Twelve Questions to Address About Distance Learning

One of my favorite comments to myself about education and working with students is from James Thurber (if you don’t know Thurber, you are likely under 70), “It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.” 

In that regard, in this blog post, I am seeking to identify the questions I should ponder as I assess this past semester’s experience and look forward to other possible distance learning adventures in the future. 

I left home for Spring Break on March 6 as a face-to-face teacher.  I returned on March 10 as a distance learning teacher.  Like most teachers in this position, I had no time to plan or develop ideas.  I had two courses to prep and 64 students to manage.  For the following weeks, all I could do was react, encourage, and experiment.  My normal motto of, “Do no harm,” was even more in my mind.  Some things worked better than I expected.  Other things flopped or just were not effective or efficient.  My students, though, seemed to work hard and had a great deal of patience for what I was trying to accomplish. 

Now, though, the semester is winding down.  I want to learn.  I want to do better.  I want to consider how I should adapt.  I want to open my eyes to new possibilities. 

So, I made up of a list of questions that I wanted to address with myself and with other folks that I know, especially those people who know more about distance learning than I do.  My list of questions is evolving but here is what I have so far. 

1 - How would you describe your classes (a) historically and (b) going forward – totally live, blended (a mix of online and live), all online/distance learning or something else?

2 - How many students do you normally have in a class?  Given your traditional style of teaching, what’s a maximum number that you could teach reasonably well?  How many could you teach well using distance learning?

3 - In a live class, teachers traditionally convey information through a textbook, other assignments, and classroom sessions.  What are the ways that you can convey information in a distance learning environment?

4 - In a live class, students are “encouraged” to actually prepare for class through graded assignments, pop tests, calling on people in class, participation grades, etc.  How do you get students in a distance learning class to do the assigned work and do it at the appropriate time?

5 - In a live class, scheduled class sessions form a structure.  If you plan to talk about Chapter 16 at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, then all of the students need to be ready for Chapter 16 by 9 a.m. on Wednesday.  In a distance learning class, how do you create a structure that keeps students reasonably well together?  Or, are you more inclined toward self-paced and don’t care whether students stay together or not?

6 - Colleges talk a lot about the development of critical thinking skills.  In a live class, that process is often initiated by using probing questions or assignments designed to help students begin to “connect the dots” for themselves.  In distance learning classes, how do you help students develop their critical thinking skills?

7 – In live classes, the assessment of critical thinking skills can be extremely difficult.  How can that be accomplished in distance learning?

8 - In a live class, if students start to get lost or confused, they can pose questions in class, they can come to office hours, or they can send emails.  Or, as the teacher, I can recognize that they are struggling through their answers or body language and ask them to come see me.  How do students pose questions to you in distance learning classes?  How can you encourage those questions?

9 - In a live class, the professor can give students tests 2 or 3 times per semester (or as needed) to assess grades but also to help students get feedback as to how they are doing.  In distance learning classes, how do you assist students in determining how they are doing and how often do you do this?

10 - In a live class, the teacher can watch the students and have a reasonable feeling that they are not cheating on tests.  In distance learning, how do you prevent students from cheating? 

11 - In a live class, grades are normally determined using some combination of papers, tests, and other factors.  How do you assess grades in a distance learning class? 

12 - Do you know anyone who teaches blended or online classes (anywhere) who really seems to have the knack for creating great courses?  I am sure there are people out there who really do a great job.  I’d like to talk with them but first I have to find them.  How do I find those people and how can I best learn from them? 

There are probably a gazillion other questions that I should be asking but this dozen provides a foundation for my exploration.  Wish me luck!

LEARNING ABOUT DISTANCE EDUCATION

 At some point, the virus will be controlled (at least, that is everyone’s daily prayer).  I hope teachers around the world will then pause for a moment to talk about what we have learned from having to switch so abruptly to distance learning.  There was little time for planning, just a desperate rush to see what might work.  When I hear my colleagues, they seem amazed at how effectively certain tactics have succeeded.  I want to hear about those discoveries.  I want to learn from their epiphanies.  I want to share in all of these new types of learning.

Most of us got pushed out of our teaching rut in record time.  What can we discover from the process that ensued?  With that in mind, I want to write today about what I have tried over the past couple of weeks and why.  It is too early to assess how well it has worked but I have tried to do things that made sense to me.  As I have explained to several friends who are not educators, “This is like changing from playing football to playing tennis.  Going from face-to-face to distance education is not about adapting.  It is about reinventing the process from the ground up without any time for practice.” 

My approach is based on two personal influences.  First, when I was in the 9^th grade in 1962, my little high school put me into a self-study program where I was supposed to learn advanced algebra by myself.  I am sure it was cutting edge education at the time.  I was given a big book that led me down a mathematical path – I would read a question, then read an answer.  I would read the next question and then read the next answer, and so on.  Day in and day out. 

This did not work for me at all.  No way.  I spent most of the time lost or about half asleep.  Nevertheless, even as a ninth grader, I realized that it absolutely could have worked.  The idea had merit but the implementation was flawed. 

--The sequencing of the questions had to be extremely good.  Because I had no teacher, each question needed to lead naturally into the next one without a seam.  If the questions were redundant, I got bored.  If the gap between questions was too wide, I got lost.  Occasionally, when the questions were sequenced just perfectly, I could successfully navigate through some complicated material by myself.  Those moments were neat.

--The explanations had to be understandable to a ninth grader.  The key educational point in the process was in the reading of each answer.  I was sure a high school teacher would have understood the answers but this material was all new to me.  I had to be able to read the words on the page by myself and figure out what they meant.  I was 15 years old.  If I could not do that, I was stuck.  Looking back, I cannot imagine how important it was for those answers to be crystal clear to a ninth grader.    

--I needed some type of frequent assessment to make sure I was not missing anything and to encourage me to keep pushing on.  The questions and answers could quickly seem endless without some kind of quiz or other assignment to make sure I was learning what I was supposed to learn.  The path could just get too long too quickly.  For me, it really did look like an endless highway.

I left ninth grade algebra thinking, “Well, that could have worked, but it didn’t.” 

Fast forward more than 30 years to the mid-1990s.  Two friends and I invented a self-study course for the CPA Exam titled, “90 Days to Success on the CPA Exam.”  We had no employees, it was just a hobby for us.  Within a couple of years, we were selling our programs in 50 states and 35 other countries.  We eventually sold the business because it was beginning to overwhelm us. 

But, I learned a lot more about distance learning from the experience.

--The “students” needed structure.  They wanted to wake up and know what they were supposed to do without having to think about it.  We furnished a daily calendar that said, “Today – do this.” 

--Everything we did in this program was based on sequential learning.  When there is no teacher present, the learning cannot look random (but I had already learned that in the ninth grade). 

--The students liked to have different types of learning experiences.  If they did the same thing every day, they got bored and lost their focus.

--The process needed to be interactive.  The students needed a lot of feedback or they would mentally drift away.  Everything we created required them to give a response that would be assessed.

--The students needed encouragement.  They were human.  They needed someone to tell them, “You can do this.  I know it can be discouraging at times and frustrating but, if you will do what I ask you to do, you ARE going to learn this material and be successful.  Believe in yourself.”

So, back in March, when I came back from visiting New Orleans over Spring Break (luckily, without the virus) and was told that we were switching to distance learning, I tried to incorporate what I learned in the ninth grade in 1962 with my 1990s distance learning program. 

I teach two classes on Intermediate Accounting II and one class of Financial Accounting.  The first is extremely complex and has 39 college juniors.  The second is an introductory course with 25 college frosh.  Two entirely different levels of material.

The first thing I did was choose not to use Zoom or any other “live” presentations.  I have no problems if someone finds that approach works well for them but I could not see me explaining complex accounting problems using some type of online “live” program.  I hope one day to see how it can be used successfully but, until then, I have doubts about it working well for me.  I thought the same thing even after watching Saturday Night Live.

It is impossible for me to explain exactly what I did but I will try to describe my process as best as I can.  The material was not always presented in exactly this format but almost.  If you would like to see some of these materials, please send me a note at Jhoyle@richmond.edu.

1 – I started this whole process with a note to my students ensuring they that they were going to learn this material.  I never wanted them to have a doubt.  

2 - My first assignment was that they needed to spend a certain amount of time for class every day—60-75 minutes for financial accounting and 90 minutes for Intermediate Accounting II—and I wanted them to keep a “time journal” just so they could track their efforts.  I figured if I could get a good amount of their time using effective materials, the chances were high for a successful learning experience.  I did everything I could to get a “buy-in” from the students right from the start.

3 - I emailed them about 10-15 questions that I believed would sequentially lead the students into our first topic.  I wrote the questions and then immediately wrote those same questions but this time with my answers.  I explained to my students what I wanted them to do, “Read all the questions and then read all the answers.  Then, go back and read the questions a second time and this time try to answer them for yourself.  Read the answers again.  Go back and read the questions for a third time and see if you can get them all correct.  Keep following this loop until you are comfortable.”  I suggested that they needed to have this “Q & A list” under control in a reasonable but specific period of time.  From my experience, college students need deadlines.

4 – The next day I sent them a second group of 10-15 questions and answers that followed up on the first batch.  I am trying to structure these Q & A lists in chunks that are not overwhelming.  A bit like Goldilocks, I wanted them to face new information that was not too little but also not too big.

5 – The next day I emailed them a practice problem, “If you have been successful with our first two Q & A lists, then I think you can work the following problem.  The answers are at the end.  If I don’t hear from you by (insert time and date), I’ll assume you got the correct answers and have this material under control.  If you cannot get my answers, drop me an email and I’ll give you a push or send you the computations.”  I make sure this practice problem is not easy but is a natural progression from the materials covered in the Q & A lists.  Everything hinges on that sequential process.

6 – The next day I posted one or two Panopto videos on Blackboard.  (I imagine that a lot of people who had never heard of Panopto last month are now experts.)  First, I sent the students a rather complicated problem or two and told them to work them before watching the video.  Working a problem they have not seen has limited benefit in my mind.  I put as much relevant material as possible on a Power Point presentation and use Panopto to walk through those slides.  I want my students to hear my voice explaining how to work each step in the process.  I’m not a technical person so my slides are very basic but I’m not sure that basic is not a good foundation for learning.  I give the students a time frame for watching the videos.  I can check the numbers who have done so and will send encouragement if not enough are taking advantage of the videos. 

7 – During the next day or so, I post an “effort quiz” on Blackboard.  It is short and should take 15-30 minutes.  I use a lot of multiple-choice and true-false because I think they work well when you are focused on sequential learning.  I typically send the students some basic information in advance and tell them that the questions will be based off that information.  I want them to spend time looking and thinking about the information prior to opening up the quiz.  I am trying to avoid surprises.  I set a reasonably low number as a “Good Effort” grade.  As long as most students can hit that standard, we move on.  I am not seeking perfection.

8 – After we have gone through 2 or 3 groups of material looping through the above steps, I post a “Final Quiz” on Blackboard.  It is about 20-40 minutes.  It has a bit more weight and more complexity than the “effort quizzes” but I try to make sure that it covers what my materials have covered.  I like the term “Final Quiz” because it indicates to the students that they have successfully mastered a section of material. 

What do I like about this approach?

a.  It is structured.  The students always know what they are supposed to do next.

b.  It has time recommendations.  The students know how long they are supposed to be spending each day.

c.  It has deadlines.  Students know when assignments are due.

d.  It is sequential.  Everything is based on those Q & A lists.  If I can write them well enough, then all of the other steps tie back into that information.  To an educator, I cannot stress that enough.   

e.  I try to use several types of learning:  Q & A lists, practice problems, videos, effort quizzes, final quizzes.  Each one has its own particular purpose.  Each one requires the student to do something.  They cannot be passive learners.

f.  I use a lot of email so I can provide encouragement.  Many of my students are struggling with issues that go well beyond school.  There is a lot of strain and tension in their lives.  I am not a cheerleader but I do want them to know every single day that I believe they can learn this material and that we will all get through it successfully just as soon as possible. 

What do the students think?  What I think is probably unimportant.  It is what the students think and accomplish that matters.  After the semester is over, I certainly plan to ask them some honest questions to see what I can learn from this experiment.  Why go through all of this if I am not going to learn how to get better?  But that will have to wait.  That is why I am so interested in hearing what others are doing.  Let's learn from each other.