Group items tagged

White, Roberts and Br anna n (2003) focused particularly on course design in online education. Their major premise is that “unless the course is reconceptualized using an interactive learning pedagogy, the results are nothing more than a correspondence course via e-mail and that simply transferring a traditional classroom-based course to an online format is doomed to failure ” (White, Roberts & Br anna n, 2003, p. 172).

White, Roberts and Br anna n go on to describe an online nurse refresher course provided by University of Wisconsin that promotes the following four components - humanizing or creating a good learning environment; getting the learners to participate; using the right message so that it is received, understood, and remembered; and eliciti

cognitive presence of the teacher is a core concept in creating a community of inquiry.

It seems that a very informative post that does not bring in outside research to teach the class something will never receive a perfect score. That seems to be the essence of a perfect post. Search the web, search books, search resources, and bring these ideas back to the class to teach the class something.

Service-learning is a pedagogy that links academic study and civic engagement through thoughtfully organized service that meets the needs of the community

Service learning courses provide rigorous and enhanced academic learning by interconnecting community action and critical reflection

Service learning courses provide relevant and meaningful service by placing students in projects that are tailored to address community and societal needs.

have the students introduce themselves by their "medieval vocational personality."

Presentation Objectives are to: 1) Educate faculty on the pedagogical uses of avatars in the online classroom, 2)Provide an opportunity for participants to practice developing their own avatar and 3)Promote interest and improve confidence in using avatars as part of established learning activities and spark generation of new ideas. Presentation Audience: Faculty who desire to see improvement in the richness of their students’ online experiences will find this presentation interesting and beneficial. Faculty who have never considered using or developed their own avatars will find practical assistance. Presentation Activities: In this highly interactive session, participants with laptop computers will have the opportunity to create and publish an avatar, which can be posted on their faculty webpage or other Web 2.0 forum. The facilitator will also present avatars developed by undergraduate students as part of a class project and will invite participants to generate ways that they can use this medium in own classrooms. Description: Avatars have typically been associated with gaming, recreation and entertainment, and most recently were the central characters in a hugely successful blockbuster movie. Their use in learning environments is much less popular, although it is growing. A central definition has not emerged, although the following are generally accepted: “a digital representation

Online instructors lament some of the same problems expressed by their students, not the least of which is the feeling of disconnection in the learning environmen

The social presence created by avatars may diminish some of these negative factors

ndrogyny, anthropomorphism and credibility in online interactions.

In both online and offline interactions, the visual representation of people influences how others perceive them. In contrast to the offline body, an online visual representation of a person is consciously chosen and not stable

Results show that the characteristics of the avatar are used in the person perception process

The article then discusses a number of educational techniques for avoiding these two pitfalls, including building more measures that support positive interdependence, individual accountability, and collaborative skills; increasing opportunities for the socio-emotional and affective exchanges between learners; adjusting the instructor’s and the learners’ role for CSCL environments; and increasing social presence, i. e. reducing the perceived distance between learners.

Not only does this promote positive effects, it also reduces the negative effects usually present in non-collaborative groups such as the free-rider or hitchhiking effect, social loafing, and the sucker effect. The free-rider or hitchhiking effect (Kerr & Bruun, 1983) exists when ‘‘group members exert less effort as the perceived dispensability of their efforts for the group success increases’’ (p. 78). In other words, they feel that the group is doing enough and that they don’t have to contribute. Social loafing (Latane ́ , Williams, & Harkins, 1979) exists when group members exert less effort as the perceived salience of their efforts for the group success decreases. In other words, as the group size increases so does the anonymity and the non-participation. The social loafer differs from the free rider in that the former lacks the motivation to add to the group performance, while the latter tries to profit from others while minimizing essential contributions. Finally, the sucker effect (Kerr, 1983) exists when the more productive group members exert less effort as the awareness of co-members free-riding increases. That group refuse to further support noncontributing members (they refuse to be ‘suckers’) and therefore reduce their individual efforts” (p. 339-40)

Front-Row Tweets I get a good start on reflecting on my conference learning from the tweets I've posted to Twitter during the conference. This is how I take notes: I'm constantly processing the information as I hear it, tweeting the ideas I find valuable, which at the same time adds them to an archive of my tweets that I can review and reflect on later. Tweeting at conferences has also helped me build an incredible professional learning network, which is the greatest source of my own professional development year-round. My conference tweets are a chance to give back to the incredible educators in my PLN who share great ideas and resources with me daily. I know it's not for everyone, but I highly recommend it!

 "the force that forges the meaningful connections at the heart of every great classroom," as Duncan suggests. They are, however, being asked to produce more with less, each and every school year.