Bloom's Taxonomy should inform the learning objectives in a course. These objectives then determine the deliverables students are expected to complete.

Adult Learning Theory

Adult Learning Theory is a set of ideas meant to explain what works when one teaches or trains adults. Malcolm Knowles is an important person to know about for anyone working with adults in an education or training setting. Even though he proposed the concept of andragogy and made his assumptions about adult learners half a century ago, his ideas are relevant in the 21st century. Here they are in an abbreviated form:

Four Principles of Andragogy

Best practices for teaching adults include allowing learners to be involved in the planning and implementation of their learning. Andragogy also includes the acknowledgement that adults have experiences working in restaurants, daycares, realty offices, and banks that they can use as they learn new skills and acquire new knowledge. These experiences matter to an adult’s learning regardless of how different the previous experience and the current context appear to be. Andragogy recognizes the need for relevance. The content of the current course must be relevant to the learner because of her or his goals. Finally, problem-solving is important to adult learners as it requires critical and analytical thought which are appealing to adults in ways that answering questions with memorized facts is not.

Adult learners are self-directed and want to solve problems rather than answer questions. They have goals that motivate them to learn, and they bring experiences to each learning event that should be leveraged for their benefit.

Working memory (WM) used to be called short term memory. Regardless of its name, it is limited.

Our working memory can process 5 pieces of information and each of these sticks around for no more than 15 seconds. We count on working memory for immediate processing and manipulation of new information. As a matter of fact, you are using WM right now to process this written message. WM interacts with long term memory, so when your working memory shares this info with your long term memory, new permanent knowledge is created. Long Term Memory also helps make sense of new info while it is in working memory.

Cognitive Load refers to the demand placed on working memory.

• Some demands are necessary (intrinsic): Learning to navigate this platform is an example of intrinsic load

• Some demands are the point of the lesson (germane): All the info about teaching online in this case

• Some demands interfere with learning (extraneous): if the platform had glitch after glitch, if the pages didn't load, if we directed you to resources that were difficult to access, if the language used was antiquated

Placing too much of a load on the working memory of online students hinders their learning. The goal is to allow students to focus on germane load while managing a reasonable intrinsic load.

Behavioral Learning Theory asserts that:

• Behavior changes because of external stimuli

• Learning happens in response to external stimuli

Two major schools of thought:

• Classical conditioning – also called Pavlovian

• Instrumental conditioning – also called Operant

Operant Conditioning: Punishment or reward presented after a voluntary behavior

• Voluntary behavior: Submitting a paper, Taking a test, or Answering a question in class or in a discussion forum

• Rewards: A high grade, The ribbon or trophy, or Positive comment from instructor or peer

• Punishment: Low grade, Repeating the course, Correction from instructor or peer

Note that this is more effective with children and when training pets than when working with adults who find this manipulative instead of transformative.

Constructivist Learning Theory is based on the premise that learners construct meaning as they learn based on their experiences.

A 25-year-old woman, waiting tables for 8 years brings her experience in the diner, talking to customers, handling complaints, building relationships with regulars to the classroom. A 43-year-old woman, managing a café in a high rise that houses offices for law firms, brokerage house, and a consulting firm brings her leadership experiences to the classroom. According to Constructivist Theory, both of these experiences matter and can be leveraged in a course regardless of the subject.

Two students can read the same book and have utterly different understandings of the meaning of the story based on experiences prior to reading.

•Knowledge isn’t out there waiting to be found

•Knowledge doesn’t come from a professor or a book

•Knowledge comes from the learner as he or she constructs it

Think about the significance of this in a class when diverse groups of student read the same article, chapter, or biography.

Do you see inherent weaknesses in this theory?

Cognitive Learning Theory focuses primarily on interaction between information and the complex network of components and processes we call the mind. New info is processed, interpreted, and stored in part using old info and knowledge so learning leads to more learning.

According to Cognivitism,

•Learning is internal

•Learning cannot always be demonstrated by taking a test with one correct answer per question

•A Focus on problem-solving promotes learning

•Critical thinking and creative thinking are desired and cannot always be observed or measured

Major Strengths of Cognitivist Learning Theory

•Belief that anyone can learn anything at any age

•Learning is about transforming not behaving

Passive learning is often criticized and treated as ineffective. In this video, we discuss what passive learning is and why it is effective in many cases depending on the learners and the subject.

Direct instruction, lectures, written documents, and live online sessions are discussed in this video.

Announcement requirements vary by school, but in general, this area is used for two purposes: 

to teach

to inform/remind

This area is a great place to post definitions of key terms, explanations of concepts, and examples that help make ideas concrete. Posting videos in this area helps students learn and feel connected to the instructor.

Housekeeping issues such as deadlines can be posted to the announcement page to help students stay on track and up-to-date.

Visuals are important in this area. Make the announcement space visually appealing and less likely to overloa the students. Huge blocks of texts are a bad idea on the announcement page.

Discussion Boards

The discussion forum can be the heart of the course. How this area is used varies by university and program, but regardless of where you teach or what subject, it is important to use the discussion area to engage with students, to promote the learning objectives, and to create a presence. One way to engage students with the material and to ensure students are being asked to think critically, creatively, and analytically is Socratic Method. This involves replying to students’ posts with questions rather than with answers or feedback. An example of how Socratic Method might look in a business course in a unit on ethics.

Student Post: I would not work for a company that practiced child labor in its overseas facilities. This is just plain wrong. Children should be in school or playing with toys.

Instructor Reply using Socratic Method: Thanks, Molly. What would you say to business people who point out that children work in some places to feed themselves and their families? Do you think if your organization fired all child workers, these kids would go to school? Or stay home and play? Any thoughts on what the children would do instead of work for your company?

Kinds of Feedback

Confirmative

Focuses on strengths

Improves student confidence

Corrective

Points out errors

Focuses on accuracy and on clarifying concepts

Remedial

Points students to resources that have the correct answer

Summative

Compares current performance to previous performance

Grading Rubrics save time and are perceived as more fair and objective. A grading rubric can be analytic or holistic. An analytic rubric is a grid with several columns and rows. Each row represents a criteria and each column a point value or point range. A holisitc rubric can be 2 columns, the criteria and the points available.

Macros such as Shortkeys.com allow one to save long comments that are used over and over. The long comment can be added to a student's paper or in an online gradebook comment area by typing 3 - 5 keys previously assigned to that comment.

For instance, using my shortkeys, I can type dkoo and this is inserted in the grading comment area of a human resource management course:

You've demonstrated an understanding of the onboarding process by providing an accurate definition of this important event. Your example was appropriate for this assignment, and I appreciate that you connected onboarding to employee engagement. All HR professionals should embrace onboarding as an essential part of the recruiting and staffing function.

Imagine having to type that comment on 8, 12, or 22 papers in one class.

Online colleges and universities are focused on retention rates as a best practice in business and education.

Faculty are expected to contribute to student retention via outreach as we interact with students regularly and have access to their performance, participation, and presence.

Successful outreach methods online include:

• Text message: Students tend to prefer this method

• Email: good option for longer messages or attachments

• Skype: A free account is easy to set up

• Phone call

• Web meeting in WebEx, Adobe Connect, or Zoom: Zoom offers a free account and allows for recording a session between instructor and student

Why is outreach important? 

Outreach helps achieve these goals:

•To increase the chance the student will complete the course

•To clarify expectations

•To discuss obstacles to success

•To brainstorm a plan for success

Cover letters are essential at least 45% of the time--more on that later. The cover letter is your chance to express your passionate interest in this job at this organization. No dean, department chair, or hiring manager wants to feel as if he or she is one of a dozen people to receive your resume and you will take whatever job is offered first.

The research strongly suggests that 45% of hiring managers read cover letters. You cannot know if the person at your potential employer is in that group or not, so err on the side of getting the job

· Write an awesome letter that is tailored to the college, school district, or corporation and the teaching or training position.

• Use the recruiter's name -- find this on the org's website or LinkedIn

• Use the name of the department or position

• Reference the organization’s mission and why it aligns with your goals/values

• Let your professional personality shine -- don't submit a cover letter that sounds as if a robot wrote it

Resume: Should focus on specific knowledge of both online teaching and the subject matter -- show the person reading the resume that you know about accounting or psychology as well the best practices for sharing that knowledge in an online course.

Teaching Philosophy Statement: Some schools ask for this statement so they can learn an applicant's core values about teaching.