Big ideas, authentic assessment and technology challenges for creative course redesign

Creative problem solving and course redesign do not necessarily seem interconnected. However, after having reflected on ideas by  Dr. Roger Firestien video 1 , video 2  and Jeffrey Baumgartner CPS paper we have realized that a strong connection is a must, if we are interested in creating technology-based rich courses that help students understand concepts and be able to apply them in different contexts.

Conversion of face-to-face courses to online or blended format is a challenging task. Major failures are related with the use of new interactive media in old fashioned expositive ways. This results from non-creative redesign processes where the approach is to upload existing syllabus and related course materials to the LMS.

Our experience shows that a diverge / converge facilitated strategy, with collaboration between content, pedagogy and technology experts, can make a difference, as we explain as follows:

1. Understanding the problem: Content experts set the stage, in terms of educational needs to be solved, requirements to be satisfied, identification of big ideas to be understood through the course, characterization of the target population.  This curricular framework helps finding the real focus of the course to be redesigned, and serves to refine each big idea in terms of enduring understandings, expected outcomes, initial misconceptions, and deliverables that could provide evidence of achievement, in particular authentic assessment problems.
2. Diverge, build possible solutions:  The course redesign team generates ideas that could help developing each of the big ideas, by bringing to the discussion table all those initiatives that could help students become engaged in learning. Authentic assessment becomes a key element since it gives the complexity and challenging context that leads to creativity.
3. Converge, find solutions that promise solving the problem: An ALU—Advantages, Limitations, Unique qualities—assessment strategy serves to value proposed solutions, taking into consideration institutional and curricular framework. Those strategies that could make a difference and that seem to be viable should be selected for the specification of the course to be redesigned.

We have tried the above ideas both with courses to be converted and with new courses. Major problems deal with three elements:

1. Finding really what should be taught, in terms of big ideas and associated enduring understandings; this is the first challenge, since faculty rarely consider those key concepts that should last after a course, but list all the content that should be included under the course name. 
2. Determining authentic assessment indicators for each big idea use to be another problem, since application of knowledge is not always part of courses; in many cases faculty want students just to understand the concepts and demonstrate this. Problemic approach to teaching rises the bar, as long as grounded discussions and problem-based learning demand more than teaching the concepts, they require to apply them in relevant contexts. 
3. Technology integration use to be done just in the framework of what is available in the LMS and with existing digital expository resources; creative pedagogic solutions require creative technological frameworks, and interactive and active digital environments can make the difference.

We are interested in knowing about other experiences creatively redesigning courses with technology integration. What lessons have you learned in that regard?

Alvaro Galvis
Liliana Pedraza

Facilitating learning as TIGERs and creativity - bis

Creative leadership video by Jeffrey Zacko-Smith brought key ideas to reflect on what we do as online facilitators of online communities. The presenter said that “Creative Leadership is a new theory of leadership. The interaction between the two concepts is given by CHANGE. Leadership is about influencing people positively, results or contexts. Creativity is the production of something that is new and useful. Change is what unites these concepts. We can resist or adapt and use it to innovate. Leaders need to be comfortable with ambiguity, take risks, be able to inspire and influence others in new ways and directions. Creative leaders must lead by example, modeling creativity, appreciate the creativity of others, be adept at the facilitation of creative thinking”

With above frame of reference we were wondering if our interventions as online facilitators foster creativity, if what we do as leaders of online communities help participants be creative. In order to solve this concern, let us share the TIGER Rubric (Galvis, 2007), an acronym that highlights five elements we consider essentials in online pragmatic dialogs and that is used as a self-assessment instrument both by participants and facilitators in learning communities we lead.

• T refers to a title that reflects the content of the message. When there are many responses in a discussion forum, the participants may not have time to read all of the messages. However, they may read the brief description and select reviewing those interventions whose titles grab their attention.
• I denotes illation that is desirable in the entries. In the context of threaded discussions illation refers to building new ideas based on logical reasoning from what others have said, quoting and reasoning on their postings. The Visual Thesaurus defines illation as “the reasoning involved in drawing a conclusion or making a logical judgment on the basis of circumstantial evidence and prior conclusions rather than on the basis of direct evidences”.
• G refers to generate more discussion with your intervention, not for the sake of it but getting to the core of what is being discussed. For example, it is good to find disparities among the different positions and to formulate new questions such as what are the main differences, or to ask what may be the causes or the consequences from what has been stated. Anyone who limits himself to saying only what s/he thinks about something can close the discussion, which would be detrimental to a flourishing online conversation.
• E underscores the importance of enriching and adding value to the discussion. Just saying that “I agree with…” or repeating what has already been posted does not help the discussion to grow. If upon reading the threads of the discussion generated, you discover that your points of view have already been presented, determine if the discussion has been completed, this is to say, if it has already reached a point where nothing more can be added. If this is the case, seek another discussion point that will permit you to go beyond what has already been said.
• R highlights the importance of ensuring readability for your message. Many times our ideas are very good but are flawed due to punctuation problems, syntax errors, incorrect or undefined abbreviations or the omission of a word. It is recommended to use a text editor with spell checking and to “read aloud” mentally the message that was prepared indicating the precise punctuation, not punctuation that one may wish to use. The use of paragraphs, indents and colors helps readability.

If we get ride of the formal elements, T and R, which help delivering the message but do not convey what you want to say, it is evident that the creative components should be the I, G, and R. Do they really foster creativity?

A discussion with illation demands opening to other’s ideas, exploring new relationships, finding tensions and communalities, not only to post based on the discussion seed. This requires a change in your mindset as learner, from individualistic to collaborative learning. Enriching a discussion with your own ideas is what you usually try to do. If you do this by building on other’s ideas, definitely you need to be creative, since you are supposed to go beyond “I agree with..” and express new perspectives on the discussion topic. Inviting others to discuss new perspectives, generating new challenges to consider, opening new avenues that deepen the dialogue becomes the essence of the G, generating more discussion.

Dr. Jo Yudes mentions in her video on the Creative Person  that “creativity is the ability to overcome the limitations we impose upon ourselves”. We think that TIGER-rubric based online facilitation could help in this process. What about you? Use COMMENTS to share your thoughts.

Liliana Pedraza and Alvaro Galvis

Facilitating learning as TIGERs and creativity

Creative leadership video by Jeffrey Zacko-Smith brought key ideas to reflect on what we do as online facilitators of online communities. The presenter said that “Creative Leadership is a new theory of leadership. The interaction between the two concepts is given by CHANGE. Leadership is about influencing people positively, results or contexts. Creativity is the production of something that is new and useful. Change is what unites these concepts. We can resist or adapt and use it to innovate. Leaders need to be comfortable with ambiguity, take risks, be able to inspire and influence others in new ways and directions. Creative leaders must lead by example, modeling creativity, appreciate the creativity of others, be adept at the facilitation of creative thinking”

With above frame of reference we were wondering if our interventions as online facilitators foster creativity, if what we do as leaders of online communities help participants be creative. In order to solve this concern, let us share the TIGER Rubric (Galvis, 2007), an acronym that highlights five elements we consider essentials in online pragmatic dialogs and that is used as a self-assessment instrument both by participants and facilitators in learning communities we lead.

• T refers to a title that reflects the content of the message. When there are many responses in a discussion forum, the participants may not have time to read all of the messages. However, they may read the brief description and select reviewing those interventions whose titles grab their attention.
• I denotes illation that is desirable in the entries. In the context of threaded discussions illation refers to building new ideas based on logical reasoning from what others have said, quoting and reasoning on their postings. The Visual Thesaurus defines illation as “the reasoning involved in drawing a conclusion or making a logical judgment on the basis of circumstantial evidence and prior conclusions rather than on the basis of direct evidences”.
• G refers to generate more discussion with your intervention, not for the sake of it but getting to the core of what is being discussed. For example, it is good to find disparities among the different positions and to formulate new questions such as what are the main differences, or to ask what may be the causes or the consequences from what has been stated. Anyone who limits himself to saying only what s/he thinks about something can close the discussion, which would be detrimental to a flourishing online conversation.
• E underscores the importance of enriching and adding value to the discussion. Just saying that “I agree with…” or repeating what has already been posted does not help the discussion to grow. If upon reading the threads of the discussion generated, you discover that your points of view have already been presented, determine if the discussion has been completed, this is to say, if it has already reached a point where nothing more can be added. If this is the case, seek another discussion point that will permit you to go beyond what has already been said.
• R highlights the importance of ensuring readability for your message. Many times our ideas are very good but are flawed due to punctuation problems, syntax errors, incorrect or undefined abbreviations or the omission of a word. It is recommended to use a text editor with spell checking and to “read aloud” mentally the message that was prepared indicating the precise punctuation, not punctuation that one may wish to use. The use of paragraphs, indents and colors helps readability.

If we get ride of the formal elements, T and R, which help delivering the message but do not convey what you want to say, it is evident that the creative components should be the I, G, and R. Do they really foster creativity?

A discussion with illation demands opening to other’s ideas, exploring new relationships, finding tensions and communalities, not only to post based on the discussion seed. This requires a change in your mindset as learner, from individualistic to collaborative learning. Enriching a discussion with your own ideas is what you usually try to do. If you do this by building on other’s ideas, definitely you need to be creative, since you are supposed to go beyond “I agree with..” and express new perspectives on the discussion topic. Inviting others to discuss new perspectives, generating new challenges to consider, opening new avenues that deepen the dialogue becomes the essence of the G, generating more discussion.

Dr. Jo Yudes mentions in her video on the Creative Person  that “creativity is the ability to overcome the limitations we impose upon ourselves”. We think that TIGER-rubric based online facilitation could help in this process. What about you? Use COMMENTS to share your thoughts.

Liliana Pedraza and Alvaro Galvis