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The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction
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The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction
Teaching for Engagement and Impact in Any Setting

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August 2020 | 200 pages | Corwin

First, let’s commend ourselves: how in the midst of a pandemic we faculty stepped up at record speed to teach in such a foreign learning environment. Try we did, adapt we did, and learn we did. But to be clear, and we already recognize this, this past spring was less about distance learning and more about crisis teaching.

This time around we have the opportunity to be much more purposeful and intentional, and that’s where The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction will prove absolutely indispensable.

Much more than a collection of cool tools and apps, The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction mobilizes decades of Visible Learning® research to reveal those evidence-based strategies that work best in an online environment. Supplemented by video footage and opportunities to self-assess and reflect, the book addresses every dynamic that must be in place for students to learn, even at a distance:

  • Faculty-student relationships from a distance
  •  Teacher credibility from a distance
  • Teacher clarity from a distance
  • Engaging tasks from a distance
  • Planning learning experiences from a distance
  • Feedback, assessment, and grading from a distance
  • Keeping the focus on learning, from a distance or otherwise

What does our post-COVID future hold? “We suspect,” Fisher, Frey, Almarode, and Hattie write, “it will include increased amounts of distance learning. In the meantime, let’s seize on what we have learned to improve post-secondary education in any format, whether face-to-face or from a distance.”

“We are all still active faculty members, committed to teaching, scholarship, and service. The unexpected transition to remote learning doesn’t mean we no longer know how to teach. We can still impact the lives of our students and know that we made a difference. The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction will show you how.”

~Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, John Almarode, and John Hattie


 
List of Videos
 
Acknowledgments
 
Introduction
A Visible Learning® Primer

 
Visible Learning and Distance Learning

 
A Question of Equity

 
 
Module 1: Self-Care
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

 
Conclusion

 
 
Module 2: The First Week of Classes
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

 
Develop a Classroom Management Plan for Distance Learning

 
Establish Norms

 
Link Norms to Class Agreements

 
Identify Expectations for Synchronous Distance Learning

 
Develop and Teach Organizational and Procedural Routines

 
Design a Considerate Website

 
Your First Distance Classes

 
Learn Students’ Interests

 
Conclusion

 
 
Module 3: Faculty—Student Relationships From a Distance
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

 
Characteristics of Faculty–Student Relationships

 
Judgment and Will, Not Just Knowledge and Ability

 
Peer-to-Peer Relationships Are Influenced, Too

 
A “Chilly” Classroom

 
Reaching the Hard to Teach

 
Increase Your Touchpoints With All Students

 
Conclusion

 
 
Module 4: Teacher Credibility at a Distance
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

 
Teacher Credibility Defined

 
Conclusion

 
 
Module 5: Teacher Clarity at a Distance
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

 
Start With the Standards and Competencies

 
Create a Flow of Learning: Planning for Class

 
Create Learning Intentions

 
Identify Success Criteria

 
Find the Relevance

 
Conclusion

 
 
Module 6: Engaging Tasks at a Distance
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

 
Think Functions of Engagement, Not Just Tools

 
Set the Conditions for Engagement and Learning

 
Select the Tools That Meet These Functions and Conditions

 
Design Tasks With Engagement in Mind

 
Design a Considerate Schedule to Promote Engagement

 
Conclusion

 
 
Module 7: Planning Learning Experiences at a Distance
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

 
Demonstrating

 
Collaborating

 
Coaching and Facilitating

 
Practicing

 
Conclusion

 
 
Module 8: Feedback, Assessment, and Grading
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

 
Feedback to Students

 
The Socioemotional Links to Feedback

 
Feedback at a Distance

 
Formative Evaluation

 
Summative Evaluations

 
Competency-Based Grading

 
Conclusion

 
 
Module 9: Keeping the Focus on Learning, Distance or Otherwise
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

 
Learning From Other Crises

 
Use Crisis Learning to Make Colleges and Universities Better

 
Make Learning Better for Students

 
Make Learning Better for Teachers

 
Conclusion

 
 
Appendix
 
References
 
Index
 
About the Authors

Supplements

This is an amazing book. While it is designed to build everyone’s capacity to teach in distance learning environments, it is truly a primer on effective teaching in postsecondary education. Educators who utilize these clear and practical suggestions will see their students achieve stronger learning outcomes. The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction should be a cornerstone of faculty professional development efforts.

Joseph F. Johnson Jr., PhD
Executive Director for the National Center for Urban School Transformation and Emeritus Dean and Professor of San Diego State University

The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction is a very useful guide to helping educators make the transition from onsite to online teaching. The highly respected authors skillfully demonstrate how teachers can apply evidence-based practices from more traditional learning environments to a rapidly evolving world of online learning. The result is a wonderful self-guided tour of extraordinary opportunities to close the distance for learners.

David W. Andrews, PhD
President of National University

The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction offers an innovative learner-centered approach to student achievement where self-care, social emotional learning, instructional clarity, and responsive leadership strategies converge to support faculty in facilitating learner experiences that continue to transition students from ‘passenger to active driver’ in all learning environments, including distance education.

Robert N. Corley III, PhD
Associate Vice-Provost for Academic Affairs of Virginia State University and Project Director for the Wallace Foundation UPPI

The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction by Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, John Almarode, and John Hattie is a timely and necessary addition to every faculty’s library. The authors’ considerate and experiential approach to distance learning provides a well-researched foundation, authentic vignettes of instructors’ experiences, easily accessible video and web links, and helpful techniques that can be used among most disciplines. Impressively, they envisage the distance learning environment beginning with the instructor and as an active, dynamic, and engaging space for learning and teaching.

Arlette Willis
Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

These authors once again exceed expectations with this thought-provoking and very practical guide to distance learning. The timing could not be better. Higher education faculty and administrators will find it extremely useful–including a much-needed chapter on self-care, a topic often overlooked in the literature. The pointers on engaging and assessing students are particularly helpful, and the learning intentions and success criteria make this an indispensable resource for new and veteran online instructors alike.

James P. Frazee, EdD
Chief Academic Technology Officer and Associate Vice President for Learning Technologies & Environments, San Diego State University

Sample Materials & Chapters

List of Videos

Introduction


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