Sandy JohnsonRETA Instructor
NMSU
Communication is the most important element
Discussion Board Email Chat Rooms Conferencing Face to Face Intervention
Through communication we have the opportunity to know our students through their responses, opinions, questions, and
feedback.
Announcements and Discussions
Let students know that you are-
Present Interested Paying Attention Available
Expected time required by you and the student
Respond to all questions, emails, or postings within 24 hour
Grading of assignments and assessments within 48 hours
Participation works well when there is a variety of activities and assessments
Provide opportunities to work in small and large groups
Realize that some students learn best while working alone. Build in options!
Wimba is available for “real time” conferencing
Use Wimba to show students how to move within the Blackboard environment
Wimba provides chats, blogs, and wikis
Don’t forget-you have your students face to face-talk to them!
Find ways to engage your learners
Offer collaborative and more reflective activities
Offer time to think, plan, write and summarize
What can be done to increase participation?
What adjustments need to be made to facilitate learning?
What is working well for students?
Great way to provide students a voice in their own learning
Leaves time to make necessary adjustments to delivery of content
Helps to identify areas to modify to meet student needs
Provide an open question and answer forum Encourage critical or creative thinking Reinforce domain or procedural processes Achieve social interaction and community
building-- have the students get to know each other personally and intellectually
Validate experiences Support students in their own reflections
and inquiries
Focus on content resources and applications and links to current events and examples that are easily accessed from learner's computers
Tutorials, simulations and content specific material can be found online
Link material learned to current events and to student’s lives
Teacher identifies the core concepts to be learned in a course
Performance goals should be set and SHARED with the student
Build in options and choices to address the same performance goal reached in a different way (Differentiated Instruction)
Remember- concepts are not words
Concepts are organized, intricate knowledge clusters
Effectively learning concepts requires a focus on patterns and relationships - not individual facts or vocabulary
Students need to create, talk, write, explain, analyze, judge, report and inquire
Moves from concept awareness to concept acquisition
Discussion forums, blogging, journals and small group work are all excellent strategies for engaging learners in clarifying and enlarging their mental models or concepts
Helps to build links and identifies relationships.
Planning ahead can help reduce stress and provide a calming atmosphere
Provide a “To Do” or checklist for students during the last few weeks of class
Help students by reminding them of “What’s Next”
Well-designed ending of a course provides opportunities for reflection and integration of useful knowledge
Provides a time to wrap up positive social and cognitive experiences
End-of-course experiences often include student presentations, summaries and analyses
Reports and presentations provide insights into what useful knowledge students are taking away from a course
Provides opportunity for faculty to remind students of core concepts and fundamental principles
Focus on your learners
Communication tools are the heart and soul of the online course
Be available
Above all-model what you want your online students to do
Boettcher, J. V. (2006). "Ten core principles for designing learning -- The jungle brain meets the tundra brain." Expanded version of Boettcher, J. V. (2003). Course management systems and learning principles ---- Getting to know each other. Syllabus. 16: 33-36. campustechnology.com/articles/39412/. (Accessed August 27, 2007). Another version is at www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=54. (Accessed August 27, 2007).
Boettcher, J. V. and Conrad, R. M. (2004). Faculty guide for moving teaching and learning to the web. 2nd Edition. Phoenix, AZ, League for Innovation. Pp. 247.
Conrad, R. M. and Donaldson, J. A. (2004). Engaging the online learner: Activities and resources for creative instruction, Jossey-Bass <www.josseybass.com> Pp. 123.
Fischer, K. Reiss, D. and Young, A. (2005). Ten tips for generating engaged online discussion. Austin, TX, University of Texas. http://wordsworth2.net/activelearning/ecacdiscustips.htm (Accessed August 27, 2007) A helpful set of concise tips that offer ideas and suggestions for being effective at facilitating discussions in electronic environments. More tips on getting started in online active learning are at <wordsworth2.net/activelearning/ecacteachtips.htm>.
Goodyear, Peter. (2002) Psychological foundations for networked learning." Networked learning: perspectives and issues. Pp. 49-75 2002. Springer-Verlag. New York, Inc.
Grogan, G. (2005). The Design of Online Discussions to Achieve Good Learning Results