Online Teaching: Unachievable?

This free book, The Theory and Practice of Online Teaching and Learning: A Guide for Academic Professionals (n.d), is a sixty-page compilation of six different books written by multiple experts in the field of online education. The aim of this book is to provide teachers with some theoretical basis and practical tips to approach this field, which has usually been regarded as challenging by many instructors, and help them “make the most of their online teaching regardless of their level of experience with internet instruction” (Routledge, n.d, p. 4). Nevertheless, few practical guidelines are provided for a prospective online teacher to undertake such a demanding task.

Teaching Online- The Basics describes the differences between teaching onsite and online, warning the future online course instructor that his success in the field will depend on his adaptation to the online written world and its tools.  Orientation to Online Teaching and Learning illustrates how time management is different in the online teaching scenario. Synchronous and Asynchronous learning are defined, and the benefits which the latter may provide are highlighted. E-tivities for Active Online Learning introduces the reader to the concept of e-tivities, explaining how these collaborative activities may benefit both moderators and students. After all, scarcely does this chapter provide teachers with directions on how to design this type of activities and implement them in actual practice.

The Varied Terrain of Online Learning depicts the four dimensions at play in online learning (context, design, implementation and outcomes), and how their interaction may shape the total experience in the teaching and learning scenarios. Reusing Open Resources for Learning describes how the use of the different open resources available can have beneficial outcomes. “By including open resources in educational experiences, opportunities for learning increase dramatically” (Routledge, n.d, p. 5). However, how to find and include these open resources in actual practice is not specified.

 In the final chapter, Teaching as a Design Science, teaching is compared to engineering since it has the capacity to introduce improvements into the world. It is then necessary for teachers to “master the use of digital technologies, to harness their power, and put them to the proper service of education” (Laurillard, 2012, as cited in Routledge, n.d, p.58).  Teachers have to take an active position and use technology to favour their practices. Nevertheless, uncertainty and confusion may result from novice teachers’ lack of knowledge as regards how to implement these digital technologies in their practice.

Teaching means involving yourself in the never-ending process of learning.  Teachers who want to venture in the world of online teaching may find in this book an extensive description of what the online teaching field may offer to them and their students. Because of its technical portrayal, educators may feel they are incapable of successfully approaching the field of online teaching. This book would have been more enriching and useful for amateur teachers if it had provided them with more practical tips, and by doing so, it would have been able to fulfil the aim stated at the introduction of the book.

Reference

Routledge. (n.d.). The theory and practice of online teaching and learning: A guide for academic professionals. Routledge. Retrieved from https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/tandfbis/rt-files/docs/FreeBooks+Opened+Up/Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_FB_final.pdf

 

A Medley of Sources

Routledge. (n.d.). The theory and practice of online teaching and learning: A guide for academic professionals. Routledge. Retrieved from https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/tandfbis/rt-files/docs/FreeBooks+Opened+Up/Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_FB_final.pdf

This book is a sixty-page compilation of six different books written by multiple experts in the online teaching field.  Throughout the book, different topics are developed. In the first three chapters, the differences between onsite and online teaching are provided; the main characteristics as well as the benefits of online tuition are highlighted, and the concept e-tivity is introduced. The other half of the book deals with the different dimensions and variables present in online learning. Then, the varieties of online resources available are presented and teaching is defined as a design science. This book may provide an interesting insight of the main concepts related to the online teaching field. However, its briefness and multiple sources of information may result in a fragmented approach to its definition and description, with a superficial treatment of its main topics and a lack of practical suggestions for teachers to follow.

 

To Start from Scratch: Online Teaching

Outline of the book: Routledge. (n.d.). The theory and practice of online teaching and learning: A guide for academic professionals. Routledge. Retrieved from https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/tandfbis/rt-files/docs/FreeBooks+Opened+Up/Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_FB_final.pdf

·         Purpose:  To provide an overview of the main concepts related to online teaching and learning.

·         Thesis statement: The online teaching scenario is made up of different tools, resources and procedures to which teachers will need to adapt if they want to succeed in it.

·         Audience: prospective online teachers, online tutors, educators.

             1. Introduction

                  1.1 Table of contents

                  1.2 Overview

      2. Chapter 1: The basics of online teaching

      2.1 Teaching in outline contexts

      2.2 Teaching in online contexts

             2.2.1 Communication changes

             2.2.2 Roles in instruction

             2.2.3 Characteristics of tasks

             2.2.4 Support and training

             2.2.5 Tools needed

     3. Chapter 2: Orientation to online teaching and learning

  3.1 Characteristics of teaching online

             3.1.1 Types of learners

             3.1.2 Time

                      3.1.2.1 Flexibility

                      3.1.2.2 Management

                      3.1.2.3 Deadlines as guidelines

4. Chapter 3: E-tivities

 4.1 Definition

     4.2 Addressees

     4.3 Description

     4.4 Purposes

     4.5 Requirements

     4.6 Roles of the participants

5. Chapter 4: Dimensions of online learning

    5.1 Context

    5.2 Design

    5.3 Implementation

    5.4 Outcomes

6. Chapter 5: Resources for learning

                  6.1 Levels of openness in resources

                  6.2 Reuse of open resources for learning

7. Chapter 6: Beliefs in teaching

7.1 Teaching as an art

7.2 Teaching as a science

7.3 Teaching as a design science

 

The Importance of Citing Properly

 

When writing academically, it is of utmost importance to follow a style for documenting sources. Research papers in Social Sciences, like Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology, as well as Education and other fields, follow the American Psychological Association’s (APA, 2002) style.  The purpose of this paper is to analyse the in-text citations and reference page of the article Beyond Reflection: Teacher Learning as Praxis (Hoffman-Kipp, Artiles & Lopez-Torres, 2003), on the basis of what APA states.

While the norms establish that citing all authors the first time the reference occurs is essential, in the article this is not followed. For instance, in the  following in-text citation, which refers to a source of multiple authors who have not been mentioned before, only the first surname is included and the subsequent surnames are omitted when they should have been mentioned "(Crawford et al., 1994, p. 174)" (Hoffman-Kipp et al., 2003, p.248).

Proper direct quotes should be done copying exactly what has been written in the original version, including the author’s last name, year of publication and page number; however, in the article this is not always fulfilled. There is an inconsistency in the use of direct quotations since they are either used without including a page number as in '… in the mind of the individual but is “distribut-ed” through sign systems' (Hoffman-Kipp et al., 2003, p.250); or providing the page number and forgetting the quotation marks like in the following example “…issues of social and political curriculum transforma-tion are generally avoided, misinterpreted, or resisted (Vavrus & Ozcan, 1996, p. 3)” (Hoffman-Kipp et al., 2003, p.250), impeding the readers to see what the actual words of the author are.

 According to the American Psychological Association (2002), reference list entries have to follow an alphabetical order, be double spaced and each reference cited in the text must appear in the reference list. At the same time, each entry in the reference list must be cited in the body of the paper.   By doing this, readers can easily identify the sources of information at the end of the article. This article partially meets the aforementioned requirements. Whereas alphabetical order is respected, some authors cited in the body are omitted in the reference list. Such is the case of “Houghton Miffling Company (2000) and Engestrom, et al., (1999).” (Hoffman-Kipp et al., 2003, p.253).

It can be concluded that writing academic papers requires writers to follow certain conventions as regards style, register and genre. By scrutinizing the article under the light of the theory, it reveals that its authors have not fully taken into account the academic writing requirements. The paper written by  Hoffman-Kipp et al., (2003) would have been more convincing in an academic discourse community if they had followed the conventions required for it, presenting their information in an accurate way as regards APA style.

References:

American Psychological Association. (2002). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association.  6th Edition. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Hoffman-Kipp, P., Artiles, A. J., & López-Torres, L. (2003). Beyond reflection: teacher learning as praxis. Theory into Practice, 42 (3), 248-254. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/1493661/Hoffman_Kipp_P_Artiles_A_J_and_L%C3%B3pez_Torres_L_2003_Beyond_reflection_Teacher_learning_as_praxis_Theory_into_Practice_42_3_248_254