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Journal of Adventist Education
Distance Education Column - February/March 2004
A Peer-Reviewed Article
Sponsored by AVLNWebagogy in Online Courses, Part II
By Marilyn Eggers, Shirley Freed, and Larry Burton
IntroductionIn online teaching, good pedagogy—Webagogy—is important to ensure successful learning experiences for students.
In the last issue of the Journal of Adventist Education (December /January 2004), we explored three of the 1998 honorable mentions in the Paul Allen Virtual Education Foundation’s Outstanding Online Course Award Competition. In this concluding article, we will examine the last three courses: two more honorable mentions plus the award-winning course. One was developed by an international team; the students came from many countries around the world and worked in small study groups, each with an instructor. Another course modeled its theme of integrating the disciplines by actually doing so and was based on simulation problem scenarios. The award-winning course was designed to help students succeed in real-world tasks and supported them with virtual devices such as student lockers. Each course had many unique and worthy features.
All of the courses, however, were solidly based on interactions between the students and the instructor and between the students. Learning communities were a core element in each of the courses. Dr. Brad Cox, leading member of the team that created the winning course, stated:
Although the innovations are usually perceived as technological, the actual innovations are technology-enabled pedagogical approaches such as experiential learning in collaborative learning communities. Technology is only the enabler, and no single technology is sufficient on its own. Diverse technologies can be deployed in combination to achieve more than any one can do on its own (Eggers, 1999, p. 210).Cox was speaking of his course, but his comments could appropriately refer to all of the prize-winning courses in the study. Technology was an enabler, but pedagogy—Webagogy—was the true key to success in all the courses.
Now read about the final three courses to see how the authors/instructors paid attention to online course pedagogy:
NOTES AND REFERENCES
Cox, B. (1998a, March 27, 1998). Plan for a New University [On-line]. Retrieved February 9, 1999, from the World Wide Web: http://virtualschool.edu/heu/index.html.
Cox, B. (1998b, May 7, 1998). “Coordination Technology in Higher Education” [On-line]: VirtualEducation. Retrieved September 28, 1998, from the World Wide Web: http://www.virtualschool.edu/nsf/CTinHigherEd.html.
Eggers, Marilyn R. (1999). Web-Based Courses in Higher Education: Creating Active Learning Environments. Ph.D. dissertation, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan. Available from UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Moore, M. G., and G. Kearsley (1996). Distance Education: A Systems View. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Palloff, R. M., and K. Pratt (2001). Lessons From the Cyberspace Classroom: The Realities of Online Teaching. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass.
Paul Allen Virtual Education Foundation (1998). The Virtual Education Foundation: Online Course Award Winners [On-line]. Paul Allen Virtual Education Foundation. Retrieved October 2, 1998, from the World Wide Web: http://www.paulallen.com/foundations/education/virtual_awards.asp.
Potter, D. J. (1998). Evaluation Methods Used in Web-Based Instruction and the Online Course, "Taming the Electronic Frontier" [On-line]. Retrieved September 21, 1998, from the World Wide Web: http://mason.gmu.edu/~dpotter1/1djp_611.html.
Spiro, R. J., P. J. Feltovich, M. J. Jacobson, and R. L.Coulson (1992a). “Cognitive Flexibility, Constructivism, and Hypertext: Random Access Instruction for Advanced Knowledge Acquisition in Ill-Structured Domains. In T. M. Duffy and D. H. Jonassen (eds.), Constructivism and the Technology of Instruction: A Conversation. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Spiro, R. J., P. J. Feltovich, M. J. Jacobson, and R. I. Coulson (1992b). “Knowledge Representation, Content Specification, and the Development of Skill in Situation-Specific Knowledge Assembly: Some Constructivist Issues as They Relate to Cognitive Flexibility Theory and Hypertext.” In T. M. Duffy and D. H. Jonassen (eds.), Constructivism and the Technology of Instruction: A Conversation. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Spiro, R. J. and J. Jehng (1990). “Cognitive Flexibility and Hypertext: Theory and Technology for the Non-Linear and Multidimensional Traversal of Complex Subject Matter.” In D. Nix and R. Spiro (eds.), Cognition, Education, and Multimedia. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.
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Marilyn R. Eggers is Secretary of AVLN and is Associate Professor in the Curriculum & Instruction Department at La Sierra University. She develops and teaches online courses, promotes the effective integration of technology into teaching and learning, and encourages collaboration in all areas of education. You can reach her by E-mail at: meggers@lasierra.eduShirley A. Freed is President of AVLN and has been actively involved in the organization since its inception in 1999. She is also Professor of Leadership and Qualitative Research in the School of Education at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, where she teaches all of her classes online. You can contact her by E-mail at freed@andrews.edu
Larry D. Burton is Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, and Director of the Curriculum and Instruction for graduate programs at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. His research interests include technology-curriculum integration, faith-learning integration, and evaluation of educational programs. For personal interaction, he may be reached by E-mail at burton@andrews.edu
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