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Kevin Grubb(Jun 28 2024 2:57PM):
Online teaching and learning is exciting to me because it allows me to learn from people I wouldn't otherwise ever know.
more
When I hear “online teaching and learning,” I think about all of the access it brings to knowledge and the exchange of ideas. While I acknowledge the challenges inherent in online learning and realize that not all online learning experiences are created equal, I think there is a huge role that online learning can play in leveling the playing field for people around the world to get involved and excited about subjects that they otherwise could not. Online teaching and learning also allows people to connect to each other and learn from each other in ways we never could have before. I feel quite lucky to live in a time when this kind of learning is available to me.
My vision and hope for online teaching and learning is that is continues to become a robust, flexible, and inclusive educational options that harnesses the power of technology to enhance learning. As technology evolves, we are realizing that there are so many new ways to learn. Rather than being afraid of those opportunities, I choose to be optimistic and dig into them.
The COVID-19 pandemic, while tragic and certainly not something I would wish for ever again, brought us new opportunities to consider online teaching and learning. I agree with the article that we need to be careful about how we evaluate this kind of emergency online teaching and learning, which should be considered separate from deliberate, thoughtful, and intentional online teaching and learning. I worry that people are still possibly conflating the two! Hopefully, with more time and exploration of the tools and practices of online learning, we will collectively determine when and where these educational experiences can be most beneficial to us all.
Jeanette Gerrity(Jun 30 2024 11:56AM):
Online teaching and learning are two different experiences for me.
more
Online teaching and learning are two different experiences for me.
Online teaching requires an instructor to complete a thorough and thoughtful exploration of the entire student experience prior to the first day of class. Providing inclusive, accessible, relevant course materials and course assignments and assessments make the difference to ensure a positive student experience with achievable outcomes.
Online learning is more of an individual experience for the students. This puts the onus on the institution and the instructor to craft activities to bring a social emotional component with community based learning opportunities to online learning. Of course, there are times when a course truly is asynchronous and student driven which would limit collaborative learning. An institution should make careful decisions about what outcomes are essential to the online learning experience and clearly provide them to students in advance.
What happened during the Covid 19 from March to May was truly a stop gap experience. Teachers at my institution really struggled (and many succeeded) in bringing studio based courses to their students’ homes. I taught courses at night and early in the morning to accommodate students who went back home to China and Korea. However, I also taught students who were up in the middle of the night in order to attend the synchronous part of our classes. It was very difficult for everyone. I also had the “black box" experience with students being little more than a name in a square on my screen and a disembodied voice.
Online learning is so much more than what we were able to provide students during the pandemic. In the article by Hodges and others, it suggests that evaluation of the Covid teaching experience should consider: “Was our ongoing faculty professional development sufficient to enable ERT? How can we enhance opportunities for immediate and flexible learning demands related to alternative approaches to instruction and learning?” This was certainly an issue at my college, as was adequate staff and technology to support the student experience. We all survived and students had experiences that enriched their learning, but was it the same as in person? Certainly not.
Online learning must be equitable to the in person face to face (F2F) experience in order to make it valuable to the students to encourage retention and completion.
Denise McShea(Jul 02 2024 6:14PM):
Online teaching and learning should build upon the lessons of the past.
more
Since I have not had the opportunity to teach online yet I will post from an online learner’s perspective. In my work life in Marketing Technology, I have had the opportunity to experience extremely high quality online learning. It’s rare these days for companies to spend money to send their staff offsite for classroom learning when a recorded webinar or a guided third party learning path may achieve the same objective without seriously impacting work schedules. Even our instructor-led classes are online. All my company’s required HR classes are extremely engaging and well-produced, with professional production quality and interactive experiences that reinforce learning for multiple types of learners. Evaluations are built into the process as well. So, for me, the definition of online learning is participating in well-planned and well-orchestrated digital learning experiences, either synchronously or asynchronously, that utilize the same pedagogical principles used in classroom teaching but bring with them all the added benefits of technology, breadth of resources and connectedness.
During the Covid-19 Pandemic both of my children switched to Emergency Remote Learning. Because I work from home, I had the opportunity to observe their online classes as well as hear about their experiences with remote learning from their perspectives. Unfortunately, the default delivery mechanism tended to be Zoom lectures, and both of my kids were bored and unengaged, as well as consumed with feelings of isolation. As was stated in the article, carefully planned online teaching processes were absent in what my children were experiencing. Teachers were just trying to get the job done and were struggling to simply operate Zoom, let alone fold in any online experiences that were not part of their original course design.
So, my experience and perspective about online learning has not necessarily changed – I have always known how expansive and effective it could be. What has changed since Covid-19 is my perspective on school readiness for operating in an online environment during an emergency. Covid has taught us that we cannot take the status quo for granted. Teachers should be designing their classroom courses to include varied delivery methods; they should already be integrating digital online experiences into classroom teaching. Connectedness is key for active learning, whether students are sitting in the same classroom or on a Zoom call. We need to learn from the past and be open to new ways of working in the future.
Jeniffer Muller(Jul 02 2024 9:46PM):
"Due to the threat of COVID19"...
more
“Due to the threat of COVID19” is a phrase that stopped me in my tracks, made me dizzy from the speed at which my eyes sought the date of this article and then just for a moment allowed me to indulge in the nostalgia of what many people I know call the Before Times. Emergency Remote teaching will never be the same as what students experienced in the spring of 2020. The content that was offered bears no resemblance to a well-planned intentional remote teaching curriculunm, with ALL due respect to anyone who taught through it. From the experience of the students in my home, teachers had little to no chance of success in the K-12 environment when they found themselves competing for the attention of students who suddenly had all the distractions of the internet at their fingertips on school-issued Chromebooks, the same students who weeks earlier might have had their personal cell phones confiscated if used in class. Online learning has emerged from it’s ‘lesser than’ status, become more mainstream and strengthened it’s core principles since COVID19. As many more educators have been exposed to online learning concepts either through continuing education or professional development, the word emergency can shift from the panic and danger connotation to the gentler arising from need.
Angelica Ibarra-Ochoa(Jul 04 2024 1:20AM):
Online Teaching and Learning
more
Online Teaching and Learning
When I think of “online teaching and learning”, I think of a structured educational experience conducted primarily or entirely through digital platforms including lectures, discussions, assignments and assessments that are delivered digitally.
The format can be synchronous or asynchronous and it can be through LMS, video conferencing and interactive multimedia.
The difference between “Emergency Remote learning” vs. More traditional Online
teaching and learning formats.
The shift to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted for me the distinction between emergency remote teaching and traditional online teaching. The first characteristic of the emergency remote learning was the clear lack of preparation as a consequence of the requirement of a rapid response to maintain continuity during the crisis. The focus was on a quick deployment of remote instruction without the typical planning and support structures of traditional online courses. Another unexpected outcome was that lack of training was evident since instructors were forced to record themselves giving a lecture, and when we watched such videos, it was clear that the teacher was struggling to keep the instruction going using a platform they were clearly not familiar with.
In addition, there were not enough student engagement strategies and communication between instructor and students was poor.
On the other hand online teaching is about leveraging technology to facilitate educational outcomes in a flexible and accessible manner. It involves thoughtful instructional design, clear communication, and robust support mechanisms for students to engage with content and each other, regardless of physical location. Based on my background and experience, Cyber Schools are good examples of organized online education because they are built to provide instruction based on technology and teachers are trained to conduct lectures with strategies to promote the acquisition of knowledge and promote engagements during live sessions.
When I decided to switch my kids from the emergency online instruction the school district was providing to a cyber school, I could clearly experience first hand the difference between emergency remote learning vs. more traditional online teaching and learning formats.
Julia Pronko(Jul 06 2024 12:55PM):
What does "Online Teaching and Learning" mean today?
more
On the surface, when I hear “online teaching and learning,” I think of online courses that are administered to students by an instructor, all separated by space and time. I picture the instructor, let’s say a college professor, sitting in their office on a university campus, creating Powerpoints, grading assignments, and responding to student inquiries via email. I picture the students, counties or states away, in their homes, work offices, or local libraries, reading the materials assigned by the instructor, and engaging with other students via discussion board posts. This is probably what many other people picture when they hear “online teaching and learning,” as well.
However, I’ve come to realize that online teaching and learning involves a complex process of design, implementation, and evaluation. It’s not as simple as taking an in-person curriculum, plugging it into a learning management system, and expecting success. Also, online teaching and learning is not just limited to higher education, and the COVID-19 pandemic opened our eyes to that. As companies shifted to remote workforces, and elementary and secondary schools closed their doors, corporate trainers and schoolteachers had to learn how to adapt to online teaching. In turn, students and working professionals had to adapt to learning online.
The COVID-19 pandemic set a new precedent for online teaching and learning. Perhaps now, instructors and institutions are realizing that online learning and teaching is a permanent part of the learning experience. Because emergency remote learning was a quick response to an acute global emergency, there were bound to be hiccups. However, now that remote education is becoming a norm, instructors and institutions are coming to understand how to facilitate online education to make it equally as successful as more traditional formats.
Jaime Jamison(Jul 06 2024 2:39PM):
Ecosystem of Learning vs. ERT
more
I have never taught online. Instead, I was an instructor who attempted to facilitate Emergency Remote Learning (ERT) for a lab-based course for two summers during the COVID pandy. The distinction between ERT and true online teaching is considerable. That is not to say that I took this responsibility lightly or grossly failed to plan the instruction, I simply lacked the time and tools to do it real justice, especially knowing what I know now in terms of the instructional design process. Also, as a side note, outside stressors including the health and safety of all individuals involved, greatly impacted the 30,000-foot perspective on the situation: is learning (under these circumstances) how to distinguish dependent vs. independent variables on a scatter plot, for example, even important when you’re a student who’s afraid to go to a family event for fear of getting sick? Or, possibly even worse, not being able to visit a hospital-bound grandparent due to visitor restrictions? Being in academia I obviously view education as invaluable; however, as a human I realize that you have nothing if you don’t have your health or the feeling of safety and stability. Needless to say, the term “emergency” definitely fits the circumstances surrounding the COVIDERT epidemic.
On the contrary, building a successful “learning ecosystem” as described by Hodges, et. al. (2020) requires careful instructional design planning and development using a systematic model (pick one!); it’s NOT simply online content delivery. This learning ecosystem should intentionally incorporate the Nine Dimensions of Learning, choosing the best options within each dimension, for the greatest effectiveness. I appreciated the line stating, “careful planning for online learning includes not just identifying the content to cover but also carefully tending to how you’re going to support different types of interactions that are important in the learning process” (Hodges et.al., 2020). This, again, emphasizes that content delivery is NOT enough! Addressing the fact that learning is both cognitive and social is a crucial element to planning instruction that supports the following interactions: student-student, student-content, and student-instructor.
I endorse the definition that [good] online education is a robust ecosystem that fully integrates and supports the cognitive and social aspects of learning, not just a hierarchical transmission of information from teacher to student. It requires full and active participation from instructor and learners alike, which in actuality, is not very different from [good] traditional face-to-face education. Good education, whether in person or online, requires abundant resources, careful planning, and participation.
Jessica Singer(Jul 07 2024 9:36AM):
When I think of online learning I feel both hopeful and curious.
more
In my personal journey with online teaching and learning I can remember the intense frustration of emergency remote teaching (ERT). Particularly being an art teacher, this proved to be a daunting task as I did not know of what materials students had at home and by what means they could work on/complete assignments. I feel as though with all things, it takes time to understand and adapt to different intricacies when it comes to online teaching/learning.
I would say the distinction between ERT and online learning is that one was more or less thrusted upon the academic and learner where as online learning has flexibility for growth without the intense pressure of creating lessons to meet constricted timelines (in my experience). Also, pulling in from the previous reading from the History and State of Distance Education, studies have shown the positive data to asynchronous learning vs synchronous learning in a distance education context. When I was in ERT during the pandemic, students were expected to meet via zoom for specific times during the day which proved to be stressful and unobtainable.
Moreover, distance education is more conducive to adult learners then younger learners. As I was working with children 5-13 years of age during the pandemic, they did not have the same capacity for online learning as an adult learner would. Now, if they had the time and resources before being thrust into an emergency response form of learning, like that of online learning, I think the data and completion of assignments would have been very different.
Although the pandemic was a difficult time in adapting to a ERT way of working, I do feel as though it pushed me to find new ways of using technology within my art pedagogy which I might not have done had COVID not taken place.
Mrs. Alyssa Sodke(Jul 07 2024 11:01AM):
Online learning is intentionally designed and thought out by content experts and course design experts, to effectively teach using technology. Emergency remote teaching is defined by emergency, immediacy, and lack of prep time.
more
The difference between online learning (OL) and emergency remote teaching (ERT) is preparation and design. OL courses, whether synchronous or asynchronous, are planned: resources curated, schedules made, assignments created, LMS training, etc. They can also be adjusted each time the course is taught, to make it a more effective course. ERT is more akin to the newly certified teacher stepping into their own classroom for the first time. The walls are bare, there’s no textbooks, and no cooperating teacher to help guide you. You are left to reinvent the wheel. On top of that, many of your students have no experience being in a classroom.
My anecdotal experience with ERT during the Covid-19 pandemic, is that instructors and learners were thrown into a platform for learning, that they were largely unfamiliar with.
Instead of the flow of an organized, well planned course, students got disjointed activities, making learning feel like a chore rather than an exploration of the content.
Instructors who teach in-person need plans in place for ERT. It is important that institutions provide these instructors with OL course design experts, who can give them advice on designing ERT content for an existing in-person course. In-person lessons can be quickly adapted for synchronous/asynchronous learning, with the right tools and pedagogy.
I certainly agree with the authors of the text, that ERT is a different beast from OL. ERT Will become another pedagogical area of study for learning design.
Francis Fowlkes(Jul 07 2024 8:59PM):
Online teaching and learning are a dynamic educational approach facilitated through digital platforms and tools, enabling students and instructors to engage remotely.
[Edited]more
Online teaching and learning encompass the delivery of educational content, communication, and interaction via the internet, fostering flexible and accessible learning opportunities irrespective of geographical boundaries. It involves the use of various technologies like video conferencing, learning management systems, and interactive media to facilitate instruction, collaboration, and assessment. At its core, online teaching and learning adapts traditional educational practices to the digital age, offering both challenges and opportunities for personalized learning experiences and skill development in a global context.
The shift to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic profoundly transformed my understanding and experience of online learning. Initially, it highlighted the necessity and potential of digital platforms in maintaining educational continuity amidst disruptions. As I adapted to virtual classrooms and asynchronous learning environments, I gained a deeper appreciation for the flexibility and accessibility that online learning can provide. It also underscored the importance of robust digital infrastructure and supportive learning tools for effective engagement and communication. Moreover, navigating the challenges of online assessments and maintaining student engagement further broadened my perspective on the diverse methods and technologies that can enhance learning outcomes in virtual settings. Overall, the pandemic accelerated my recognition of online learning as a viable and evolving educational modality with its own unique advantages.
The difference between emergency remote learning and traditional online teaching and learning formats lies primarily in their intent, preparation, and execution. emergency remote learning, as experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, was a rapid response to an unforeseen crisis, necessitating a quick transition from in-person to remote instruction without adequate time for comprehensive planning or training. It often relied on existing technologies and tools available to educators at short notice, aiming primarily to maintain educational continuity rather than fully replicate the structured, pedagogically designed approach of traditional online learning. In contrast, traditional online teaching and learning formats are meticulously planned and designed with clear learning objectives, incorporating instructional strategies tailored for online delivery. They leverage purpose-built platforms, instructional design principles, and ongoing support for both educators and students to ensure effective engagement, assessment, and interaction in virtual environments. While emergency remote learning served its immediate purpose during crises, traditional online teaching and learning formats offer a more robust framework for sustained and effective digital education.
Ms. Mikaela Klein(Jul 07 2024 11:52PM):
What Online Teaching and Learning Means to Me
more
When asked what comes to mind when I hear “online teaching and learning,” I think of both the autonomous acquiring of knowledge in addition to a collaborative effort between educators, institutions, families, and learners.
I have only been teaching for four years now, and my first year of teaching was during the COVID-19 pandemic. I was hired as a second grade teacher in 2019, excited to move to a new city, start working in a school, and learn everything I could to be a great teacher. Then COVID-19 hit. While I was still required to relocate, everything needed to be done remotely. I feel incredibly fortunate that the school system I worked for was extremely organized and on top of remote learning. I was also lucky that my team and co-teacher were amazing. I am still close to my old co-workers to this day and we still support in each other with in-person education strategies. My experience was not able to shift because my first experience was remote. Going back in person was another learning experience for me.
Our faculty provided consistent team meetings via zoom, and lots of class-specific support meetings as well. My co-teacher and I were in constant communication overlooking the classwork our students were completing, creating interactive material and lesson plans, role playing lessons, and testing out zoom features our students could use.
Online education was relatively new at the time for my school as a means of learning. Students were sent chromebooks to use and the already created curriculum had to be adapted accordingly. Originally, the fully online design was more similar to emergency remote teaching, since no one knew how long the pandemic would last or when we would return to in-person schooling. As it became clear we would remain remote, we shifted to an online-learning mentality.
My personal definition of online teaching and learning is: the adaptation of course material to be interacted with online in an engaging and useful manner. I am not 100% sure how to add a picture but here is a link to an animated bitmoji banner my co-teacher and I created for our google classroom! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jYxKW_gyPzhKiFPxg2KuOrRCpt_RYjF_/view?usp=sharing
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When I hear “online teaching and learning,” I think about all of the access it brings to knowledge and the exchange of ideas. While I acknowledge the challenges inherent in online learning and realize that not all online learning experiences are created equal, I think there is a huge role that online learning can play in leveling the playing field for people around the world to get involved and excited about subjects that they otherwise could not. Online teaching and learning also allows people to connect to each other and learn from each other in ways we never could have before. I feel quite lucky to live in a time when this kind of learning is available to me.
My vision and hope for online teaching and learning is that is continues to become a robust, flexible, and inclusive educational options that harnesses the power of technology to enhance learning. As technology evolves, we are realizing that there are so many new ways to learn. Rather than being afraid of those opportunities, I choose to be optimistic and dig into them.
The COVID-19 pandemic, while tragic and certainly not something I would wish for ever again, brought us new opportunities to consider online teaching and learning. I agree with the article that we need to be careful about how we evaluate this kind of emergency online teaching and learning, which should be considered separate from deliberate, thoughtful, and intentional online teaching and learning. I worry that people are still possibly conflating the two! Hopefully, with more time and exploration of the tools and practices of online learning, we will collectively determine when and where these educational experiences can be most beneficial to us all.
New Conversation
Hide Full Comment
Online teaching and learning are two different experiences for me.
Online teaching requires an instructor to complete a thorough and thoughtful exploration of the entire student experience prior to the first day of class. Providing inclusive, accessible, relevant course materials and course assignments and assessments make the difference to ensure a positive student experience with achievable outcomes.
Online learning is more of an individual experience for the students. This puts the onus on the institution and the instructor to craft activities to bring a social emotional component with community based learning opportunities to online learning. Of course, there are times when a course truly is asynchronous and student driven which would limit collaborative learning. An institution should make careful decisions about what outcomes are essential to the online learning experience and clearly provide them to students in advance.
What happened during the Covid 19 from March to May was truly a stop gap experience. Teachers at my institution really struggled (and many succeeded) in bringing studio based courses to their students’ homes. I taught courses at night and early in the morning to accommodate students who went back home to China and Korea. However, I also taught students who were up in the middle of the night in order to attend the synchronous part of our classes. It was very difficult for everyone. I also had the “black box" experience with students being little more than a name in a square on my screen and a disembodied voice.
Online learning is so much more than what we were able to provide students during the pandemic. In the article by Hodges and others, it suggests that evaluation of the Covid teaching experience should consider: “Was our ongoing faculty professional development sufficient to enable ERT? How can we enhance opportunities for immediate and flexible learning demands related to alternative approaches to instruction and learning?” This was certainly an issue at my college, as was adequate staff and technology to support the student experience. We all survived and students had experiences that enriched their learning, but was it the same as in person? Certainly not.
Online learning must be equitable to the in person face to face (F2F) experience in order to make it valuable to the students to encourage retention and completion.
New Conversation
Hide Full Comment
Since I have not had the opportunity to teach online yet I will post from an online learner’s perspective. In my work life in Marketing Technology, I have had the opportunity to experience extremely high quality online learning. It’s rare these days for companies to spend money to send their staff offsite for classroom learning when a recorded webinar or a guided third party learning path may achieve the same objective without seriously impacting work schedules. Even our instructor-led classes are online. All my company’s required HR classes are extremely engaging and well-produced, with professional production quality and interactive experiences that reinforce learning for multiple types of learners. Evaluations are built into the process as well. So, for me, the definition of online learning is participating in well-planned and well-orchestrated digital learning experiences, either synchronously or asynchronously, that utilize the same pedagogical principles used in classroom teaching but bring with them all the added benefits of technology, breadth of resources and connectedness.
During the Covid-19 Pandemic both of my children switched to Emergency Remote Learning. Because I work from home, I had the opportunity to observe their online classes as well as hear about their experiences with remote learning from their perspectives. Unfortunately, the default delivery mechanism tended to be Zoom lectures, and both of my kids were bored and unengaged, as well as consumed with feelings of isolation. As was stated in the article, carefully planned online teaching processes were absent in what my children were experiencing. Teachers were just trying to get the job done and were struggling to simply operate Zoom, let alone fold in any online experiences that were not part of their original course design.
So, my experience and perspective about online learning has not necessarily changed – I have always known how expansive and effective it could be. What has changed since Covid-19 is my perspective on school readiness for operating in an online environment during an emergency. Covid has taught us that we cannot take the status quo for granted. Teachers should be designing their classroom courses to include varied delivery methods; they should already be integrating digital online experiences into classroom teaching. Connectedness is key for active learning, whether students are sitting in the same classroom or on a Zoom call. We need to learn from the past and be open to new ways of working in the future.
New Conversation
Hide Full Comment
“Due to the threat of COVID19” is a phrase that stopped me in my tracks, made me dizzy from the speed at which my eyes sought the date of this article and then just for a moment allowed me to indulge in the nostalgia of what many people I know call the Before Times. Emergency Remote teaching will never be the same as what students experienced in the spring of 2020. The content that was offered bears no resemblance to a well-planned intentional remote teaching curriculunm, with ALL due respect to anyone who taught through it. From the experience of the students in my home, teachers had little to no chance of success in the K-12 environment when they found themselves competing for the attention of students who suddenly had all the distractions of the internet at their fingertips on school-issued Chromebooks, the same students who weeks earlier might have had their personal cell phones confiscated if used in class. Online learning has emerged from it’s ‘lesser than’ status, become more mainstream and strengthened it’s core principles since COVID19. As many more educators have been exposed to online learning concepts either through continuing education or professional development, the word emergency can shift from the panic and danger connotation to the gentler arising from need.
New Conversation
Hide Full Comment
When I think of “online teaching and learning”, I think of a structured educational experience conducted primarily or entirely through digital platforms including lectures, discussions, assignments and assessments that are delivered digitally.
The format can be synchronous or asynchronous and it can be through LMS, video conferencing and interactive multimedia.
The difference between “Emergency Remote learning” vs. More traditional Online
teaching and learning formats.
The shift to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted for me the distinction between emergency remote teaching and traditional online teaching. The first characteristic of the emergency remote learning was the clear lack of preparation as a consequence of the requirement of a rapid response to maintain continuity during the crisis. The focus was on a quick deployment of remote instruction without the typical planning and support structures of traditional online courses. Another unexpected outcome was that lack of training was evident since instructors were forced to record themselves giving a lecture, and when we watched such videos, it was clear that the teacher was struggling to keep the instruction going using a platform they were clearly not familiar with.
In addition, there were not enough student engagement strategies and communication between instructor and students was poor.
On the other hand online teaching is about leveraging technology to facilitate educational outcomes in a flexible and accessible manner. It involves thoughtful instructional design, clear communication, and robust support mechanisms for students to engage with content and each other, regardless of physical location. Based on my background and experience, Cyber Schools are good examples of organized online education because they are built to provide instruction based on technology and teachers are trained to conduct lectures with strategies to promote the acquisition of knowledge and promote engagements during live sessions.
When I decided to switch my kids from the emergency online instruction the school district was providing to a cyber school, I could clearly experience first hand the difference between emergency remote learning vs. more traditional online teaching and learning formats.
New Conversation
Hide Full Comment
On the surface, when I hear “online teaching and learning,” I think of online courses that are administered to students by an instructor, all separated by space and time. I picture the instructor, let’s say a college professor, sitting in their office on a university campus, creating Powerpoints, grading assignments, and responding to student inquiries via email. I picture the students, counties or states away, in their homes, work offices, or local libraries, reading the materials assigned by the instructor, and engaging with other students via discussion board posts. This is probably what many other people picture when they hear “online teaching and learning,” as well.
However, I’ve come to realize that online teaching and learning involves a complex process of design, implementation, and evaluation. It’s not as simple as taking an in-person curriculum, plugging it into a learning management system, and expecting success. Also, online teaching and learning is not just limited to higher education, and the COVID-19 pandemic opened our eyes to that. As companies shifted to remote workforces, and elementary and secondary schools closed their doors, corporate trainers and schoolteachers had to learn how to adapt to online teaching. In turn, students and working professionals had to adapt to learning online.
The COVID-19 pandemic set a new precedent for online teaching and learning. Perhaps now, instructors and institutions are realizing that online learning and teaching is a permanent part of the learning experience. Because emergency remote learning was a quick response to an acute global emergency, there were bound to be hiccups. However, now that remote education is becoming a norm, instructors and institutions are coming to understand how to facilitate online education to make it equally as successful as more traditional formats.
New Conversation
Hide Full Comment
I have never taught online. Instead, I was an instructor who attempted to facilitate Emergency Remote Learning (ERT) for a lab-based course for two summers during the COVID pandy. The distinction between ERT and true online teaching is considerable. That is not to say that I took this responsibility lightly or grossly failed to plan the instruction, I simply lacked the time and tools to do it real justice, especially knowing what I know now in terms of the instructional design process. Also, as a side note, outside stressors including the health and safety of all individuals involved, greatly impacted the 30,000-foot perspective on the situation: is learning (under these circumstances) how to distinguish dependent vs. independent variables on a scatter plot, for example, even important when you’re a student who’s afraid to go to a family event for fear of getting sick? Or, possibly even worse, not being able to visit a hospital-bound grandparent due to visitor restrictions? Being in academia I obviously view education as invaluable; however, as a human I realize that you have nothing if you don’t have your health or the feeling of safety and stability. Needless to say, the term “emergency” definitely fits the circumstances surrounding the COVID ERT epidemic.
On the contrary, building a successful “learning ecosystem” as described by Hodges, et. al. (2020) requires careful instructional design planning and development using a systematic model (pick one!); it’s NOT simply online content delivery. This learning ecosystem should intentionally incorporate the Nine Dimensions of Learning, choosing the best options within each dimension, for the greatest effectiveness. I appreciated the line stating, “careful planning for online learning includes not just identifying the content to cover but also carefully tending to how you’re going to support different types of interactions that are important in the learning process” (Hodges et.al., 2020). This, again, emphasizes that content delivery is NOT enough! Addressing the fact that learning is both cognitive and social is a crucial element to planning instruction that supports the following interactions: student-student, student-content, and student-instructor.
I endorse the definition that [good] online education is a robust ecosystem that fully integrates and supports the cognitive and social aspects of learning, not just a hierarchical transmission of information from teacher to student. It requires full and active participation from instructor and learners alike, which in actuality, is not very different from [good] traditional face-to-face education. Good education, whether in person or online, requires abundant resources, careful planning, and participation.
New Conversation
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In my personal journey with online teaching and learning I can remember the intense frustration of emergency remote teaching (ERT). Particularly being an art teacher, this proved to be a daunting task as I did not know of what materials students had at home and by what means they could work on/complete assignments. I feel as though with all things, it takes time to understand and adapt to different intricacies when it comes to online teaching/learning.
I would say the distinction between ERT and online learning is that one was more or less thrusted upon the academic and learner where as online learning has flexibility for growth without the intense pressure of creating lessons to meet constricted timelines (in my experience). Also, pulling in from the previous reading from the History and State of Distance Education, studies have shown the positive data to asynchronous learning vs synchronous learning in a distance education context. When I was in ERT during the pandemic, students were expected to meet via zoom for specific times during the day which proved to be stressful and unobtainable.
Moreover, distance education is more conducive to adult learners then younger learners. As I was working with children 5-13 years of age during the pandemic, they did not have the same capacity for online learning as an adult learner would. Now, if they had the time and resources before being thrust into an emergency response form of learning, like that of online learning, I think the data and completion of assignments would have been very different.
Although the pandemic was a difficult time in adapting to a ERT way of working, I do feel as though it pushed me to find new ways of using technology within my art pedagogy which I might not have done had COVID not taken place.
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The difference between online learning (OL) and emergency remote teaching (ERT) is preparation and design. OL courses, whether synchronous or asynchronous, are planned: resources curated, schedules made, assignments created, LMS training, etc. They can also be adjusted each time the course is taught, to make it a more effective course.
ERT is more akin to the newly certified teacher stepping into their own classroom for the first time. The walls are bare, there’s no textbooks, and no cooperating teacher to help guide you. You are left to reinvent the wheel. On top of that, many of your students have no experience being in a classroom.
My anecdotal experience with ERT during the Covid-19 pandemic, is that instructors and learners were thrown into a platform for learning, that they were largely unfamiliar with.
Instead of the flow of an organized, well planned course, students got disjointed activities, making learning feel like a chore rather than an exploration of the content.
Instructors who teach in-person need plans in place for ERT. It is important that institutions provide these instructors with OL course design experts, who can give them advice on designing ERT content for an existing in-person course. In-person lessons can be quickly adapted for synchronous/asynchronous learning, with the right tools and pedagogy.
I certainly agree with the authors of the text, that ERT is a different beast from OL. ERT Will become another pedagogical area of study for learning design.
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Online teaching and learning encompass the delivery of educational content, communication, and interaction via the internet, fostering flexible and accessible learning opportunities irrespective of geographical boundaries. It involves the use of various technologies like video conferencing, learning management systems, and interactive media to facilitate instruction, collaboration, and assessment. At its core, online teaching and learning adapts traditional educational practices to the digital age, offering both challenges and opportunities for personalized learning experiences and skill development in a global context.
The shift to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic profoundly transformed my understanding and experience of online learning. Initially, it highlighted the necessity and potential of digital platforms in maintaining educational continuity amidst disruptions. As I adapted to virtual classrooms and asynchronous learning environments, I gained a deeper appreciation for the flexibility and accessibility that online learning can provide. It also underscored the importance of robust digital infrastructure and supportive learning tools for effective engagement and communication. Moreover, navigating the challenges of online assessments and maintaining student engagement further broadened my perspective on the diverse methods and technologies that can enhance learning outcomes in virtual settings. Overall, the pandemic accelerated my recognition of online learning as a viable and evolving educational modality with its own unique advantages.
The difference between emergency remote learning and traditional online teaching and learning formats lies primarily in their intent, preparation, and execution. emergency remote learning, as experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, was a rapid response to an unforeseen crisis, necessitating a quick transition from in-person to remote instruction without adequate time for comprehensive planning or training. It often relied on existing technologies and tools available to educators at short notice, aiming primarily to maintain educational continuity rather than fully replicate the structured, pedagogically designed approach of traditional online learning. In contrast, traditional online teaching and learning formats are meticulously planned and designed with clear learning objectives, incorporating instructional strategies tailored for online delivery. They leverage purpose-built platforms, instructional design principles, and ongoing support for both educators and students to ensure effective engagement, assessment, and interaction in virtual environments. While emergency remote learning served its immediate purpose during crises, traditional online teaching and learning formats offer a more robust framework for sustained and effective digital education.
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When asked what comes to mind when I hear “online teaching and learning,” I think of both the autonomous acquiring of knowledge in addition to a collaborative effort between educators, institutions, families, and learners.
I have only been teaching for four years now, and my first year of teaching was during the COVID-19 pandemic. I was hired as a second grade teacher in 2019, excited to move to a new city, start working in a school, and learn everything I could to be a great teacher. Then COVID-19 hit. While I was still required to relocate, everything needed to be done remotely. I feel incredibly fortunate that the school system I worked for was extremely organized and on top of remote learning. I was also lucky that my team and co-teacher were amazing. I am still close to my old co-workers to this day and we still support in each other with in-person education strategies. My experience was not able to shift because my first experience was remote. Going back in person was another learning experience for me.
Our faculty provided consistent team meetings via zoom, and lots of class-specific support meetings as well. My co-teacher and I were in constant communication overlooking the classwork our students were completing, creating interactive material and lesson plans, role playing lessons, and testing out zoom features our students could use.
Online education was relatively new at the time for my school as a means of learning. Students were sent chromebooks to use and the already created curriculum had to be adapted accordingly. Originally, the fully online design was more similar to emergency remote teaching, since no one knew how long the pandemic would last or when we would return to in-person schooling. As it became clear we would remain remote, we shifted to an online-learning mentality.
My personal definition of online teaching and learning is: the adaptation of course material to be interacted with online in an engaging and useful manner. I am not 100% sure how to add a picture but here is a link to an animated bitmoji banner my co-teacher and I created for our google classroom!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jYxKW_gyPzhKiFPxg2KuOrRCpt_RYjF_/view?usp=sharing
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