ICODL 2015 presenter manuscripts

ΔΙΕΘΝΕΣ ΣΥΝΕΔΡΙΟ ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΑΝΟΙΚΤΗ & ΕΞ ΑΠΟΣΤΑΣΕΩΣ ΕΚΠΑΙΔΕΥΣΗ

Τομ. 8, 2015

The implementation of Flex methodology in a language class and the use of the Community of inquiry (CoI) framework Fyrigou Antonia

American Community Schools (ACS) of Athens, Greece

Copyright © 2015 ΔΙΕΘΝΕΣ ΣΥΝΕΔΡΙΟ ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΑΝΟΙΚΤΗ & ΕΞ ΑΠΟΣΤΑΣΕΩΣ ΕΚΠΑΙΔΕΥΣΗ

To cite this article: Fyrigou (2015). The implementation of Flex methodology in a language class and the use of the Community of inquiry (CoI) framework. ΔΙΕΘΝΕΣ ΣΥΝΕΔΡΙΟ ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΑΝΟΙΚΤΗ & ΕΞ ΑΠΟΣΤΑΣΕΩΣ ΕΚΠΑΙΔΕΥΣΗ, 8, .

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The implementation of Flex methodology in a language class and the use of the Community of inquiry (CoI) framework

Antonia Fyrigou, Ph.D. American Community Schools (ACS) of Athens, Greece Language Teacher Coordinator of Languages Department firigout@acs.gr

Abstract In this paper, I will share and discuss my involvement with the i2Flex in the two past academic years following the educational needs of the new generation students. First, I will describe how I went about my first encounter with i2Flex in the IB French class as a member of the pilot i2Flex faculty at ACS Athens, namely: a) I will present the instructional (re-) design of my Moodle class to reflect the new teaching methodology, and b) I will explain the need to evaluate this pilot year via an appropriate framework. Then, I will move on, describing my class in the second year, from how i2Flex was at this point implemented to how it was evaluated and what data was collected from the students. Finally, my goal is to share under the umbrella of best practices how meaningful and efficient the i2Flex is, taking in consideration the new role of the teacher in and out of class and the student’s unique potential. This experience is a new powerful learning process for both sides, since teacher and students are on the same boat with a unique goal to achieve the best quality of learning.

Key-words: i2Flex, Community of Inquiry, Blended Learning, International Baccalaureate, Second Language Teaching, Instructional Design Περίληψη Σε αυτό τό κείμενο, πρόκειται να προβάλλω και να συζητήσω την ενασχόληση μου με το i2Flex κατά την διάρκεια των δυο τελευταίων ακαδημαϊκών ετών, ακλουθώντας τις ανάγκες των μαθητών της καινούργιας γενιάς. Αρχικά, θα περιγράψω πως ξεκίνησα να ασχοληθώ με το i2Flex στην τάξη του IB French, σαν μέλος του πιλοτικού προγράμματος του ACS Athens, συγκεκριμένα α/θα παρουσιάσω τον επανασχεδιασμό της ηλεκτρονικής πλατφόρμας moodle, έτσι ώστε αυτή να αντανακλά την καινούργια μεθοδολογία και β/θα εξηγήσω την ανάγκη για αξιολόγηση, όλης της δουλειάς αυτής, μέσα από ένα κατάλληλο πλαίσιο . Στη συνέχεια, θα περιγράψω τη τάξη μου κατά τη διάρκεια της δεύτερης χρονιάς από το πώς το i2Flex εφαρμόστηκε, στο πως αυτό, αξιολογήθηκε και τι είδος στοιχείων συλλεχτήκαν από τούς μαθητές. Τέλος ο στόχος μου είναι να μοιραστώ κάτω από το πρίσμα των καλλίτερων πρακτικών πόσο σημαντική και αποτελεσματική είναι αυτή η μεθοδολογία λαμβάνοντας υπόψη το νέο ρόλο του καθηγητή μέσα και έξω από την τάξη και τις ιδιαίτερες ικανότητες του μαθητή. Αυτή η εμπειρία είναι μια καινούργια δυναμική μαθησιακή εμπειρία και για τις δυο πλευρές , αφού ο καθηγητής και οι μαθητές είναι στο ίδιο καράβι με το μοναδικό στόχο να κατακτήσουν την άριστη ποιότητα μάθησης.

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Λέξεις-κλειδιά: i2Flex, Community of Inquiry, Instructional Design, μικτή/υβριδική εκπαίδευση, διδασκαλία ξένων γλωσσών, διεθνές μπακαλορεά 1. Introduction and Overview 1.1. ACS Athens and 21st Century Education When Albert Einstein said: “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination” he could probably not predict that the 21st century’s learning would be so much related with imagination and creativity, where, creativity would be the center of the world. At ACS Athens, according to our philosophy, we challenge our students to use their unique potential and create their own learning. Having that in mind and at the same time, realizing that in our days we have a new model of learners who prefer hyperlinked information, and enjoy working in teams collaborating, sharing and exchanging ideas, we understand that the teacher gets a more demanding role, as she needs to prepare students not only for their university studies but also for the future as global citizen. Therefore, a lifelong learner teacher, who wants to have a proactive role, needs to take the risk and try innovative methods of teaching and learning. When last year, we had been exposed to the Flex methodology, I could not imagine that this methodology would change so drastically the entire learning concept and my teaching philosophy. For someone who didn’t have the chance to get exposed to this fruitful methodology, the definition of Flex is clear if we have in mind that the first i stands for independent student learning, the second I stands for inquiry based student learning and by Flex we mean a face-to-face, flexible, guided student learning supported by technology My own Flex experience is based on my French IB class during the last 2 years that I implement this innovative methodology. Even though I teach French IB 16 consecutive years this new approach of teaching and learning, inspired me to move further and investigate in depth students’ satisfaction via the CoI (2000) Community of Inquiry framework. In particular, in the 2nd year, this investigation became the focus of my own Action Research project in order to explore the effects of the Flex in my French IB class.

Essentially, the CoI (2000), assisted me to look at the Flex elements which improve learning in a multi level language class and to see how students perceive the implementation of this innovative methodology. The CoI (2000) helped me to research in depth the advantages and the shift in teaching and learning by recording results from the CoI (2000) survey, teacher’s journal, and students’ work. My own observations in class and reflections also were taken in consideration.

Students already knew from the previous year, about the Flex and since it’s an IB class, I was lucky to work with them for a second year using the CoI (2000) to make the connection with the Flex methodology and get a clearer picture of the educational experience. My action research focus and inquiry was to explore if students get more engaged, become independent and active learners, and perhaps achieve an overall higher academic performance.

2. Literature review Talking about blended learning, we have in our mind a “formal education program” where the learner is doing a part of his work online and another part face to face (www.teachthought.com).

This kind of teaching and learning is a new experience for those who have been educated a long time ago, this new approach is creating a new experience and gives a different direction (www.teachthought.com). A thoughtful educator could always doubt on which is the best SECTION B: applications, experiences, good practices, descriptions and outlines, educational activities, issues for dialog and discussion 2

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percentage of digital and online learning, or which is the best place to meet for the face to face time, or how much online instructional time should we use. Nonstop questions about blended learning and a long path to follow, but the most important is not the theoretical framework but the fact that blended learning is the answer to today’s requirements for global citizen.

2.1. Flex and blended learning Connected with blended learning, the Flex methodology incorporates an integrated use of technology that enhances content, and it is a carefully selected and interesting application to a specific unit of study. From the very first moment that a teacher gets to know the i2Flex, she understands that this innovative methodology has the following characteristics: i2 = i x i, where the first i stands for independent student learning, utilizing different online reading books and other reliable sources, the second one for inquiry-based student learning, where the faculty checks the student’s findings and sends back guidance which allows the student to improve the quality of the assignment and continue in the right direction and the final step, the face-to-face, flexible part , where students and faculty meet face to face (e.g. in the classroom, in a museum, during a fieldtrip or anywhere else) and the assignment is completed. This is the moment that the following are taking place: The teacher knows in advance whether the student understood the topic in depth, and the quality of the work done.

2.2. CoI and Flex After the first year of the Flex implementation, where everything was new for both sides, and feeling excited about this refreshing methodology, I decided to move on to the next step and evaluate the experience via an appropriate framework. It was then that I was introduced to the Community of Inquiry (CoI, 2000) framework. The evaluation of the implementation of the Flex could not take place if we didn’t have the possibility to use the Community of Inquiry framework which is coming as a gift to let us evaluate the educational experience with the use of this innovative methodology. For all intents and purposes, this educational tool assists all of us who have already experienced the Flex approach, to better understand how the students perceive the educational experience and of course gives answers and solutions to different areas.

It was necessary to modify the original CoI (2000) framework in order this, to meet the real conditions of the Flex implementation. The initiation of the CoI (2000) framework is significant not only because we can get important info about the cognitive presence and see exactly how topics and material increase students interest, but also because we can collect data on how course activities pick students’ curiosity. At the same time it’s easy to estimate students’ feel motivation, utilizing a variety of material to explore problems posed in the relevant course.

3. i2 Flex in the IB French class 3.1. Introduction In this section, I will present my involvement with i2 Flex in the past two school years. But before that, it is important to describe my class which included, for both years, two different levels of French IB students, 11 and 12 graders. First, I will describe how I went about my first encounter with i2Flex in the IB French class as a member of the pilot i2Flex faculty at ACS Athens, namely: a) the instructional (re-) design of my Moodle shell to reflect the new teaching methodology, and b) the need to evaluate this pilot year via an appropriate framework. Then, I will move on to describing my class in the second year, from how i2Flex was now implemented SECTION B: applications, experiences, good practices, descriptions and outlines, educational activities, issues for dialog and discussion 3

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to how it was evaluated and what data was collected from the students. Essentially, I wanted to see how my students perceive their learning putting on the spot the three presences; the cognitive, the social and the teaching presence.

3.2. Experimentation: Pilot i2Flex year (2013-2014) In this pilot year my purpose was to come to terms with available technology and develop my technology skills further. I felt that both of these skills were prerequisite to redesigning my course in the i2Flex way. As a result I totally reconsidered my moodle shell online and fully adopted the i2Flex moodle template that ACS had developed The design of the i2Flex French course shell in Moodle reflects precisely to the concept of the course, the Morfosis educational paradigm and to what is practically needed to teach that successfully.

The idea of the design and the organization of the French course shell were based in teaching experience and the aim was to be meaningful and clear for the student. This new avenue for high quality learning offers a holistic and innovative approach which ensures an harmonious teaching process. In particular, when a student faces his i2 Flex moodle shell page, the first to see is the Home page where he will find a welcome greeting , all the different tabs with the diverse areas of the syllabus and a News Forum , with all the important announcements and deadlines for assignments or other significant issues.

There is also a Virtual Coffee Shop, which is a wonderful environment for students and faculty to post questions, concerns, topics for discussion or any other ideas; this gives the possibility to students to interact and exchange among them. The Home page also includes Virtual Office hours arranged by appointment which offer synchronous communication via chat or asynchronous and of course a calendar which facilitates students to schedule and organize effectively their work.

Furthermore, the Welcome! Start Here tab includes info about the instructor, a short bionote clip, through voice thread and a bio which allows students to know better their instructor. Last but not least, the shell provides all the necessary info about how to navigate the course Additionally, it is available, data about technical student support and of course the course rules which define the relation between the teacher with the students as well with the online learning environment. The Home page includes as well a tab within the course syllabus in detail and all the guidance the student needs to have such as learning goals, standards, benchmarks and performance indicators, textbooks information, related links and everything about the course description as the basis of the course material and concept.

There is always, in all different areas of the French Moodle shell, a clear picture and info about grading and a detailed description of homework, assignments, exams, projects and of course additional resources as maps, visual material, interviews, films and other helpful material. The assignments posted by the faculty and the students’ submissions are categorized according to the different areas of the syllabus and there are also audio samples and a gallery of students’ exceptional work which serve students to improve their own work.

The use of VoiceThread® (Figure 4) is an innovative and attractive tool for a language class, including visual and written material, where students can make their submissions from home and feel proud and confident –especially those who do not feel very positive with their oral in front of the class. Principally, we name VoiceThread ® any recording using or not a camera which

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sends voice, or voice and picture, or video and instructional material. It can be used from teacher’s side for online instruction but also from student’s side as an assignment submission.

3.3. Transformation: i2Flex Full Integration (2014-2015) In the beginning of the second year, I began to redesign my i2Flex class with a special goal to explore the element of the three presences. The transformation of my instructional design happened with the application of ASSURE model . The ASSURE model is an ISD (Instructional Systems Design) process that was modified to be used by teachers in the regular classroom. The ISD process is one in which teachers and trainers can use to design and develop the most appropriate learning environment (www.instructionaldesign.org).

As I was using the Flex methodology for the second year and realizing my target audience and the characteristics of my students’ learning, I analyzed the data and stated my objectives. What my students needed to learn was all the different parts of the French IB; essentially, they had to be able to understand different kind of texts and be able to answer comprehension questions, write essays and of course speak fluently the language and present different topics expressing their opinion..

3.4. Illustrating the Implementation of Flex via “Cultural Diversity” The teacher posts on moodle an assignment where the students need to go on VoiceThread ® and find: a/ a short lecture from me about the topic and some instructions they need to follow b/ a picture that I also posted on the same topic.

Their work consists: i2 : i x i (include both i concepts) A/ to research online (WEB) and find a related article about the cultural diversity and submit it on Moodle B/record a VoiceThread ® presentation based on the article they found, and the picture posted by me.

Face to Face flexible part C/Students and teacher will get in the atrium to engage a discussion based on their research findings after getting feedback electronically from their teacher. Teacher will send back feedback and instructions via VT before the face to face step.

4. Using the CoI to gauge student satisfaction In order to get accurate data from students I created two surveys (Figure 7) using the CoI (2000) modified where my students were asked to take a few minutes and complete a survey which covered the three different presences in order to provide me info about their learning experience via the Flex methodology. I was at the same time assuring them that this would be anonymous in order for them to feel comfortable and write exactly how they felt without having any concern about their grade in class. This data was extremely helpful and precious for me as it was a way to understand the application of the methodology putting on the spot my presence as a teacher, the cognitive part and last but not least the social presence and how this helped them to become active and creative learners

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5. Reflection on employing the CoI as a vehicle to evaluate the Flex experience of the learner When I started implementing the i²Flex I could not imagine how this would change my teaching philosophy but mostly how this would be so valuable for students’ learning! The i²Flex implementation came as a gift, to solve problems that often appear in multi level classes. First of all, multi-level students have become more engaged and the blended course provides innovative ways of learning at home by increasing new educational opportunities for students, especially those who do not feel comfortable with the language. It also gives the flexibility to students to work at different times and complete their work at any hour of the day seven days per week.

Learning has become more complex and much more attractive since the learning environment is not any more only the classroom but the real world! The virtual office hours arranged by appointment through ACS gmail offers students more learning flexibility, an innovative way of communication and engages them to take responsibility. As educator, I strongly believe that i²Flex is an effective integration of technology which stimulates students to attempt more complex tasks and material.

Flex students are moving away from passive reception of information to build their own learning. Teaching has also moved from textbooks to multiple representations and expressions and learning has changed from reception of knowledge and interaction to active engagement in the process of learning.

Finally, the use of CoI (2000), helps students learn how to think independently, search, collect their thoughts, and get prepared how to communicate with the faculty. Therefore, critical thinking is developed as also, by following instructions from the faculty, students learn how to” listen” and they become able to identify their own needs. Furthermore, faculty understands weather the student enjoys the i²Flex methodology and learns better either he challenges in specific areas. Additionally, following all the steps above, the faculty can design, and distribute meaningful, appropriate and creative assessment materials to students. Collecting students’ feedback helps faculty to make the shift in planning and delivering knowledge in a beneficial way for students!

As a conclusion, the introduction of the CoI (2000) gives faculty the opportunity to offer a more efficient, better organized and much more motivating teaching and provides students a high quality student-centered, individual approach of learning.

Personally, my own experience with i²Flex and the Community of Inquiry framework makes me feel confident that this technological integration in my multi-level IB class has moved teaching and learning to a new, flexible conceptualization of creative learning. The introduction of i2Flex with the use of CoI (2000), is working smoothly and offers a more efficient, better organized teaching, providing a high quality student -centered, individual learning.

6. Final thoughts and a few challenges The application of the CoI (2000) in class is meaningful and gives new perspectives to realize how the students perceive the learning process and the implementation of the Flex methodology. Observing the online or web based communication, the cognitive presence and the teaching part, we can evaluate all the educational experience and we can make valuable recommendations for the future. Of course, as everything is still new and as a lifelong learner, I always challenge myself to do better and better; I believe that there is a lot of room for improvements and reconsiderations all over the use of i²Flex and the Community of Inquiry framework. At the same time we need to consider different challenges that always appear SECTION B: applications, experiences, good practices, descriptions and outlines, educational activities, issues for dialog and discussion 6

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throughout the learning process, especially if the students were never exposed prior to blended learning. The technology part is easy and motivating for students, the frustration is mostly in the different delivery and assignment submission type. It’s also the shift in students mind about their new responsibilities. The most important is to continuously try to be pro active in teaching and learning and identify the needs of our students for their future. As Einstein said: “Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death”, we should never stop trying to get better and better, no matter from which capacity we serve the educational experience”.

References Advantages & Limitations of Blended Learning (2013). http://www.researchgate.net/post/What_are_the_advantages_and_limitations_of_Blended_learning ASSURE. (2015). Available at: http://www.instructionaldesign.org/models/assure.html Avgerinou, M.D., & Gialamas, S. (2014). i2Flex: Integrating a large-scale technology supported educational innovation in a K-12 international school setting. 2014 IEEE 14th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (pp. 742-743). DOI 10.1109/ICALT.2014.217 Blended Learning- Definition. (2013). http://www.teachthought.com/blended-learning-2/the-definition-of-blendedlearning/ Blended Learning. (2015). http://www.knewton.com/blog/ed-tech/blended-learning/ Blended Teaching & Learning. (2015). http://www.teachthought.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/BlendedLearning-Teaching-Infographic.jpg Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. (2015). Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. Available at: http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching-resources/effective-practice/revised-blooms-taxonomy/ Community of Inquiry. (2015). https://coi.athabascau.ca/ Community of Inquiry Framework. (2015). http://www.slideshare.net/josemota/community-of-inquiry-framework Community of Inquiry Framework (2015). http://www.academia.edu/398997/A_Constructivist_Approach_to_Online_Learning_The_Community_of_ Inquiry_Framework Community of Inquiry Model. (2015). http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Community_of_inquiry_model Constructing effective Online Learning Environments via the Community of Inquiry (CoI)(n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2015 from: http://www.iddblog.org/?p=841 Global Morfosis Paradigm. (2015). www.acs.gr Reed, K. (2014, May 7). Student-centered learning: How to implement a blended learning program. Ed Tech.

Student View of Blended Learning.

(2015). http://www.ecsu.edu/academics/offices/distanceeducation/docs/studentViewBlendedLearning.pdf VoiceThread. (2015). voicethread.com

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Innovation through i2Flex: The Transformation of a Classic in the Humanities Program

Kathleen Jasonides ACS Athens (ACS) Greece Faculty jasonidesk@acs.gr

Janet Karvouniaris ACS Athens (ACS) Greece Faculty karvouniarisj@acs.gr

Amalia Zavacopoulou ACS Athens (ACS) Greece Faculty avacopouloua@acs.gr

Abstract Innovative since its inception, the ACS Honors Humanities program has a long history of more than 40 years as an interdisciplinary team-taught course that examines essential questions through literature, visual and performing arts, philosophy and history. This innovative approach has continued to motivate successive teaching teams to modify and enhance a program that challenges students academically, utilizing the best possible resources and taking advantage of new technology. In this article, we present one in-depth case study where we explain how we transformed the Honors Humanities course from Face To Face to i2Flex. We will describe and present examples of how we redesigned the course format and presentation, learning activities and assessment. We present data on student feedback and our findings regarding the benefits and challenges of adopting the i2Flex methodology for this course.

Key-words: i2Flex, blended learning, interdisciplinary, humanities 1. Introduction 1.1. From Face To Face to i2Flex Innovative since its inception, the ACS Honors Humanities program has a long history of more than 40 years as an interdisciplinary team-taught course that examines essential questions through literature, visual and performing arts, philosophy and history. This innovative approach has continued to motivate successive teaching teams to modify and enhance a program that challenges students academically, utilizing the best possible resources and taking advantage of new technology. In 2008, the Face to Face (F2F) model began its transformation into the completely new i2Flex program.

Today, the program consists of two year-long, completely integrated i2Flex ACS Athens Honors diploma courses and three i2Flex 20-week enrichment courses accessible to students anywhere.

We share a map of our journey here through the presentation of one in-depth case study as a reference for teachers, teachers in training and professionals who train teachers.

1.2. What is i2Flex?

The i2Flex methodology is a unique type of hybrid/blended approach. "Hybrid" or "Blended" are names commonly used to describe courses in which some traditional face-to-face "seat time" has been replaced by online learning activities. The purpose of a hybrid course is to take advantage of the best features of both face-to-face and online learning (About Hybrid).

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i2Flex includes the following components: i: independent student learning i: inquiry-based student learning Flex: Face-to-Face, Flexible, Guided student learning supported by technology The i2Flex methodology integrates internet-based delivery of content and instruction with faculty-guided, independent student learning, in combination with face-to-face classroom instruction aiming at developing higher order cognitive skills within a learning design framework that is flexible in terms of time, pace, place, and/or mode.

(Avgerinou, Gialamas & Tsoukia 2014, p. 301) The Honors i2Flex Humanities course for the ACS Diploma has been re-designed to fully integrate the three aspects of the i2Flex paradigm: independent learning that takes place online, teacher-guided inquiry and Face-to-Face (F2F) classroom interaction that enables students to use higher level cognition to construct their own meaning. The terms “web-based” and “digital learning” will be used interchangeably to describe the guided independent online sessions.

The course follows the i2Flex model, and instruction is equally divided between F2F time in a traditional classroom setting and guided, independent digital learning activities. Emphasis is placed on developing students’ critical thinking, reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. Collaborative learning is encouraged through a variety of projects, including scene study, write-around activities, and writing for publication. A unique feature of the course is the opportunity for extensive field study both within and outside of Greece. For example, as part of their study of how belief in a higher power has shaped civilisations, students visit the Byzantine and Christian Museum, the Museum of Islamic Art and the Byzantine city of Mistra to study the art, architecture and thought of two god-centered civilisations. This study is the basis for further field study in Florence and Rome, where students explore the transition from a completely god-centered civilisation to the rebirth of classical humanism in the Italian Renaissance.

2. In-depth Case Study As educators in the 21st century, we are faced with many questions, numerous challenges and new opportunities to improve teaching and learning. Some of these concerns are encapsulated in questions such as, how can we prepare students for the future world of work? How do we engage students in the kind of critical thinking necessary to solve the many problems facing our society? How can teachers harness technology to meet students’ academic needs?

In order to illustrate how we have transformed the Honors Humanities program using the i2Flex paradigm we offer the following case study: 2.1.Honors i2Flex Humanities for the ACS Diploma 2.1.1. Format and Presentation An important first step in re-designing the Honors Humanities course for the ACS Diploma was changing the format of the course on the Moodle platform, using the Quality Matters Standards Rubric ® (2011 - 2013) as a guide. We now use a template that is set up more like websites familiar to students. The home page is organized with tabs, one for each unit, rather than a weekly format that requires students to scroll down endless weeks and sections. Each unit is divided further into two subpages per week: one for the F2F class and one for the guided independent web-based sessions.

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This format is more streamlined and efficient because it allows students to immediately access the work, resources or assignments for both aspects of the course.

2.1.2. Re-Designing Learning Activities After redesigning the format of the Moodle page, we reviewed how we present and design the learning activities of the course. First, we considered what kind of activities and learning work best in the classroom, and which activities could work better in an independent, but guided, online session. For instance, as part of our study of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales students were assigned to write a character study of the Wife of Bath, one of Chaucer’s more colorful characters. Before introducing the i2Flex methodology, students began the writing process by brainstorming individually or in small groups during class time. We decided to try conducting brainstorming activities during the web-based sessions by using software such as VoiceThread® (2015). Students were assigned to groups and shared initial ideas and impressions on this character using our guiding questions to structure their brainstorming. Students then had to present their VoiceThread® (2015) comments, and develop their ideas in the F2F classroom setting. Through this activity, students would collaboratively create a rich resource of ideas for classroom discussion and for students to use to develop the first draft of the character study.

The class discussion that followed the VoiceThread activity was indeed more detailed, clear and thoughtful than discussions based on previous F2F forms of brainstorming.

The fact that they had documented their collaborative thinking served as a tool for them to develop a thesis and first draft. Moreover, they had included excerpts with page numbers on VoiceThread to support their views resulting in essays that made more direct references to the text, a skill that we wanted to cultivate in our students. As a result, we are continuing to use this technique for a large variety of interactive, brainstorming activities.

Another way we used our web-based sessions is to provide students with essential background knowledge for introducing them to new topics. For instance, we began our study of The Plague of 1348 by asking students to view a video and take notes using guiding questions to direct their learning. They then studied several web-based primary sources and drew conclusions about what these sources could tell them about the historical event. After debriefing and checking for understanding in the subsequent F2F session, students critically evaluated the primary sources and determined their reliability and usefulness. Giving students the time and space to explore the information independently, guiding them through the selection of sources and checking for understanding, enabled students to exercise deeper critical thinking. We found that class discussions were more thoughtful and students were able to make connections between ideas. By using digital resources to provide background information and guide students to begin thinking about the topic, we noticed that they could move on during the F2F sessions to more demanding discussions and activities, such as panel presentations and informal debates.

In addition to our classroom discussions, we regularly incorporate Discussion Forums into the synchronous and asynchronous digital learning so that students can share ideas and research, and comment on each others’ postings online. For instance, while studying Islamic art and architecture we created a digital research assignment in which students explored various types of the minor arts and selected one example to research.

They posted an image of their chosen example with relevant, documented research information and personal reflection. We all found this a very interesting and informative way to expand our knowledge and understanding of Islamic art beyond the SECTION B: applications, experiences, good practices, descriptions and outlines, educational activities, issues for dialog and discussion 10

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classroom focus on architecture. In addition, this type of activity shifts the focus from teacher-centered to student-centered learning, allowing students more choice in the content and direction of the discussion, as well as more time to engage with the material.

As teachers we also use the i2Flex methodology to comment on student work, through software programs that encourage interactive writing, such as Digication速 (2015). We used this program for the first time for an essay assignment on a student-selected Renaissance painting.

Before writing the essay, students spent two months documenting their observations, reflections, interviews and formal research notes in seven journals. In past years, these journals were submitted to us as hard copies, on which we provided written feedback on each journal. Students were supposed to keep them in a folder as resources for writing the essay. With Digication速 (2015) we provided a template which students used to create their own digital portfolio for all seven journals. We found this to be a much more efficient way for all of us, students and teachers, to have immediate access to the journals as the study progressed. We noticed that students were more engaged in following up on the digital comments that they received. Moreover, with the editing feature of Digication, students found it easier to expand on their ideas and research notes. As they began to write the first draft of their essay they had a rich portfolio of thoughtful observations, interview responses, research and reflections to help them find a focus and develop it. Based on our experience we plan to continue our use of Digication for the painting essay and will explore ways to integrate this program into other writing projects.

2.1.3. Assessment In re-designing the learning activities in the Humanities course this year, we have found it necessary to make changes in the way we assess student learning. The major change in summative assessment is in the way we administer slide tests. As part of our study of art history, we use PowerPoint slide tests to assess student knowledge and understanding of specific art styles, artists and their works. In order to make the best use of F2F class time we now use the i2Flex sessions instead. We create several versions of each slide test and students are assigned by groups to a specific test. To ensure academic integrity, we only open access to the test during a limited time period during the web-based sessions. One advantage of this method is that we conserve valuable F2F time which we can devote to in-depth classroom discussions. Also students have a more immediate, less stressful experience with the test since they view it on their individual devices and not on a large screen. Moreover, students take the test in several smaller groups rather than in the larger F2F class, which is particularly effective for students with learning differences such as ADHD. Regarding formative assessment, we use the independent digital learning activities to gauge student knowledge of basic concepts before we develop deeper understanding of the topics in class discussions. Students then demonstrate their understanding through traditional summative assessments such as essays, tests and projects. To illustrate, after each i2Flex session we give a completion grade for the assigned work. This is the first stage of the formative assessment. Other forms of this type of assessment are quality grades based on a rubric for Discussion Forum postings, Digication journals and comments posted on VoiceThread for brainstorming activities. Our experience this year indicates that this allows for a greater variety of assessment and provides us with a better understanding of the level of student progress.

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2.1.4. Student Feedback Based on our observations, the students seemed to be adapting well to the new way the course was organized. They were focused and productive in the independent webbased sessions and actively participated in F2F group activities and class discussions, elaborating their thinking and generating new understanding.

We supplemented our class room observations by conducting a survey of our students, using Survey Monkey as our online research tool. Of the 20 students enrolled in the class, 18 students responded to the survey. The survey had 15 quantitative questions and five qualitative questions. The quantitative questions asked the students to respond to a statement by marking one of the following options: Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree. The qualitative questions asked the students to write an answer to each question, using specific examples and clear explanations.

Of the 15 quantitative questions, five had to do with ease of navigation and effective design of the Moodle site. Following are the results for these questions:  65% agreed or strongly agreed that the Moodle Shell was easy to navigate  94% agreed or strongly agreed that the instructions were clear and comprehensive and that due dates and time frames were clear  82% agreed or strongly agreed that it was easy to distinguish between i2Flex and Face-to-Face course material and assignments  70.6% agreed or strongly agreed that the template made it easy to find relevant resources.

Seven of the 15 questions asked students to rank how useful the i2Flex approach was in achieving certain learning objectives. Following are the results for these questions:  76.6 % of students agreed or strongly agreed that the i2Flex approached provided necessary context; that it provided the basis for deeper understanding of the subject; and that it helped generate ideas for written assignments.  82% agreed or strongly agreed that using web-based sessions for activities like slide tests allowed us to make better use of the F2F class time for class discussions and collaborative activities.  65% agreed or strongly agreed that teacher monitoring of independent digital learning helped them keep up with the assignments so that they are prepared for the F2F class.  Over half the respondents (53%) agreed or strongly agreed that having been guided to develop context and background knowledge during web-based sessions prepared them for more successful collaboration in the F2F class.  48% agreed or strongly agreed that teacher online feedback was helpful Three of the 15 questions asked about specific web-based platforms used in the course to share and document ideas. The most popular of the platforms mentioned in the survey was Digication, with 76.5 % of the respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing that Digication folders are an efficient and effective method for sharing documents, such as pre-writing journals, receiving digital feedback from the teacher, and keeping this work all in one place for future reference. VoiceThread and Discussion Forum were also considered somewhat useful, with 35% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing that both of these are productive platforms for brainstorming and sharing ideas.

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2.1.5. Discussion of Student Feedback Overall results for effectiveness of navigation and design of the Moodle site were very positive. Although the fact that 70% of the students agreed that the template made it easy to find relevant resources may seem acceptable, this is the lowest ranking in the navigation and design section of the survey. Therefore, it is an area of concern, especially since our observations throughout the year also indicated that some students did have problems locating the relevant resources.

The results for questions having to do with the effectiveness of the i2Flex approach in achieving specific learning objectives were also very positive. Statements receiving the highest percentages of agreement (76% - 82%) were those learning and teaching objectives we were most interested in achieving through the i2Flex approach: building context and a basis for deeper understanding of the subject, helping generate ideas for writing assignments and using face-to-face time more efficiently. The area of some concern is that only 48% agreed or strongly agreed that teacher online feedback was helpful. It is true that although we did give feedback on Digication journals and Discussion forums, much of our feedback was not given digitally.

Responses to the survey suggest that students found Digication, a more useful webbased platform than the Discussion Forums and the VoiceThread, something that surprised us since both of the latter were used for more interactive assignments, and students seemed to react to them very positively during the course. Also, in their responses to the qualitative questions, several students mentioned these two platforms specifically as being activities they most enjoyed. Actually, we observed that group brainstorming activities on VoiceThread helped students contribute more specific supporting details and relevant observations in the class discussions, and some of this did find its way into the literary essays and commentaries they wrote.

Something interesting to consider, given the fact that our students are “digital natives,” is that although their responses definitely indicated their appreciation for independent web-based learning as a way of building context, almost every one of the respondents stressed that F2F class discussion guided by the teacher was very important in helping them develop deeper understanding of the course content. Some students also remarked that they preferred F2F group activities to interactive web-based activities.

Another aspect that needs more thought is how to better balance the work assigned during web-based sessions with the time available for each session. Several of the students remarked that they didn’t always have enough time to finish the assignments carefully, while a few others thought that the assignments should be more intensive.

Finally, the survey was not only very helpful in that it gave us insights into how we might be able to improve the students’ experience in the course, but it also was very gratifying in that it supported the idea that students seem to generally understand and agree with the approach we are taking. It was especially encouraging to read the enthusiastic responses to Question 5, such as the following: “I would recommend this course to everyone but more specifically to people who love history and art, because the way that it is being taught is amazing. “ 3. Conclusion There is no question in our minds about the overwhelming benefits of the i2Flex paradigm for improving student learning and teaching practice. Firstly, i2Flex allows teachers to use many different approaches to the content to meet the needs of diverse students, while also fostering critical thinking by building context online through which students develop their own understanding. We believe that the F2F, i2Flex and field study components of our course equip students with skills for lifelong learning SECTION B: applications, experiences, good practices, descriptions and outlines, educational activities, issues for dialog and discussion 13

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and prepare them for online university study by providing authentic experience with educational technology.

Through this method, students become independent, responsible learners. The i2Flex paradigm meets students where they are and challenges them to find deeper meaning, while also providing a context for teachers and students to interact to solve problems. Finally, in a practical sense, scheduling students and teachers is much more flexible.

However, there are numerous challenges that accompany these benefits. The following challenges, which are within our locus of control, will continue to guide the re-design and revision of the i2Flex Humanities Program. Firstly, we need to consider the importance of finding and maintaining a balance between independent web-based learning and F2F activities and discussions. The vast resources made available in this new teaching paradigm make planning, selecting and adapting resource to learning objectives very time-consuming for the teaching team. There is also the need for very careful and consistent administration of the Moodle site. Finally, teachers need to be committed and diligent in executing this method in order to overcome the resistance to change among students, parents and teachers.

REFERENCES About Hybrid. (n.d.). http://www4.uwm.edu/ltc/hybrid/about_hybrid/index.cfm Retrieved April 15, 2015.

Avgerinou, M.D., Gialamas, S., & Tsoukia, L. (2014- by invitation). i2Flex: The meeting point of webbased education and innovative leadership in a K-12 international school setting. In D.G. Sampson, D. Ifenthaler, J.M. Spector, & P. Isaias (Eds.). Digital systems for open access to formal and informal learning (pp. 329-344). New York: Springer.

Digication. (2015). www.digication.com Quality Matters Standards Rubric. (2011 - 2013). www.qualitymatters.org VoiceThread. (2015). www.voicethread.com

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Gamification strategies in learning spaces: A brief toolkit

Raphael Raphael, Ph.D American Community Schools (ACS) Athens, Greece Technology Coordinator/Technology Faculty raphaelr@acs.gr

Abstract What is the role of play in learning? What ways can we as educators leverage our students’ extracurricular digital lives in meaningful ways in our digital and physical learning environments? What roles can the elements of game mechanics and game thinking serve towards these ends, especially in a blended learning environment?

These are some of the initial questions that guide this brief gamification toolset, a series of practical considerations drawn from field experience and relevant research that may be helpful for teachers and administrators interested in exploring ways to gamify their own digital and physical learning communities or spaces.

Key-words: i2Flex, blended learning, gamification, gameful learning I. Introduction The i2Flex model The following paper first provides a brief discussion of common elements of a gamified space followed by a short outline of an intervention done with middle school students during a game programming lab. The paper concludes with a brief set of informal suggestions for teachers and administrators interested in gamifiying a learning environment. The intervention presented was done within an i2Flex model of instruction, a model unique to ACS that has organically developed from the collective practice of faculty. Towards the goal of creating holistic and meaningful learning experiences, the model benefits from research on the blended learning as well as the flipped classroom with an emphasis unique to our learning community and the ACS core vision: guiding students to become ‘architects of their own learning.’ While the model is intended to be flexible enough to manifest in distinct and inspiring ways depending on the unique learning needs of a particular ACS community, the model shares certain key, overlapping elements: 1. independent/online component- some elements are done by students independently online, often at their own pace; and 2. face-to-face interaction - rich face-to-face learning experiences. These include both (a) guided experiences- in which students may receive in-person guidance on solidifying their understanding or receiving clarification of developing concepts as necessary; and (b) authentic, higher-order learning experiences which give students greater autonomy and choice, often providing students with opportunities to develop their own unique learning goals and objectives. These face-to-face learning experiences are often collaborative in nature or enriched through collaborative elements that may anticipate the kinds of cooperative, problem-solving experiences students are likely to experience in their later professional lives.

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II. Understanding Gamification: Defined; Use in business Before briefly outlining a small portion of my field experience with gamification, it will be useful to outline some of the relevant terminology that provide the framework for the fieldwork. The term gamification has only gained widespread use in the last several years. Broadly speaking, it refers to using game mechanics and game thinking in an environment not usually associated with games to motivate specific behaviors and/or guide users to reach their own goals (Burke, 2014). While the term may still be unfamiliar to some, its widely used in industry. It's estimated that a full 70% of the world’s 2000 largest companies use gamification to structure interaction both with consumers as well as internally, e. g., in the training of their own employees (Khosrow-Pour, 2014). Industry has been so optimistic about the potential of gamification, not only to motivate others but to drive innovation that, in fact, it is estimated that at least half of the globe’s largest companies use gamification as their central means of generating innovation (Schawbel, 2013).

Elements of gamification Briefly, the following eight typical elements of gamification are drawn from basic game mechanics as well as the elements of contemporary digital game environments: 1. Badges: These are typically used to recognize achievement and/or assignment completion. They are awarded in a digital form, often appearing in a user’s profile.

They can recognize a desired action, e.g., I awarded a ‘community helper’ badge for peer tutoring/peer-to-peer learning.

2. Levels: These provide a visible path of actionable steps to mastery and/or task completion. They are generally marked by progressively increasing difficulty, with the last challenge (often called a ‘BOSS’ challenge) being that of greatest difficulty. A central benefit of using explicit levels is that it may make the entire process, unit, etc. (even if made up of disparate tasks) seem more connected, more meaningful, and more transparent to students.

3. Points: These may be awarded for desired achievement/tasks. Points are valuable in and of themselves; they need not reference anything else, and they may not be connected to actual grades. They only need to be valuable in your game/class world.

Some practitioners do tie them to grading (see Lee Sheldon’s Multiplayer Classroom for extensive examples of learning spaces that do so [2013].) [note: this element was not used in my interventions.]

4. Missions/Quests - A learning unit or a series of lessons may be grouped as a mission or quest. This aspect is frequently used with the leveling. Some ‘missions’ may be identified as optional and some as required ‘core’ missions. These missions may also be tied to social elements of a game, perhaps connected to cooperative group work or ‘battles’; these groups may in turn sometime be called ‘guilds’ or may somehow have a name connected to the particular unit/lesson theme, e.g., ‘survival groups’ in a gamified solution in an English classroom which presented a gamified Zombie experience for The Great Gatsby (see Gore, 2014).

5. Leaderboard - A snapshot view of top performance. Posted into a digital learning space or displayed in a physical one, these lists of top achievers can be used to motivate performance, encouraging students’ competitive instincts. Research suggests that one must be cautious when employing leaderboards, though. It may de-motivate students if they are too far behind the top performers. In comparing their own performance to those at the ‘top’ of the leaderboard, they may conclude that the gap is impossible to close and simply give up (LevelEleven, n.d.). Leaderboards appear to be best suited for low-stakes activities in which students are all within a similar range of SECTION B: applications, experiences, good practices, descriptions and outlines, educational activities, issues for dialog and discussion 16

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ability and/or accomplishment. Its primary reward is providing students with social capital and the resultant boost to self-esteem.

6. Narrative/Story/Lore - one of the most compelling aspects of games is a unified narrative. As order-seeking creatures, we are drawn to satisfying narratives. In a gamified space, these are sometimes framed as ‘lore’ - the community stories and/or backstories necessary to know to better understand a mission. An effective element of this may be progressive disclosure of the narrative to students. Examples may be as simple as a teacher reading a short imaginative paragraph immediately before a lesson or unit framing it as being part of a magical story or adventure, or as elaborate as framing all activities within a unit as elements of a larger complex story.

7. easter eggs - a traditional programming term referring to purposeless elements left in an environment that are generally only discovered after extensive exploitation. E.g., a teacher might make available an online folder of resources students are assigned to review. Within the folder, a teacher might randomly place a link a short Road Runner and Coyote clip. This may encourage more thorough review of digital materials and help contribute to students’ sense of novelty/surprise/variability, e.g., our digital learning space was subscribed to RSS streams of innovative technology news that were not necessary tied to our current class work but instead served as a reward to students for keeping attentive to our Edmodo learning stream (the educational social network used in this research).

8. avatars - The image or icon that represents a user in an (physical and/or digital environment). These are crucial to students’ sense of ownership of the digital space.

Research suggests individuals can have powerful identification with their avatars that can be leveraged in empowering ways. For example, things that a user sees their avatar do seem more accomplishable in real life. Also, when students have an avatar that has aspects of another identifiable group, research suggests that they may develop more empathy to such groups in real life. For example, a Stanford study by Nick Yee et al. suggests that, remarkably, after young people are given avatars with aspects of the elderly, the students actually measurably demonstrate more compassion towards elderly people in the real world (Yee, 2009). In this light, the fact that Edmodo has a built in avatar-maker that allows one to create an avatar with a mix of elements of different ethnicities and genders is significant.

III. Intervention: 6th grade: Game design programming lab As a touch point, I briefly outline an intervention done with middle school aged students during a series of introductory programming activities culminating in a game design lab. I first outline a few key general assumptions that guide the example project. This is followed by brief mention of learning objective and a general outline of the steps of the project.

Key assumptions The rationale for much of this approach is based on certain core assumptions about what encourages student engagement. These are insights drawn from research in project-based learning as well as many of the core assumptions of gamification about what constitutes meaningful student/user engagement. At the core of these assumptions is that students want what all workers crave: meaningful work. This is turn is characterized by several key factors including: 1. choice 2. autonomy SECTION B: applications, experiences, good practices, descriptions and outlines, educational activities, issues for dialog and discussion 17

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3. social engagement - chances to work together socially/and have some aspects of competition 4. recognition for achievement 5. a sense of making progress 6. gaining a sense of growing mastery 7. a feeling that all of one’s actions fit into some larger purpose 8. the often intangible but essential experience of having fun Mission [learning objective] Students will develop comfort with concepts of computational thinking through programming a simple digital game in the Scratch programming environment.

(As part of the students’ work, elements of project-based learning were also used in this mission, particularly check ins and checkouts. To keep visual track of their own progress through sequential levels, students also created excel rubrics. Authentic assessment of completed final projects was used as primary means of project assessment.)

Scratch programming - levels/missions 1.

Working independently at their own pace, students complete challenge cards, discrete programming practice skills with particular difficulty level identified. Students could complete in any order, charting their own learning path through the required material on customized, student-build spreadsheets that make their progress at any given time transparent both to the teacher and student.

2.

Once students were done with the challenge cards, they received guided introduction to a basic skill set in the Scratch programming environment during faceto-face sessions.

3.

This was followed by ‘sandbox’ exploratory time for students to explore the Scratch interface and develop a list of discoveries and questions about what they wish to learn more about, sharing these discoveries and questions within the class’ digital discussion stream.

4.

After a face-to-face guided introduction, students moved independently online sequentially through a series of screencasts on game design that I created.

The series of screencasts progress through 5 central lessons to create a basic fully functional game engine including: development of a variable to keep scores; game narrative and setting, including protagonist, enemy, helper substance; and the conditional expressions of a win state and a lose state. This initially guided introduction to programming in face-to-face sessions continues in the independent online component of the course as students complete lessons at their own pace.

5.

Face-to-face class sessions were then utilized as programming labs to workshop individual programming or extension issues that students were having, bringing these to whole group class discussions to collectively work out and problem-solve. In a typical session, a student would bring the issue/bug up to the main projector station in the class and the class would together workshop possible solutions. For example, one student’s variable might not be working properly or another may have a speculative game idea for which they wished to translate into appropriate scripting, e.g., how do I create an additional variable for a ‘life force’ for my central character’ 6.

After completing basic game engine, students then customized their creations to form their own unique games, with presentations during face-to-face sessions showcasing innovative student work.

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Edmodo: Digital environment Edmodo was a crucial part of daily class work, serving as a forum for my posting daily agenda, identifying which class aspects were face-to-face, which were guided and which were independent.

This included daily digital questions (including metacognitive ones about game use as well as occasional ‘check ins’ and ‘checkouts’ [what did you do in the session / what was completed / needs to be returned to]) that gave students practice in articulating their daily objectives as well as self-assessing their daily progress.

Edmodo also served as the means by which I awarded progressive badges to students as they progressed through the levels of their game creation project. Perhaps most importantly, the Edmodo course stream also served as an interactive space in which students could also give each other feedback on projects, providing an opportunity for them to have valuable guided practice in digital citizenship as they developed their respectful and purposeful student-led discussions.

IV. Towards a gamification Toolset: Key considerations for gamifying your learning spaces The use of gamification strategies within a blended learning environment here illustrated within the i2flex paradigm, appears to offer, at least anecdotally, a series of benefits, including increased student engagement and the possibility of making the learning process and student learning more visible. I close with an informal set of 10 general guidelines that may serve as starting off points of consideration for teachers and administrators interested in exploring gamification strategies within their own digital and physical learning spaces: 1. Understand the goals of your players/students.

The key to successful implementation appears to be making sure that your approach aligns with the perceived goals of the students. While there appear to be certain shared needs we all share in our ‘work’: meaning; social recognition; feeling of making progress towards master; at the same time, these are uniquely reflected in each student, let alone the unique ways they may be expressed in each collective learning environment/community.

2. Be sure to have a compelling theme/suggested narrative (ideally one that is codeveloped with the students) Narrative is the way that we form meaning as and place together disparate events in a meaningful framework. At a simplest level, this is providing a leveled course map through which the students move. Deeping this, it can be an extended simulation with its own distinct narrative in which students take on identities for the duration of the project. E.g., in another project, my high school students in an introductory computer science course engaged in a simulation in which they formed ‘start-up’ companies with classmates, branding their companies with student-designed names, logos, mottos, and company websites. These ‘start-up’ companies were then tasked with securing a ‘client’ within the school learning community (a teacher, administrator, or student group), and using their skill set acquired in the class to produce a web-based artifact for their client on deadline to the client’s specifications.

3. In experimenting with gamifying a learning space, a ‘lean education start-up model’ may be best. Take advantage of insights from design thinking and in particular the ‘lean startup model’ which advocates moving forward with the minim viable ‘product’, i.e., begin with barest functional model to move forward.

4. Closely related to this, iterate, iterate, iterate.

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Enter into your experiment with the understanding that you will be iterating and make changes as necessary. A key part of this is an active feedback loop with students. One of the most compelling elements of digital games is the generally immediate feedback loop they provide the user. As much as possible, attempt to give students opportunity to provide feedback, from simple check ins and check outs each session to give their affective state and self-perception of current project/direction of the class, to short surveys and polls, as well as giving them recognition opportunities through badges, etc. (At the same time, the need for variety and surprise does conversely support the occasional irregular delivery of these.)

5. Closely related to frequent iteration informed by feedback from students, make your experiments with gamifying your learning spaces explicit with the students. This serves at least 3 purposes: (1) it can add to the meaningfulness of their experience as you tell them that their experience and feedback in this process will be very important and will have a significant impact on future iterations of the class, in turn giving them the real potential to impact the lives and learning of many other students. (We frequently overlook the importance of leveraging all opportunities to emphasize potential real-life meaningful aspects of students work); (2) it places students in the esteemed position as experts as they are expected to give their impact and feedback and most importantly lend their extensive knowledge of gaming and digital spaces to your learning community; (3) another benefit may be that the process of rapid prototyping, iterating, and your own enjoyment in the process may serve as a valuable model for professional engagement for students’ own later professional life and moreover, invites a reframing of the learning experience as problem-solving apprenticeship.

6. Quality over quantity: the most effective use of gamification is not the one that uses the most gamification elements, but the one that strategically uses what best meets the needs of that particularly learning community and adjusts accordingly to continue to meet that learning community’s needs.

7. Keep the insights of project-based learning close to the surface in your work.

These include emphasis on real-audience, providing opportunities for student autonomy, and providing students with conscious opportunities to develop their own supporting skill set that is meaningful for their own unique path of mastery.

8. Take a mixed reality approach. Research at Carnegie Mellon suggests that mixing the real and the virtual is most effective (Schaffhauser, 2015). Capitalizing on what is best in a blended approach, be sure to take advantage of opportunities not just to take advantage of the digital environment, but also to add corollary elements into your physical learning environments, e.g., in addition to taking advantage of the use of the course digital environments, (e.g., digital leaderboards, electronic badges and avatars), also utilize elements like physical leaderboards in the physical class spaces in which students’ progress is made visible as they physically move their avatars across a series of levels on the display.

9. Create opportunities for fun.

Don’t overlook the importance of students’ affective experience. The work of Stuart Brown (2010) et al. suggest that, far from being frivolous, a rich play life may be looked at as a key predictor of later emotional, social and cognitive wellbeing.

10. Be sure to fully exploit the social nature of the digital natives’ relationship with technology. Far from solely serving as means of isolating and dehumanizing students, as we as teachers sometimes fear, technology (particularly social media) SECTION B: applications, experiences, good practices, descriptions and outlines, educational activities, issues for dialog and discussion 20

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appears to offer important realms in which our students are creating more truly democratic communities, participating in, among other things, meaningful peer-topeer tutoring and the validation and recognition of one another’s work. While adults (particularly non-digital natives) often lock down or closely monitor student access because of hyper-concern over cyber-bullying and possibilities of online predation, this is often over-emphasized over these potentials. With appropriate scaffolding (ground rules/ clearly defined digital citizenship experiences, etc.), students can blossom. This includes their anticipating (perhaps with a measure of joy) the kinds of blended spaces they are likely to encounter in their later academic and professional lives and helping them feel part of creating truly democratic, participatory digital/physical spaces in which they feel capable and empowered.

The hope is this may well invite them to create corollary spaces and experiences in the real world.

References Brown, S. L., & Vaughan, C.C. (2009). Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul. New York: Avery.

Burke, B. (2014). Gamify: How gamification motivates people to do extraordinary things. New York: Bibliomotion.

Gore, B. (2014, October 10). A gory tale of English class. Retrieved October 10, 2015 from: https://gorebobbi.wordpress.com/category/gamification/ Khosrow-Pour, M. (2014). Inventive approaches for technology integration and information resources management. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

LevelEleven. (n.d.) Can sales leaderboards hurt motivation? Available at: http://pages.leveleleven.com/can-sales-leaderboards-hurt-motivation Schaffhauser, D. (2015, May 11) Research: Young students learn better with mix of virtual and real worlds. THE Journal. Available at: <http://thejournal.com/articles/2015/05/11/young-studentslearn-better-with-mix-of-virtual-and-real-worlds.aspx> Schawbel, D. (2013, October 7).

Adam Penenberg: How gamification is going to change the workplace.

Forbes.

Retrieved October 15, 2015 from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2013/10/07/adam-penenberg-how-gamification-isgoing-to-change-the-workplace/ Sheldon, L. (2012). The multiplayer classroom: Designing coursework as a game. Boston: Course Technology/Cengage Learning.

Yee, N., Bailenson, J. N., & Ducheneaut, N. (2009). The Proteus effect: Implications of transformed digital self-representation on online and offline behavior. Communication Research, 36(2), 285-312. Available at: http://vhil.stanford.edu/pubs/2009/yee-proteus-implications.pdf

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Utilizing the Face-to-Face Component of i2Flex on Building Rapport: A Counseling Psychologist’s Perspective

Alessandra Sax L.M.S.W., Ed.D. American Community Schools (ACS) Athens, Greece Counseling Psychologist saxlanea@acs.gr

Abstract Individuals today, need more than ever to be equipped with tools that will assist them in being able to cope with the changes they are faced with within multitude domains of their lives. Some of these domains may include, school, work, social and family environments and how each individual progresses as a human being across the lifecycle. As learning is a life- long process that touches and interacts with many domains of one’s individual life and overall functioning, individuals must be flexible and able to adapt to the everyday changes around them. More specifically in education, students over the last decade with increased technological advances have opportunities that extend beyond the brick -and- mortar traditional learning environment. They are now interacting with what literature indicates as “blending learning”; a combination of web-based teaching and learning experiences along with structured individual and collaborative interaction among students and teachers. In this chapter, the author will emphasize a particular model of blended learning referred to as i2Flex that has been piloted and utilized at the American Community Schools of Athens, Greece. This model will be examined with the view to illustrating how learning within this framework can assists students in being flexible and adaptive; enhances social-emotional competencies vis- a- vie their face-to-face interactions with their teachers (and online collaboration with teachers and peers),thus facilitating independence as 21st century learners.

Key-words: face-to-face time, i2Flex, Community of Inquiry, blended learning, social and emotional competencies, morfosis educational paradigm, aristeia leadership

1. Introduction This chapter will explore the effects of i2Flex learning and the overall students’ faceto face relationships (and online communication among teachers and students, students and students). Social and emotional competencies and emotional intelligence will also be described. Furthermore, the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework designed by Garrison, Anderson and Archer (2000;2001) will be discussed and how the social domain of this model contributes to students’ overall academic achievements. Some questions that will be examined are the following: How do the different components of thei2 Flex model and the Aristeia leadership model of Gialamas (2009) facilitate the face-to-face relationship between the teacher and learner? How does the face-to-face relationship foster social-emotional well-being and academic success? Based on the CoI survey. How are students rating the social domain of the CoI model with their teachers through i2Flex learning? By emphasizing SECTION A: theoretical papers, original research and scientific articles 221

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the face-to-face relationship as described above, student learning may be enhanced and social-emotional competencies can be further developed, as students continue to progress in advancing technological and globalized environments.

2. Background In the following discussion some of the above mentioned interrelated facets that coincide with the i2 Flex model will be examined in further detail.

2.1. The Global Morfosis Paradigm Over the years, ACS-Athens has developed an educational framework referred to as the Global Morfosis Paradigm. This paradigm encapsulates three fundamental elements that are systemically related: 1) Morfosis, from the Greek word Μόρφωση (ethical, intellectual and social individual characteristics), 2) the educational philosophy, the i2Flex delivery, methodology, and 3) Aristeia (from the Greek word Αριστεία/pursuing excellence under the guidance of ethos) leadership framework (Gialamas & Pelonis, 2009).

The Morfosis educational framework envelopes holistic, meaningful and harmonious educational experiences that are guided by ethos (Avgerinou, 2014). One way in which this framework has been implemented at ACS-Athens, is via the i2Flex Model of blended learning. This non-traditional learning methodology has been initially developed by the ACS- Athens community of learners and thus follows the principals and values of the Aristeia Leadership (Avgerinou, 2014) (to be described later in this discussion). Avgerinou (2013) further described that the educational experience must be meaningful for the learner in that he/she views the experiences as an essential part of his/her life and in relation to individual strengths, hopes and aspirations.

Additionally, such educational experiences are harmonious in that they highlight all facets of learning and behaving and are in line with one’s principles, values and choices that are driven by ethos (Avgerinou, 2013).

2.2. The i2Flex Model Avgerinou, Gialamas & Tsoukia (2014) suggested that the i2FlexModel integrates the independent student learning, the learning guided by a faculty mentor and the face-toface learning between mentor and student learner. The i2Flex model includes the integration of face-to face learning as well as technology-based teaching and learning which entails two elements of the online component: 1) individual and collaborative interaction (guided by the teacher) and 2) independent online learning (student driven) (Avgerinou, Gialamas & Tsoukia, 2014). This approach is flexible in terms of where the learning takes place, the pace and timing of the educational experience and in which format, exchange of information will be delivered. Students who may utilize this model of learning are therefore engaged in a multitude of learning opportunities without the physical limitations of the brick-and-mortar classroom environment (Avgerinou, Gialamas & Tsoukia, 2014).

2.3. Schools and the Socio-emotional Development of Children Social-emotional learning engulfs the process of developing fundamental social and emotional competencies or skills (Zins & Elias, 2006). These skills enable children to manage their emotions, experience empathy, develop positive relationships, make good decisions, and conduct their behavior ethically and responsibly (Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, 2003).

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Greenberg et al. (2003) also suggested that children who are socially and emotionally competent tend to be more happy, confident and equipped with strong interpersonal skills across various contexts and roles. Hence, supports the importance of social and emotional learning as an intrinsic aspect of childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s academic learning and performance and motivation to achieve.

2.4. Emotional Intelligence/Emotional and Social Skills Research refers to Emotional Intelligence (EQ) as playing a central role in nurturing personal and professional relationships. Three major clusters of skills are described: 1) individual character skills, 2) emotional skills and 3) social skills. Moreover, the hallmarks of the above mentioned EQ skills are outlined by Goleman (2011) as the following: a) self-awareness; self-confidence, realistic self-assessment, selfdeprecating sense of humor, b) self-regulation; trustworthiness and integrity, comfort with ambiguity, openness to change, c) motivation; strong drive to achieve, optimism and commitment to oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s organization, d) empathy; expertise in building and retaining talent, sensitivity to cross-cultural issues, service to clients/customers, e) social skill; effectiveness in leading change, persuasive, expertise in leading teams (Goleman, 2011, as cited in the Harvard Business Review On Leadership).

2.5. 21st Century Skills/Meta-Competencies Meta-competencies or 21st century skills are those that allow each individual (learner) to develop skills of reflection, interpretation of information and communicative, social, creative and cognitive skills (Carroll et al., 2010). Society requires such competencies from individuals, with rapid changes on the rise in order to deal effectively with complex issues that exist (Pink, 2010; Gardner, 2007). Therefore, teachers and students alike will need support in being up-to-date with the necessary tools and skills in order to practice key competencies as described earlier. These metacompetencies, social-emotional competencies if you will, can especially be materialized through a harmonious constructivist approach through methods of blended leaning and more specifically the i2Flex model of learning. Furthermore, teaching such metagognitive competencies must go beyond learning in specific subjects, but rather progress towards holistic learning through learning and life experiences and independent work (Scheer, Noweski & Meinel, 2012).

Such models of innovative learning facilitate the transfer of knowledge and the development of individual potentials and gives teachers gained confidence in executing collaborative methods of teaching (and learning for students) which in turn,fosters a positive relationship between students and teachers, thus confirming studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; social and metacognitive competencies (Scheer, Noweski & Meinel, 2012).

As the need for new skills for learning in the 21st century will continue to increase, many authors have posited several definitions on what these skills encompass. As Avgerinou, Gialamas & Tsoukia (2014) stated, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills framework (2006) is one of the most extensive definitions as it not only highlights core subject knowledge and awareness of current technologies but also refers to communicative, interpersonal and self-directional skills that will assist students to be life-long learners in a continuous evolving society (Avgerinou, Gialamas & Tsoukia, 2014).

2.6. CoI Framework The Community of Inquiry theoretical framework, developed by Garrison, Anderson and Archer (2000;2001) aims to illuminate a process of learning experiences that are SECTION A: theoretical papers, original research and scientific articles 223

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collaborative, constructivist and meaningful, through the development of three interdependent rudiments in blended learning. These rudiments are the social, cognitive and teaching domains (https://coi.athabascau.ca/coi-model/coi-survey/).

Social Domain According to Garrison (2001) social presence is â&#x20AC;&#x153;the ability of participants to identify with the community, communicate purposefully in a trusting environment, and develop inter-personal relationships by way of protecting their individual personalitiesâ&#x20AC;?. Learning independently through computer conferencing brings about high levels of student-student and student-teacher interaction.

Cognitive Domain Garrison, Anderson, & Archer (2001) stated that cognitive presence is the extent to which the participants in any particular configuration of a community of inquiry are able to construct meaning through sustained communication. The above researchers also suggested that cognitive presence (i.e., critical, practical inquiry) can be created and supported in a computer conference environment with appropriate teaching and social presence.

Teaching Domain Anderson, Rourke, Garrison & Archer (2001) stated that teaching presence is the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes (Anderson, Rourke, Garrison & Archer,2001).

Figure 1. Community of Inquiry Framework (Anderson, Rourke, Garrison, & Archer, 2001).

3. Reflections In lieu of the gMp (global morfosis paradigm), i2 Flex, school and the socio-emotional development of children, emotional intelligence (EQ), 21st century skills and the CoI (Community of Inquiry), all elements are interrelated as the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interest in the positive connection between students and teachers and how it encourages learning that takes place face-to face within the human bond, further develops emotional intelligence and the skills necessary to survive both in and out of the classroom.

Under this premise, the pilot study described below was carried out with the aim to explore if a close and trusting relationship between students and teachers thus motivates students to become more autonomous and independent learners within the online component of the i2Flex model. Each of the elements stated above, have the common link of social-emotional development and growth; whether it be for a student, teacher or any true leader of any kind.

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4. Methodology In the spring of 2015, the counseling psychologist of ACS-Athens (the author), distributed a survey electronically to students and teachers of the Middle and High Schools, at the American community Schools of Athens, Greece utilizing the i2 Flex model of teaching and learning. It must be noted that the model used was in a pilot phase for both students and teachers and both populations were experiencing i2Flex methodology and practice for the first time. Based on the original CoI Survey (Garrison, Anderson and Archer, 2000; CoI Model) responses were collected merely on the social domain, as the face-face relationship and online experiences were examined in relationship to students overall learning experiences and connection to their teachers (as well as other students). During four weeks of data collection, sixtysix students responded to a student-teacher questionnaire that included thirteen questions. Four of fifteen teachers surveyed, responded to a twelve question instrument. Both surveys were representative of the face-to-face relationship component of the i2Flex model (See Appendix). Both students and teachers were asked to rate their responses on a five point likert-type scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Student and teacher responses have been grouped in the following themes: • Sense of Belonging and Being Connected • Motivated to Improve Class Performance • Online Communication Outside of the Classroom/Medium for Becoming Independent Learners • Online Medium Utilized/ Communication Outside of the Classroom for Becoming Independent Learners/ Students and Teachers • Comfort Interacting with Teachers/Students Face-to-Face Time • Comfort Communicating with Teachers/Students Online • Online Medium Utilized/Comfort Communicating with Teachers/Students Online • Comfort Interacting with Class during Class Discussion /Teachers • Comfort Participation in Class Discussion/Students • Comfort Interacting with Class Participants/Students • Comfort Expressing Individual Point of View/Maintaining Trust in Students/Teachers • Point of View Acknowledged by Students/Teachers • Online Communication Developed Sense of Collaboration with Students/Teachers • Online Medium Utilized/Communication Developed Sense of Collaboration with Student/Teachers 5. Data: Collection and Results Overall, based on the responses of the teachers, all teachers (4 of 4) expressed that face-to-face time gave them a sense of being connected to their students and are more motivated to assist in improving their students’ performance in their classes. Most teachers were comfortable with this component of teaching. Additionally, nearly half of the teachers surveyed reported that they are comfortable with the online component of collaborating and teaching their students. The most common medium utilized by teachers for the online teaching and collaborating components were: Email, Google Drive, Moodle, TedEd Videos, Gloster, Discussion Forum and VoiceThread.

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also were more motivated to improve their performance in their classes (55 of 66).

Most of the students (56 of 66) were comfortable with this component of learning.

Additionally, more than half of the students (42 of 66) surveyed reported they were comfortable with the online component of collaborating and learning. The most common medium utilized by students for the online learning and collaboration components were: Email, Google Docs, Moodle, Skyward and VoiceThread.

Below are several statements from students that exemplify their experiences with the blended learning model (i2 Flex).

“Online communication helps me to develop a sense of collaboration. It persuades me to participate in class and this helps me learn the material studied (or clarify for me something that was misunderstood), by expressing my ideas and this at the same time is making me keep a sense of trust with my teacher”.

“Although face-to-face collaboration is important, online communication allows us to further enhance collaboration beyond the school hours”.

“When we work online, it feels as if the class is whole and we all work together to achieve something”.

6. Recommendations & Future Research Directions With technology changing all the time and being on the rise, students and teachers try to adapt to learning and living, while maintaining a sense of harmony between the two. Even though for some, transforming into digital experts becomes second nature to them. However, understanding and fully integrating new methods of blended learning (i2Flex) is a task that takes time and full acceptance of this magical wonder.

Every individual involved in this new approach to learning needs their own time, space and room to fully integrate every aspect of its’ fullest potential, rewards and outcomes.

The teachers and students at ACS-Athens will continue to take part in the research described in this paper over the next academic year. Additionally all age groups from the Elementary, Middle and High Schools will be pooled in order to investigate similarities and differences in aforementioned meta-skills. 21st century skills will be continuously examined, as the tools to acquire such skills will need to be offered through teacher/student training workshops. As the i2Flex model has only been currently implemented over the last two academic school years at the American Community Schools of Athens, Greece, future prospects appear hopeful. Both students and faculty appear to be comfortable with this innovative educational paradigm and are eager to advance in the years to come. It will take continuous effort to train and educate all parties involved in this educational journey; as the i2flex model progressively becomes more and more familiar to all it personally touches, as a prerequisite for 21st century skills in learning.

7. Conclusion Within the holistic (emotional, social, cognitive and physical) approach to learning and being and having the i2Flex model at the fingertips of our students, growth in educational opportunities are becoming more and more promising. Thus, professional relationships among administrators, school leaders, faculty, parents and students must be authentic and provided with genuine care and love. By providing firm boundaries with care and appropriate guidance, students may not only develop meaningful interpersonal relationships but also meaningful results in their academic progress.

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face-to-face instruction.

Students who mix online learning with traditional coursework do even better (Department of Education, 2009). Gialamas (2014) stated that if educational institutions are to teach and inspire students , developing wisdom to transform static academic knowledge into social, ethical, economic, environmental intelligence must occur. Only then can the sustainability of quality of life be greatly improved for people all around the globe.

References Anderson, T., Rourke, L., Garrison, D. R., & Archer, W. (2001). Assessing teaching presence in a computer conference environment. Journal of asynchronous learning networks, 5(2), 1-17.

Avgerinou, M.D. (2014, March 19). i2Flex. The New York Times International & Kathimerini.

Available online at http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite6_1_19/03/2014_ 538303.

Avgerinou, M.D. (2013, Winter). Digital natives, disruptive schooling and other brainteasers. Ethos, 811.

Avgerinou, M.D., Gialamas, S., & Tsoukia, L. (2104-by invitation). i2Flex: The meeting point of webbased education and innovative leadership in a K-12 international school setting. In D.G. Sampson, D. Ifenthaler, J.M., Spector, P. Isaias (Eds.). Digital systems for open access to formal and informal learning (pp. 329-344). New York: Springer.

Carroll, M., Goldman, S., Britos, L., Koh, J., Royalty, A., & Hornstein, M. (2010). Destination, imagination and the fires within: Design thinking in a middle school classroom, International Journal of Art and Design Education, 29(1), 37-53.

Christensen, Cl., Horn, M.B., & Johnson, C.W. (2011). Disrupting class: How disruptive innovation will change the way the world learns. New York, NY: Mc Graw-Hill.

Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning. (2013). Safe and Sound: An educational leaderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guide to evidence-based social and emotional learning programs. Chicago: Author.

CoI Survey. Retrieved June 18, 2015 from https://coi.athabascau.ca/coi-model/coi-survey/ Department of Education Research (2009). Internet time group report. Retrieved June 26, 2015from http://www.edpubs.org Gardner, H. (2007). Five minds for the future; Mc Graw-Hill Professional.

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2001). Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer conferencing in distance education. American Journal of Distance Education, 15(1), 7-23.

Garrison, D.R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2, 87-105.

Gialamas. S. (2014, May 12). Educational institutions for a humanistic world. Available at: ekatheimerini.com.

Gialamas, S., & Pelonis, P. (2009). Morphosis leadership being visionaries in a changing world.

Academic Leadership Online, 7(2).

Available at http://www.academicleadership.org/37/morphosis-leadershipbeing-visionaries-in-a-changingworld/.

Greenberg, M.T., Weissberg, R. P., O'Brien, M.U., Zins, J.E., Fredericks, L., Resnik, H., & Elias, M.J. (2003). Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning. American Psychologist, 58(6-7), 466-474.

Harvard Business Review. (2011). On leadership. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2006). A state leaders action guide to 21st century skills.

Pink, D.H. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New York: Penguin Group.

Scheer, A., Noweski, C., & Meinel, C. (2012). Transforming constructivist learning into action: Design thinking in education. Design and Technology Education: An International Journal, 17(3), 8-19.

Weinert, F.E. (1999). Concept of competence. Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research, Germany: OECD. Zins, J.E., & Ekias, M.J. (2006). Social and emotional learning. In G. Bear, & K. Minke, (Eds.).

Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs III. Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

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Appendix A. Extract from Student Survey

B. Extract from Teacher Survey

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