Best Practices for Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate Programs (courtesy of NEASC)
Why is IDL’s Adaptive Blended Learning Different and Better?All of IDL’s courses are based on providing the best pedagogy which automatically adapts to the learning needs of each student.
Most course software does little more than provide an administrative framework to display course material. IDL is intimately involved with the process of learning at the individual student level.
The IDL system achieves this by the use of frequent diagnostic quizzes, which monitor each student’s progress in grasping key concepts. If a student fails a quiz he or she is automatically routed back to the material. IDL's inference engine determines if the student should be using a different learning style and then immediately re-presents the material in that different learning style. In effect this presents the material from a different perspective. This immediate feedback greatly reduces the questions that a student may have, and decreases the volume of student emails coming to the professor.
The student also sees the results of each diagnostic test, so he or she can see progress and thus becomes engaged and encouraged. No wonder that IDL has the highest completion rates of any online systems. You, as the professor, also can see extensive reports of the progress of each student.
A Of course, but we take the chat room one step further. At your option you can restrict participation in the chat room to students who have passed the appropriate quiz and are thus properly prepared for meaningful discussion.
Q. What is a concept?
A. A concept is one of the key elements which each student must master, before proceeding to the next step. Nothing is worse than having a student struggling through out the course only to fail in the final exam. With IDL the failing student is caught early, identified, and can be saved.
Q. What is a concept map?
A. A concept map shows the sequence on which these key elements must be grasped in order for the student to progress through the course. Students must pass a quiz before he or she continues.
Q. What is the source of your course material?
A. IDL employs a variety of sources. In some cases we use high quality textbooks from leading publishers and recognized authorities, in other cases we employ consultants experienced in that field, in some instances we convert courses actually being taught by a professor. The IDL process converts this material and reorganizes it so that it becomes an effective course, with different learning styles, a clearly defined map of the key concepts, diagnostic quizzes etc.
Q. Which portions of the course are online?
A. Typically the entire course is online. This allows you, the professor to decide whether a class is best taught on line or in the classroom. It allows students who have missed a classroom session to catch up online. It also allows you to schedule a discussion class knowing that all the students are prepared (have grasped the key concepts and passed the relevant quizzes)). This means that the discussion can move to a higher level and not be limited by ill prepared students.
Q. How can I minimize time spent bringing poorly prepared students up to speed?
A. IDL offers an assessment/remediation, built into all of our courses. You, the professor can arrange for a student to take an assessment version of the course, starting with the quiz rather than the course section. If the student passes the quiz he or she can then progress to the next quiz. Some students may pass all the quizzes. Others may find that they fail a quiz and are then automatically diverted to take the relevant course material. This catches students who think that they are fully prepared or are perhaps “rusty” or forgetful. The key here is that each of these students is brought up to the level for further study.
Q. What reports do I get?
A Be prepared for a pleasant surprise. We record every keystroke of the student- the quizzes taken, the results, whether the student was sent back, the results of that next quiz (each quiz is randomized). We provide a set of standard reports. But we also have a large database of information allowing you too dig deeply into the performance of individual students, to identify failing students and exactly where they are failing.
Q. What reports does the student see?
A. When a student takes a quiz, he or she immediately sees the results along with an explanation.
Q. I am currently using a CMS (such as Blackboard). How will this affect my use of the IDL system? Do I have to learn a new system?
A. IDL has experience linking with Blackboard and other CMS systems. A student can register in Blackboard, which is then linked to IDL for entry into the courses. Test results can then be relayed back to the CMS system. This means that there is no change in the CMS system itself. If your college does not have a CMS system, IDL can operate independently.
Q. What is a “Professor’s Corner”?
A. IDL provides you, as the professor, with a place on line to communicate with your students. It can alert them to a change in schedule of meeting place, or draw attention to a current event. If you already have class notes that you use, you can place them here for your student to see.Q. I presently get a lot of email, which is a nuisance to handle, and by the time the student reads my email answer he has forgotten the question. How should I handle this?
A. Most email questions arise because the student doesn’t understand a portion of the course. With IDL that student is routed back to the course section in which he failed. The IDL system is then smart enough to change to a different learning style giving the student a different way of looking at the concept. If he still doesn’t understand that concept, the system tries again with yet a different learning style. Typically each IDL course has five learning styles giving the student five ways to re-examine the concept. This dramatically increases the chance that the student will understand the concept – thereby greatly reducing the emails he will send to you.