Engaging Learners with New Strategies and Tools

There are many resources accessible for usage of online learning. The decision for what tools to use depends on the goal of the activity, and how the tool will support the goal that is to be reached. With technology integration, the online student needs basic skills in the usage of software. Many tools can be introduced by the instructor such as blogging, wiki-spaces, and even software such as SPSS and NVivo for research methods. For various technology tools, you can even download a trial version. 

There are a numerous tools for both students and educators to select that are both effective and efficient to reach the goals set by the objectives. There are design tools, discussion tools, E-mail tools, instructional tools, interactive tools, publishing tools, multimedia tools and writing tools, among many more. For example, there are digital cameras, scanners, graphic software, and concept map software such as Inspiration which was used for this graphic organizer.

Many of the technology tools are useful for the instructor to engage students in an active online learning-community. However, there are many communication strategies that are needed to use the technology tools successfully. First the students need to become observers of their environment, exploring and observing the online environment. While observing and exploring an electronic journal could be kept or a program such as Inspiration could be used to diagram ideas about the environment. The online student needs to share thoughts, ideas, and opinions. I think students need to understand that there will be feelings, frustrations, and experiences as a part of the inquiry process.

The instructor needs to develop activities to help guide students to becoming adjusted with the design of the program. This can develop through exploration, observation, reading, viewing, writing, discussions and reflection of inquiries presented.

References:

Anderson, T. (2010) The theory and practice of online learning 2nd ed. Au Press. Edmonton, AB.

Palloff, R.M. & Pratt, K. (2005).  Collaborating online: learning together in a community.  Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.

Siemens, G. (2008, January). Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers. ITForum.



Assessing Collaborating Efforts

“Things that go bump in the night!” (Palloff & Pratt,  2005, p. 31).  This part of the book is very true when it comes to collaboration.  Having been an online learner, I have experienced some of the “bumps” of collaborative learning such as the extra time having to collaborate with others and coordinating with others to complete the task. That is why asymmetrical learning can be advantageous since you can reply in your own time schedule, since not everyone is in the same time zone in the classroom.

The role of the instructor:  I read an article on line titled “A Comparative Analysis of Online and Traditional Undergraduate Business Law Classes” (Shelly, et.al, 2006) located at  http://www.slideshare.net/Timothy212/a-comparative-analysis-of-online-and-traditional.  In this study the authors mention how online instruction requires the instructor to take on a new teaching role and necessitate a reevaluation of their teacher/student relationship that is not traditional.  The teacher would facilitate the class requirements exactly the same including assessment. The only difference is that there would be no face-to-face interaction in the online course.  The results found that there was no relevant difference between the outcomes of the two courses.

The instructor as the facilitator needs to move students along in networking (Palloff & Pratt, 2005). The instructor plays the lead role in encouraging other students to collaborate, by becoming involved in the classroom discussions, and by asking probing questions that would inspire interaction in the discussion area. Students also respond to each other and can also encourage other students to be involved by responding in encouraging ways and asking probing questions to begin the conversation.

The assessment plan must be both “embedded in an aligned with the design of the course” (Palloff & Pratt, 2005).  I am accustomed to the use of rubrics for assessing my students’ work.  I find this not much different than how I am assessed online.  Rubrics usually give exactly what is expected of you for your grading. A fair and equitable assessment of different skills and knowledge that the students bring to the class should be assessed by the instructor based on he or she sees the growth of that student.  Corrections in the discussion area, grading feedback, or e-mail with suggestions are very supportive.

References:

Palloff, R.M., & Pratt, K. (2005). Collaborating online: learning together in a community. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Shelly, D.J., Swartz, L.B., & Cole, M.T. (2006). A comparative analysis of online and traditional undergraduate business law classes. Retrieved October 12, 2010 from: http://www.slideshare.net/Timothy212/a-comparative-analysis-of-online-and-traditional.

Story Board: Effective Communication for Asynchronous Distance Learning





 

Part One (Steps 1-6)

 

Part Two (Steps 7-9)

Module2: Week 4 Blog, Elements of Distance Education Diffusion

Siemens (2008) discusses the growing acceptance of distance learning in corporate and educational domains.  He points out three possible elements of distance education that contribute to giving distance education its own identity, apart from a traditional face-to-face learning style.  The three elements included global diversity, communication, and collaborative interaction.  For this blog assignment, we are to pick one of the three elements, talk about how the element evolved and what online tools are available today to facilitate the interaction between learners.

The element that I chose for this discussion was distance communication.  Some information on how the element evolved:

·The concept of distance learning evolved in 1728 when an advertisement in the Boston Gazette for persons wanting to learn the art of shorthand, could be sent weekly lessons by mail (Michigan State university (2006).

. Licklider (1962), of MIT wrote a series of memos discussing his “Galactic Network.”  Liklider’s vision was a future of globally interconnected computers for rapid access to both data and programs.

· Surprisingly, the first computer ever made dates back 2,000 years ago when a 2,000 year old astronomical calculator built by the ancient Greeks was discovered. This was located at www.metacafe.com/issues/ch000984.htm, and was a video.

·In 1874, institutionally sponsored distance education began at Wesleyan University, and in 1890, Thomas J. Foster in Scranton Pennsylvania (ICS) became the largest “study-at-home” school (Wikipedia, 2010).

 I also came across a blog (http://people.uis.edu/rsch1/onlinelearning/blogger.html) that has a number of connecting links about online learning. There are many entries about online learning which all involve communication. This site talks about how Clinton set up an online university for students in Haiti, how members of our military in Afghanistan are taking classes on line, how dentistry students can download surgical procedures, among many other online learning of interest.

A very interesting blog address is http://blogsforlearning.msu.edu/. Aside from a wealth of information on blogging, the site has categories of interesting subjects on blogging. Categories included academicHack; digital writing, digital teaching; secondary worlds, and weblog-ed. I happened to like a blog about designing group projects by Dave. The students had a semester long research project and each group had a public website/blog. This project required a range of skills, design, writing, coding, image manipulation, video and audio editing etc. What a way to communicate.

In this same blog site there was another interesting blog about effective communication.  The blog focused on how interaction or communication from anywhere empowers students to effectively communicate.

There are a number of online tools available today to facilitate communication between learners: blogs, Word Press multiuser blog, web pages, wiki sites, e-mail, micro blogs (Skype, Twitter), and online discussion classes.  Some tools for social networking include social network sites (SNSs) that were designed to facilitate communication between users who share the same interests, attitudes, and activities.  These would include Facebook and MySpace.

 References:

http://people.uis.edu/rsch1/onlinelearning/blogger.html

Licklider, J.C.R, 1962. Retrieved from http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml#JRL62  .

Michigan State University (2006). http://blogsforlearning.msu.edu/.

Siemens, G. (2008). Principles of distance education DVD (vodcast). Produced by Laureate Education, Inc. Baltimore, MD.

Wikipedia, 2010. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_virtual_learning_environments.