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kasey8876

When to jump in: The role of the instructor in online discussion forums - 0 views

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    The role of the instructor in online discussion forums is a key one in many forms of online education.
dkiesel

The Technology Source Archives - Ten Ways Online Education Matches, or Surpasses, Face-... - 6 views

  • Students are empowered to learn on their own and even to teach one another.
    • Erin Fontaine
       
      Students are made accountable for their own education and are able to reflect on what they are learning.
    • Heather Kurto
       
      Students work together with professors to create a learning style that meets their needs. The students guide information that is important to them making the experience meaningful.
  • Students served as instructors to their classmates, and together they worked toward learning goals more effectively than if they had been provided with the answer by the instructor.
    • Erin Fontaine
       
      I have seen my own students achieve better comprehension when they are able to see the information through the eyes of their peers rather than my perspective.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      This also supports Shift 4 in ELA Common Core which calls for students to have "rich" conversations centering on a text.
  • When an instructor posts a question on the asynchronous discussion board, every student in the class is expected to respond, respond intelligently, and respond several times.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      This expectation is supported by the online instructor's facilitation of discourse and intellectual leadership, identified by Jones et al. as two aspects of teaching presence.
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  • On a more formal note, online tests and quizzes can be constructed with an automatic grading capability that provides immediate feedback and references to text and class notes that explain the correct answers. Assignments, including grades and editorial comments, can be returned to students more promptly and usually with more detail than in the F2F environment.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      This is something to consider with respect to formative assessment, RtI evidence/data, and computer-based grade books. Wondering how it would work in an open source learning platform for collecting data on teacher effectiveness at the university level?
    • Teresa Dobler
       
      I have used online homework systems with my middle school students, and it works wonderfully. Many students use the immediate feedback to their advantage, reviewing the questions they got wrong. I know they use it well because whenever I happen to make an error in marking the correct answer, I will receive a flood of emails from students quoting resources stating why they believe their answer to be correct.
  • They say that it is common for participants in online courses to develop a strong sense of community that enhances the learning process.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      Bodes well for gobalization of education, especially when supported by language conversion apps.
    • Teresa Dobler
       
      Reminds me of a community of inquiry model. See Garrison, Anderson, and Archer, 2000.
  • thrilled
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      This is indeed the perfect verb for this experience!
  • The thinking, planning, research, learning, and effort that goes into constructing and teaching an online course has rejuvenated many faculty members who were frankly going through the motions after numerous years of teaching the same courses, semester after semester, in the same classroom environment.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      As online learning increases at the secondary level, is it possible that responsibility for curriculum development will become an APPR bargaining issue under the Regents Reform Agenda?
  • the best way to teach students how to write more effectively is to have them write more often.
    • Erin Fontaine
       
      One of my main concerns about creating and online class for a junior high (7th/8th) grade is about how technology is affecting their writing abilities. I was afraid of how all the short hand phrases we all use are affecting students and their abiliity to write. Yes, online courses are writing intensive and a great means of keeping students writing but as the teacher I feel like I have to make sure that the work I recieve is of quality. As I continue to research this fear I am seeing both sides of the argument. Text talk may be both positive and negative. Still looking into this... Here is just one of many articles I have found on this topic: http://www.nst.com.my/nation/extras/zero-to-12-is-technology-deteriorating-language-skills-1.89256
    • Teresa Dobler
       
      Thanks for the link. I know with my students, I emphasize the need for using conventional English in typed school work no matter what device they are using. Most of my middle school students are adept at transitioning from the language they would use while texting to the language I expect in their lab report, even if they are typing the lab on their phone.
  • Students with family or work responsibilities are often unable to commit to a traditional course because they cannot be in the same place at the same time for 15 consecutive weeks.
    • Amy M
       
      This is a huge factor is accessibility for adult-learners.
  • Although some instructors may discover more than they wanted to know about their students, my online teaching experience disproves the notion that online courses are impersonal and do not foster relationships, either between students and instructors or among students themselves.
    • Amy M
       
      I wonder what the limit on class size is for an online course to feel "intimate."
  • In the traditional F2F classroom, the instructor asks a question, and the same four or five extroverted students inevitably raise their hands. They offer spontaneous, often unresearched responses in the limited time allotted for discussion. In the online environment, discussions enter a new dimension.
    • Heather Kurto
       
      This is huge for online learning. Students are able to thoughtfully respond which deepens discussions.
  • . Online education is neither right for all students nor right for all faculty, but it frequently meets the needs of both for an exciting, high-quality educational experience.
    • Teresa Dobler
       
      How do we make the jump and empower students to actually take on the role as a teacher?
  • explain, share, comment upon, critique
  • explain, share, comment upon, critique
  • unresearched responses in the limited time
  • unresearched responses
    • Teresa Dobler
       
      I personally have seen a big difference in my thought and contributions when given time to think, research, and craft a response to an argument.
    • sherrilattimer
       
      There is also something to be said abou the "delete" button. Once you say something, you cannot undo it.
  • can refer to their course materials and think through their answers
    • efleonhardt
       
      I think this is a very important piece of online learning I hadn't thought about t before. When students are online they are able to actually process the information and not be afraid if they're processing skills are slower than other students.
    • Teresa Dobler
       
      The goal is for the student to continue learning throughout life, not just for the course. This links back to the Minds on Fire reading: http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/minds-fire-open-education-long-tail-and-learning-20
  • However, I have heard from very few faculty members who are not energized by the creative process of achieving the same instructional goals in an entirely new format.
  • On average, online courses are far more writing-intensive than traditional classes have ever been.
  • he first response that comes to mind rather than the best possible response
    • George Dale
       
      and you don't have the, "Doh! I should have said ..." as you're walking out of the classroom.
  • Many online students have indicated that this is the first time they have ever "spoken up" in class and that they enjoy the opportunity
  • Geared to lifelong learning
    • George Dale
       
      While I'm not a LMS hater, I do see this as a problem in the way LMSs keep a death grip on the content and learning. I'd like to develop a plugin for Balckboard that allows a student to easily "pack up" and take their work with them as they complete a course.
  • as a result of the relative anonymity
    • George Dale
       
      It's almost ironic that the initial anonimity can lead to deeper connections relative to F2F interactions.
  • online education can be done well,
    • George Dale
       
      It seems that some examples that are used to demonstrate a poor online course are often as good as a "normal" (i.e. F2F) class. Being as good as a traditional lecture class is a low bar to set.
    • Arnaldo Robles
       
      I can see this serving as a useful tool for writing activities!
  • In their everyday lives, individuals do not have a teacher at their side to direct them in their acquisition of new information. One of the roles that we need to perform as educators, then, is to teach students to find and learn information on their own or in concert with their colleagues. The online environment fosters self-motivated education. Students direct their own use of Internet links, search engines, discussion boards, chat, e-mail, and other media. While such resources cannot guarantee student initiative, they establish a framework that gives precedence to the autonomy of the learner.
    • Arnaldo Robles
       
      I like this!
  • develop course materials among themselves in a manner rarely seen in the F2F classroom.
    • dkiesel
       
      In f2f classes at masters public health program, we do extensive group projects. I think that k--12 classes may not have had many project-based classes of which hopefully will be more as we are seeing the influence of online teaching and how for practical learning the online environment can greatly compliment a practical session.  But I don't agree that all the practical project based work I have done for my profession with other students and teachers is not as well integrated compared to all the practical group work I have done in my profession with students and teachers. Also the quality of spoken live discussion in group work is very challenging when it is live. Maybe online is helping by giving us more time to think before we say something. 
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    Sorry I didn't want these to go public. These were just my notes to myself so that I could further do some research. Is there a way to remove these or make these private again. Guess I'm still testing the water.
Alicia Fernandez

Using Content Curation Tools to Engage Students | Faculty Focus - 0 views

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    The abundance of freely available information also has changed the role of educators. It's no longer about us standing in front of class and providing information. It's about helping these learners contextualize that information. Helping them connect it to what is out there in the real world and give it foundation and meaning. They have access to the information already, but can they critically evaluate it and figure out which piece goes into which puzzle? Then the question becomes, how should we, as instructors, be helping them? One method to facilitate this process is to have the students contribute to the class content. There are a variety of sites out there that combine content curation with a social networking component, thereby allowing users to discover, organize, and share content around a specific topic.
Jessica M

Role o f Learning Styles i n t he Quality o f Learning a t Different Level - 2 views

  • Learning styles identification helps educators in understanding how their students perceive and process information in different manners and patterns
  • process
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    definition of learning styles and importance for students
lkryder

WebQuest.Org: Home - 0 views

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    structured inquiry and role playing and group work can replace part of discussion or drive discussion or enhance discussion activities
lkryder

Excerpts from Manufacturing Consent, Noam Chomsky interviewed by various interviewers - 0 views

  • QUESTION: When we talk about manufacturing of consent, whose consent is being manufactured? CHOMSKY: To start with, there are two different groups, we can get into more detail, but at the first level of approximation, there's two targets for propaganda. One is what's sometimes called the political class. There's maybe twenty percent of the population which is relatively educated, more or less articulate, plays some kind of role in decision-making. They're supposed to sort of participate in social life -- either as managers, or cultural managers like teachers and writers and so on. They're supposed to vote, they're supposed to play some role in the way economic and political and cultural life goes on. Now their consent is crucial. So that's one group that has to be deeply indoctrinated. Then there's maybe eighty percent of the population whose main function is to follow orders and not think, and not to pay attention to anything -- and they're the ones who usually pay the costs.
    • lkryder
       
      Interestingly, the blogosphere, including microblogging like Twitter, has undermined this manufacture of consent in some ways but also trivialized areas of major concern because of the emphasis on popularity and "like" type responses in social media. But social media has definitely changed the landscape and big data has changed the relationships with the entities in a position to influence and control information and frame issues within the public eye.
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    A good introduction to Chomsky on consent
mikezelensky

Student-led facilitation strategies in online discussions - 0 views

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    This article describes a study done in a graduate education course, where students were asked to facilitate discussions. It highlights specific discussion types and walks through the problems students experienced adjusting to this new role. (Even though they were teachers themselves, these graduate students weren't accustomed to functioning in the teacher role during an online class!)
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    This study explored student-led facilitation strategies used to overcome the challenges of instructor-dominated facilitation, enhance the sense of learning community, and encourage student participation in online discussions...
Irene Watts-Politza

Reflections on Online Teaching - Diane Hamilton - 3 views

  • maybe even a little less nervous. 
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      you are doing a great job so far! : )
    • diane hamilton
       
      Thanks!
  • The rubric does allow for that, but there is a strong sense that some of these dialogic purposes are not as highly valued as others, but I value them all as essential components to class community.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      Not at all. personal opinion, experiences and social presence and support ARE essential in building trust and the sense of a class community. That is why they we have class community areas for interaction in the course and why they are in the rubric. It is, however, important to understand that the discussion can't consist only of those types of posts. And high quality posts are what we need to strive for in the discussion areas of the cousre. The rubric is a device to clarify- to give students informed choice and guidance, and to elevate the quality of interactions. "2" points is not bad. it simply indicates the kind of post that it is. you can post as many "1" point posts as you like - that is not wrong - but, you also need to contribute to the quality of the discussion and learning and to do that you need to aim higher than social and personal experience/opinion type posts.
  • I believe students can have teaching presence within a course when the nature of their interactions helps others to think more deeply or to look at something from an alternate viewpoint.
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  • (even caused me to consider dropping
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      i am so glad you didn't : )
  • conversational tone she is requesting we use.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      hey diane: don't misunderstand. I use a conversational tone becuase that is my style. my choice. That may not be right for you. I want you to find your own voice. Interestingly enough in my opinion, you have one, and it is strong : )
    • diane hamilton
       
      Hi Alex, Thanks for this notation. Now, I am curious though - what kind of voice do I project to you? Diane
  • I keep trying to understand why it’s been repeated
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      the problem is that not every student reads every document. you would be surprised. That said, there are lots of ways to address this. It is certainly easier to not be redundant. Less to update. Less documentation. If you go this route, just make sure that you always link back to the documentation where the information is posted. : ) me
  • Maybe that’s the point.  Maybe I don’t need to know everything well, just the things I need in the moment. 
  • I have however come to realize that I need to ask my own questions and pursue them, go on a QUEST to find answers, to locate research and ideas that relate to my own burning wonderings.  There is a QUEST in every QUESTion!
  • It’s really difficult to flesh out, and it’s kind of foreign to me to be sharing these behind the scenes thoughts….
    • Maria Guadron
       
      Great screencast, Diane! What a wonderful way to add social presence and direct instruction
    • diane hamilton
       
      Thanks!
    • Catherine Strattner
       
      I would like to echo Maria! Thinking about doing this in my course as well- thank you for the inspiration!
    • Lauren D
       
      Great idea with the screencast!
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      This is often how I felt. I attribute it to first-time online learning curve. Do you think you will be more comfortable in the role of instructor in discussion forum? I do.
    • diane hamilton
       
      Yes, I do. I usually feel quite comfortable in that sort of role, but I also think I will have to be sure to promote a horizontal relationship within discussions so students don't shut down or defer to me. I want them to think,explore, and construct without pressure to give me the answer they think I want.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
       
      Shea proposes "learner presence" ... http://www.slideshare.net/alexandrapickett/learning-presencecs2 Can you propose and research Course Presence?
    • diane hamilton
       
      Interesting....
Shoubang Jian

Supporting Peer Review and Self-Assessment - Digital Media Center - University of Minne... - 0 views

  • Peer review activities cast students in the role of teachers by asking them to read and evaluate a fellow student's work.
    • Shoubang Jian
       
      Peer review may be done without putting students in the role of teachers.
Joy Quah Yien-ling

Teacher as Facilitator - 1 views

  • Develop student learning opportunities. This takes into account the course documents, the teacher's personal theories of teaching and learning, the student’s interest, their preferred learning styles and their understanding and skills. It is in this area that the teacher as facilitator is able to provide opportunities for student learning that will take hold of the students' interests and thus motivate them to engage in the learning opportunity. Harrison (1998a & b) has presented the S.P.A.C.E. model for creating optimal learning conditions. The conditions for optimal learning include the following: Self-affimation – the learner’s view themselves as effective learners and the teachers provide them with feedback to that effect; Personal meaning – the learners are able to find personal meaning in the learning. That is, the learning is relevant to them; Active learning - the learners are active in the learning, whether that activity is physically doing something (as for concrete learners) or intellectually doing something (as for abstract reflective learners). Collaborative – the learners are able to collaborate with others in the learning process and not to view learning as an isolating experience; Empowering – the learners are able to shape the learning process, to have control over what is learnt and the direction of the learning.
  • The role of the teacher is diverse and has several orientations. One important aspect is that of facilitator of student learning. The facilitator attempts to provide circumstances that will enable students to engage with the learning opportunities and construct for themselves their understandings and skills. This role will interact with those of teacher as learner, colleague and community partner.
  • A student’s beliefs about the nature of teaching and learning will interact with a teacher’s beliefs. The teacher therefore needs to understand what students expect and are willing to do as well as what they themselves expect of the students.
    • Shoubang Jian
       
      I like this statement. I've never thought of the importance of a dialogue between student's and teacher's idea of teaching and learning.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      so, shoubang... how can an instructor understand what students expect? How will you understand what your students expect? What do you expect of your students and more importantly how will they know what you expect? What mechanisms have i used in this course to achieve both of these ends?
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    • Joy Quah Yien-ling
       
      Anticipating and providing students with space to make mistakes is important. Skills and knowledge take some time to assimilate. Packing a course too tightly may deprive students of the chance to experiment and explore and to reposition, when necessary.
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    Learning and collaboration
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    One mechanism you use, I think, to achieve this is to have all discussion and activity forums be completely open to all in the class. Thus the optimal learning conditions are created by creating open pathways for each person to see ways to deepen their thinking and get more from the course material.
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    It is explicit in the expectations and get the most documents of the course what you expect from your students, and how they can succeed, that is important. But how the teacher know what the students expect I think it is more difficult, maybe asking them explicitly, and provide spaces for them to talk between them, to make comments and suggestions.
Geralynn Demarest

facilitator - 0 views

  • Role of Discussion Facilitator: Encourage and guide the discussion Be clear about the purpose and expected outcomes of the discussion Encourage participants to respond to each other as well as to the facilitator Recognize participants via private and public messages Share information and resources and encourage others to do the same Create a welcoming environment Tie together the threads of the discussion and summarize it Enforce the discussion group ground rules, if necessary Keep the discussion focused on the topic Clarify the questions and comments of participants, if necessary Act as an unbiased, neutral commentator Participate regularly, actively and thoughtfully Ask leading questions; resist being too chatty Decide when to resolve conflict/hostile interaction
    • Geralynn Demarest
       
      This is like a quick reference guide of things to remember when creating an online course and facilitating discussions.
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    Quick reference for tips to keep in mind while creating discussions in an online environment.
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    While creating my course, hiking101, I want to keep in mind the role of discussion facilitator. This source was found through Merlot, and provides a quick snapshot of things to remember.
Diane Gusa

CriticalThinking.org - The Role of Questions in Teaching, Thinking and Learning - 1 views

  • Thinking is not driven by answers but by questions
  • every field stays alive only to the extent that fresh questions are generated and taken seriously as the driving force in a process of thinking
  • To think through or rethink anything, one must ask questions that stimulate our thought.
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  • thinking begins with respect to some content only when questions are generated by both teachers and students.
  • No questions equals no understanding. Superficial questions equals superficial understanding. Most students typically have no questions. They not only sit in silence, their minds are silent as well. Hence, the questions they do have tend to be superficial and ill-informed. This demonstrates that most of the time they are not thinking through the content they are presumed to be learning. This demonstrates that most of the time they are not learning the content they are presumed to be learning.
  • Questions define tasks, express problems and delineate issues. Answers on the other hand, often signal a full stop in thought. Only when an answer generates a further question does thought continue its life as such.
    • Joy Quah Yien-ling
       
      An entirely radical and unique approach to assessment. I wonder if anyone has tried it before. It will be the most demanding exam ever.
  • Feeding students endless content to remember (that is, declarative sentences to remember) is akin to repeatedly stepping on the brakes in a vehicle that is, unfortunately, already at rest. Instead, students need questions to turn on their intellectual engines and they need to generate questions from our questions to get their thinking to go somewhere. Thinking is of no use unless it goes somewhere, and again, the questions we ask determine where our thinking goes.
  • It is possible to give students an examination on any subject by just asking them to list all of the questions that they have about a subject, including all questions generated by their first list of questions.
    • Diane Gusa
       
      HMMMMMMMM I would like to think about this and maybe try it.
    • Diane Gusa
       
      My sticky note got "stuck" in the wrong place...should be down by testing by students listing all the questions they had in course.
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    CriticalThinking.org - The Role of Questions in Teaching, Thinking and Learning
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    One of the reasons that instructors tend to overemphasize "coverage" over "engaged thinking" is that they assume that answers can be taught separate from questions. Indeed, so buried are questions in established instruction that the fact that all assertions - all statements that this or that is so - are implicit answers to questions is virtually never recognized. For example, the statement that water boils at 100 degrees centigrade is an answer to the question "At what temperature centigrade does water boil?"
alexandra m. pickett

Kristina Lattanzio's Blog.... - 0 views

  • Teacher presence, which is how you speak and relate to your students, must not be confused with teaching presence, which is the way a course is structured, activities are designed and feedback is given. 
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      kristina: are you missing the even bigger point here that "teaching presence" is not the exclusive domain of the one in the "role" of "teacher?" Than "teaching presence" in an effectively designed online learning environment is equally expressed, cultivated and facilitated from those in the "role" of "student." can you demonstrate to me that you understand this key concept?
  • One of the resources I came across identified audio feedback to be associated retention of content and students associate it with the perception that the instructor cared more about them.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      do you have a citation for this? would love to see and hear more about this from you or anyone else in the class.
ian august

Mimi Ito peer based learning video pt. 2 - 0 views

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    Mimi ito talks about the strong role of peer based learning through two examples
Maria Guadron

Malcolm Knowles, informal adult education, self-direction and andragogy - 0 views

  • 1. Self-concept: As a person matures his self concept moves from one of being a dependent personality toward one of being a self-directed human being2. Experience: As a person matures he accumulates a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an increasing resource for learning.3. Readiness to learn. As a person matures his readiness to learn becomes oriented increasingly to the developmental tasks of his social roles.4. Orientation to learning. As a person matures his time perspective changes from one of postponed application of knowledge to immediacy of application, and accordingly his orientation toward learning shifts from one of subject-centeredness to one of problem centredness.5. Motivation to learn: As a person matures the motivation to learn is internal (Knowles 1984:12).
  • 1. Self-concept: As a person matures his self concept moves from one of being a dependent personality toward one of being a self-directed human being2. Experience: As a person matures he accumulates a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an increasing resource for learning.3. Readiness to learn. As a person matures his readiness to learn becomes oriented increasingly to the developmental tasks of his social roles.4. Orientation to learning. As a person matures his time perspective changes from one of postponed application of knowledge to immediacy of application, and accordingly his orientation toward learning shifts from one of subject-centeredness to one of problem centredness.5. Motivation to learn: As a person matures the motivation to learn is internal (Knowles 1984:12).
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    Malcolm Knowles and andragogy
alexandra m. pickett

Reflections on Online Learning - 1 views

  • Age problem, an overload of information to the point where in heavy doses it begins to resemble garbage is the problem of our day.
  • How will I balance these issues? How can you have non-hierarchical education within the confines of traditional educational pedagogy especially in an online environment? I feel like I’m taking a big risk here with this topic.
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      hi mike! i think it is a risk, but i am open to you trying. frankly, i don't see how it can work, but if you are passionate about it and believe it can work and will show and prove that it can, i would support your choice and be very interested to see that.
  • Not just another Edublogs.org weblog. :D
    • alexandra m. pickett
       
      brilliant!
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    • Diane Gusa
       
      Bookmarked a book in diigo that someone pdf. Teaching as a subversive activity. Wouldn't it be great if you created such a wonderful course that your students CHOOSE to continue learning without credit!
    • Diane Gusa
       
      You may also want Kohn's Punish by Rewards. Another worn out book on my bookshelp.
  • So what does this mean for education? How is this different online? And why do I believe that I only understand the stick?
  • What is my role? What is the future role of the instructional designer?
  • I couldn’t help but think that all of these questions led to more
  • Time to finish strong.
    • Donna Angley
       
      :-)
  • education is one of the most fundamentally revolutionary acts.
  • he power or the perceived power of education and it’s threat even in relation to the most influential and powerful in all of the land.
  • I still am holding on to Alex telling us to challenge our assumptions about online learning and what it means. I think that should spill over to everything if we really want to affect change in this world and in the field of education. What are we assuming? What can be changed? What seems like it’s either a precursor or indispensable even if this may not be the case at all?
  • Understanding history and using it is cheating in a way. A good type of cheating. We can stand on the work of those before us and take the best or the most appropriate for our time. We can use a historical perspective to give a voice to the voiceless of history.
Donna Angley

You Play World of Warcraft...You're Hired! - 0 views

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    In late 2004, Stephen Gillett was in the running for a choice job at Yahoo! - a senior management position in engineering. He was a strong contender. Gillett had been responsible for CNET's backend, and he had helped launch a number of successful startups. But he had an additional qualification his prospective employer wasn't aware of, one that gave him a decisive edge: He was one of the top guild masters in the online role-playing game World of Warcraft (Brown).
Diane Gusa

Failure, mistakes and NCLB « Moving at the Speed of Creativity - 0 views

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    "It is a tragedy the message many students receive in our schools today louder than all others is, "We have zero tolerance for mistakes or failure." The creative process is all about being willing to take risks, fail, and learn from those mistakes as we try again. I am not saying we should celebrate failure, but in the spirit of the "failure bow" we should recognize the vital role failure plays in the learning process. It is ridiculous to intentionally promote learning cultures where people who fail believe they will be metaphorically killed"
Diane Gusa

The Application of Learning Style Theory in Higher Education Teaching - 0 views

  • 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.
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  • Dunn, Deckinger, Withers & Katzenstein (1990), who found that teaching students based on their diagnosed learning style did significantly increase their achievement level (see also Napolitano 1986).
  • Research indicates learning style is not a stable construct, so one may alter instructional style to meet a learning style that will itself change, requiring a further change in instructional strategy.
  • Researchers have failed to address the question of how it is possible to achieve a tailoring of instructional approaches on anything other than an individual level.
  • What may be possible is to promote an educational environment developed for flexibility at the individual student level.
  • What is required is a stimulus-stimulus approach, where the student and the lecturer are actively involved in both learning and the mechanics of the learning process, the aim being to facilitate learner empowerment by developing in students a critical awareness of material studied and the delivery and structure of the material. Learners can then tailor flexible education strategies to their requirements to optimise the quality of the learning experience.
  • his ability of an individual to actively select from a personal style or skills portfolio, is part of what can be termed self-directed learning
  • In an educational setting, a self-directed learner no longer operates as a passive receiver of information, but takes responsibility for the achievement, and ultimately setting, of learning outcomes. In essence, the traditional lecturer-student divide becomes increasingly blurred, as the learner begins to pro-actively structure the programme to match their own learning attributes.
  • facilitator, and finally to that of a resource to be tapped
  • lecturer's role
  • Under such an approach, higher education ceases to be simply something that is done to people, and becomes a platform from which individuals can go on to, in effect, educate themselves
  • "causer of learning".
  • This approach will tend to create learned helplessness in people
  • Higher education should be concerned with not only enhancing learning in a specific situation, but should also constitute a catalyst for further self-initiated development of the individual, above and beyond the contents and aims of a particular course. T
  • The lecturer must avoid removing traditional barriers to self-direction, such as a rigid programme structure, only to erect new barriers through the use of prescriptive self-direction strategies imposed on the student.
  • allow the individual the freedom to define and devise learning strategies, and to make mistakes. T
  • The role of the lecturer must be essentially non-interventionist, unless the student seeks guidance
  • as people may still not choose to direct their own learning due to: a lack of belief in their own ability, a failure by them to recognise that self-direction is needed or preferable, the setting of an inappropriate learning goal(s) that fails to act as a motivator, and previous learning and education experiences.
  • That educational system primarily tends to concentrate on didactic approaches that often view learning as being of secondary importance to memory, where information acquisition and subsequent information regurgitation predominate.
  • This will require that the lecturer breaks down barriers to learning and self-direction that may be present. This covers: those barriers created by the student during the course (wrong choice of learning approach, poor motivation, lack of confidence), those barriers that the course itself may indirectly create (lack of flexibility, lack of direction and guidance, poor structure), and those barriers that the student brings to the course (reason for attending the course, poor learning skills, previous bad learning experiences).
  • In the initial stages of a programme, the lecturer will need to ensure the existence of an appropriate control structure, as students undergo the transition from being other-directed in their learning by external influences, to being self-directed.
  • caffold structure
  • clearly communicated and understood aims and objectives for the students at regular intervals.
  • allows students to progressively take control of their learning,
  • but that also offers sufficient guidance and direction in the early stages to prevent individuals from becoming lost.
  • The application of learning style theory in higher education teaching
    • Diane Gusa
       
      This would take a very brave instructor to do this. However, I know of colleges (Goddard for one) that does exactly this in their graduate program.
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