Designing Online coursework in the Age of Social Distancing

Today marks the second day of what has been novelty coined as 'Social Distancing.' In the United States we are in semi-quarantine, mandated somewhat by the various states of emergency but for the most part voluntarily enforced. I suppose you could really go out and get a pint if you really wanted to, but do you really want to in a time like this...? The answer is yes, I really do. BUT! - in the interest of the public at large, I will refrain and enjoy my pint at home, thank you very much. 

Usually Sunday's are my busy teaching day with Breakthrough running six sessions of classes between 10 am - 6 pm. We announced a postponement of classes Friday and will reevaluate the situation as the weeks go by. A lot of things are probably going to change because of the Wuhan.

Businesswise, I think it's reasonable to expect a 'new normal' as a result of what's happening to the economy... survival of the fittest, or most well equipped to deal with the sudden change in social ergo economic behaviors. Last recession, many businesses did not rehire at a rate commiserate with their economic recovery as they realized they could be equally or more efficient with less bloat on salary. Something similar is probably going to shake out when this is all said and done.

In terms of my business, one 'bold prediction' I'll make is that this looming economic downturn will catalyze the adoption and popularity of online classes. That all said, creating online coursework has been on one of Breakthrough's 'To-Do' lists for quite a while. Might as well use the time I would otherwise be spending at school teaching designing, and doing it with you, my loyal blog audience! Anyway~~
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Models

The first thing I do when designing something is look at what's already out there in the current market, who does what well, and what can be improved. Here's what I'm looking at as models for our own curriculum:

International Writing Program: MOOC Packs

Did you know that MOOC stands for 'massive open online course'? I did not until I visited this site! I am all for sharing resources and free education... hence this blog. I am also all about making money off of education... hence my school. Here's to hoping for much more of both in 2020! Anyway... back to analysis.

So, I really like how each class is broken down in the IWP program. Each MOOC-PACK (module) contains five sessions, further broken down into four segments per lesson:

1. Readings. These are themed around the lesson, which is introduced in a short 2-3 page (let's say 500 word) introduction. That PDF contains links to three works - one primary (longer, and the centerpiece of the lesson), and two more supplementary pieces. This is designed as a college level course, so the reading load is quite heavy. Just at a glance I'd estimate between 40-60 pages total for each lesson's worth of reading.
2. Discussion Questions. These are robust, paragraph long multi-pronged open ended questions designed to provoke and guide thought within the lesson. Students are asked to informally 'address' the questions but are not given a written assignment corresponding to the question... ie, they don't have to write their answers down. That's probably a good thing, as if you were to really think deep about these questions you could hammer out an entire paper's worth of material. 
3. Podcast and Craft Talk. The 'lecture' portion of the class is broken down into two: a Q&A with a noted work relating to the topic of the lesson, as well as a more traditional lecture styled as a 'Craft Talk' from the educator to the student. The two prong approach is interesting. In my own teaching experience, Q&A's are very stimulating to students as the format engenders both authority (this person must be important!), casualness (hey it's just questions - not too serious). Notably, both lecture portions total no more than 45 minutes with the craft talk falling around the fifteen minute mark. 
4. Writing Assignments. The 'homework' portion of the lecture consists of a selection of writing prompts for the student to engage in. It does not give primacy for one over the other and instead implicitly asks the student which one most inspires them. I think this tactic works for a creative writing class especially as different authors will have different needs regarding their own work. It's also clearly designed for a mature adult student as I think when you're teaching to primary or secondary school students you have to assume lowest common denominator / effort a little bit. The questions are again multi paragraphed and designed to prompt deep thought just as much as they are designed to be jumping off points. There's also a Peer Response Question that encourages and directs feedback from fellow students.
   

A couple of random thoughts post-analysis of the IWP model:
Engagement

• This has to be the primary design concern for online classes. I mean, how do you ensure that students actually do the work? In the case of IWP, since these are free classes, they really don't. However, in an effort to stimulate engagement (and dare I say it - learning!), the questions they provide are deep, robust, and thought provoking. They're trying to lead you to the water of duality (in the case of the 'Fake News' module I have opened), but that's a lofty task. 
• I can see classes for a lower level of students foregoing the questions in lieu of more groundwork - short answers, multiple choice, that type of thing. Easy to grade, easy to make sure students are 'engaged' because they have to do and turn in the work to get the grade. Those are the online classes I hated the most though - the ones that felt like a bunch of busywork strung together. Ugh. 
  

Comprehensive Orthodoxy.  

• At the end of the day we're looking at Reading, Critical Thinking (Questions), Lecture, and Writing. That's pretty much the bread and butter of all learning, right? So IWP isn't reinventing the wheel there.
• I do love, however, how well laid out everything is. Here is what you are going to learn. Here are the lessons you need to learn it. Here are the sections for each lesson. Here is what each section contains. The taxonomy (one of my favorite words, shout out Mrs. Swift for introducing me to John Gray) is laid out so clearly for the student. They know exactly what to expect just at a glance. Nice. 

MasterClass

So, a little bit of background: I asked for a copy of Aaron Sorkin's Screenwriting Master Class for Christmas back in... 2017, I want to say? My sister got it for me, bless her soul, and ... I stopped on lesson 7/35 - the one titled "Writing Habits.' I know I know. Ze Irony is Delicions. Before I get into why I wasn't engaged let's get to the break down! 

• Twenty Four Lessons, each around 15 minutes in length. Format is the master craftsmen (Aaron Sorkin) talking directly into the camera kind of off the cuff. Seems like it was all shot over the course of a day or two, with high production values. Two camera setup with one on sticks (tripod) shooting straight ahead and another floater camera getting a little closer and moving around. 
• Corresponding Workbook PDF for each lesson, which are disappointingly each about 1 page each, about a three hundred word recap of the lesson. Another 2-3 "taking it further" follow up assignments and 1-2 assignments, which sometimes aren't even really assignments. For instance, the Story Ideas assignments basically amount to: okay, go write now! -_-
• Recorded Workshop Class broken down into 8 sessions, around 8-15 minutes each. So about an hourlong workshop class. This content I actually really like as I think Sorkin is great in the back and forth with students but by himself his train of thought is all over the place. 
• Social Media Component on the page of lesson. A wall where other users can post anything... ostensibly related to the lesson. 

And some takeaways...

• As you can probably tell, I didn't really like this Master Class and didn't think it was really worth it. Part of it I think is that Aaron Sorkin, as much as I admire him as a writer, is not a great teacher. He admits as much in the first lesson, but he stutters quite a bit, his train of thought is hard to follow, and a lot of what he goes over is kind of basic writing 101 stuff. 
• That said, I did like the portion where he interacted with students. He becomes a lot more personable with others in the room and it's great seeing the back and forth that occurs in a 'mock' writing room.
• The supporting materials for this online class are also kind of meh. It seems like the focus was on high production values and killer craftsmen instructors, but not on the actual curriculum therein. Everything focuses on the video and you can strip out all the other components - the notes, assignments, social media - and it would not make that much of a difference.
• How important is a video lecture component for an online class? Can you get away with just an audio podcast style? How much of the video should be scripted versus off the cuff? Things to think about...

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That's a lot of words! I'm going to check out some more classes like MIT Open Courses and whatever else is online and free. If you have any recommendations or thoughts, let me know in the space below! 

- Ray 

(PS I don't know how to get rid of the bullet point at the bottom of this).