Syllabus | edu1234

Instructor Information

Dr. Joseph Vancell

Virtual office hours: Monday and Friday 2.00 – 4.00 pm GMT.

Course Description

In Europe and North America, many full-time workers are resorting to online learning for their professional and/or personal development. This trend is also developing in the Maltese islands and, in recent years, the demand for local-specific adult higher and vocational education, through online learning, has increased. Higher education institutions, vocational colleges and the human resource departments of various medium-sized and large corporations must satisfy this demand. They require educators who are knowledgeable and skillful in both adult and online education theories and practices. This course is intended to introduce participants to the key theoretical and practical issues in the online education of adults.

Target audience

Online instructional designers, corporate trainers, prospective e-moderators and adult educators.

Learning Outcomes

Through this introductory course about online education for adults, graduates will be able to identify and utilize effective methods and techniques to plan, conduct and evaluate online adult education programs in the Maltese context. They will also be able to promote lifelong learning through the integration of knowledge of adult and online learning theory, issues, concepts and ideas into their prospective online courses.

Upon completing this course, the students will be able to:

Demonstrate a critical understanding of the behaviorist, cognitive and constructivist theoretical models of learning;
Identify the unique characteristics of online teaching and learning;
Identify the unique characteristics and needs of the adult learner, and use these characteristics in the development of learning programs;
Explain the roles of (i) the e-tutor and (ii) online adult learners;
Identify Internet resources (including Learning Management Systems, blogs and wikis) that can allow the creation and development of dialogue between the students and their tutor, and between the students themselves, during collaborative activities;
Utilize different Internet resources as educational tools; and
Demonstrate a critical understanding of the importance of learning online through dialogue.

Requirements for admission

Applicants for the course must have

a good working knowledge of English (a pass, or better, in Ordinary Level English or equivalent).
a pass, or better, in the European Computer Driving Licence Certificate (ECDL). For further information please visit http://www.ecdl.com.mt/newecdl.html.

Course Structure

This course will be delivered entirely online through Moodle, the University of Malta (UOM) Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You will use your UOM username and password to login to Moodle course available at (to be announced later).

In Moodle, you will access online lessons, course materials, and resources. You will participate in a blend of self-paced and group-paced activities using Moodle and alternative Internet-based technologies. Activities will consist of chat, blogs, asynchronous discussion forums, e-mail, journaling, blogging, wikis, and web posting.

Course Participation

This course is composed of 5 separate modules that are, however, not of equal duration. In the first module (week 2) students will be expected to understand three theories of learning. The readings and collaborative activities associated with this module are designed to facilitate this. The final module (weeks 9 and 10) will provide an opportunity for the students to revisit their online learning experience, incorporating the knowledge acquired from this course. The intervening modules will cover different aspects of online and adult learning, and as each topic is covered, students will revisit their pedagogical beliefs, from both their experiences as teachers/trainers, and as learners in this program. More specifically, starting in the second module, students will be expected to develop a critical understanding of adult learning theories and practice, the unique affordances of online education, the roles of teacher and learners in the online medium, Internet tools that can be used for online teaching and learning, and the role of dialogue in learning. In addition, for each of the major topics, experiential questions will be posed for students to respond to, through individual and/or collective tasks, with the goal of developing a deeper understanding of the material presented.

Participation is essential to your success in this course. In distance education courses you are required to participate just as if you were in a face-to-face course. Participation points are earned by actively engaging and contributing positively to the community learning environment shared by all students. Active and positive contributions in learning tasks consists of accessing the course materials with sufficient time to complete the readings, assessments, and/or assignments prior to the deadlines, asking thoughtful and probing questions in the discussion forums, and generally positive contributions to the learning environment.

Course Communication

Announcements

Announcements will be posted in Moodle on a regular basis. They will appear on your Moodle dashboard when you log in and/or will be sent to you directly through your preferred method of notification from Moodle. Please check your messages regularly, as they will contain important information about upcoming projects or class concerns.

E-mail

Please use e-mail to send messages to the facilitator through joseph.vancell@um.edu.mt with questions or information that you wish not share with the others.

Cyber Café

This is a virtual space in the Moodle course for informal chatting.

Netiquette

When posting on the discussion forums and the Cyber Café it is important to understand how to interact with one another online, netiquette. You can read more about the rules of netiquette at http://www.albion.com/netiquette/index.html.

The Questions Forum

In online courses it is normal to have many questions about things that relate to the course, such as clarification about assignments, course materials, or assessments. Please post these in the QUESTIONS FORUM.

Discussion Forums

Forums are a way for you to engage with each other about the course content.

Virtual Office Hours

I will be available for virtual office hours on Monday and Friday 2.00 – 4.00 pm GMT. I will use Skype or Google Chat for these synchronous meetings. Kindly send an e-mail to schedule a meeting.

Blogs and Wikis

In this course you will also be utilizing and contributing to the creation and construction of blogs and wikis. Instructions and help will be provided through the course.

Schedule and learning activities

ORIENTATION PHASE - WEEK 1

Information (from educator) - Including course information, ground rules, netiquette, syllabus and learning outcomes.
Main learner objectives - (i) integrating well into the learning community, (ii) using efficiently Moodle, and (iii) participating in a forum.
Main activities - using the virtual learning environment, posting the first contribution and participating in the first asynchronous discussion.

MODULE 1 - WEEK 2

Theories of learning - an introduction

Information (from educator) - (i) a video presentation about the three main theories of learning, and (ii) module structure (including calendar, information about activities and the assessment rubric)
Resources - papers, websites and blogs available online (identified by the educator)
Main learner objectives - the student will be able to identify the main concepts in learning theories and relate them to his/her own teaching and learning preferences/styles;
Main activities - (i) production of 300-word reflection based on the readings identified by the e-moderator, and the student’s own teaching and learning experiences; and (ii) participation in an asynchronous discussion.

MODULE 2 – WEEK 3

The online teaching and learning dimension – its unique characteristics

Information (from educator) - (i) a video from YouTube, and (ii) module structure (including calendar, information about activities and the assessment rubric)
Resources - papers, websites and blogs available online (identified by the educator)
Main learner objectives - Identify and explore the unique opportunities and challenges of online teaching and learning.
Main activities - (i) developing a PowerPoint presentation about the pedagogic differences between online and traditional face-to-face teaching and learning, and the unique roles of the online educator and learners and participate; and (ii) participation in an asynchronous discussion.

MODULE 3 - WEEK 4

Adult Learning. Is it different from schooling?

Information (from educator) - (i) 2 video presentations - one about blogs, the other about the main theories of adult learning and (ii) module structure (including calendar, information about activities and the assessment rubric)
Resources - videos, papers, websites, blogs and wikis available online (identified by the educator)
Main learner objectives - Describe the major theories in adult education; the basic principles of teaching/educating adults and how these can be applied to online education.
Main activities - (i) developing a simple personal blog and posting a blog post about the basic principles of teaching/educating adults; (ii) creating and posting in a blog and (iii) participation in an asynchronous discussion.

MODULE 4 – WEEK 5

The unique roles of the educator and learners in online efforts

Information (from educator) - (i) a video presentation about the unique roles of the educator and learners in online efforts, and (ii) module structure (including calendar, information about activities and the assessment rubric).
Main learner objectives - (i) Identify the pedagogic differences between online and traditional face-to-face teaching and learning; (ii) identify the unique roles of the online educator; (iii) identify the unique roles of the online learner; and (iii) posting in a blog (created in Module 3).
Main activities - posting in a blog and evaluating the contributions of other learners.

MODULE 5 - WEEKS 6, 7 and 8

Online resources as tools for adult learning

Information (from educator) - (i) a video presentation about online tools and resources, and (ii) a video presentation about successful participation in a wik, and (iii) imodule structure (including calendar, information about activities and the assessment rubric)
Resources - papers, websites, blogs and wikis available online (identified by the educator)
Main learner objectives - (i) Identify the Internet resources that can be used as educational tools; (ii) identify the advantages and disadvantages of social networking tools, including blogs and wikis, and (iii) participate in a wiki;
Main activities - contribute to the development of a wiki.

MODULE 6 - WEEKS 9 and 10

The importance of dialogue in adult online education

Information (from educator) - (i) a video presentation about dialogue in adult education, and (ii) module structure (including calendar, information about activities and the assessment rubric)
Resources - papers, websites and blogs available online (identified by the educator)
Main learner objectives - (i) identify the benefits and challenges of dialogue in an adult online learning programme relying on his/her own experience as an adult learner in this course, and the knowledge, skills and experience gathered in previous sessions; and (ii) identify the potential use of dialogue in new online learning activities.
Main activities - (i) produce a presentation about the importance of dialogue and its challenges; (ii) contribute to the wiki created in Module 5.

Course Policies

Special Needs

This course meets all accessibility standards. Please let me know if you have adaptive software and hardware to assist you with taking this course or if you have any specific needs I should be aware of.

Build Rapport

If you find that you have any trouble keeping up with assignments or other aspects of the course, make sure you let your instructor know as early as possible. As you will find, building rapport and effective relationships are key to becoming an effective professional. Make sure that you are proactive in informing your instructor when difficulties arise during the semester so that we can help you find a solution.

Complete Assignments

All assignments for this course will be submitted electronically through Moodle unless otherwise instructed. Assignments must be submitted by the given deadline or special permission must be requested from instructor before the due date. Extensions will not be given beyond the next assignment except under extreme circumstances.

All discussion assignments must be completed by the assignment due date and time. Late or missing discussion assignments will effect the student’s grade.

Academic honesty

The University of Malta is committed to ensuring that awards made to students are based on work that they have done themselves. Therefore, it takes cases of plagiarism, collusion, and other acts of academic fraud and dishonesty very seriously, and a disciplinary procedure is in place whereby such acts are punishable by reduction or cancellation of marks and may lead to expulsion from the University or the revocation of a degree already awarded.

Grading

Each Module will be assessed as indicated on the Grading page.

Final grades assigned for this course will be based on the percentage of total points earned and are assigned according to the grading system of the University of Malta.