Conveyor belt thinking or standardized goodness? The need for predefined structure, organized curriculum and predefined planning for online delivery far surpasses the onsite classroom.
In a face to face classroom assignments and information are reviewed as a group. Teacher checks for understanding. The student jots down notes on the paper that has just been handed out. Questions, negotiations, clarifications are done within those parameters. It is immediate and often student directed. Spontaneity is required. Last minute supplements common.
Online, everything is in print. It is done ahead of time. The course shell on a learning management system is is like a teacher's file cabinet from the old days. Lesson plans, units, assignments, rubrics, handouts, supplemental materials - they are created and defined before the course starts. They are static and teacher directed until a student interacts with it. Questions and negotiations are delayed in a sense. Email, text, phone calls are an intermediary step to dialogue. More time has to be given to creating interaction and connections with the students. Lasting minutes that create connections and relations with students have to become common.
As such, developing a course for online delivery is a lot of work. Materials need to match between the LMS, synchronous online classes, and student materials. Everything from titles to rubrics to the information and instructions posted on the LMS, to powerpoint slides and recordings, to course outlines and course expectations. All assignments are created and organized ahead of time, with explicit instructions and rubrics attached to them. Powerpoint slides and presentations have to anticipate where students are at, what they will need, and how to engage them in the materials.
Standardization that ensures quality and standards are met may seem a little like conveyor belt thinking. Structure of an LMS course shell for instance, based on sound pedagogy and research makes sense from a student perspective. Allowing for and accommodating the sweet, tart, tangy goodness of instructional input, creativity and personality sounds delicious. The fear in the quest for standardization is that quality comes prepackaged in a course that remains sealed until opened. Then we have to ask, "Where is the flavour in that?"
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