I responded to Lamont Newsome's blog at:
Lamont Newsome's graphic organizer
I also responded to Kathi Middleton's blog as well at:
Kathi Middleton's graphic organizer
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Learner Engagement Graphic Organizer
I hope this works, I have been avoiding redoing my graphic organizer, so I had to find a file hosting site where I could upload my file. I had no idea Blogger did not allow you upload files. Clearly I am still learning about blogging. :-) Here is a link to my graphic organizer and justification paper.
http://www.mediafire.com/?y9os2qaa29941n8
Technology that is used inside and outside the classroom by students is beneficial in engaging learners in online instruction. Within the content domain online instructors can use wikis, blogs, and podcasts by the instructor or experts in the content to effectively engage learners with the content and concepts being taught. To check for understanding, instructors can use discussions and reflections by students. These technologies allow students to still remain flexible with their schedules while still being effectively engaged with the content. Another key component in effectively engaging learners is communication. It is important for online instructors to provide multiple ways for students to communicate with them, their peers and learning communities. Inistructors must also work very hard to build trust in the online community so that communication is open and students and instructors can provide honest and constructive feedback to others. Collaboration is another area that helps with learner engagement. Forming learning communities allows students to interact with one another and the instructor in a small group setting, allowing them to build relationships and trust among group members. Another key point to remember is that it is imperative that there are student to student exchanges as well as student to instructor exchanges.
http://www.mediafire.com/?y9os2qaa29941n8
Technology that is used inside and outside the classroom by students is beneficial in engaging learners in online instruction. Within the content domain online instructors can use wikis, blogs, and podcasts by the instructor or experts in the content to effectively engage learners with the content and concepts being taught. To check for understanding, instructors can use discussions and reflections by students. These technologies allow students to still remain flexible with their schedules while still being effectively engaged with the content. Another key component in effectively engaging learners is communication. It is important for online instructors to provide multiple ways for students to communicate with them, their peers and learning communities. Inistructors must also work very hard to build trust in the online community so that communication is open and students and instructors can provide honest and constructive feedback to others. Collaboration is another area that helps with learner engagement. Forming learning communities allows students to interact with one another and the instructor in a small group setting, allowing them to build relationships and trust among group members. Another key point to remember is that it is imperative that there are student to student exchanges as well as student to instructor exchanges.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Blog Responses
Blogs I responded to were
Bob Streff @ http://bobstreff.blogspot.com/
His blog offered a link to a very insightful blog that offered up ideas on how to create collaborative groups and activities using wikis. He also presented an interesting case as a way to safeguard and deter students from not participating in collaborative excercises.
Dave Harm @ http://daveharms.wordpress.com/
The most thought provoking line from his blog was : The expectation is that every student will participate in the collaboration. Working alone should not be an option.
Bob Streff @ http://bobstreff.blogspot.com/
His blog offered a link to a very insightful blog that offered up ideas on how to create collaborative groups and activities using wikis. He also presented an interesting case as a way to safeguard and deter students from not participating in collaborative excercises.
Dave Harm @ http://daveharms.wordpress.com/
The most thought provoking line from his blog was : The expectation is that every student will participate in the collaboration. Working alone should not be an option.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Module 3: There's no I in team...or is there?
In distance education or online learning it is essential that instructors foster collaboration among students. They must help build a sense of community and help encourage trust among students (Palloff and Pratt, 2007). It is vital that fair and clear expectations are set for students at the beginning of a course. When students are aware of the expectations and requirements of the course from the beginning there will be no excuses later.
Siemens states that collaborative learning can be assessed through participative pedagogy, where students are working in collaborative teams on assignments from the curriculum (2008). In this assessment model students have the opportunity to assess their peers, have the opportunity to receive feedback from the online community, and are assessed by instructors based on contribution to the online community (Laureate Education, 2008). Instructors must set clear guidelines as to what is considered active participation and contribution to the online community. Rubrics are a great way to assess learning and participation, because they are fair and equitable assessments they have clearly defined expectations for each grade so students can self assess themselves and have a pretty good idea of what their grade on each assignment will be based on the rubric. In the post by Mark Sample he discusses the benefits of using student blogs as a starting point for discussions, but the main idea of the blog post is establishing a rubric for evaluating the students blogs. He provided examples of the rubric he set forth and the expectations and how they were outlined for the students in the beginning so that there was no confusion about what was expected of them in their blog postings.
I am quite guilty of being one of those students who abhors group work and collaborative efforts. It is not that I do not participate but I always feel as though it's my grade why should someone else have to help me with it, or why should someone get credit for some of the work that I have done. However I may have felt about collaborative efforts, I have always participated and tried to help my team in whatever assignments we were required to complete. When there are members of the collaborative community who do not participate I think it is important for members of the community to try to reach out to them first through email, chat, or a phone call to determine what has happened. It is important not to jump to conclusions or assume that someone is just not participating when in reality there may be a valid reason as to why they have not been participating. On the other hand, if this is a recurring problem or the community member does not have a reason or response to the efforts of the team, then it is important to notify the instructor so that other members are not penalized. However the team should have pre-established the protocol for what to do when group members are not participating so everyone will be aware of the action steps that will be taken before the instructor is called to intervene.
References:
Mark Sample's Blog http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/a-rubric-for-evaluating-student-blogs/27196
Hurst, D & Thomas, J. (2004). Developing Team Skills and Accomplishing Team Projects Online. In T. Anderson and F. Alloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning (pp. 195-225). Alberta, Canada: Athabasca University.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008a). Principles of distance education: Assessment of Collaborative Learning featuring George Siemens [DVD]. United States: Walden University.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008b). Principles of distance education: Learning communities featuring George Siemens [DVD]. United States: Walden University.
Siemens states that collaborative learning can be assessed through participative pedagogy, where students are working in collaborative teams on assignments from the curriculum (2008). In this assessment model students have the opportunity to assess their peers, have the opportunity to receive feedback from the online community, and are assessed by instructors based on contribution to the online community (Laureate Education, 2008). Instructors must set clear guidelines as to what is considered active participation and contribution to the online community. Rubrics are a great way to assess learning and participation, because they are fair and equitable assessments they have clearly defined expectations for each grade so students can self assess themselves and have a pretty good idea of what their grade on each assignment will be based on the rubric. In the post by Mark Sample he discusses the benefits of using student blogs as a starting point for discussions, but the main idea of the blog post is establishing a rubric for evaluating the students blogs. He provided examples of the rubric he set forth and the expectations and how they were outlined for the students in the beginning so that there was no confusion about what was expected of them in their blog postings.
I am quite guilty of being one of those students who abhors group work and collaborative efforts. It is not that I do not participate but I always feel as though it's my grade why should someone else have to help me with it, or why should someone get credit for some of the work that I have done. However I may have felt about collaborative efforts, I have always participated and tried to help my team in whatever assignments we were required to complete. When there are members of the collaborative community who do not participate I think it is important for members of the community to try to reach out to them first through email, chat, or a phone call to determine what has happened. It is important not to jump to conclusions or assume that someone is just not participating when in reality there may be a valid reason as to why they have not been participating. On the other hand, if this is a recurring problem or the community member does not have a reason or response to the efforts of the team, then it is important to notify the instructor so that other members are not penalized. However the team should have pre-established the protocol for what to do when group members are not participating so everyone will be aware of the action steps that will be taken before the instructor is called to intervene.
References:
Mark Sample's Blog http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/a-rubric-for-evaluating-student-blogs/27196
Hurst, D & Thomas, J. (2004). Developing Team Skills and Accomplishing Team Projects Online. In T. Anderson and F. Alloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning (pp. 195-225). Alberta, Canada: Athabasca University.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008a). Principles of distance education: Assessment of Collaborative Learning featuring George Siemens [DVD]. United States: Walden University.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008b). Principles of distance education: Learning communities featuring George Siemens [DVD]. United States: Walden University.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Module 2 Blog Responses
I responded to Kathi Middleton's blog, she brought up interesting points about the convienence of distance education.
http://middletonprinciplesdistanceeducation.blogspot.com/2010/09/module-2-we-have-learned-from-past-that.html
I also responded to Janelle Horton, who presented an interesting stance on reaching non-native English speakers in distance education.
http://mshorton.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/elements-of-distance-education-diffusion-module/#comment-7
http://middletonprinciplesdistanceeducation.blogspot.com/2010/09/module-2-we-have-learned-from-past-that.html
I also responded to Janelle Horton, who presented an interesting stance on reaching non-native English speakers in distance education.
http://mshorton.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/elements-of-distance-education-diffusion-module/#comment-7
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