Transitioning from F2F Teaching into Online Instruction

Transitioning from F2F Teaching into Online Instruction

The role of an instructor in on online course shifts 180° when compared to a F2F teacher. The instructor becomes a guide –on the side- rather than a lecturer. But this guidance implies understanding the need to have material already predetermined and available to students from “Day 1.” Instead of the usual weekly or daily planning, our students have already-prepared modules, which have been carefully thought and prepared by the teacher. This ahead-of-time preparation with material in various types of digital formats is what differentiates the online instructor from the F2F teacher.

Although I have never experienced being a 100% online instructor myself, I do have some experience in hybrid environments. One’s role as a teacher changes exponentially in a very positive and unique way. Preparing the learning modules with very concrete and reachable learning outcomes is a time-consuming, pain-staking task but worthwhile trying. Encouraging students to take their own learning in their hands with one’s guidance is the very first step to take when beginning an online or blended learning course. Somehow the instructor becomes the curricular designer of the course and the student motivator who strives hard to convince them that autonomy in learning does exist.

Your role also shifts from lecturer to facilitator. The instructor and the students are no longer trapped by class time. Whatever that happens in a F2F classroom can be replicated in an online environment by means of web tools available and free of charge. For instance, in a pronunciation blog I created for one of my ELT content courses at Universidad Latina (http://bin-02.blogspot.com/), I embedded a chat box to give students the change to either interact among themselves on the blog page by sharing information or posing questions about the class content to one another, or to ask me since I signed in a couple of nights a week. It has proven to be a helpful tool that our digital students are accustomed to using: chat rooms.

Becoming an online instructor can be really a thrill, but make sure you do work on some adjustments:

1	Transfer your lecturing into useful online resources to work on assignments, projects, forums, group discussions, etc.	√
2	Bear in mind your new role: facilitator, a guide on the side.	√
3	Remind students of your presence by having students interact regularly, by being available when pupils are in need of answer for their questions, and by reminding them of deadlines and course events. Don’t leave them alone.	√
4	Design interactive activities and tasks such as case study analysis, WebQuests, surveys and the like.	√
5	Design activities, projects, tasks, etc. beforehand, so you have an idea how long it can take students to complete them.	√
6	Limit yourself to using online free resources and what is provided by your institution.	√
7	Try a new piece of technology before you decide to incorporate it. Knowing how it really works can help you train students on its use.	√
8	Motivate students to go beyond the classroom to learn more outside by visiting blogs, wikis, forums or by using social media.	√
9	Create activities that allow students to exchange ideas and information and that help them learn cooperatively.	√
10	Explore the pedagogical reason for using a new piece of technology. Perhaps you may find out that it is not really necessary.	√
11	Be aware of the learning preferences among your students. Let it be borne in mind that knowing these preferences can help you in designing activities much efficiently.	√
12	Always provide feedback to your students, so they really know that they are not by themselves.	√

Learning is a journey for all of us when we are the students in a course, and it is a satisfying one. Just imagine how challenging but rewarding it is when you want to teach your students and achieve the course learning goals.

Feel free to download a copy of this paper over here.

Transitioning From F2F Teaching Into Online Instruction by Jonathan Acuña

Friday, May 31, 2013

Transitioning from F2F to Online Learning

Education and Learning, Hybrid and Blended Learning 0 comments

Transitioning from F2F to Online Learning

How difficult can a transition from a F2F learning environment be to an online learning space? If this question is answered from the learner’s point of view, it is possible to spot some difficulties students can face in the migration: a) time management, b) autonomous learning, c) success orientation, and d) the role of the instructor.

In terms of time management, the student needs to prioritize his/her curricular and extracurricular activities. Managing one’s time is a need in any learning situation, whether that is a F2F or online class. The most important difference in this particular situation is that the learner can be on his own much of the time and some sort of agenda can help him/her to meet deadlines. Procrastination is indeed the greatest enemy to defeat when taking a blended learning or a 100% online course.

Can a student achieve autonomous learning? A learner does not need to be in a hybrid or online course to realize that the power of learning lies within his/her brain. Fully comprehending one’s learning preferences and fully profiting from them are possible tasks to accomplish. Self-discovering the way one favors learning is vital to achieve learning; the fact that an instructor is not with him/her all the time is a great challenge that confronts the learner with the vast possibilities of learning on one’s own. A teacher can be and is a great guide, but with that guidance learning can be attained exponentially and beyond the course boundaries.

With the proper guidance and being success-oriented, the learner will always be able to achieve his/her learning goals as well as the course’s objectives. Success orientation is the sense of accomplishment that should reside in the student’s mind. This sense can be the intrinsic or extrinsic motivation that governs a student’s desire for learning and becoming a successful professional in the short or long run. Such a sense of accomplishment needs to be always nourished by instructors to trigger some positive, long-lasting, and meaningful learning outcomes in their pupils.

Learning outcomes can also be achieved by understanding the role of the instructor in an online course. It is imperative that learners comprehend the real role of a teacher. An instructor is not the only source of information and learning. Although the teacher can be the starting point, tasks, activities, etc. can also foster learning. Besides being an initial source of information, it is also essential to understand that instructors are not meant to be 24/7 for online or hybrid students. There will be a time for them to ask questions, and a time for their teachers to answer. Let it be borne in mind that communication is vital in this (semi-) virtual teaching/learning environment. Data and questions-answers must be canalized properly to ensure effective communication.

To conclude, student transitioning from F2F learning environments to online virtual learning spaces is indeed a challenge for both actors involved in education: the instructor and the learner, but it is worthwhile. If a student is able to maximize his/her learning time, to learn autonomously, to guide his/her learning successfully, and to understand his/her roles as well as the instructor’s, s/he is more than ready to embark him/herself into a self-discovery of powerful and meaningful learning that can take him/her way beyond the course boundaries and major.

E To fully develop and comprehend this teaching issue, it’s advisable to research and expand these areas:

1	Blended and hybrid learning
2	Time management and online learning
3	The role of instructors in online learning
4	The learner’s role in blended and online education
5	Autonomous learning in blended education

Professor Jonathan Acuña-Solano

ELT Instructor & Trainer based in Costa Rica

IATEFL Member and NCTE Affiliate

Curricular Developer at CCCN

Senior ELT Professor at Universidad Latina

Freelance ELT Consultant four OUP in Central America

For further comments or suggestions, reach me at:

@jonacuso – Twitter

jonacuso@gmail.com – Gmail

Other blogs and sites I often write for my students at the university are:

1. Pronunciation 1	2. Readding Skills 1
3. Pronunciation 2	4. Computering Applications in Education

To download a copy of the article, feel free to do it here.

Transitioning From F2F to Online Learning by Jonathan Acuña

Monday, May 27, 2013

Student Learning Preferences in F2F and b-Learning Environments

Hybrid and Blended Learning, Learning Preferences, Learning Styles 0 comments

Student Learning Preferences in F2F and b-Learning Environments

After understanding the importance of learning preferences humans favor to learn better and faster, one gets to comprehend the extensive use these preferences can have in lesson planning and in teaching.

Thinking of my language students, all sorts of metal processes prompt the use of the learner’s learning preferences. In a single classroom, it is quite possible to see several different learning orientations taking place: Visual, auditory, kinesthetic, verbal linguistic, global, reflective, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, sequential, inductive, deductive, etc. It all depends on what kind of taxonomy the teacher employs; names will vary. But this variation is just the living proof that all students learn differently.

Learning Preferences Taxonomy	Types of Learners
VAK	Ø Visual Ø Auditory Ø Kinesthetic
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator	Ø Extroversion vs. Introversion Ø Sensing vs. Intuition Ø Thinking vs. Feeling Ø Judging vs. Perceiving
Felder & Silverman’s Learning Styles	Ø Sensory to Intuitive Ø Visual to Verbal Ø Inductive to Deductive Ø Active to Reflective Ø Sequential to Global
Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences	Ø Verbal Linguistic Ø Logical-mathematical Ø Musical Ø Spatial Ø Bodily kinesthetic Ø Interpersonal Ø Intrapersonal

When reflecting on one’s F2F teaching, one gets to see several strategies one uses to try to get to as many students as possible. In language learning, one of the preferred theories for learning is VAK. As a EL professional, I tend to use activities that aim at being visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. For instance, when dealing with vocabulary, I like to use realia, flash cards, or some sort of presentation (prezi, PPT, to show students the new vocabulary). However, when dealing with new grammar structures, I tend to favor Myers-Briggs Type Indicator for learning preferences. In other words, after the language presentation in class, students are motivated to reflect on, sense, think, feel, judge, perceive the new grammatical content with partners (extroversion) or by themselves (introversion). This teaching F2F preference I have does not rule out Felder & Silverman’s Learning Styles or Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences. When I teach English pronunciation (phonetics and phonology), it is convenient that learners cover the scope from verbal to visual, and vice versa. At the same time, it is important that their musical intelligence helps them get the rhythm and intonation of the target language.

Based on my personal blended teaching experience at Universidad Latina (in Costa Rica), and with the help of PBL (Project-Based Learning), I devised learning tasks that involved several learning preferences and/or strategies, which included different types of explanations on how to use technology to accomplish a learning outcome. For the tasks to be developed by my students, tutorials, teacher explanations, and hands-on activities were used. Discussion among partners and research was something else that was encouraged. Intrapersonal and interpersonal learners with deductive or deductive ways of thinking benefitted as much as VAK students with sensing and judging learning orientations.

To sum up, whether one is teaching F2F or in a blended learning environment, the very same learning strategies can be perfectly adapted and used. It is the way the instructor conceives his/her learning task that will trigger different learning preferences on the student’s side and learning can be achieved. For most of the digital natives one tends to find in our classrooms, this learning achievement can be attained; for the digital migrants is not impossible to be in the spotlight of learning.

ETo fully develop and comprehend this teaching issue, it’s advisable to research and expand these areas:

1	Characteristics of online learners
2	VAK
3	Myers-Briggs Type Indicators
4	Felder & Silverman’s Learning Styles
5	Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

Professor Jonathan Acuña-Solano

ELT Instructor & Trainer based in Costa Rica

IATEFL Member and NCTE Affiliate

Curricular Developer at CCCN

Senior ELT Professor at Universidad Latina

Freelance ELT Consultant four OUP in Central America

For further comments or suggestions, reach me at:

@jonacuso – Twitter

jonacuso@gmail.com – Gmail

Other blogs and sites I often write for my students at the university are:

1. Pronunciation 1	2. Readding Skills 1
3. Pronunciation 2	4. Computering Applications in Education

Get a copy of this article/reflection over here.

Learning Preferences by Jonathan Acuña

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Online Persona

Education and Learning, Hybrid and Blended Learning, Online Persona 0 comments

This analysis has been done for a Hybrid and Blended Learning Online Course I decided to take with the Laureate International Universities Faculty Development program. Its sole aim is to present the kind of online persona my students have at Universidad Latina in Costa Rica.

The analysis was done bearing in mind the task provided below, the following short essay/analysis was carried out.

Before you can become an effective online instructor, it is important to understand the students you will teach. Based on your past experience as an online learner or the experience of someone else you know that has been an online learner, build an online student persona.

Ulatina Online Persona

As a senior member of the English Department at Universidad Latina and someone who started out with some sort of blended learning directly linked with Project-Based Learning (through WebQuests) initially, I have a good insight on what the typical student looks like at the university.

Agewise, our students range from 17 to 24; people we can perfectly be labeled as digitally natives. These digital learners are motivated intrinsically and extrinsically. The former form of motivation is seen in their choice of majors, which somehow depict their inner learning passions. The latter form of motivation tells us that extrinsic (outer) factors, being those things what their parents do for a living or any other person who left a great imprint on the students’ lives, encourage them to become the professional they dream of.

Being our Ulatina students people whose age group ranges from 17 to 24 also lets us know their digital predisposition or preference for learning. With so many different technological gadgets at hand, you walk around the campus to see learners using all kinds of mobile devices: iPods, iPads, tablets, notebooks, laptops, iPhones, smartphones, etc. And if one stops to ask them for apps they download for learning, they do have lots of interesting stuff to share.

At Ulatina three distinctive groups of students can be clearly identified when it comes to talk about “responsibilities.” The first of the three groups is that one made of students whose parents (or someone else) pay for their full term tuition. These learners’ “obligations” are linked to studying and getting good marks at the university. Secondly, we have students who study on a loan. That is, because they want to become full-time students and want to finish their major quickly, these learners apply for a loan, and as soon as they graduate, they start paying back. In terms of “responsibilities,” these students are similar to the first group. Lastly, we have learners who work to pay for their tuition, and whose economical contribution at home is vital for their families, whether they are single or married.

Among the challenges Ulatina digital learners face, it is a must to state the fact that social media (basically being Facebook) hinders their learning time because it has become some sort of addiction. Being social media a great means of communication and gathering the latest information, Costa Rican young adults have mistaken their use. Instead of using it for learning exponentially beyond their classrooms and courses, much social media is used for other frugal purposes. And as a teacher, or b-learning instructor, it affects me in F2F sessions since many of them are text-messaging rather than using the mobile devices for accomplishing the learning goals for my lessons.

If I became an online instructor, this sort of behavior may affect them more that it might affect me. The reason seems to be obvious: If the learners do not submit their work on a given deadline, they lose vital points for their final grades. Somehow, students at Ulatina need to learn how to manage their learning time efficiently; otherwise, their social media addiction can ruin a brilliant course performance.

Online Persona by Jonathan Acuña

Friday, May 24, 2013

Becoming an Online Instructor

Education Technologies, Hybrid and Blended Learning, Integration of Technology into Teaching 0 comments

Hybrid and Blended Learning Reflection 1:

Becoming an Online Instructor

When asked about becoming an online instructor, one tends to believe that is a difficult step to take, especially when one has been teaching face to face most of one’s professional life. However, from my point of view and experience, becoming an online instructor is “a small step for a teacher but a great leap for one’s learners.” In other words, if one turns into an online teacher, helping students to learn how to learn by themselves at their own pace is a matter of time, patience, and training.

Being an online instructor ought to be a professional goal for teachers as well as professors. Let it be bore in mind that technology is now “the most important element” in 21^st Century education; consequently, an integral part of our professional development has to be aimed at developing competencies in this area. It is not possible to envision education as a mere face-to-face interaction with students; education is now more that this when technology is part of our classroom and students’ learning environments.

Now that I am enrolled in the Hybrid and Blended Learning certificate program via Laureate International Universities Faculty Development Program, participants have also been asked what we expect to gain from it. As an English language teacher, I want to perfect my use of technology geared towards the teaching of the language and the learning of it by my students, whether they are part of the ELT program the university offers or part of the English language courses it offers to students of all majors.

On the other hand, as a curricular developer I have designed blended learning courses and programs from a very empirical point of view with the ultimate idea of incorporating the use of online resources for better learning results. That is, in the near future my idea is to have a solid base to have the ability and capability to design blended learning language courses much more appealing to students and instructors, having them understand that this modality of knowledge building is as good as the traditional way of teaching face to face. Personally, being just a mere instructor who is encouraged to work on blended learning teaching scenarios is not exactly my purpose; becoming the creator of such courses is my whole learning, professional motivation at this point.

As an online instructor one is bound to face several challenges. First of all, as a teacher trainer I have sensed their reluctance to using technology they are not used to because they let be borne in mind that students cannot learn in virtual environments and then become isolated. Second, although it is quite certain, developing an online hybrid course for students is much more time-consuming than simply sitting down to plan. However, anything that is created for this blended learning course can be easily recycled with a different group when teaching the same or similar course. Next, the belief that personal attention cannot be provided to students is false. In a hybrid course, face-to-face interactions exists and questions can also be answered via electronic means (Twitter, email, Hootcourse, etc.). Because of these ways of communication, participation can peak since it allows intrapersonal learners to voice their opinions freely and with any lack of peer pressure. Lastly, the idea that one has to be a technology expert to design or create a hybrid course is wrong. It does take time to get the knack of how to use something, but once the instructor is confident with the new tool, a new one can be tried out to complement the former, and so on. With some good guidance and strong desire to develop technology competencies, any teaching professional can become an online instructor.

How Do You Feel About Becoming an Online Instructor by Jonathan Acuña

Tuesday, May 21, 2013