梁棋棋第55期无圣光全:在线助学教师在E-learning 中的作用

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Gilly Salmon博士关于在线辅导员(E-moderator)的一篇文章http://www.online-edu.org/bbs/redirect.php?tid=2570&goto=lastpost
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Masters or Slaves to the Technology?
The Role of the E-moderator in E-learning

By Gilly Salmon, Ph.D., Open University Business School & United States Open University, G.K.Salmon@open.ac.uk


Inthe rush to put courses online, the key role of the online teacher ortrainer is sometimes forgotten. This role is gradually evolving fromone of ensuring the accurate transmission of known information to oneof enabling exploration, and generating new and relevant knowledge forthe use of individuals, groups, businesses, and not-for- profitorganizations. Because of this shift, and the complexities involved infulfilling the new role, e-moderator seems the most appropriatedesignation for it. Challenges to traditional approaches to learningare rife (O‘Donaghue, Jentz et al. 2000) but they focus far too much onthe role of the technology. We need therefore to be technology‘smaster, not its slave. How do we become Masters? By learning fromothers who are more experienced than ourselves. We know that new modesof teaching and learning both in Higher Education and at work, togetherwith the need for rapid updating of skills and knowledge, are emerging.(For more about online learning at work see http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/. For more about skills for the future see http://oubs.open.ac.uk/businesscafe, Programme 9.)
Most of us would agree that the advent of fourth generation learningdelivery tools (Moore and Kearsley 1996) for use on campus, in thecorporation and at a distance, offer the potential for enhancingeducation. There are increased opportunities for students: Studentinteraction, student-centeredness, and collaboration. Some argue thatthis can result in a situation where "the real learning ‘space‘ amongstudents is closer," whether on or off campus (Passerini and Granger2000 p.4). The critical issue is that students most appreciate learningfrom others, with the support of a credible facilitator, and this isindependent of the technological platform.
Online teaching andlearning requires different skills, and changes what we actually dowith students. Currently, most online teachers do not have enoughtraining to make the online experience truly successful and productivefor learners. Where training is provided it often concentrates on theuse of the technology rather than the role of the online teacher.(Explore these ideas on http://oubs.open.ac.uk/gilly. Look under "Reclaiming the Territory for the Natives" and the Australia presentations in May 2000. Also see the paper at: http://kurs.nks.no/eurodl/eurodlen/index.html. Look under Salmon & Giles, 1998).
In professional and management education, and often where sharedcorporate knowledge is desired, the e-moderator is the personresponding to and building on the contributions to an onlineconference. E-moderators need to be able to engage in reflectivepractice themselves (Orsini-Jones and Davidson, 1999), and be verydemocratic and open about their roles (Hunt, 1998). The challenge is toenable managers to recognize the narrowness of their own experience andbe open to other evidence. The e-moderator should prompt, encourage andenable such openness, while acknowledging the personal experience.
Managers can add value to online networking in a variety of ways.Firstly, the contributor needs to be acknowledged. Secondly, thecontribution should be recorded and available for others to read onlineso it becomes a form of inventory. The e- moderator零 role is to enableit to be retrieved, viewed, and responded to by others. In a collectiveconference, personal reflections may be responded to in various waysand in different time frames, depending on individual thoughtprocesses. It is important that the e-moderator avoids the temptationto discount the experience in any way or to counter it and enter intoargument. Instead he or she can draw on the evidence that is presentedto try and explore overall conclusions.
Thirdly, the e-moderatorshould comment, at an appropriate moment, on the sufficiency of thedata being presented and the quality of the argument around it.Implementing these practices ensure that the experience, while it isvalued, is not necessarily considered complete on its own. It alsoenables the e-moderator to exemplify ways of exploring and developingarguments. When this is done well, the result is a rich discussion withhigh levels of participation.

The Model
I propose a model with five stages to depict how discussions promote learning and collaboration (for more information go to http://oubs.open.ac.uk/e-moderating/fivestep.htm). At stage one, individual access and theability of participants to use online learning tools are essentialprerequisites for participation in online learning.


Stagetwo involves individual participants establishing their onlineidentities and then finding others with whom to interact. At stagethree, participants exchange with others information relevant to thecourse. Up to and including stage three, a form of cooperation occurs,i.e. support for each person零 goals. At stage four, course-relatedgroup discussions occur and the interaction becomes more collaborative.The communication depends on the establishment of common understanding.At stage five, participants look for more benefits from the system tohelp them achieve personal goals, explore how to integrate CMC intoother forms of learning, and reflect on the learning processes.
Each stage requires participants to master certain technical skills.Each stage calls for different e-moderating skills (the "interactivitybar" running along the right of the flight of steps at the url listedabove suggests the intensity of interactivity that you can expectbetween the participants at each stage). From stage two onwards, it isimportant to provide online activities that encourage participants toengage in active learning and with each other in meaningful andauthentic learning tasks.
Scaffolding suggests a way ofstructuring this interaction and collaboration, starting with"recruitment" of interest, establishing and maintaining an orientationtowards task-relevant goals, highlighting critical features that mightbe overlooked, demonstrating how to achieve those goals, and helping tocontrol frustration (Wood and Wood, 1996). The notion of scaffoldingprovides an overall framework for training and learning online.

Recruitment & Training of E-moderators
E-moderatorsmust be credible as members of the learning community. They do not,however, need a long string of qualifications, nor many years ofexperience. Nor do they need to be experts or gurus in the subject. Asa rough rule of thumb, I suggest they need a qualification at least atthe same level and in the same topic as the course which they aree-moderating.
They will need reasonably good keyboard skills andsome experience using computers, including online networking. However,given those requirements, you will find that good e-moderators comefrom many different backgrounds, with very varied learning and teachingexperiences. If they do not have to meet face-to-face with their courseparticipants, you can select them on the basis of their suitabilityrather than their geographic location!
Most e-moderator recruitscome from face-to-face teaching where they may have relied quiteheavily on personal charisma to stimulate and hold their students‘interest. Switching to an online environment is a very big change. Eventhose recruits who are used to developing distance learning materialsneed to explore how online materials can underpin and extend theirteaching. If they are used to being considered an expert in theirsubject, they may find the leveling effect and informality of elearningvery challenging to start with.
Any significant initiative aimedat changing teaching methods or introducing technology into teachingand learning should include effective e-moderator support andtraining--otherwise its outcomes are likely to be meager andunsuccessful.

Even when technological infrastructure andsupport are strong--and where worthwhile learning applications aredeveloped--without staff development, nothing is likely to happenbeyond pilot schemes. In the interim, the costs of training and supportfor users can be higher than those associated with provision of thetechnology. Thus it is worthwhile to consider providing training fore-moderators.
You can further explore the idea of training based on the five-stage model at http://oubs.open.ac.uk/e-moderating (see examples of training). To look at an online course based on this model and the e-tivities approach go to http://www.centrinity.com/e-moderating.

References

Hammersley,M., 1976. The Process of Schooling: A sociological reader. London andHenley, Routledge and Kegan Paul in association with Open University.
Hunt,C. , 1998. Learning from Lerner:reflections on facilitating reflectivepractice. Journal of Further and Higher Education 22 (1) p. 25-31.
Ingram, A. L., L. G. Hathorn and A. Evans , 2000. Beyond chat on the internet. Computers & Education 35 p. 21-35.
Kamel, S. , 1999. Web-based learning. Information Management 12 (1/2 Spring) p. 6-8 , 18-18.
Kearsley,G. and B. Shneiderman , 1998. Engagement theory: A framework forTechnology-Based Teaching and Learning. Educational Technology(September/October) p. 20-37.
Moore, M. H. and G. Kearsley, 1996. Distance education: a system view. Belmont, C.A., Wadsworth.
O‘Donaghue,J., A. Jentz, G. Singh and S. Molyneux , 2000. IT developments &changes in customer Demand in HE. Asynchronous Learning Networks(October).
Orsini-Jones, M. and A. Davidson , 1999. From reflective learners to reflective lecturers via WebCT. Active Learning 10 (July) p. 32-38.
Passerini,K. and M. J. Granger , 2000. A developmental model for distancelearning using the Internet. Computers & Education 34 p. 1-15.
Salmon, G. , 1998. Developing Learning Though Effective Online Moderation. Active Learning 9 (December) p. 3-8.
Salmon, G. , 2000. Computer Mediated Conferencing for Management Learning at the Open University. Management Learning 31 (4) p. 491-502.
Salmon, G., 2000. E-moderating: the key to teaching and learning online. London, Kogan Page.
Wood, D. and H. Wood , 1996. Vygotsky, Tutoring & Learning. Oxford Review of Education 22 (1) p. 5-15.

Dr.Gilly Salmon is a member of the Centre for Information and Innovationat the Open University Business School and is School of Management andEconomics Visiting Professor at Queens‘ University, Belfast. She iscurrently seconded to the newly formed, online, United States OpenUniversity, as MBA Programme Director. She has research degrees in bothchange management and educational technology. She has extensivepersonal experience of teaching in open and distance education andtraining. She consults, writes and speaks internationally about onlinelearning in the corporate and higher education sectors. Explore her Websites: http://oubs.open.ac.uk/gilly & http://oubs.open.ac.uk/e-moderating. Online course in e- moderating can be found at http://www.centrinity.com, training, then e-moderating.
---在线助学教师在E-learning 中的作用○1
Masters or Slaves to the Technology?
----The Role of the E-moderator in E-learning

作者 吉利•西蒙 (Gilly Salmon United States Open University UK)

在人们纷纷把一些课程放在线上的时候,很多人忘记了在线教学与培训的关键作用。这个作用逐渐从保证知识的精确传输演变为保证能够进行探索,自主学习,为个人,团体,商务,和非赢利性组织生成新的相关知识。由于这个作用的提升,满足这种新的作用的实现的复杂性也相应的提升了,而在线助学教师(e-moderator)则变成了他的一个的合适的设计方法。对传统学习方法的挑战是普遍的,但是很多都是过于关注于技术的作用(O‘Donaghue,Jentz et al.2000)。我们需要的是作为技术的主人,而不是他的奴隶。那我们怎么样变为技术的主人呢?就是通过向比我们更有经验的人学习。我们知道在高等教育和工作中新的教育和学习的模式以及对技能和知识的快速升级的需求逐渐变得越来越迫切。(想知道工作中的在线学习,请参考http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/,想为将来着想获得更多的技能,请参考: http://oubs.open.ac.uk/businesscafe)
我们中大多数人认同:用于在校园,公司和将来的第四代知识传输工具提供了增强教育的潜能(Moore and Kearsley1996)。学生将有越来越多的学习机会:学生之间的交互,学生为关注对象和相互协作。很多人认为这将会导致一个结果:无论是在校园内还是在校园外,学生的真正的学习“空间”已经逐渐出现并且离他们越来越近(Passerini and Granger 2000p.4)。关键一点是:学生更愿意借助于可以信赖的设施的支持向其他人学习,而这是与技术平台无关的。
在线教学和学习需要不同的技能,改变了我们真实教学和学习中所做的事情。当前,很多在线教师没有足够的培训而使得在线学习经验不成功而且对学习者的作用也不大。这个培训只是关注与技术的应用而不是在线教师的作用。(参考 http://oubs.open.ac.uk/gilly. 和 http://kurs.nks.no/eurodl/eurodlen/index.html Salmon & Giles, 1998)
在各种专业人员和管理者的教育中,通常渴望知识的共享,在线助学教师是对在线环境做出响应并提供帮助的人。在线助学教师需要能够进行反思的实践(Orsini-Jones and Davidson, 1999),而且关于他们的角色分配是非常民主的 (Hunt,1998)。让管理者意识到他们自己的经验的狭隘与缺乏,并且让他们的观点得到开放改变是一种挑战。当意识到个人经验时,在线助学教师应该能够给予提示,鼓励并且提供相应的方法。
管理人员能够以多种方式对在线网络添加价值。首先,必须是知识丰富的.其次,提供的东西可以被记录、利用并且能被其他人在线阅读,并自动变成目录的形式。在线助学教师的作用就是使它能够被检索,查看和被其它人回复。在一个集体环境里,个人的想法会在不同的时间段,以各种方法进行响应,这取决于个人思想的处理过程。重要的是,在线助学教师(e-moderator)不会被诱惑去以各种方法去丢弃经验或者是记录经并加入到讨论中。相反他或她会根据相关的证据去尝试并且探索一个整体的全面的结论。
第三,在线助学教师(e-moderator)能够根据提供的数据的有效性和讨论意见的质量,在合适的时候能够进行评价,。这个实践的实现保证了有价值的经验不必完全靠自己考虑。它也能使得在线助学教师(e-moderator)去展示探索和开发评论的方法。当完成以后,结果就是一个丰富的具有高水平的结论。
我建议了一个模型,这个模型包含5个阶段去展示讨论是怎样提高学习和合作的。(查看更多的信息请到 http://oubs.open.ac.uk/e- moderating/fivestep.htm)
第一阶段,个人的存取和参与者的素质是对参与者在线学习的一个重要的前提。第二阶段,包含了个人参与者明确自己的身份并且找到其它的人和他进行交互。第三阶段,参与者和其它人交流和课程相关的信息。到了第三阶段,一种协作的操作发生了,例如:支持每个人的目标。在第四阶段,课程相关的组进行讨论,而且交互变得更有协作性了。交流取决于共同的理解基础。在第五阶段,参与者从系统中寻找能帮助他们达成个人目标的好处。同时寻找把CMC(ComputerMediated Communication)结合到其它形式的学习中,并且思考这一学习过程。
每个阶段都要求参与者精通特定的技术技巧。每一个阶段调用不同在线辅导的技巧(一个“交互导航条”始终运行在每个阶段,列出以上的建议表明你所期望的交互的深度)。从第二阶段开始,提供在线活动以鼓励参与者从事有效的学习并和其它人进行有意义和可靠的学习任务是很重要的。
Scaffolding建议了一个构造这个交互和协作的方法,先是找到一些有共同兴趣的人,明确和保持一人达到任务相关的目标的一个方向,高亮显示容易被忽略的关键地方,展示如何达到这些目标,并且控制受挫。Scaffolding的观点提供了一个在线训练和学习的一个整体性的框架。
在线助学教师(E-moderators)必须被学习社区的会员信赖。但是他们也不需要有很大的资格或者是有很多年的经验。他们也不需要是这个课题的专家或是领袖人物。作为一个粗略的规则,当他们在线辅导的时候,我建议他们跟学习者或者在某一个课程上至少有一个相同水平。他们应该具有打字的技术,而且要在电脑技术上有一定的知识,包括网络工作。但是除了这些要求之外,你会发现,一些好的在线助学教师(e-moderators)通常是来自不同的背景,拥有很多的知识和教学经验。如果他们不能和课程的学员面对面进行交流的话,你可以根据他们是否合适来选择他们能不能担任在线助学教师(e-moderators),而不用考虑地理的因素。
很多在线助学教师(E-moderators)的新会员来自面对面的教学,这种教学很大程度上需要他们的个人魅力去激发和维持同学们的兴趣。也成为在网络环境下的一个很大的挑战。即使是那些善于开发远程学习材料的人也要去寻找在线的材料怎样巩固和加强他们的教学。如果他们的习惯了被称为是某一个课题的专家,他们会发现如何开始非正式的网络学习是一个很大的挑战。
任何重要的开始都要瞄准去改变教学方法或者是引进新的技术到他们的教学中,这其中要求有有效的在线助学教师(E-moderators)有支持和培训,否则将会事倍功半。
即使技术设施和相应的支持都很好了,而且有价值的学习软件也开发出来了(不是员工开发的),还必须有时间的成本。这中间,对用户的培训和支持的费用可能比相关技术的供应还要高。因此,去考虑为在线助学教师(E-moderators)提供培训是值得的。
问题提出与分析---------------
当前,很多在线教师没有足够的培训,使得在线学习活动不成功,而且对学习者的作用也不大。

在各种专业人员和管理者的教育中,通常渴望知识的共享,在线助学教师是对在线环境做出响应并提供帮助的人。

在线助学教师的作用就是使有用的知识能够被检索,查看和被其它人回复。

在线助学教师能够根据提供的数据的有效性和讨论意见的质量,在合适的时候能够进行评价。同时展示探索和开发评论的方法。当完成以后,结果就是一个丰富的具有高水平的结论。

----------提出可操作的模型----------------

作者针对“讨论是怎样提高学习和合作的”建立了一个模型,该模型包含以下5个阶段。

第一阶段,个人的存取和参与者的素质是对参与者在线学习的一个重要的前提。

第二阶段,包含了个人参与者明确自己的身份并且找到其它的人和他进行交互。

第三阶段,参与者和其它人交流和课程相关的信息。到了第三阶段,一种协作的操作发生了,例如:支持每个人的目标。

在第四阶段,课程相关的组进行讨论,而且交互变得更有协作性了。交流取决于共同的理解基础。

在第五阶段,参与者从系统中寻找能帮助他们达成个人目标的好处。

----------作者的体会和心得----------------

在线助学教师(E-moderators)必须被学习社区的会员信赖。

但是他们也不需要有很大的资格或者是有很多年的经验。

他们也不需要是这个课题的专家或是领袖人物。

作者建议他们跟学习者或者在某一个课程上至少有一个相同水平。

他们应该具有打字的技术,而且要在电脑技术上有一定的知识,包括网络工作。

一些好的在线助学教师(e-moderators)通常是来自不同的背景,拥有很多的知识和教学经验。