There are various ways to engage students in content, communication, and to collaborate in the online environment. The rationale though is to use technological tools and strategies that make the process more effective.
Content: It is necessary for an instructor to provide a structured syllabus. The purpose is to clearly outline to students the expectations for the course. In addition, I always include a calendar pacing guide with my syllabus so that students understand the demands of course assignments. I think this provides students with a heads up for the course. I have found this to be valuable for kids in secondary education who are debating whether or not to enroll in online classes. Second, I think webquests and online simulations are great tools! Especially when I teach psychology, these tools provide great ways for me to illustrate to students experiments and concepts I am describing. The text I use has a great web site that provides things called psychsims and they illustrate exactly what I need the students to understand. Finally, document sharing is great! Many times, with online courses, the shell is provided by the teaching institution. This allows instructors to differentiate instruction for students and also personalize their online course(s).
Communication: I have never used Skype before this class and now I love it! I find that Skype is great not only for peer communication relating to curriculum topics, but also just for building relationships with classmates. I can be online and have a classmate just message me to tell me to have a good day. This is nice because it makes you feel comfortable interacting with people in the classroom. With GAVS we provide the kids with a tool called a pager. This pager allows students to quickly shoot each other a message. When I read through them to make sure they are appropriate and not cheating with the tool, often times they are just having conversations about their lives. It's nice to see students from various schools doing this because I see that it enhances classroom discussions. In addition this helps when I host Elluminate sessions. Elluminate software allows me to teach a class and use visual aids (powerpoints, videos, and so forth) as well as give the kids a chance to speak to one another using a microphone. I can even put them into break-out groups.
Collaboration: I have found wikis to be great for collaboration!! In my 7101 class I have a group wiki that allows us to provide feedback to one another for our projects. Even using blogs, like in this course, I receive feedback from classmates in a way that breaks away from the traditional online classroom. In addition, blogs and wikis can be made viewable to a larger audience, and receiving feedback can come from people not within the course which can be nice. I also think, just like in the traditional classroom, small group assignments are great for the online environment. I think this truly models real world expectations of working with people (i.e. from different schools, different work outlets, and so forth). Using technological tools, such as texting, blogs, and wikis, make the assignments possible to complete.
Works Cited:
Anderson, T. (Ed.). (2008). The theory and practice of online learning (2nd ed.). Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University Press.
Durrington, V. A., Berryhill, A., & Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies for enhancing student interactivity in an online environment. College Teaching, 54(1), 190−193. Use the Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article's Accession Number: 19754742; Retreived July 19, 2009.
Siemens, G. (2007). Curatorial Teaching (Podcast). Retrieved July 19, 2009 from http://learnonline.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/10-minute-lecture-george-siemens-curatorial-teaching/.
2 comments:
Erin,
I like your graphic organizer using shapes/color to differentiate the tools. I tend to agree with all the tools you listed, except for texting. My phone does not have a full sized keyboard. With the dual keys, texting is time consuming and difficult. I would have to buy a new cell phone in order to text, which raises another issue: Should we look for free tools, or require those, such as Elluminate, which cost? (I know that three or less can use it for free). Just wondering what you think!
I understand your frustration =) I gave in and brought a BlackBerry for texting and email purposes. In any form or fashion, technology will have to cost someone money. For instance, Skype is great to use with other Skype users but to interact with those who are not costs money. I think that real question is....who will be paying for it; the individual or school?
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