Author Archives: Martha

There are so many ways of getting help to students. We speak of many options in the learning center world: tutoring, embedded tutoring, writing facilitation, supplemental instruction, and academic navigators or coaches. There are probably even more models of instructional support. It can be useful to know how these models address different needs and institutions.Continue reading “Facilitating/Navigating/Tutoring”

Where does education end and information begin? Where does information end and education begin? Studying information science in a department of education has given me pause. We are studying information behaviors, but so much of what I am studying are also tied closely to the educational process. I find it difficult to tease out theContinue reading “Information/Education”

Let’s talk about the messiness of research and writing. It corresponds to art making, but rarely is the messiness as visible. Sure, you might see strewn papers or piles of books, but art messiness is more palpable. The longer I work with art students, the more I am perplexed at their reluctance to engage allContinue reading “Messiness”

We were looking at assessment of online learning today. There are a lot of tools for assessment, but I feel like you pretty much have to use them all to get a good sense of what a course offers. It is hard to disentangle the learning management system from the course content. Does a courseContinue reading “Assessment”

All my reading about online coursework leads to one important aspect: motivation. Without motivation, passing an online class is impossible. No matter how much support is provided, motivation to finish the class lies in the student. No amount of pushing and prodding is going to help the student who just doesn’t want to do theContinue reading “Motivation”

We can put learner support in the way of the student by embedding directly in the LMS those supports as necessary. Embedded tutors and embedded librarians are not uncommon. Less common, but perhaps necessary, are embedded advisors, embedded counselors, and perhaps even financial aid officers. Why is this beneficial? First, the support staff needs toContinue reading “What is embedded support?”

I used to have long conversations with a colleague about our online component at a former school. He insisted that the online education was okay for training but true teaching didn’t happen there. I couldn’t disagree with him given the state of our online courses. The teachers were supposed to be facilitators, but often justContinue reading “Teaching vs Training”

Interaction in discussion boards provides variable engagement in the online classroom. Too many rules tied to the grading rubrics encourage students to limit their interactions to what is required. Not enough structure in the prompt discourages students from responding at all. To facilitate cognitive presence, the discussion prompt and expectations should be very clear. Ideally,Continue reading “Discussing discussion”

The community of inquiry (CoI) may be essential for teaching in a remote situation. How does this relate to the learning theory of the community of practice (CoP)? How do the teacher, social, and cognitive presences translate into the elements of the community of practice: the domain, the community and the practice. I believe theyContinue reading “Community of Inquiry meets Community of Practice”