2010 Spring ETC647

Common Question I: NLE Strategies Applied Please discuss three most important strategies of NLE in your unit. Please be sure to justify why they are effective NLE strategies and how you assess them. Remember NLE strategies are not just your contents or "technologies," such as wiki, Blog, Twitter etc. It is integrated soft technologies. Hint: Four components of technology integrations: Content; Technology; Instructional Strategies; Assessment.

Three most important strategies of NLE: * Integration of Text and Video- I placed a great amount of focus in my unit on the balancing of text with video. I used the text to prepare the user to watch the video and prompt the user to reflect after viewing the video. * Authentic Tasks- Each of the lessons involves a task that requires the user to interact with the actual Web 2.0 app. This provides experiences that are not contrived but based in the reality that users will face when they go to apply the lessons for other tasks. * Discovery learning- In this unit, focus has been placed allowing the user to discover the level of skill that they have with the technology and providing multiple entry points to match that skill level. Users drive the learning process as they make decisions about what is valuable.

Common Question II: NLE Please justify why your unit integrating NLE, not just online learning environments (OLE). Be sure to distinguish NLE from OLE. Provide the examples from your unit to justify your responses.

This unit goes beyond OLE in the completion of authentic tasks and the more avanced level of interaction. In a OLE, users will read and reflect on the content that is to be learned. In this lesson, users are given the content in text and video and then are asked to complete authentic tasks. As they are completing these authentic tasks, they are interacting with other users (on the wiki) and nonusers through the technology.

Common Question I: NLE Strategies Applied Please discuss three most important strategies of NLE in your unit. Please be sure to justify why they are effective NLE strategies and how you assess them. Remember NLE strategies are not just your contents or "technologies," such as wiki, Blog, Twitter etc. It is integrated soft technologies. Hint: Four components of technology integrations: Content; Technology; Instructional Strategies; Assessment.

The three most important strategies of NLE are the soft technologies of how to present ideas in a digital age, how to evaluate aspects of a story using technology, and how to find information as a community. Soft technology is the technology that people understand, what they have inside. The community presentations of their artifacts in this unit and the necessity of attending them to evaluate are both critical elements of an NLE. It is not the technology itself that becomes important, but the idea of how to do it as a community that makes it an NLE.Learning how to contribute to a group building a knowledge base is an important NLE strategy. Using each other's innovation as well as providing your own expertise to create a community that is greater than any individual could come up with is the essence of this unit and that is what makes it an NLE and not just a unit with technology embedded in it.

Shawn, You stated: "The community presentations of their artifacts in this unit and the necessity of attending them to evaluate are both critical elements of an NLE." Could you be more specific why it is NLE not online learning?

Because all of their learning is done in a communal form. From my understanding, an online learning would simply send them on a webquest and have them post for evaluation. This unit is centered around them looking at, evaluating, and using each others' work. Because it is all created using a network that they all spread out from and return to it becomes more NLE and less online learning. They are forming a community of other learners and collaborating, even though they are writing different stories.

Common Question II: NLE Please justify why your unit integrating NLE, not just online learning environments (OLE). Be sure to distinguish NLE from OLE. Provide the examples from your unit to justify your responses.

The unit is an NLE because all of the participants have access to all of the information at any time and are required to look at, evaluate, and participate in everyone's project. An OLE involves putting all of the work online, but does not necessarily involve the group feeling. For example, in an OLE, a student would be asked to blog about an experience, but in an NLE, the students would be required to respond and communicate with each other.

Common Question I: NLE Strategies Applied Please discuss three most important strategies of NLE in your unit. Please be sure to justify why they are effective NLE strategies and how you assess them. Remember NLE strategies are not just your contents or "technologies," such as wiki, Blog, Twitter etc. It is integrated soft technologies. Hint: Four components of technology integrations: Content; Technology; Instructional Strategies; Assessment.

The primary network learning environment strategies that I used in this unit were ones that concerned communication.  Students were asked to interact in a variety of ways.  They were asked to interact on forums, in chat rooms, and to sharing joint wiki pages.  These communications for interactive, synchronous, and asynchronous.  They allow the learners to feel connected with each other as a community of learners and to benefit from the unique skill sets of individual group members.  Content was delivered textually and through audio and video.  These techniques were used for the more cut dry aspects of the unit.  Students however were expected to build on that content and create their own in sharing their thoughts and reflections upon the unit at its content.  Assessment was based on authentic mini projects that had to meet the specifications of the assignment.  As the specifications were clear, goals were measurable, while allowing the individual learner to tailor NLE were necessary for the unit.  Announcements were served via twitter and e-mail.  Assignments were organized using Google calendar.  Finally iGoogle was used as the one piece that tied all the NLE components together into a usable and understandable environment for the learners.  My aim was to create an environment that fosters learning beyond the tools.

"They were asked to interact on forums, in chat rooms, and to sharing joint wiki pages. " sounds more like online learning strategy, not NLE strategies?!

To apply more networked learning environment specific terms, learners in this unit were required to engage in specific learning activities.  Learners were asked to create their own webpages and wet paint.  This amounts to user generated content.  This user generated content was then shared with classmates so they could gain insights into how the tool is used and how they can use it in their own practice.  This sharing of the user generated content also amounts to social content sharing for learners are engaged in sharing their resources and developed content.  In demonstrating how to embed videos and widgets in white paint, this unit encourages webpage creation in a mashup style where web development combines online content and resources from external sources.  The practice of sharing, editing privileges of individual wiki pages and engaging in dialogue through comments and forums helps to foster participatory web style learning as the users contribute to each other.  Finally, the sharing of access and editing privileges on wiki pages constitutes a form of cloud computing.  The resources are web applications that are accessed via an internet browser and stored on network servers.  This is the very essence of cloud computing.  These learning strategies combined with the elements previously posted are the core of the network learning environment generated by this unit.

Common Question II: NLE Please justify why your unit integrating NLE, not just online learning environments (OLE). Be sure to distinguish NLE from OLE. Provide the examples from your unit to justify your responses.

Although my unit has aspects of online learning environments, it is intended to be a network learning environment.  An online learning environment is more static with the presentation of information as its main means of education.  The network learning environment employed in this unit was intended to chain users in a set of skills (much like an online learning environment), but also for the learners to interact with each other and the content in ways that grew and improved learning beyond the text on the webpage page.  Web 2.0 tools were woven together to create an environment that fosters learning and exploration within the aims of the course.  Students were asked to comment upon possible ways the technology could be employed, both for students and educators.  They were then asked to create products and share them with each other to gain the benefits of the cooperative group effort.  The specifics of individual assignments were left open so that teachers could explore the uses of the technology and see how their colleagues did the same.  They were then required to do the work of others and gain further insight through the process.  The environment used goes beyond a collection of Web 2.0 tools and should be thought of as a collection of tools and resources that assist a collaboration of minds working towards similar goal in creating their own content.  It is this distinction that makes my unit a network learning environment.

Common Question I: NLE Strategies Applied Please discuss three most important strategies of NLE in your unit. Please be sure to justify why they are effective NLE strategies and how you assess them. Remember NLE strategies are not just your contents or "technologies," such as wiki, Blog, Twitter etc. It is integrated soft technologies. Hint: Four components of technology integrations: Content; Technology; Instructional Strategies; Assessment.

The three most important NLE instructional strategies throughout my unit were UGC, PAR, and VIS. First, with UGC students had to create online class newsletters via wiki technology which was then shared online for the rest of the class to read and respond to as a requirement. Second, PAR (Participatory Web), allowed my learners to contribute to a wiki as well as collaborate during this process. Lastly, VIS (visualization) was an important part of this unit because it had the learners examine their learning through visual representation, ie: word clouds. As a whole, this unit also promoted a "community" of practice by connecting them in the process of sharing classroom news and events. These strategies were assessed through rubrics which measured how students learned the content of expository writing through NLE instruction. The goals of collaboration and community and its effects on writing motivation and engagement were measured through a survey that students would take before and after the unit, as well as blog reflections. This NLE unit would be assessed at the 4th grade level.

Common Question II: NLE Please justify why your unit integrating NLE, not just online learning environments (OLE). Be sure to distinguish NLE from OLE. Provide the examples from your unit to justify your responses.

This unit is very much designed as a NLE unit vs. a OLE unit. First of all, OLEs are very much flat structured in nature. The information is presented to the learner and the process of learning is static as a whole. The framework for OLEs fall mainly in the expository and active dimensions with very little reaching the interactive dimension. NLEs are opposite in its framework, such as my unit. Heavy focus is spent on designing a unit that falls in the interactive dimension with much learner-learner interaction and online collaborative learner-learner interaction. My unit supports a NLE framework with interactive designs because Learner-Content interaction is high due to the fact students are creating and developing class news rather than instructors. Students are allowed to remix the online learning content. Learner-Instructor interaction is med-high because instructors integrate UGC and PAR instructions to scaffold learners. Learner-Learner interactions are high because team members communicate between wiki, blog, and chat technologies. Team members collaborate to complete writing and editing tasks. Classmates are also able to view all content created by teams. Learner-Interface interaction is high in this unit. Students are empowered to create, edit, and modify online content through wiki. Wiki content supports remix and mashup. Vis affects are applied to support class news through Wordle art. Online collaboration interaction is also very high in this unit, as it is a goal of NLEs. Students collaborate via wiki editing tasks. Students collaborate through blog reflections and comments. Students collaborate via class chat room. All in all, NLEs promote collaboration, community, and connections through learning. Various Web 2.0 tools allow this to happen in a NLE, such as my unit. I hope that this unit will allow 4th graders to have a positive first experience in a NLE!

Common Question I: NLE Strategies Applied Please discuss three most important strategies of NLE in your unit. Please be sure to justify why they are effective NLE strategies and how you assess them. Remember NLE strategies are not just your contents or "technologies," such as wiki, Blog, Twitter etc. It is integrated soft technologies. Hint: Four components of technology integrations: Content; Technology; Instructional Strategies; Assessment.

I integrated the use of Google Docs as a means for collaboration - which is supporting a constructivists environment. I also incorporated Delicious for student to share resources which supports a connectivists environment. And the class Ning site for discussions.

Common Question II: NLE Please justify why your unit integrating NLE, not just online learning environments (OLE). Be sure to distinguish NLE from OLE. Provide the examples from your unit to justify your responses.

Not sure I understand your question - my unit integrates NLE's such as wetpaint, Google docs, ning, delicious which are all part a network learning environment. I also utilize other software such as MS docs, research tools etc.