The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction: Teaching for Engagement and Impact in Any Setting

by Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, John T. Almarode, John Hattie

Overview

First, let’s commend ourselves: how in the midst of a pandemic we faculty stepped up at record speed to teach in such a foreign learning environment. Try we did, adapt we did, and learn we did. But to be clear, and we already recognize this, this past spring was less about distance learning and more about crisis teaching.

This time around we have the opportunity to be much more purposeful and intentional, and that’s where The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction will prove absolutely indispensable.

Much more than a collection of cool tools and apps, The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction mobilizes decades of Visible Learning® research to reveal those evidence-based strategies that work best in an online environment. Supplemented by video footage and opportunities to self-assess and reflect, the book addresses every dynamic that must be in place for students to learn, even at a distance:

• Faculty-student relationships from a distance
• Teacher credibility from a distance
• Teacher clarity from a distance
• Engaging tasks from a distance
• Planning learning experiences from a distance
• Feedback, assessment, and grading from a distance
• Keeping the focus on learning, from a distance or otherwise

What does our post-COVID future hold? “We suspect,” Fisher, Frey, Almarode, and Hattie write, “it will include increased amounts of distance learning. In the meantime, let’s seize on what we have learned to improve post-secondary education in any format, whether face-to-face or from a distance.”

“We are all still active faculty members, committed to teaching, scholarship, and service. The unexpected transition to remote learning doesn’t mean we no longer know how to teach. We can still impact the lives of our students and know that we made a difference. The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction will show you how.”

~Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, John Almarode, and John Hattie

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781071838679
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	09/24/2020
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Douglas Fisher is professor and chair of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Previously, Doug was an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator. He is a credentialed English teacher and administrator in California. In 2022, he was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame by the Literacy Research Association. He has published numerous articles on reading and literacy, differentiated instruction, and curriculum design, as well as books such as The Teacher Clarity Playbook 2/e, Your Introduction to PLC+, The Illustrated Guide to Teacher Credibility, Instructional Strategies that Move Learning Forward: 30 Tools that Support Gradual Release of Responsibility, and Welcome to Teaching!

Nancy Frey is a Professor in Educational Leadership at San Diego State and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. She is a credentialed special educator, reading specialist, and administrator in California. She is a member of the International Literacy Association’s Literacy Research Panel. Her published titles include 50 Strategies for Activating Your PLC+, The Illustrated Guide to Visible Learning, Welcome to Teaching Multilingual Learners, Teaching Foundational Skills to Adolescent Readers, and RIGOR Unveiled: A Video-Enhanced Flipbook to Promote Teacher Expertise in Relationship Building, Instruction, Goals, Organization, and Relevance.

Dr. John Almarode is a bestselling author and an Associate Professor of Education at James Madison University. He was awarded the inaugural Sarah Miller Luck Endowed Professorship in 2015 and received an Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia in 2021. Before his academic career, John started as a mathematics and science teacher in Augusta County, Virginia. As an author, John has written multiple educational books focusing on science and mathematics, and he has co-created a new framework for developing, implementing, and sustaining professional learning communities called PLC+. Dr. Almarode's work has been presented to the US Congress, the Virginia Senate, and the US Department of Education.

John and his colleagues have also focused a lot of attention on the process of implementation – taking evidence-based practices and moving them from intention to implementation, potential to impact through a series of on-your-feet-guides around PLCs, Visible Learning, Visible Teaching, and the SOLO Taxonomy.

John Hattie, Ph D, is an award-winning education researcher and best-selling author with nearly thirty years of experience examining what works best in student learning and achievement. His research, better known as Visible Learning, is a culmination of nearly thirty years synthesizing more than 2,100 meta-analyses comprising more than one hundred thousand studies involving over 300 million students around the world. He has presented and keynoted in over three hundred international conferences and has received numerous recognitions for his contributions to education. His notable publications include Visible Learning, Visible Learning for Teachers, Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn; Visible Learning for Mathematics, Grades K-12; and 10 Mindframes for Visible Learning.

Table of Contents

List of Videos
Acknowledgments
Introduction
A Visible Learning® Primer
Visible Learning and Distance Learning
A Question of Equity
Module 1: Self-Care
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria
Conclusion
Module 2: The First Week of Classes
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria
Develop a Classroom Management Plan for Distance Learning
Establish Norms
Link Norms to Class Agreements
Identify Expectations for Synchronous Distance Learning
Develop and Teach Organizational and Procedural Routines
Design a Considerate Website
Your First Distance Classes
Learn Students’ Interests
Conclusion
Module 3: Faculty—Student Relationships From a Distance
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria
Characteristics of Faculty–Student Relationships
Judgment and Will, Not Just Knowledge and Ability
Peer-to-Peer Relationships Are Influenced, Too
A “Chilly” Classroom
Reaching the Hard to Teach
Increase Your Touchpoints With All Students
Conclusion
Module 4: Teacher Credibility at a Distance
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria
Teacher Credibility Defined
Conclusion
Module 5: Teacher Clarity at a Distance
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria
Start With the Standards and Competencies
Create a Flow of Learning: Planning for Class
Create Learning Intentions
Identify Success Criteria
Find the Relevance
Conclusion
Module 6: Engaging Tasks at a Distance
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria
Think Functions of Engagement, Not Just Tools
Set the Conditions for Engagement and Learning
Select the Tools That Meet These Functions and Conditions
Design Tasks With Engagement in Mind
Design a Considerate Schedule to Promote Engagement
Conclusion
Module 7: Planning Learning Experiences at a Distance
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria
Demonstrating
Collaborating
Coaching and Facilitating
Practicing
Conclusion
Module 8: Feedback, Assessment, and Grading
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria
Feedback to Students
The Socioemotional Links to Feedback
Feedback at a Distance
Formative Evaluation
Summative Evaluations
Competency-Based Grading
Conclusion
Module 9: Keeping the Focus on Learning, Distance or Otherwise
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria
Learning From Other Crises
Use Crisis Learning to Make Colleges and Universities Better
Make Learning Better for Students
Make Learning Better for Teachers
Conclusion
Appendix
References
Index
About the Authors

Editorial Reviews

The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction is a very useful guide to helping educators make the transition from onsite to online teaching. The highly respected authors skillfully demonstrate how teachers can apply evidence-based practices from more traditional learning environments to a rapidly evolving world of online learning. The result is a wonderful self-guided tour of extraordinary opportunities to close the distance for learners.

David W. Andrews

The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction offers an innovative learner-centered approach to student achievement where self-care, social emotional learning, instructional clarity, and responsive leadership strategies converge to support faculty in facilitating learner experiences that continue to transition students from ‘passenger to active driver’ in all learning environments, including distance education.

Robert N. Corley III

This is an amazing book. While it is designed to build everyone’s capacity to teach in distance learning environments, it is truly a primer on effective teaching in postsecondary education. Educators who utilize these clear and practical suggestions will see their students achieve stronger learning outcomes. The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction should be a cornerstone of faculty professional development efforts.

Joseph F. Johnson Jr.

These authors once again exceed expectations with this thought-provoking and very practical guide to distance learning. The timing could not be better. Higher education faculty and administrators will find it extremely useful–including a much-needed chapter on self-care, a topic often overlooked in the literature. The pointers on engaging and assessing students are particularly helpful, and the learning intentions and success criteria make this an indispensable resource for new and veteran online instructors alike.

James P. Frazee

The Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction by Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, John Almarode, and John Hattie is a timely and necessary addition to every faculty’s library. The authors’ considerate and experiential approach to distance learning provides a well-researched foundation, authentic vignettes of instructors’ experiences, easily accessible video and web links, and helpful techniques that can be used among most disciplines. Impressively, they envisage the distance learning environment beginning with the instructor and as an active, dynamic, and engaging space for learning and teaching.

Arlette Willis