Rationale for "Easy Persian" online course

 Hello, everyone! 

Finally, after completing the online course design, I have time to write. So, keep closer and get informed about the validity and effectivity of my course!

While designing a short online course, named “Easy Persian”, I tried to make it unique, effective and easy to follow at the same time. Therefore, I have made use of several theories and educational frameworks for providing the target audience with engaging, effective and student-centered learning experience. In this rationale, I will not only explain how these theories integrated in the course, but also demonstrate their relevance to course objectives and its structure. 

Learning theories

I would like to begin with learning theories, which are the conceptual frameworks about how people gain knowledge. According to Arghode et al. (2017), gamification and quizzes are key factors of Behaviorism in online settings, as they provide immediate feedback and rewards leading the learners to get motivated for engaging the course materials actively. Thus, I created quizzes with the help of Quiz.com, Quizlet and Wordwall for nearly all the topic involved in the course. In addition to this, Cognitivism theory can be inferred from the course design, which includes structured lessons that build on the previous knowledge, enabling the students creating a mental framework for the Persian language. For instance, in the first unit the students learn how to pronounce and write Persian letters, following the units about greeting and introducing themselves in Persian script, which leads them to remember and revise the letters and writing style. Another sample is “to be” in Unit3, one of the basic and widely used details of every language, after learning Persian “to be”, they will learn professions and adjectives, allowing them to make sentences about their job and characters in Persian. The next unit teaches the learners numbers first, then they learn telling age, this too leads them to revise the numbers. Finally, last unit is about family members and how to introduce them, following the task that to make a family tree and write a short introductory text about their families. All of which require them to actively engage with the materials and critically use their knowledge that they have gained step by step. Moreover, you can see the details of Constructivism theory, which students construct knowledge through experiences. Charbonneau-Gowdy (2021) suggests that online platforms and tools, which enables students make collaborative projects and discussions, play a crucial role to in online learning, Since projects and group discussions allow the learns share their ideas and learn from one another. Therefore, I decided to hold a Zoom meeting in order to give learners a chance to collaborate and learn from each other. During the meeting, they have to make a simple dialog in Persian, involving greetings, introducing themselves etc. In order to include the principles of Connectivism, I have created the Learners’ Community group in Telegram messenger where students have a chance to collaborate, engage and learn from one another. According to an online article (360 Learning Team, 2024), creating a community for learners causes enhancement in the students’ sense of belonging and facilitation of their learning through interacting, sharing resources and insights, and motivating each other. 

SAMR model

Commenting on the SAMR model, which is a framework developed by Dr. Puendetura, designed for helping teachers integrate technology in their teaching process. The design of my short online course involves all the levels of this module. For example, the use of digital files, as PDF and DOC, can be detail of Substitution level (Wang et. al., 2021), while multimedia elements and interactive quizzes are for Augmentation level (Bihaclo et. al., 2022). In order to reach Modification level, as Bihaclo et. al. (2022) highlight, I added a Zoom meeting, where learners collaborate in real-time and get instant feedback. Padlet task can be also a detail of this level. When it comes to Redefinition level, I thought deeply, and created a task, involved in final assessment, that the learners have to make a video about their family. This task gives them a chance to use their creativity for preparing an interesting and unique job, which is impossible to do without any technology. 

Community of Inquiry

As it is known, Community of Inquiry is a theoretical model, which highlights the importance of social, cognitive and teaching presence in effective online learning environment. Therefore, I mindfully designed my course involving all of those principles of this framework. In order to provide social presence, which allows participants get to know one another, communicate and develop intrapersonal relationship (Yu and Li, 2022), I have added an Introduction section that involve Zoom meeting for the learners to know each other and share their background knowledge of Persian. In addition to this, they will join a Learners’ community where they can interact, collaborate and learn from one another, Group works, as making presentation about a famous person, also gives them a sense of belonging and engagement that is a key factor to build a community and gain social presence. For promoting cognitive presence, that requires higher-order learning involving critical thinking, problem solving and reflecting, students will have online meetings for making simple conversation in Persian, which urges them to apply their knowledge in real-life situations (Burbage and Hoang, 2023). When it comes to teaching presence, as Richardson et al. (2024) highlight, the learners will be guided during the learning process to ensure the objectives are met. For instance, the students will be provided feedback and support continuously during their learning, leading them to achieve the course objectives. 

Bloom’s taxonomy

Another important thing I have to mention here is that the online course includes tasks that aligns with the Bloom’s taxonomy. In fact, there are tasks which requires LOT skills (remembering, understanding, applying), such as quizzes, online conversations where they can apply their knowledge. On the other hand, the course includes activities requiring the learners to use HOT skills (analyzing, evaluating and creating), for example, to write a short text about their family, and a group work that requires them to create a presentation about a famous person. 

Motivation

I believe that Motivation plays a crucial role in not only face-to-face learning, but also online learning, as it is a key factor contributes to gain knowledge. According to Rynzar and Dutton (2019), engaging content, such as using multimedia resources, real-world projects, and timely feedback enhance intrinsic motivation for students to learn and participate actively in lessons. Therefore, the learners will have a chance to get feedback on their each work. In addition, video materials, quizzes and collaborative works were also added to improve the learners’ intrinsic motivation to learn the Persian language.  

UDL 

It is essential for teachers to design a lesson in both online and offline settings relying the Universal Design for Learning, since it involves caring about all individuals through providing various means of learning materials, engagement, expression and representation as well. As UDL highlights the diversity in learners’ needs and preferences. According to Rearick et al. (2024), one of the way to promote UDL is to provide learners with different types of materials to gain knowledge, thus the course has video, photo and PDF files of materials as well as website articles for learning Persian language, enabling them to have a chance for learning based on their preference. 

Benefits and Challenges of LMS

As I mentioned in the previous blogposts I have used Google Classroom for creating “Easy Persian” online course. There are many benefits of using this LMS, as it has many features to design your lesson effectively. For instance, you can easily add materials, videos, pictures as well as insert links to your course design. Moreover, I have a chance to set due dates to assignments, organize the lessons by topics. For students, there is a class comment section for collaborating and interacting through sharing insights and learn from one another. However, the dependence of internet access is one of the challenges of this LMS that students who are have not good quality internet may face to difficulties in their learning process. 

There are several types of blended learning, such as rotation, flipped, flex, enriched virtual models and so on. When it comes to the design of my online course, it can be an example for enriched virtual learning. According to Callwood (2024), this type of blended learning primarily takes place in online, but it involves face-to-face sessions for the interaction of students and a teacher. While the learners studying my online course they will gain knowledge online and they will have a chance to interact and collaborate one another, and get feedback and support from the teacher in face-to-face sessions on Zoom. 

In conclusion, I did my best to design effective, engaging, and unique course, which the learners have a chance to learn basics of Persian language in an engaging environment. 

Reference list

360 Learning Team. (2024). What Is Connectivism Learning Theory and How Can You Apply It in Learning and Development? 360Learning. Available from https://360learning.com/guide/learning-theories/connectivism-learning-theory/.

Arghode, V., Brieger, E.W. and McLean, G.N. (2017). Adult learning theories: implications for online instruction. European Journal of Training and Development, 41 (7), 593–609. Available from https://doi.org/10.1108/ejtd-02-2017-0014.

Bicalho, R.N. de M. et al. (2022). Integration of ICTs in teaching practices: propositions to the SAMR model. Educational technology research and development, 71 (2). Available from https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-022-10169-x.

Burbage, A.K., Jia, Y. and Hoang, T. (2023). The impact of community of inquiry and self-efficacy on student attitudes in sustained remote health professions learning environments. BMC Medical Education, 23 (1). Available from https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-023-04382-2.

Callwood, K. (2024). Enriched Virtual Model: Blended Learning Explained. Hyperspacemv - the Metaverse for Business Platform. Available from https://hyperspace.mv/enriched-virtual-model-blended-learning-explained/

Charbonneau-Gowdy, P. (2021). Finally in the spotlight: How Contemporary Learning Theory Is Saving Education Online during COVID. Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 19 (6), pp642-655. Available from https://doi.org/10.34190/ejel.19.6.2199 [Accessed 15 January 2022].

Rearick, B. et al. (2021). Implementing Universal Design for Learning Elements in the Online Learning Materials of a First-Year Required Course. Weave: Journal of Library User Experience, 4 (1). Available from https://doi.org/10.3998/weaveux.217 [Accessed 10 October 2021].

Richardson, J.C. et al. (2024). Community of Inquiry Design Decisions across Disciplines. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 5 (7). Available from https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-024-09417-1 [Accessed 27 December 2024].

Ryznar, M. and Dutton, Y. (2019). Lighting a Fire: the Power of Intrinsic Motivation in Online Teaching. SSRN Electronic Journal, 7 (2). Available from https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3309011 [Accessed 3 November 2019].

Wang, T. et al. (2021). Towards Post-pandemic Transformative Teaching and Learning. SN Computer Science, 2 (4). Available from https://doi.org/10.1007/s42979-021-00663-z.

Yu, Z. and Li, M. (2022). A bibliometric analysis of Community of Inquiry in online learning contexts over twenty-five years. Education and Information Technologies, 3 (5). Available from https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11081-w.