Online+Idea+Book

The Online Learning Idea Book
Shank, P. (2007), //The Online Learning Idea Book//. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.


 * __Chapter 1 - Ideas for Supporting Learners and Learning__**

Institutions spend a great deal of time and money putting online learning tools in place but sometimes many bells and whistles are put into place without thought of supporting the learner. "It is critical for designers, instructors, and organizations to consider how learners will know what is expected of them, become prepared, stay on task, and gain support when they need it" (Shank, 2007).

Some of the more notable ideas in the section are:


 * Learning Agreements** - this agreement allows instructors and student to create a contract on such things as delivery methods, assessments and pacing.


 * Study Schedules** - schedules posted to provide students with specific tasks and requirements in atimeline so they can be certain they are not falling behind or missing assignments.


 * E-Portfolios** - a place where learners and instructors can monitor achievement and outcomes and provide evidence they are meeting goals.


 * Personal Wishes** - media-based pwrsonal greetings for learners that include personalized bithday wishes or holiday greetings. This is a great way to for the type of personal connections in a face-to-face classroom to take place online.


 * Contingency Plans** - it is important to have a backup plan in case the technology fails or situations such as improper content in a discussion board. There are many ways to handle this including providing backup materials or instruction in the syllabus or having a pre-planned "emergency" folder or e-mail.


 * __Chapter 2 - Ideas for Making Collaboration Work__**

Collaboration and social interraction is an important part of a successful online course, "online learning environments would be far more effective and meaning ful if social interaction elements were more fully integrated" (Shank, 2007).

Some of the more notable areas in the section are:


 * Group Formation** - creating groups on the basis of common interests is much more effective than forming groups by self selection.


 * Team Agreements** - outlines how team members will work together and documents assumptions and goals.


 * Rules of Engagement Agreements** - a great solution to problems with team communication and equal obligation sharing. The agreement defines items such as the purpose of the team, goals vs. requirements, leadership, indepedent vs. collaborative work, weekly communication, workload, review & feedback, and evaluation.

__**Chapter 3 - Ideas for Making Discussions Work**__

Discussions can be considered the heart of online learning, however, "learners report numerous problems with discussion forums, including information overload from having to dig through large amounts of postings, and the large percentage of posting content that is off topic or irrelevant" (Shank, 2007).

Some of the more notable areas in the section are:


 * Discussion Message Protocols** - can be used to force users to write clear and relevant messages that encourage learner participation and collaboration and reduce frustration.


 * Karma Points for Contributions** - allow learners to evaluate the quality of discussions instead of the moderator and determine what information postings were most useful.


 * __Chapter 4 - Ideas for Self-Directed and Asynchronous Activities__**

Some of the more notable areas in the section are:


 * Tell Me Why** - anticipates learner concerns and provide quick, short helpful hints by use of simple rollovers or other features.


 * Digital Stories** - using digital media to increase personal connections between learners.


 * MiniQuests** - promotes inquiry and information literacy by tasking learners to find factual information and use critical thinking or problem solving skills to produce a product.


 * __Chapter 5 - Ideas for Synchronous Activities__**

There are some great tools for synchronous learning environments, however, "some facilitators or instructors merely move their lectures online, which is almost guaranteed to be a virtual snnozefest" (Shank, 2007).

Some of the more notable areas in the section are:


 * Gordon Mackenzie-Style Lectures** - give learners the task of choosing the order in which tasks are presented, they give the learners interaction which makes this a great tool if materials does not need to linear in nature.


 * Chat Moderators** - having an assistant to read and respond to chats can free up the instructor to respond to only the most pressing chat.


 * Daring Feats** - an activity that prompts learners to relate daring feats to what they have learned, it shows learners how things that seem difficult can be accomplished.


 * Lighten Up** - helps learners to get involved and feel comfortable during a synchronous session but having them answer questions such as "What is your favorite ice cream..." or "My favoritr pizza topping is..."


 * __Chapter 6 - Ideas for Self-Check Activities and Assessments__**

Some of the more notable areas in the section are:


 * __Review Puzzles and Games__** - having learners use games and puzzles to review thier understanding of concepts, it gives gives learners a fun way to review content.


 * Millionaire Game** - a review based on the "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" game show on television that allows learners to practice their knowledge in an engagaing way.


 * Flash Cards** - help learners review items like terms, dates or events ina fun and simple way.


 * Fact-or-Fiction Self-Check** - a FLASH-based multiple-choice or true-or-false game that is self-paced for the learner and provides a that checks knowledge of basic concepts.

Sometimes learners and instructors are frustrated when good design is not considered or development tools are not used properly. It is true that "In the long run, it is extremely worthwhile to spand time and effort building (and updating as needed) good processes with stakeholders and gaining consensus on how these process will be used" (Shank, 2007).
 * __Chapter 7 - Ideas for the Design and Development Process__**

Some of the more notable ideas in this section are: **Process Flowcharts** - flowcharts display a standardized format for developing online courses that can be of use to instructors, subject matter experts, and course designers. The key here is to share the a draft before the course is designed so all stakeholders can have input.


 * Personalized Learning Models** - enhances learning outcomes by helping the designer ensure the design adheres to current learning research and their values for teaching. Researcher Margaret Martinez indicates that emotions aid in improving learning and that "too often designers encourage passivity by building memorization activities, rule-based learning, and one-size-fits-all and sage-on-the-stage instruction" (Shank, 2007).

Recent studies have shown the impact of emotions on learning, memory and performance, (Zull, 2002) describes: cortex of the brain and tries to connect what is known and of personal value with new meanings and patterns. (working memory) to create and test new ideas and solve problems.
 * Step 1: Concrete Experience**. The learner receives input from the external world through his or her senses.
 * Step 2: Reflective Observation**. The learner experiences and processes the sensory input in the temporal (back) integrative
 * Step 3: Abstract Hypothesis**. The learner tries to integrate or synergize new meanings in the frontal integrative cortex
 * Step 4: Active Testing**. The learner executes the new ideas to perform and evaluate new actions (active learning) and acquires new knowledge and ability.

Zull, J. E. (2002). //The art of changing the brain: Enriching teaching exploring the biology of learning//. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.


 * Fast E-Learning Templates** - using FlashPaper to create e-learning content templates for concept navigation (home, main menu, section introduction, section content, etc.). These can be made in PowerPoint and converted to a Flash object.


 * Content Templates** - can be used to quickly and easily relay information to course designers of exactly what and how you want developed.


 * __Chapter 8 - Ideas for Navigation and Usability__**

Online courses need to be easy to use to be effective, be well organized and have a look and feel that makes the site interesting for learners. We must keep in mind that "when people are learning online, they are there primarily to learn, not to be dazzled(which for learners is often spelled f-r-u-s-t-r-a-t-i-o-n)" (Shank, 2007). While instructors and course designers want to use many exciting tools and delivery methods they must consider the information/technical competancy of the students as well as socioeconomic and digital divide issues. Flashy content and tools may be wonderful, but if students do not have the expertise or resources to use them they are counterproductive.

Some of the more notable ideas from this section are:


 * Concept Maps and Casual Loops for Navigation** - visual representations help learners to see how things relate to each other and are a great way to navigate through complex content. Concept maps are nodes conected by lines indicating relationships, casual loops are diagrams that show how variables are interconnected in dynamic ways.


 * Collapsible and Moveable Text Layers** - are great ways to deisplay information or hints when screen real estate is at a premium. This method allows the displaying of information without taking up much space and adds a dynamic, interactive layer to the learning space.


 * Automated References** - automatically adds the date retrieved and URL to references. This makes using references easier and more accurate for learners and instructors.


 * Here's What's New** - helps learners find new and relevant content easily by using simple methods such as a "new" graphic. This concept must be dynamic in nature in that times and dates are used so the new reference would expire.


 * __Chapter 9 - Ideas for Creative Design__**

Courses are designed by individuals with varying backgrounds, some by instructional designers with many creative talents. Thinking outside teh box can lead to a great course design, "many designers (like other people in other jobs) have a more-or-less typical way of designing instruction and too often their instructional materials begin to have a cookie cutter look and feel. Great for cookies, bad for instruction" (Shank, 2007).

Some of the more notable ideas from this section are:


 * Funny Stats** - embed difficult or intimidating concepts into an entertaining storyline.


 * Metaphors to Aid Learning** - can improve motivation and be fun by helping learners see how unfamiliar or confusing content is similar to something they already know.


 * Stories to Understand the Big Picture** - help learners see a big picture in a meaningful way through use of key terms, concepts, rules, procedures and roles.


 * Outrageous Nonexamples** - help learners recognize what **//__not__//** to do while adding humor and impact to the course.


 * Virtual Campus** - primarily used to help new students is starting a course by using graphical and interactive elements to provide support in understanding the navigation of a course.


 * __Chapter 10 - Ideas for Creative Media__**

Media can easily create a great looking and effective course, "although media can be used for the wrong reasons (gratuitous clip art or eye-candy animations, for example) and can actually detract from learning, media can also be instrumental for learning" (Shank, 2007).

Some of the more notable ideas from this section are:


 * Show Me** - graphics help people to communicate regardless of reading or language barriers and can be used effectively to get a point accross to a diverse student population.


 * Interactive History** - uses a multidimensional timeline that can present a great deal of information in a condensed and easy to understand way.


 * Interactive Physics** - use graphics to represent structures more clearly than plain text. Simple things like font sizes can be used to show changes in size or scale.


 * DNA Sliding Clamp** - by stitching together images it permits 3D visualization while keeping file size small and images viewable while giving learners an understanding of structural elements.


 * Build Your Own Instructional Game** - allows the creation of interactive elements such as game-based learning by designers who have little programming experience by XML documents that populate content.