New tools and strategies must be used to ensure that the quality of online distance education continually improves and provides for the needs of the learner. The mind map in the previous post provides a visual that demonstrates the tools that can be utilized to engage online learners and maximize the learning that takes place within the online learning environment. Content, communication, and collaboration provide the basic framework for online learning. The tools and how they are used provide the strategies for increasing learning outcomes for students. Asynchronous communication tools are necessary for anyone to participate in online learning. Examples are included in the mind map below but include discussion boards, ideas exchange via blogs and wikis, and taking advantage of the many web 2.0 tools that do not necessitate synchronous communication and collaboration. However it is important to provide the opportunity to interact synchronously through video conferencing with tools such as Skype, texting, and real-time collaboration via GoogleDocs or a similar read-write-web tool that provides chatting and collaborating at the same time. I want to emphasize that the tools for engagement on the mind map are purposely as broad as possible to the actual software that can be used as the tools. For example, Skype is one way to interact and have a video conference live through the webcam, however other tools such as Google’s video chat provide the same type of interaction. The web tools can be more useful than specific applications that meet the needs of the tools.
Durrington, Berryhill, and Swafford (2006) highlight three important strategies in online teaching which include a learning environment that is set up to be supportive and open with clear learning tasks and assessments communicated effectively, asynchronous learning tasks such as discussion boards that are clear and designed to create virtual conversations that are connected with the learning objectives for the course, and creating a series of learning tasks that are problem-based and can be displayed and communicated within the online classroom environment. Palloff & Pratt (2007) state that, “collaboration and the ability to promote interdependence is a critical element in the formation of an online learning community…it is important that the instructor in an online course pay close attention to ways collaboration can be incorporated and facilitated throughout the course” (p. 183). It is essential that the e-teacher must be technically competent and capable of learning new technologies as well as resilient and adaptive to the new and emerging technology tools in online distance learning (Anderson, 2008).
All of these ideas convey two important things about the online learning environment. One is that despite the context of learning, whether face-to-face synchronously or virtual asynchronously, that the students must be set up to include idea exchange, collaboration, communication, and adequate ways of demonstrating and assessing knowledge that is connected to the learning outcomes of the course. Second, good teaching is necessary in both face-to-face and virtual learning environments but the strategies and learning tasks that make up good teaching must be modified to meet the needs of the learning communities in the two different contexts. Each learning environment must include a different set of teaching and learning tools that meet the needs of the classroom community in its context.
References:
Anderson, T. (2008). In Anderson, T. (2nd ed.), Teaching in an online context, (pp. 343-365). 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.
Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2005). Collaborating online: Learning together in community. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building online learning communities: Effective strategies for the virtual classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Siemens, G. (2008, January). Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers. ITForum.
No comments:
Post a Comment