Getting to Know Your Online Students

The following is a guest blog post by Beth Knuth. Beth is one of our online eLo Web Design instructors along with being a business teacher (@nvhsbusiness) at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, IL. In this post, Beth shares five tips for teachers to follow in order to get to know your students in a virtual environment.

I started teaching online courses about 8 years ago. It started with a summer Consumer Economics course in which I met with the students once at the beginning of the summer to give them a brief orientation. After this point, I never saw their faces again! It was almost as I was teaching a class of invisible people. I would get emails and submissions now and then, but there was nothing behind the name. I struggled as a teacher not getting to know my class, especially since interacting with students is one of my favorite parts of teaching!

As the years went by, online classes evolved and went from basic dropbox submissions to discussion boards, video chats, and virtual discussions. Students names on my roster turned into pictures of faces (which was great!) and we as online teachers were provided with more ways to communicate with students. Along with this evolution of technology, I found more ways to interact with my class which in turn gave me a renewed interest in teaching online courses.

Here are a few ways that I have gotten to know my students online. This list is not all-encompassing, but highlights a few strategies that I have found helpful! I would love to hear any strategies that other online teachers have used.

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• Instead of diving into the curriculum immediately, do some sort of virtual “ice-breaker” activity to make the students interact with the instructor and fellow students. In my Web Design class this year I had the students make a brief website about themselves using the free and easy to use website weebly.com. Students created 3 pages about themselves incorporating pictures and interactive links to their favorite websites, movies, hobbies, etc. You could do this activity for any course, it just happened to fit in nicely with my curriculum! The important thing here is to make part of the assignment for students to respond to at least two other students in class in which they have something in common. This gets students interacting and finding commonalities. Don’t forget to make a website about yourself as the instructor to post for students - they want to get to know you too! 

• Make it a rule as an instructor to post an announcement at least every other day, if not every day. Students want to know you are out there! In addition to eLo, I also am an adjunct instructor through National Louis University in which I teach an Online Communications course. I will feature “Super Star” students in my announcements and tell their classmates what made their submission so spectacular. I direct students to this star student’s discussion post submission which often spurs more interaction between students. As an added bonus, the featured student feels really special that you recognized their work! 

• Speaking of discussion boards...be active in them! Reply to student posts and relate to what they are saying using specific examples from your own life and experiences. Student discussions become richer in language when they know their teacher is participating, and it is an additional way to connect with students. Sure this may take a little time, but if you can plan discussions around other assignments you won’t feel overwhelmed with grading. 

• Don’t be afraid to send positive individualized emails to students when they are working hard! Often as teachers we are busy reaching out to the students that are struggling, but it is just as important to reach out to the students that are doing well. This builds great rapport between students and teachers. 

• The most obvious part of connecting with students is face-to-face. With technology we are able to do this through video chats and conferences. However, not all of us have the luxury of using this technology on a regular basis. (In my case, with a 3-year-old at home, it is rare to have a serious conversation with any adult let alone with a student!) Instead, don’t be afraid to meet with the student one-on-one in a school setting if needed or if video chats are out of the question. I have traveled during my eLo time to various schools in the Consortium to meet with students that need a little extra encouragement or guidance. Sometimes it’s the extra nudge that really helps a student to succeed! 

Overall, connecting and building relationships with students in an online environment is a bit more challenging, but definitely not impossible. Through a variety of strategies you can get to know your students just as well, if not better, than your face-to-face classes! Please share any other ideas you have used as an online teacher with a response to my post.

Follow Beth K @nvhsbusiness

Expand Empathy

Driving home a few weeks back I came to the corner of Manheim and Roosevelt in the Western Suburbs of Chicago. I was in the right-hand turning lane, one car back and the light was red. While waiting for the light to turn green or the car in front of me to turn right, the man in the car suddenly opened his door and got out.

The man proceeded to walk about ten feet in front of his car. I noticed him bend over to grab something. He walked back to his car and had what appeared to be a giant metal spike in his hand. (The kind that is used for heavy construction work.)

https://flic.kr/p/qGc6h

The man wasn't dressed in construction clothes along with his car displaying an out-of-state plate. Therefore, I assume this man was simply "paying it forward." At first, I was a bit impatient because this man was not turning right but chose to use the right hand turning lane. However, after learning why this man wasn't immediately turning he forced me to reflect.

This man reminded me the critical importance of being cognitive for those around you even if they are complete strangers. That spike very well may have punctured a hole in one of my tires or another car passing by. The empathy of the man to think of others and proactively take action was simply exceptional.

While finishing my drive home, I couldn't help but continue to reflect on this man's actions and connecting them to the state of education. How may we better practice empathy with our students? How may we be more cognitive toward our student needs ensuring we meet them with where he/she are at on his/her academic journey?

One action we may begin taking is providing our students with the instructional approach, which maximizes each student's learning preference.

• Student A might learn best in a traditional face to face environment
• Student B might learn best in a blended instructional environment
• Student C might learn best in an online learning environment
• Student D might not know which learning environment he/she learns best but wants to experience all three

Nonetheless, it is our responsibility to ensure each student has ownership of how they learn. It would have been very easy for the man to remain in his car and not pick-up the spike. It would be very easy for us to teach the same way to students. However, we know each student learns differently and so we teach differently.

Similar to students, perhaps some teachers thrive more in an online environment compared to a face to face environment. We need to be empathetic to the needs of our teachers similar to the needs of our students. Teachers should have opportunities to maximize his/her skill sets in their preferred instructional environment.

Thank-you to the man for reminding me to be cognitive of my surroundings. Thank-you to the man for reminding me to take actions which might not always be easy but will bring value to others.

In closing, the three districts part of the Expanding Learning Opportunities Consortium (eLo) are taking more steps to be empathetic to the needs of their students. Whether authentic project-based learning activities in the classroom, blended learning programs, or virtual learning opportunities through eLo, each district is putting more students in the driver's seat. In addition, by training teachers to learn how to blend instruction, lead an online class, or have more options for the environment they teach, they are in turn raising the level of expectation for students.

There is no time to rest and plenty of more work to do. We must continually reflect and provide our students more opportunities to learn based on their unique DNA. We must be more empathetic like the man making self-less decisions for the good of the cause. We must continually work together to ensure we aren't putting unnecessary layers of obstacles, such as these spikes, in the way of our student learning. We must continue to remove the obstacles and let our students take control over their learning in whichever environment that might be.

For more information about the Expanding Learning Opportunities Consortium (eLo), consider checking out our website. www.eloconsortium.org.

Mission Statements

Background: On August 26, 2014, three Illinois suburban school districts officially launched the Expanding Learning Opportunities Consortium, commonly nicknamed eLo. eLo is comprised of seven high schools and offers nine virtual courses students may enroll. In other words, you may be a student in “District A” and enroll in a virtual course taught by a teacher from “District B.” eLo’s central focus is to provide students additional learning opportunities which are personalized, meaningful, and encompass modern day technological tools. However, student instruction is not being driven by a computer or a teacher from a for-profit organization. Rather, instruction is provided by one of the district’s own highly qualified educators. Therefore, students are receiving modern-day instruction accompanied with rigorous content developed and facilitated by an eLo consortium teacher.

As one may imagine, when you combine seven high schools in a consortium, natural complexities arise.

·         How may we develop processes which systematically work across three districts?

·         How may one effectively communicate with key stakeholders across seven schools?

·         What do we do if a student struggles in his/her online course?

·         What curriculum should we offer?

·         Who should facilitate this curriculum?

These are not easy questions. There are no easy answers.

Pulling out key pieces of each district’s mission statement illustrate the following:

The silos have come down in District #204, 203, and 200. As many school mission statements encompass “ever-changing world, shared responsibility, continuous learning opportunities, quality producers, etc”, the eLo districts are living proof of walking side by side with their mission statements and their students.

The special aspect of the consortium is that each district has one common goal, “to help his/her students become the best person they may be.” By breaking down the silos which commonly exist across educational institutions throughout the country, the consortium may now leverage the collective talents of their passionate teacher-leaders to better serve one another’s students.

Again, as one may imagine, when you combine seven high schools in a consortium, natural complexities will arise. This being said, when all districts share a common "what's best for kids" vision the answers to these complex questions will arrive. In fact, the answers will be so much more authentic because you are gaining the collective perspectives of leading educational professionals from not one, not two, but seven schools.

The vision, leadership, innovation, and determination of Illinois Districts 204, 203, and 200 is remarkable. As more and more post-secondary learning opportunities coupled with employee training move online, the eLo experience will help students better position themselves in our competitive society. So on behalf of the eLo consortium, I applaud these districts for their foresight, courage, and look forward to continuing to provide one another's students with rich learning opportunities. 

It's My Journey!

Guest post by Christina Burken, Technology Specialist for eLo


We keep moving forward opening new doors, 

and doing new things, because we're curious

 and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

-Walt Disney

On my educational journey, I made an important discovery. I LOVE online learning! Who knew? But, when I joined my first online class, I felt like an explorer, who set out on a journey to some unknown land. I was excited to be there, but I had this sinking feeling of being too far from home with no breadcrumbs! You know the feeling, the “what have I done?” feeling, which gives rise to the "what do I do now?" feeling. The first day of class I thought I can’t see anyone in my class. Huh? Whaaa? The teacher wants me to work in groups with people I have never met face-to-face? What about my teacher? What if I have questions for my teacher? How do I find her desk after class?

Guess what? It turns out; the journey was WAY easier than I thought! And it was WAY better than I thought. In the student lounge, my classmates posted about themselves and at my leisure I was able to read about them.  I could really get a sense of them through their interests, their areas of expertise, their families, their funny photos, etc. I think I can safely say that I know more about each of them than I would have learned in the traditional class setting. Through our discussion posts, I learned even more about their styles. 

• John likes to look at the other side of the coin 
• Sylvie likes to tie discussions to her real life experiences
• Joe really likes to stick to the basics.
• Katie is very creative; well you get the point… 

But perhaps my most important realization during my online learning experiences was that learning is MY journey! It is all up to me! I own it.  What do I mean by that? Of course, learning is up to me, but it became crystal clear in the online environment.  I was freed up and empowered by being able to find my syllabus or the latest assignment from anywhere with a smart phone, iPad or computer. The one-stop shop of a learning management system took away my anxiety about remembering where I put my syllabus the first day. Oh yeah, I just remembered! I put it in my red folder because I couldn't find the blue one! No more worries about missing an announcement that the teacher made during class or changes to the assignment because it was right there in my learning management system. And, if I didn’t understand what the teacher was saying in a lecture, I could review the reading materials and then listen to or watch the lecture again and again until it really sunk into my brain.

What about the interaction of a traditional classroom? Not only did I interact with my classmates in group work, but I also could take my time and read through their discussion posts thoroughly.  The great insights and ideas I took from their posts really spurred my creativity and sharpened my critical thinking skills.

And what about questions for the teacher? My teachers knew how important communication was to student success, and I would find I was receiving a personalized response to my questions within a day. Or I could post a question to my class on the class bulletin board for a quick answer from other students. I also gained a sense of community with my fellow students as they posted questions for the class on things not related to the classroom. Does anyone have a home for a puppy? Does anyone know anything about mountain bikes? 

I am so thrilled to join the eLo Team as a Technology Specialist, because I know how great online learning can be! I know that eLo students have a great opportunity to own their learning. And I know, "it's their journey!"  

Would You Pick-Up a Dropped Penny?

As I was loading my groceries into my trunk the other afternoon, I couldn't help but observe a common action many of us are probably guilty of.....

A lady across the crowded parking lot from me had just finished loading her groceries into her car. Based on her facial expressions and pace, she appeared to be in a hurry. As she sat down in her car, a few pennies had fallen out of her left pant pocket. (I literally observed her stop to think for roughly two seconds whether or not she should get out of her car to scoop up the pennies she had dropped). She started to reach for one penny but quickly realized another penny had rolled underneath the car next to her. Therefore, she made a decision to leave the pennies and just drive away.

I suspect we have all been guilty of this at one point or another. After all, if you left a penny a day on the ground of a grocery lot for 365 days, this would only amount to $3.65. However, the act of leaving a few pennies on the ground represents a much larger symbolic presence. This presence is what I would like to address today.

(Taken from www.publicdomainpictures.net)

This August, three Illinois school districts are starting the inaugural launch of the Expanding Learning Opportunities Consortium, commonly nicknamed "eLo". The three Illinois districts are: Indian Prairie District #204, Naperville District #203 and Wheaton Warrenville District #200. 

These districts have joined forces to engage students and ensure their success by providing a meaningful and high-quality online learning experience in a locally supported environment. Together, this group of districts recognizes the substantial benefit for students of approaching online learning as a collective group leveraging the skills of teachers across district lines. This initial launch includes a diverse set of nine course offerings. The courses are being facilitated by ten passionate, innovative, and caring staff members across the eLo Consortium and presented to potential students from a total of seven high schools spanning the Consortium. In addition, as more and more post-secondary learning moves to a virtual space alongside workforce training and tasks, we hope this learning experience better positions our students to be more competitive in our interconnected global world.

So, back to the pennies......

John Wooded was once quoted as saying:

"It's the little things that are vital. Little things 

make big things happen". 

The eLo Consortium is no small endeavor. However, in order to ensure we provide our eLo students an authentic, engaging, and rigorous learning experience, we have to grab every penny off the ground including those pennies that roll in those uncomfortable spots underneath other cars. Every small detail must be accounted for and by accruing one successful detail on top of another a personalized learning experience will be created for our eLo students. 

Each of the students matter. Each of the students counts. All the students may exceed learning expectations if we pay attention to the small details. So as we begin this eLo journey together, my challenge to our staff is to pay attention to the small details each and everyday of your class. The small details on day #1 are the most important: 

• what are my student's names?
• who are they as a person?
• what are their interests and hobbies?
• how may I leverage their personal background with my course content to help them make meaningful connections with our concepts over the next 18 months?

Here is to a great year! I am anxiously excited to start as I know the promise of this year for our students is vast and filled with tremendous opportunity. So next time you drop that penny on the ground, I encourage you to immediately pick it back up. No corners may be cut. No detail related to student growth deserves to be left unattended. Let us share in this journey together picking up all pennies including those dropped by our students and colleagues. 

Please come back and periodically check for other guest blog posts from our eLo staff and eLo students. 

#eLofan