Readings
Articles about the Electronic Village Online
- What is the EVO? (a brief description of the EVO by founding coordinator Elizabeth Hanson-Smith)
- How EVO Differs (what is crucial to understand about the difference between the EVO and distance learning courses)
- Professional Development: The Electronic Village Online of the TESOL CALL Interest Section (a 2004 article by founding coordinators Elizabeth Hanson-Smith and Christine Bauer-Ramazani. Although it's a bit dated, there is much that still holds true.)
- EVO as Professional Development by Aiden Yeh et al. (a more recent description of the 2010 EVO sessions)
- Tips on Moderating Sessions (a collection of tips and strategies culled from EVO Moderator discussions over the years)
- Working with Groups in Online Settings (based on discussions with Buthaina al-Othman, a long-time colleague and trusted EVO moderator)
Articles about online teaching and learning in general
- Netiquette - (a basic guide to polite online discussion group behavior. We recommend that you ask your participants to read this and take the self-test early in the session. It can also help you justify ejecting a participant who proves to be a problem in your group interactions. Be sure to take the self-test yourself!)
- Comparing xMOOCs and cMOOCs: Philosophy and Practice by Tony Bates (2014) (also available as Variations of MOOC Designs, Chapter 5.3 in Bates' open textbook, Teaching in a Digital Age, 2015) (The first Massive Open Online Course was offered in 2008 by Downes, Siemens, and Cormier of the University of Manitoba, and Coursera began offering its MOOCs in 2011. Are EVO sessions MOOCs? And if so, what kind of MOOCs are they?)
- Stave Off These Seven Pitfalls of Distance Learning (originally at http://www.astd.org/LC/2000/0400_sheinberg.htm)
- Catch up Strategies in Online Courses (Advice on what to do when you are lost or left behind in e-learning?)
- Adult Learning Theory and Principles (a set of assumptions about how adults learn, written for occupational therapists)
- Five rules that can build effective training objectives and plans by Thomas L. Patterson and Rodney E. Rohde 2011 (can be helpful in planning your syllabus, but don't forget How EVO Differs!)
- The Role of the Online Instructor/Facilitator by Zane L. Berge (updated 2011). (Beware: this article contains quite a few proof-reading errors. Says EVO2016 Moderator Paul Keyworth: "This article may be two decades old, but the breakdown of the moderator's role into pedagogical, social, managerial, and technical responsibilities is still really useful and relevant." )
Articles about engaging participants in online learning
- Be an Active and Participative Instructor by Jennifer Hofmann (about the importance of the instructor's role in getting participants out of social isolation)
- 18 Ways to Engage Online Users (pdf) by Angela Connor (“One of the most important aspects of a community manager’s job is cultivating a relationship with users.")
- Overcoming Problems in Creating_Online Communities by Elizabeth Hanson-Smith (2008) (a brief outline , based on discussions in the Webheads in Action community)
- Guidelines_for_Establishing Interactivity_in_Online_Courses.pdf by Mark Mabrito (this article applies mainly to credit-based courses, but you may glean a few tips)
- Chico State Rubric for Online Courses (pdf) (This resource needs to be adapted to EVO, of course, but it gives a good idea of how to make an online course work)
- Strengths and Weaknesses of MOOCs: Persistence and Commitment. Scroll down to Section 5.4.4 to see achievement rates for xMOOCs offered by Coursera and EdX (in Tony Bates' open textbook Teaching in a Digital Age, 2015) If you are feeling discouraged about your participants' activity level or continued participation, take a look at these numbers to see the number of people who actually complete MOOCs offered by EdX and Coursera.
Other resources
Graphics
- A Summary of Moderator-Participant Roles - A simple graphic illustrates the roles that are taken in online learning
- CAST: Universal Design for Learning Guidelines
Slide Shows
- (a slideshow about EVO 2012, prepared by former Coordination Team member Sandra Rogers)
Recordings
- Virtual Panel Discussion "EVO's Global Training Camp" - A one-hour recording (video and audio with whiteboard and chat) by a panel of EVO Moderators, talking about their experiences, April 22, 2010. (Requires a quick Adobe Acrobat Connect download.)
Videos
- Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain Explained by ITC Publications (2013) (A simple, clear explanation with examples of tools relevant to each level of thinking. Thanks to Hazel Workman for this link!)
Rubrics
- Course Evaluation Rubric (Test your session syllabus against this rubric, but remember that it was written with courses, not EVO sessions, in mind.)
Miscellaneous
- EVO Previous Sessions (Explore the session pages of past EVOs to see what were earlier sessions like.)
- YAHOO HELP FILES (EVO-specific help for Yahoo Groups)
- Example of a FAQ page - This is something you might want to include in your own wiki (from Blogging4Educators (EVO 2008)
- Tutorials and Stuff has links to the tools we use in EVO, including video tutorials.
TESOL's Electronic Village Online is a project of CALL Interest Section
last updated 01 December 2014, by E. Hanson-Smith