Distance Learning
Things Learned Teaching Online Mathematics
Courses
Mike O’Lear, Adjunct
My Experience
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Taught online (2001-2005) at Great Falls
COT
Introductory Algebra (MA 005)
Business Math—most success
Intermediate Algebra (MA 100)
Statistics (MA 241)—least success
My Experience
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Used WebCT—initially poor environment for
mathematics
No MathType
No coordination with symbolic algebra
software (Maple, Mathematica, etc.)
Clutsy way to make HTML files—had to use
Netscape Composer to do HTML
Experience
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Until WebCT got better, used Pearson Course
Compass MyMathLab as the virtual
environment
1 year later, WebCT got upgraded--sufficient
as a mathematical classroom
Now (2009), BlackBoard seems very
adequate to support the classes I taught—
Cindy L. presently uses it in STAT 216
Experience
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Took a 3 credit class from MSU Bozeman on
teaching math distance classes
Had various seminars on distance learning
Had seminar from U of IIlinois professors
teaching online Calculus successfully for 10
years
Experience
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Tutored online Statistics student from U of
Phoenix—they don’t have online math
courses figured out yet, either
Tutored multiple online MA 117 students this
past spring and summer from Missoula
COT—there are assessment dangers of taking
online quizzes and tests
What I Learned From Experience
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It seemed that GFCOT was beta testers for
MSU Bozeman for online math (and other)
courses
Possibly UM could use UMCOT for same
investigation
The future is certain for all academic postsecondary institutions—online will be
implemented
Administrators Like Online Courses
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Cost savings due to virtual vs actual classroom
Larger acceptable student/teacher ratio with online
offerings
Remotely stationed, possibly cheaper, less
“educated” teachers available for online offerings
Larger geographical area for students—I had a
student in the Philippines in my Stat class
Administrators Like Online Classes
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Monitoring of classes can more easily and
more covertly be done if they are online
Book publishers and special interests are
successfully lobbying Administrators pitching
their claims of online possibility and
success—mathematics/science is rarely
mentioned in these discussions, however
Students (Mostly) Like Online Class
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Cost savings—don’t have to drive and dress
for class, don’t have to get a baby sitter
Convenience—don’t have to alter job
schedules to match school schedules, can
have “class” 24-7
Any location (including during vacation trips,
hospital stays, etc.) can be used to “attend
class”
Students (Mostly) Like Online Class
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You can have extra “help” next to you during
online homework, quizzes, and tests, which
you would not have face-to-face (FTF)
Grading is “easier” in online equivalent to
FTF math courses
Some Math Teachers Like Online
Course Options
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Fewer math/science teachers than, say,
History, English, Education, Psychology, etc.
teachers, however
All of us (Mathematics teachers) must resign
ourselves to the inevitability of the movement
reaching us—like subdivisions “coming to
Bozeman ranch/farm property” in the early
’70’s—prepare for it, don’t fight it
Some Concepts of Teaching Online
Learned
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I “morph” from a teacher into more of a
facilitator when going online with class
I must inventory “what works” for me in the
classroom and find equivalencies online
--PowerPoints and video lectures are NOT
panaceas to equivalencies
--video conferencing is too expensive and
inconvenient, for either school or students
Some Concepts of Teaching Online
Learned
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Resign yourself to some percentage of “failure” the
first time(s) you present online course—supervisors
should realize this, I hope, rather than expect
“instantaneous perfection”
--realize that students (and you) are beta-testers
--you will be more open to constructive changes
(changes which are effective)
--you will get better quicker in your course
Some Concepts of Teaching Online
Learned
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Do offering hybrid and then morph into full online
later, if possible
--what you can’t find equivalents to online, then
keep them FTF
--I had phone “office hours” as well as chat lines (for
slow typers, who couldn’t join conversations)
--I set up tutoring centers in Bozeman, Missoula, and
Billings (as well as in Great Falls) for FTF help
Some Concepts of Teaching Online
Learned
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Important assessments should be done FTF
--I had all midterms done in a proctored “test
center”, with finished exams immediately sent
to me for grading—I did homework and some
quizzes online, however
Encourage “geographical clusters” of students
to form study groups with extra credit
Some Concepts of Teaching Online
Learned
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Mandate a campus computer room visit
(before the semester starts) for a 1 hour
visitation with you
--so you can “size each other up”
--so class expectations can be imparted FTF
--so students can have a guided “surf” of your
class web site
--so students can meet (group) with each other
Some Concepts of Teaching Online
Learned
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Not all students are “suitable” for online classes
--the most organized do best online (notice I did not
say the smartest)
--the more self-teachers and self-sufficient (rarely
found) do the best
--must be technically “literate” and have dependable,
middle aged computer (at least), and access to
backup
--must have a friend who is a computer geek to help
with problems
Some Concepts of Teaching Online
Learned
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Use course email for ALL class business—
don’t respond to students who contact you on
other email accounts
This will keep the complete class records
(gradebook, email, class documents, etc.) at
one electronic location—true even for hybrid
classes
Some Concepts of Teaching Online
Learned
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The most successful online math offerings are
those with high volume of algorithmic content
--Business Math
--(some) 100 and 200 level offerings
--I used Workshop Stats book best in online
but still ended up with poor results
Some Concepts of Teaching Online
Learned
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You will spend more time preparing for the
course (the first few times) longer than it is
worthwhile to do, or more than you are paid
to do
If possible, have parallel FTF and online
sections for students to enter
If I have paper grader, have him/her post
online documents, post grades, do chat lines,
fix technical problems, make phone calls, etc.
Learned Online Teaching Concepts
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The text I use online may be quite different
than that used FTF for the same class
--FTF I used Velleman 2nd Ed Statistics for
STAT 216
--online I used Workshop Stats, 1st Ed for
STAT 216
--I used Velleman once online, and it was a
disaster—better, somewhat, with Workshop
U of Illinois Experience
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Came to MSUGF and put on a day long
seminar in 2003?
Had completely online pre-calc., calc. 1 and
2, and was going to do lin. alg. next—
successfully!!
Course designers were 2 math professors and
2 or 3 high school teachers from the area—
needed online for corn farmers in the
Champagne-Urbana area
U of Illinois
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They had Mathematica demos and homework
weaved throughout the curricula—online
student connection to Mathematica
They had TA’s man phones on multiple office
hours and email answers to questions and do
class “bookwork” online.
They authored their own text, made it
available online through passwords of Adobe
.pdf documents
U of Illinois
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They had “study centers” at remote locations around
Illinois, and places on main campus for online
students to study or get tutored
They had online homework, interactive kinds of
work, group work, problem solving threads, etc., all
online—and it was effective for students!!
At the seminar, they gave us a “thought problem”,
which I solved with Sketchpad on their Mac laptop
I recommend they come here and give seminar on
mathematical online offering successes
Dangers of Math. Online Offerings
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Do all major assessment FTF, not online
--avoids cheating
--maintains uniformity of assessment
Do homework, minor quizzes, group work/
proposals/results online
--automatic feedback nice
--automatic grading nice
Online Math. Dangers
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Multiple choice answers can be teaching wrong
mathematical objectives or “bad math”—so review
EVERY TestGen question you will post online, for
correctness of math. and correctness of assessment
probe (make sure the question “does what you want
it to do for students”)
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--rounding problem questions—all right or all wrong
teaches students to get the right answer instead of learning
any math. concepts
Online Math. “Dangers”
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Don’t publish long winded documents or
announcements online. Students (even the
good ones) will pay attention to between half
a page to one page of written information or
instructions—the rest will be glossed over or
misinterpreted, or just not read! Say things
online “short, sweet, and clear”
Summary
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3 kinds of teaching attitudes about online (from
Chronicle of Higher Ed paper)
[1] opponents—FTF teaching, in the classical
tradition is the only way to go—fight online
movements to the “bitter end”
[2] pragmatic opponents—online will be done, but
is second-best alternative←I am this
[3] full blown supporters of online— “Intellectually
equivalent of FTF courses”←author was this
Summary
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I think online will work good enough for students
and our standards if the teacher puts much thought
into how to accomplish the same goals as in FTF
What cannot be done online must be retained as in
FTF (e.g., tests, tutoring, working in groups, etc.)
I had to do much on my own—mathematics is not
considered in much of the “how to teach online”
training
Summary
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Blackboard is an acceptable and adequate
electronic classroom environment (now) to
handle most mathematics classes—not so just
a few years ago.
Possibly run “beta” programs, using COT
personnel and course offerings, and
supervise/monitor student learning with your
own personnel
Summary
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If possible, start with hybrid (and maybe stay
hybrid), adding elements a bit at a time as you
feel secure to do so
If possible, offer FTF and online course at the
same time (i.e., same semester), and compare
learning outcomes