Virtual Outworlding: 2020 #VWEDU: #DTA: A learning place with a DTA can handle asynchronous study, but should it? I thought yes, but a teacher told me why I was wrong.

Friday, July 3, 2020

2020 #VWEDU: #DTA: A learning place with a DTA can handle asynchronous study, but should it? I thought yes, but a teacher told me why I was wrong.

A learning place with a DTA can handle asynchronous study,
but should it? I thought, yes.
but a teacher told me why I was wrong.

Students have their own circadian rhythms that may not match those of the school. They have always had flexibility in scheduling homework. Online learning could allow more flexibility, especially when a digital teaching assistant (DTA) is available to help. And busy teachers do not need to be spending time with students who do not need help. When can students study with only the aid of a DTA?

The Empty Classroom

Studying on their own schedule

Asynchronous work by students

Asynchronous study
Group learning
Either of these could be done with a mentor present or not.
Strictly asynchronous study would mean solo study.
A DTA could support that.
Knowledge-based learning teaches study skills. That is learning how to "learn." The DTA can coach study skills.
Learning the vocabulary with gamification and AI. Intelligent environment for routine instruction.
Learning the vocabulary with gamification and AI. Intelligent environment for routine instruction.
The Digital Teaching Assistant (DTA) for MUVES (virtual worlds): Summary
But the skills of social interaction cannot be practiced alone.
Nor can the skills of functioning in a work group.
And what if the students need help from the teacher?
Here I try to sort things out more neatly.
Synchronous and asynchronous learning

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Don't confuse study with credentialing

Credentialing is any assessment that contributes to passing a course.
The objective is not learning but evaluation
This discussion is about activities aimed at learning.

What study can be asynchronous?

A lot of study used to be done from books.
That was almost always asynchronous.
Any study that is entirely reading can surely be asynchronous.

But there is an if...

Reading online is not familiar to all students.
And accessing online text can sometimes have problems.
The students may need help.
Until they are past the early stages of digital literacy..
So beginners may need to select study times when help is available.
For the Beginner level, the teacher might want to be available.
For the Novice level, the time options might include times when any help is available.
Perhaps when they reach the Apprentice level of digital literacy, they could be expected to handle digital problems on their own.
Note that this plan would create an incentive to work on advancing.

Suppose the study is active.

Back then we had text books.
They often had thought questions at the end of the chapter.
Questions would have caused active learning if students bothered to read them.
A computer can be more assertive than a book.
It can pose challenges that make the student use the information.
And it can record the performance of each student for later review by the teacher.
Such challenges give prompt feedback to the student about study skills.
They also give indirect hints to the student about what to pay attention to.
And they can give formative assessment information to the teacher.
And more:
The Digital Teaching Assistant can encourage practice in metacognition. Thinking about thinking for learning about learning.
4 Digital Textbooks that Promote Experiential and Inquiry-based Learning in Class

Choice could recognize achievement

For students who are doing good work

Group learning

Some synchrony here, but it could be more flexible than a class schedule.
Groups in high school probably need a little supervision and available help.
That could be more like study hall than like a class.
The Group Teacher might be someone skilled in online group functioning.
So they might meet any time when the Group Teacher is available.
The Digital Teaching Assistant (DTA) could provide help for group function.
Agenda training for a project meeting by a self-managed group. Learning to plan in a group
Action-item practice for group meetings in project based learning. Effective meetings don't just happen, they are planned.
Project-based learning with work-groups: Not just the content: project skills, team skills, self-confidence

But tests have to be synchronous

That's to prevent cheating, of course.
That is why teachers make up new tests every semester.
And those teachers who really do that have a good case for synchrony.
The rest are just kidding themselves.
But let's distinguish among objectives:
Formative assessment:
The objective is to improve the student's learning.
Summative assessment:
The objective is to establish academic credentials
Credential (Wikipedia)

Formative assessment: The computer advantage

The computer can ask questions or assign tasks.
It can be available to students 24/7
It can draw a random selection of test items from a database.
It can give a different set of items to each student.
(What happened to that argument for synchrony?)
If the items are designed for computer evaluation it can give prompt feedback.

Formative assessment: Cheating problems?

The objective is to improve the student's learning.
Cheating would defeat that objective.
Who loses? The student has to face summative assessment later.
But suppose the student is working at home.
What will keep them from Googling the answer?
Let them, but count time to respond.
If they take a long time, the feedback can add that other students are much faster/
Then be sure they have to answer that question again.

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