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NORTHCENTRAL UNIVERSITYASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET

Learner: Melissa Webb Earnest

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<Course ID Number> EL 7003 <Faculty Mentor> Dr. Jason Crittenden

<Course Title> Instructional Design and <Assignment Number or Title> Activity 8Engaging E-Learning Activities

<Add Learner comments here>

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<Faculty Name> <Grade Earned> <Writing Score> <Date Graded>

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Online Learning Activities in World Civilizations

Many generations have been taught world history, but usually through the Socratic

method of questioning or from reading and discussing what has been printed in a textbook. No

more are students limited by the few resources at their disposal in a traditional classroom with

lines of desks pointed at blackboard. With the Internet and the World Wide Web and multiple

desktop, laptop and mobile devices at their fingertips, students can learn in ways not imaginable

even a few years ago. Taking an online class is now a reality for many, whether it is completed

as part of a designed course of study on a traditional classroom site or at home individually at

night or on the weekend. What sets the online classroom apart from the traditional classroom is

the way the students interact to learn the world civilizations curriculum. There are so many

topics in a world studies course it is difficult for most students to grasp the concepts individually,

therefore interactive online activities must be selected to enhance the learning and give students a

method of cooperating, creating, and collaborating to gain the knowledge of the scope of world

civilizations from the beginning of time to the present day and beyond.

Selecting world civilizations as the basic course for the focus of designing online learning

activities means the instructor should have knowledge not only of the course material but also of

the students involved in such a course. World civilizations is a course usually taught to high

school students in their sophomore or junior year. In the state of Kentucky, a curriculum

framework was developed for the anticipated national common core standards in social studies,

which includes world civilizations. “Trends in culture, religion, government, economics, and

other elements of civilization will be examined from multiple perspectives as they relate to the

development of the modern world.” (KSSTN World Civilizations Draft Curriculum

Frameworks, p. 4). This framework should form the basis of any online course development and

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should be the focus of any online learning activities, especially those which utilize the multiple

perspectives of the students enrolled in the course.

Since there is so much to cover in a world civilizations course, keeping the interest at a

high level, especially for high school students, is imperative. Utilizing online content, which

should keep the information fresh and relevant, should help students retain the knowledge gained

in the course. Using different methods online, the use of these types of activities could give the

students auditory, visual and even kinesthetic methods of learning, which should reach more of

them because all students definitely do not learn in the same way. Giving them multiple ways to

learn and engaging them in online discussions along the way can only enhance the learning

process.

With the content of a high school world civilizations course in hand and keeping in mind

the students who come to the course with different backgrounds and prior knowledge, the

following activities developed for an online version of the course should be a good start for any

history teacher wishing to embrace online learning. These activities could not only be used

within an exclusive online course, but could be integrated into a traditional classroom as well.

For this purpose, one introductory activity, one collaborative activity, one content activity and

one interactive activity have been selected which could be easily utilized even for a teacher who

is just beginning to delve into the area of educational technology.

One issue identified by Bond, Fevyer and Pitt (2004) in a study on using online tools was

the problem of locating good quality information. The same study also raised the concern about

students lacking the skills to critically analyze the information they discover online and how to

properly credit online sources. Assuming the students and instructor have already completed the

typical introductory activities, such as introducing each other with some background information,

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this activity brings the students right into the scope of the world civilizations course. The

introductory activity selected requires students to take on the role of a historical figure, which

should help students gain a taste of what they will be learning in the course and some of the

important figures of history they will encounter. This activity gives students a chance to start

researching information online right up front in the course so they may become more comfortable

with the process, as well as bearing in mind evaluating and documenting their sources.

For this introductory activity, students will be assigned a historical figure by the

instructor. The student’s task is to research and learn about their assigned person and then

assume the person’s identity for the remainder of the activity. Once all students have been given

ample time to research their person, a couple of days at the most, everyone will be allowed time

to ask each other questions about their assigned figure to try and determine who they are. Rules

of the activity are to give only assigned responses such as the following suggested by Watkins

(2005): Yes, No, Irrelevant, Probably, Doubtful, Sometimes, Usually, Rarely, or Unknown. Yes

or no answers are relatively straightforward and irrelevant means the question asked has no

bearing on the figure at all. Probably means the student is not sure, but thinks the answer might

be yes, while doubtful means the student is not sure, but thinks the answer might be no.

Sometimes would indicate the answer could be yes or no, depending on other factors. Usually

means most of the time the answer would be yes while rarely means most of the time the answer

would be no. Of course, if the student has no idea how to answer the question, they could use the

unknown designation, which would indicate an answer had not been discovered as yet. This

might be a further way to continue the activity into the course itself, having students find the

answers to those questions in this introductory activity which were designated as unknown.

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Given a specific amount of time designated by the instructor, students would be required

to login to a discussion board to ask the questions of each other and to make educated guesses as

to the identity of the different historical figures. Once students begin to post names of fellow

students in the course and the historical persons they believe to be represented, everyone across

the course could then crosscheck each other’s thoughts with their own. At the end of the activity,

the instructor should post the accurate listing of the students, along with their designated

historical figure. At this point, students should also list the resources they used to learn about

their person and include a summary of what they discovered. As part of this final portion of the

activity, the instructor should note how, and perhaps when, the students will encounter these

historical figures later in the course.

Advantages to this type of introductory activity include the fact these students should

become relative experts on their assigned person which can become an asset later in the course

and they should begin to learn the importance of finding reliable online resources and how to cite

them in the correct manner. Another advantage would be the activity should extend into the

course and not just be a simple introductory activity which is completed and over in a few hours

or perhaps a day and then forgotten. With the perspective of world civilizations in mind, it is

important to use at least one introductory activity in an online course which starts students

thinking about the course content. Because the answers include an unknown possibility, students

should not feel pressured and the activity should give them a chance to interact with each other

without the fear of being uncomfortable due to not knowing the correct answer to another

student’s question.

When selecting a team style activity, it is important to first decide, as the instructor, how

to divide the students into teams or groups for the assignment. Students in an online environment

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do not have the advantage of face-to-face body language as students in a traditional classroom.

With online learning, it is more difficult to establish some style of collaborative learning.

Selecting activities which promote cooperation and shared learning, especially in the beginning

of an online course, should be geared toward the success of all students and provide them with a

safe and comfortable environment for such activities.

Setting ground rules for collaborative activities should be a priority for the instructor.

Just as a teacher in a traditional classroom uses different methods to bring students to a focus, the

online teacher must do the same. With online courses, use of traditional methods may not

translate very well, so the instructor must develop other methods of keeping groups on task.

Designing a group activity must ensure there is active engagement of the students, building of

interpersonal skills, understanding of multiple perspectives and allow students the opportunity to

tackle a large issue as a group. (Oldfield, 2004).

Introducing a collaborative activity in the beginning of a world civilizations course should

set the tone for the remainder of the course and all other collaborative assignments. The first

issue is to set group member responsibilities and establish how the group will engage in

discussions and teamwork throughout the course. Watkins (2005) suggests selecting a number of

behaviors which would exemplify a successful learning experience and posting these behaviors

on a discussion board. For high school students, giving them a list of twenty such items should

be a good starting point. Items might include logging in to the group meeting on time, keeping

records of any discussion or decisions made, evaluating the group effort constructively, keeping

discussions focused, celebrating successes of the group, completing tasks as asked, following the

group’s communication method and not stopping communicating without sound reason, and

avoiding sarcasm or slang others in the group may not understand.

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Once such a list has been posted for the students, the instructor should establish a timeline

for students to be broken into groups and discuss the various points. Once the groups were

engaged, they would be asked to rank the list in order of importance, according to the majority of

their group members. This could be done through an online voting method or simply by having

the students number the list and then reordering the numbers in their preferred rank. Starting

with small groupings, this should not be a difficult task to have students come to a consensus on

the ranking of the list.

Once the student groups have had a chance to discuss and post their list in preferred

order, then the instructor could bring the entire class back together to see how the different

groups have prioritized the list. Then the whole group would become collaborative in developing

a final listing in a priority order. With this discussion taking place amongst students in the

course, the activity should open the door for civil discussions with the instructor overseeing the

process and establishing ground rules for the course participants. This priority list of important

online behaviors could then be referred to throughout the course as needed to ensure students

were being civil, courteous and remain on task.

So many options are available for teachers, especially those with broad curriculums like

world civilizations. Often faced with multiple selections of resources and materials when

planning lessons for students, it is difficult to decide what to use and what to discard. For

students, conducting a simple search on the Internet for a particular period or person in history

yields hundreds of sites for them to access. The same is true for instructors. Being able to

discriminate between sites and evaluate which ones are appropriate for a course are skills which

come with time, practice and training. For many teachers, the first thought is to take a traditional

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classroom lesson and simply place it inside a technology template and call it online learning. But

this is not the optimum method for designing online activities.

Las Positas College (2012) created a helpful document for the development of online

courses and activities. Three sections are included: course introduction, course organization and

design, and instructional design. The first section has been covered with the two activities

already mentioned, an early activity which introduces students to some of the historical figures

they will meet throughout the course and a team style activity which sets the ground rules for

discussion and progress through the course. Course organization and design is often provided for

the instructor due to the purchase of some online program and training for the school district or

the college or university. Most institutions want all online courses to remain similar in design

and organization and this is understandable given the variety of technological backgrounds and

access for instructors and students alike. The last piece of the document deals with instructional

design, which includes an overview of the topic and specific objectives for the course and the

activities. All assignments should be designed to nurture student to instructor, student to student,

and student to content interaction. The document suggests instructors should post information in

manageable pieces, with activities using online resources, crediting them appropriately and

having available models of submissions or grading rubrics so students know exactly what is

expected of them.

For high school students, most instructors are engaged in helping them build skills they

will use later in life, especially in higher education. One skill which is needed is the ability to

evaluate Websites. With the Internet being so wide open and allowing anyone to post anything,

students must learn to be very selective in what they research and find on the Web. Considering

the wide range of information available online for the decade of the 1940’s, this particular

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timeframe is an excellent world civilizations content area. During this time period, many events

were taking place, which involved practically the entire known world. History is often written by

the victors and what has been published in textbooks is not necessarily the full truth and nothing

but the truth. Victims now have a voice online and are giving first-person accounts of what truly

happened during a period of history. It is fairly easy to find information about the World War II

era and the aftermath. What is important here is guiding students through all the available

information and teaching them what is valid and reliable and how to cite the sources correctly, a

skill which will take them far beyond the 1940’s era.

For this content-related activity, students should be divided into small groups. For a

typical class size of 30 students, the students could be grouped into five teams of six students

each. The instructor should have a discussion board or chat area ready for students to discuss and

post questions as the assignment progresses. The instructor should start the activity by posting

various Websites for students to evaluate, along with questions to answer in their group

discussion. The three areas suggested by Watkins (2005) for this activity are looking for the

quality of the information, the reliability of the information, and the usefulness of the

information. Simply put, students should be asked questions to guide them through the process

of evaluating whether or not a Website is a valid and reliable source of information. After an

appropriate period of time for evaluating, student groups will be asked to come to a consensus to

make a final determination as to whether or not the site is indeed valid and reliable and to state

their reasoning as to why or why not. Of course, the instructor should use a variety of Websites

for this activity, including some which are obviously not valid or reliable sources.

Once the student groups have come to a consensus about the posted sites, the instructor

should open the results to the entire class. Seeing what other groups have stated about certain

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sites is also a learning experience. Multiple perspectives may come into play for this activity and

the instructor should be quick to point out the differences in how students perceive certain sites

and their usefulness in research. Of course, an extension of this activity would be to have

individual students then take what they have learned about sites concentrating on the 1940’s in

world history and apply their knowledge to find a new site to evaluate according to the guidelines

and questions provided for this activity. Very quickly, the instructor should be able to utilize this

extension activity to find where certain students are having difficulty and help guide them to

become successful evaluators. Another plus to this type of activity would be leaving students

with a Webliography of sorts of valid and reliable sources about the 1940’s. Having the link to

the various sites and the reasoning behind their reliability and usefulness would be a great start

for students building a base resource for future reference.

Online courses can be much more engaging and exciting than traditional classrooms with

textbooks as the main source of information. Online activities can be interactive and actually

come alive for the student, which enhances their ability to gain and retain the knowledge of the

multitude of content in a world civilizations course. Within the scope of world history, many

students will find controversies throughout the content. Students should learn fairly quickly they

will not always agree with their classmates nor will they always agree with their teachers.

Having a lively debate in a traditional classroom setting can be interesting and stimulating, but

there is no reason the same type of activity cannot take place online. The structured

controversies activity designed by Watkins (2005) allows the learners the chance to debate

positions on topics within the course content. The ultimate goal for this activity would be for the

student to examine multiple perspectives and begin to understand the viewpoints of others in a

safe setting.

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For this activity, the instructors should split the class into small groups of two to four

students. This could be accomplished by a random draw, an assigned grouping, or even by the

learners separating themselves. For the purpose of designing a useable activity, the focus here

will be on the Crusades and two of the student groups. For each student group, the issue to be

studied would be stated as “The Crusades were motivated primarily by religious factors.”

(McGraw Hill Contemporary Learning Series, 2010). The teams would then have a period of

time to research support for their assigned positions, either pro (agree) or con (disagree). Giving

the students ample time to research is important for a debate style activity. In this case, two to

four days may be needed for the students to feel comfortable with the material.

Once the research period was completed, the teams would come together through a

discussion board, chat room or online interactive software such as TitanPad®

(http://titanpad.com/) to develop a short pro stance and a short con stance, both 1,000 words or

less. Once the initial two positions were posted, the teams would then have a chance to read and

discuss the other side’s position. Each team should then spend a day or two developing three to

five questions for the opposite group. These questions would be posted using the same method

as selected for the initial activity. Allow a few days for the teams to pull together answers to the

questions and to formulate a new response, limiting the entry to 500 words or less. Once these

responses were posted, read and discussed by the opposing team, the students would be given

one last chance to formulate any subsequent questions which have arisen, perhaps limited to one

or two, and to post a final, closing argument for their side of the debate.

The instructor, of course, could utilize this style of debate, giving students several days to

read, discuss and respond, but as time progresses within the course, successive debates could be

limited to a particular time period, having teams be prepared to answer questions and respond

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quickly just as they would in a face-to-face traditional debate. The use of online software to

conduct a real-time debate would make it easy for students to have side conversations while

formulating their responses.

Naturally, at the close of the interactive activity, the instructor would select a winner for

the debate and award grades accordingly, if desired. However, this could also be used as a

participatory grade instead of selecting a winner and a loser. The instructor should be familiar

with the students at this point in the course to make a decision at the beginning of the activity

whether or not to use it as a participatory style grade or as a winner-loser grade.

The four online activities selected for a high school world civilizations course were

chosen for specific reasons. The icebreaker activity not only gives students a chance to interact

with each other, but it also starts students thinking about the curriculum right away. Since there

is so much involved in a world civilizations course, this is an important point. As students begin

to interact with such an activity, the natural step to take next is setting the ground rules for future

discussions and interaction in the course. The second activity would allow students to have some

input as to the importance of online behavior and how some initial rules can help set the tone for

the remainder of the course.

With so much content to cover for world history and with so much information being

available online, it is crucial students begin learning how to discriminate between resources and

find those which are valid and reliable for the topic. The third activity allows the instructor to set

the stage for the evaluation of Websites and then ends with the extended activity of allowing the

students to select their own site, complete with the link, comments and appropriate citing. This is

definitely a skill students need to learn early in their educational career and will serve them well

in higher education. The last activity provides an unusual way for students to interact, using a

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basic debate as the premise. Most teachers would not readily accept a debate happening online,

but it can be very effective both if used over a period of days or if the research and preparation

takes place before the actual debate, which takes place online in real-time. Students usually

enjoy debating points of view and doing so online is just another method of bringing students a

way to interact with each other and learn something in the process. All four of these activities

were carefully reviewed and selected, keeping in mind the subject matter, the age of the students,

and the knowledge of the instructor. Even beginning online instructors can find success with

these activities with reasonable effort.

Designing online activities for students is not as easy as developing a PowerPoint®

presentation and running it through an online do not course template nor is it as easy as

transforming a paper and pencil quiz to an online format. Although these two items can be

performed fairly easily by a teacher, they are not necessarily the best way to engage online

students. The young people of today are truly members of a global society with multiple devices

at their fingertips. Online courses and instructors must tap into this world arena and utilize the

resources the best way possible to encourage and engage students with online learning. As

mentioned previously, instructors of online courses must consider the three basic areas for a

course to be successful. They must reflect thought about the course organization and design,

how the course will be introduced to the students, and most especially, how online activities will

be integrated into curriculum and instruction.

For a teacher just beginning to delve into the world of online learning, the four activities

suggested here are simple enough to implement. This was first and foremost the idea behind the

selection of the activities. Teachers want students to be successful in a course, but the teacher

first has to be successful and feel comfortable. Just as beginning teachers have to practice their

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craft with a student teaching experience, online instructors need the same practice online.

Perhaps trying these activities with colleagues in a social studies department would be a terrific

starting point for a new teacher moving into the realm of online learning. Having very little

personal experience in online learning at this point with the exception of being an online student,

it seems logical to allow the instructor time to practice the skills needed to teach online. This is

what was kept in mind as the activities were selected.

Students today are bombarded from all sides with information, some of it great and some

of it not. The main benefit students should gain from an online learning experience is being able

to complete all online activities with success, learning skills throughout the process which can be

applied to future courses, both online and in person, and to life in general. This includes the

skills of being able to discriminate between resources and evaluate them and learning how to

interact appropriately with others of differing viewpoints. No longer is the classroom limited to

the sage on the stage with students in rows and textbooks on their desks. The classroom truly is

worldwide and the students should be able to benefit from this fact.

With any assignments, there are pros and cons. Depending on the makeup of the class,

some activities will grow and evolve and be very effective, while others may be totally flat and

die. What works for one class may not work for another. The instructor has to be in tune with

the students in the course for the activities to work. With the four selected activities, the pros

have already been suggested throughout this document, however, it is important to point out any

cons, especially for beginning online instructors.

Each activity has a tendency to last longer than needed. The instructor should be on top

of time limits for the activities at all times. It might be better in the initial stages of a course to

err on the side of giving too much time for students to complete assignments. However, giving

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too much time may allow the student to procrastinate and not stay on task. Going from activity

to activity, the instructor should make adjustments accordingly as to the timeframe for the

activities.

Also, it is important for instructors to ensure a few students are not monopolizing the

conversations. Just as one or two may begin to control a face-to-face classroom, a few students

online may bully their way into controlling the online course. The instructor needs to be able to

control these students while at the same time encouraging and asking questions of those who are

not as vocal. Again, this type of skill will come with practice and time on the instructor’s part.

With online courses, instructors must be careful to monitor the students more frequently.

Instead of seeing them once a day for five days a week in person, the online student can be

available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Instructors must keep on top of the course

and the activities assigned and this may take more time than a traditional classroom. Having a

variety of activities to spread across a course will help the instructor manage time more

efficiently. For example, an instructor should not plan several debate-style activities in a row.

Not only will this be redundant and perhaps a tad boring for the student, it may weigh heavy on

the instructor to keep up with the information and the students’ progress. Having a variety of

activities spread throughout the course will help alleviate this possibility and should prove to be

much more manageable for the instructor.

Just as a traditional classroom instructor has many resources to select from to teach high

school world civilizations, an online instructor has possibly even more methods at their disposal.

Utilizing online activities which promote positive interaction among the students in the course

and provide opportunities for successful learning is important to the success of the course as a

whole. Reflecting and evaluating after each activity is the best way an instructor can continue to

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be successful in an online environment. The ultimate goal, naturally, is for the instructor and the

students to feel comfortable and be successful with all their efforts. Utilizing appropriate online

activities to enhance education is just one way to encourage success for all parties involved.

References

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Bond, C.S., Fevyer, D. & Pitt, C. (2004). Student reactions to online tools for learning to use the Internet as a study tool: Outside the comfort zone? In R. Atkinson, C. McBeath, D. Jonas-Dwyer & R. Phillips (Eds), Beyond the comfort zone: Proceedings of the 21st ASCILITE Conference (pp. 134-140). Perth, 5-8 December. http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04/procs/bond.html

Las Positas College. (2012). Best practices in designing online courses. Online Course Development Program. Retrieved July 7, 2012 from http://lpc1.clpccd.cc.ca.us/lpc/blackboard/best_practices/

McGraw Hill Contemporary Learning Series. (2010). Taking sides: Clashing views on controversial issues in world civilizations. Retrieved July 21, 2012 from http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0076667771/student_view0/world_civilizations/2e/table_of_contents.html

Oldfield, S. (2004). Online collaborative activities: The developmental dimension. Graziadio e-Learning Wiki. Retrieved July 1, 2012 from

The Kentucky Social Studies Teacher Network. (September 5, 2008). World Civilizations. Curriculum Frameworks.

TitanPad. (2010). http://titanpad.com/

Watkins, R. (2005). 75 e-learning activities: Making online learning interactive. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

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