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Canadian Initiative for Distance Education Research - CIDER
| COHERE-CIDER Session Series Our most recent session October 21, 2020 A Protocol for Developmental Observation of Online Teaching Flora Mahdavi Bow Valley College, Calgary AB This session provides a summary of the findings of a doctoral research on designing a protocol for developmental observation of online asynchronous teaching. This research has delved into providing pedagogical support to online instructors so that they can get better at online teaching regardless of their level of experience and knowledge in this field. Educational developers can use the protocol as a guide to observe a specific area of teaching in a relatively short time frame. Observations lead to incremental development plans for instructors. The protocol includes definition and description of observable teaching practices in asynchronous environments based on the three elements of a Community of Inquiry (CoI): Social, Cognitive, and Teaching Presences (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000). The six key elements of this evidence-based protocol will be presented, as well as the critical roles of educational developers, online instructors and the higher education institution in rendering the observations developmental. Flora Mahdavi has been an educational developer at Bow Valley College in Calgary, AB, since 2012. Prior to that, she has worked in the field of information technology in educational institutions in Canada and the UK. She holds a Master of Education in Educational Technology, and has recently completed her Doctoral research on Designing a Protocol for Developmental Observation of Online Teaching (DOOT). In promoting use of technology in education to reduce complexity and enable innovative teaching strategies, her main focus has always been on the critical role of educators and their need for training and ongoing pedagogical support. She shares some findings of her doctoral research during this session. |
The 2020 COHERE-CIDER Sessions Series features presentations by leading researchers in distance, distributed, and online learning.
As many educational institutions have turned to alternate delivery modes for their programs, in response to the current Covid-19 pandemic, COHERE has decided to move the 2020 Annual Conference into an alternative format.
Starting September 2020, COHERE is partnering with the Canadian Institute of Distance Education Research (CIDER) to offer an ongoing series of current research and evidence-informed practice webinars focused on online and blended learning, in Canadian higher education. Each month a presenter or a panel of presenters will share research findings and facilitate discussion focused on a relevant topic or issue. The webinar series is designed to showcase current Canadian research on online and blended learning and how it is informing practice. This series of synchronous virtual sessions provides an opportunity for knowledge dissemination among researchers, practitioners, instructional designers, and educational developers.
Call for Proposals: If you wish to present your research in this webinar series, please visit the COHERE website for the latest information, presentation dates, and proposal form.
See below for our 2020-21 Season as it develops, along with recordings from previous seasons.
Technical note
Note that if you have not used Adobe Connect with your computer, you can take a moment now to pre-visit our presentation room to make sure all necessary software is downloaded ahead of time.
Please log onto the CIDER sessions - https://athabascau.adobeconnect.com/cider/ - as a "guest". You will then be prompted for your name, and you could add your location or institution as well, if you wish.
| October 21, 2020 A Protocol for Developmental Observation of Online Teaching Flora Mahdavi Bow Valley College, Calgary AB This session will provide a summary of the findings of a doctoral research on designing a protocol for developmental observation of online asynchronous teaching. This research has delved into providing pedagogical support to online instructors so that they can get better at online teaching regardless of their level of experience and knowledge in this field. Educational developers can use the protocol as a guide to observe a specific area of teaching in a relatively short time frame. Observations lead to incremental development plans for instructors. The protocol includes definition and description of observable teaching practices in asynchronous environments based on the three elements of a Community of Inquiry (CoI): Social, Cognitive, and Teaching Presences (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000). The six key elements of this evidence-based protocol will be presented, as well as the critical roles of educational developers, online instructors and the higher education institution in rendering the observations developmental. |
| September 30, 2020 Creating a Community of Learning in the Zoom Classroom: Strategies for Establishing a Positive Online Learning Environment Alysia Wright Haboun Bair Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning - University of Calgary The Zoom classroom is similar to a face-to-face setting in that it allows for a synchronous gathering in which students and instructors can see and speak to each other in real time. However, the Zoom classroom presents some unique challenges, such as lack of engagement, barriers to developing rapport between students and instructors, and learning how to navigate the online classroom. In this presentation, we discuss strategies for creating a community of learning in Zoom classrooms. By establishing a sense of community, shared ownership of the learning space, and clear expectations for both students and instructors, we suggest that instructors can not only anticipate but mitigate the challenges that might otherwise compromise learning in the Zoom classroom. This session is broadly relevant to instructors, academic staff, teaching assistants, and other folks who are finding themselves making sense of an online learning environment. |
