The technological tools and strategies that can be brought into the educational process to involve learners in building content knowledge include providing a syllabus to outline the course schedule and expectations, along with rubrics and assignment expectations presented in a clear, focused manner, utilizing a social networking like environment such as Blackboard, Edmodo, Moodle, or Schoology. In addition, the teacher must establish their “teaching presence” (Shea, Li, Swan, and Pickett, 2005) as a facilitator of learning (Moller, 1998) and provide access to content material such as the Khan Academy, TED-Ed and Learning.com.
Engaging students in communication with peers and teachers encourages students to develop their “social presence” (Swan and Shih, 2005) in an online learning environment through the use of blogs, wikis, Skype and email. Teachers will encourage student participation using these technological communication tools by providing timely feedback on all class work and creating a supportive, open and respectful learning environment. In addition, opportunities to work on authentic, problem-based tasks that will enhance student collaboration in an online environment include establishing a learning community, creating cognitive presence, and encouraging student generated discussions and projects using Google+ or Microsoft SkyDrive.
References
Durrington, V. A., Berryhill, A.,
& Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies for enhancing student interactivity in an online environment. College
Teaching, 54(1), 190−193.
Moller, L.A. (1998). Designing
Communities of Learners for Asynchronous Distance Education. Educational Technology Research and
Development, 46(4), 115-122.
Shea, P., Li, C. S., Swan, K.,
& Pickett, A. (2005, December). Developing learning community in online asynchronous college courses: The
role of teaching presence. Journal of Asynchronous
Learning Networks, 9(4), 59-82.
Siemens, G. (2008, January). Learning
and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers. ITForum.
Swan, K., & Shih, L. F.
(2005). On the nature and development of social presence in online course discussions. Journal of
Asynchronous Learning Networks, 9(3), 115-136.
LeAnn,
ReplyDeleteWhat program did you use to create your graphic organizer? I had the hardest time finding something that I liked and was easy to use.
When thinking of "new" strategies and tools to enhance online learning, rubrics, safe environment, and syllabi don't really strike me as "new" strategies. (I questioned myself on this when I added similar things to my graphic organizer.) However, I know the ways they are used and conducted are new. How do you think these "old" tools have evolved to meet demands of "new" learning?
Thanks,
Sarita
Hi Sarita,
DeleteThank you for responding to my blog post. I used Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro to adapt the graphic organizer provided to us. Acrobat Pro allows you to edit any PDF document. I use it all the time! The old tools you mention such as rubrics, syllabi, and safe environment that have been adapted to online learning environments can now be interactive, web links to provide additional information about assignments or the class in general, along with a much greater awareness of personal safety. Once again, great job on your new blog layout!
Sincerely,
LeAnn
Oh yea . . .
ReplyDeleteThanks for noticing my new layout! I love owls too. I also get sidetracked easily. While working on my post, I detoured to redesigning my blog! ha ha.
Hi LeAnn,
ReplyDeleteI notice that you chose to adapt the exemplar graphic organizer--great idea. I am wondering what your definition of teaching presence would be in an online learning environment. I think it's hard to pin down.
I also found this assignment challenging because collaboration, communication, and content are such interrelated concepts, especially in online learning. One cannot deliver content without communicating either in writing or orally, and at the same time, given that communication is an exchange of ideas from one person to another, that, to me, is collaboration. That is one reason I color coded all three concepts the same color on my graphic.
Hi Martha,
DeleteThank you for responding to my blog post. As I mentioned to Sarita I used Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro to adapt the graphic organizer provided to us. My definition of teaching presence in an online learning environment would be actively participating in discussion threads, providing consistent and timely feedback for all assignments, and grading all coursework in a timely manner. It was difficult for me to separate the three interrelated concepts, as well.
Sincerely,
LeAnn