Both the Guarinto & Morley (2001) and Reeves, Herrington, & Oliver (2002) articles discussed authenticity; however they came from very different perspectives. Guarinto & Morley address authenticity in terms of texts and tasks used in EFL classrooms, while Reeves, Herrington, & Oliver discussed it terms of web-based learning. While both articles were coming from distinct angles, they shared the common theme of engaging students in real-world activities that facilitated language learning. I chose to focus on the Reeves, Herrington, & Oliver article since I do not have ANY experience with EFL.
Reeves, Herrington, & Oliver (2002) begin the article by explaining how “there is increasing interest among higher education faculty in authentic activities as a basis for learning in web-based courses” (p. 1). While I was not necessarily surprised by this statement, I was curious as to how this task could be successfully accomplished. All of the online classes I have experienced have been similar to the format of L530 (readings accompanied with forum discussions and independent assignments). According to the authors, authenticity via web-based learning is created by combining constructivism and problem-based learning with online role-playing.
To describe what authentic activities look like, Reeves, Herrington, & Oliver (2002) compiled a list of ten characteristics, such as “authentic activities have real world evidence, …comprise complex tasks to be investigated by students over a sustained period of time, …provide the opportunity to collaborate” to name a few (p. 2-3). The researchers analyzed two web-based courses in order to “investigate the characteristics, implementation, and effectiveness of authentic activity as an alternative model for web-based learning in higher education” (p. 2). Overall, positive results were seen of the investigation of these two courses; however the authors acknowledged that these were just preliminary findings that may change after the investigation of eight additional courses. Some of the challenges that emerged were creating activities that were real-world and engaging at the same time, length of time necessary to complete the tasks, lack of models of previous courses, funding, university support, and course design.
The idea of a constructivist/PBL model of online courses sounds interesting, but very complex, expensive, and tricky to create. I think I would enjoy a class with this format, although I am having difficulty visualizing how it would work logistically as far as student interaction. In previous online classes I have completed a couple of group activities that were not very successful just because of the nature of the online environment. There was unequal participation in the group and it was challenging to communicate efficiently via email and chat. However, the screenshots of the courses examined by Reeves, Herrington, & Oliver (2002) seem extremely detailed and pretty self-explanatory.
Does anyone know of or had experience with any online courses in this format?
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In my very first term at IU, I had a FABULOUS teacher who preached constructivism. Now, I am a fully online student, so this was an online class. This teacher created brilliant activities for us and none of my teachers have quite reached this level of constructivism since then. I think that it's because it must have taken her months to prepare for the class.
ReplyDeleteHere are some of the things she had us doing in the class:
- Get in pairs and explore an issue together either through chat or email and compiled an essay based on our discussions
- Fully student driven discussion forums (from creating the discussion questions to summarizing the discussion at the week's end)
- Creating a Wiki for the course that presented all of the pedagogies we learned about throughout the session
Oh, I can't remember it all. I did feel the entire time as if I was constructing my own knowledge and I really had to work hard in that class - but I didn't mind because I truly felt like I was learning.
This is the thing ... yes, it took her a long time to create the course, but once the course began, she didn't have to do very much. She sat back and watched us learn - and proudly too (because she praised us often!). So it's more work at the front end, but less during the lesson.
I have always felt that this is the best way to teach. If you put lots of effort into creating the lessons, you won't have to do much once you are in the classroom.
Thanks for sharing Tara! It sounds like that was a wonderful class!
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the Reeves, Herrington, & Oliver article, I asked myself if it is really necessary to try to recreate a physical environment for an online class like they did in the screenshots. Sure the idea of a virtual office looks nice but doesn't it require a lot of time to produce? A teacher only has so much time and energy and in my opinion, the teacher should spend most of it on the course material instead of making everything appear like it is in real life.
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