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.

The proper use of humor, analogy, and metaphor appropriate to the topic can provide benefits in the college classroom.

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

Allmendinger, K. (2010). Social presence in synchronous virtual learning situations: the role of nonverbal signals displayed by avatars. Educational Psychology Review, 22(1), 41-56

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)

: A “one-minute paper” may be defined as a very short, in-class writing activity (taking one-minute or less to complete) in response to an instructor-posed question, which prompts students to reflect on the day’s lesson and provides the instructor with useful feedback.

What was the most important concept you learned in class today? Or, “What was the ‘muddiest’ or most confusing concept covered in today’s class?

more as a student-centered reflection strategy designed to help students discover their own meaning in relation to concepts covered in class, and to build instructor-student rapport

In higher education, student-centered instructional strategies are challenging the traditional lecture model. Instead of the “sage on the stage” delivering information (one-way model), institutions are promoting learning models where students collaboratively solve problems and reflect on their experiences (two-way/exchange model).

A learning style is: "A complexus of related characteristics in which the whole is greater than its parts. Learning style is a gestalt combining internal and external operations derived from the individual's neurobiology, personality and development, and reflected in learner behaviour" (Keefe & Ferrell 1990, p. 16).

general tendency towards a particular learning approach displayed by an individual.

Riding & Cheema (1991), from an extensive review of the literature, conclude there are only two principal styles "families", the holist-analytic, and the verbaliser-imager. These two broad groupings relate to the type of cognitive activities normally ascribed to the two hemispheres of the brain. Curry (1983) suggests there are three different perspectives on styles: those relating to a preference for a particular instructional approach, those relating to the individual's intellectual approach to assimilating information independently of the environment, and those relating to the individual's intellectual approach to assimilating information with the environment.

Learning-Centered Syllabi Workshop

Creating and using a learner-centered syllabus is integral to the process of creating learning communities.

students and their ability to learn are at the center of what we do