and yet return to one module at a time once Monday returns and the work week begins anew. Of course, the content of your course may be very specific in the order that your students must learn the material, and any rearrangement of TPs according to a common theme or concept may be impossible. This is ok too, as long as you remember to break the material down into smaller units that can be absorbed more easily, allowing your students to determine their own pace. Be flexible Flexibility is truly the key when it comes to maximizing the benefits of using e-learning to facilitate your student’s comprehension of your content, Your unique position as a subject matter expert is truly to your advantage in being able to determine the best way to ensure your students thoroughly learn your material, regardless of whether they are already well-versed in the material, or if they are green-horned, first-time learners. Academic administrators in other institutions who do not know the subject matter inside and out like you do may cut vital TPs out or miss entire chunks of information altogether, if they were to be tasked with simply tailoring course material to fit into smaller, easier to-understand portions. Conversely, someone who is very familiar with specific content may forget what it means to be new to the material, and first-time learners may feel overwhelmed if they receive too much information too soon in a short amount of time. Therefore you have a very special role in being able to bridge the subject to the learner, and this type of attention to your clients’ learning needs will help ensure that client loyalty will never be an issue that you have to be concerned about. You are truly the key to your client’s success!