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the best approach is to create online forums that students want to join, rather than forcing participation

Charging for it Creating a game Using specific locations (though some devices are able to detect location through browser applications) Using cameras Using accelerometers (to detect motion or rotation) Accessing file systems Offline users

I emphasize the why of the activity—what’s in it for the students

weighty, not necessarily in grades but in terms of complexity

synthesize, analyze and create a product

Access to education should not mean merely access to content

rather, it should mean access to a rich learning environment that provides opportunity for interaction and connectedness

instructor skill in creating and managing interaction in online courses

odcasting was defined for instructors as a technology that allowed students to receive course materials through the convenient, RSS-based subscription mode and listen to them anywhere, anytime. The goal of the podcasting theme was to enable instructors to experiment with audio modes of learning. Audio has the power to capture and focus attention, helping learners acquire content and process complex information (Bishop, Amankwatia, and Cates, 2008).

Furthermore, informal, personalized audio presentations are thought to create a feeling of social presence that helps learners integrate new information with their existing knowledge (Moreno and Mayer, 2004).

Some instructors used podcasting as a way to provide recordings of lectures to students. However, many more experimented with podcasting as a way to expose students to additional course content in engaging formats.  They created course podcasts that were mock radio programs, case studies, and interviews with national and international figures.  Still others used podcasting as a method for delivering course audio files or assigned students to create podcast presentations for their class. These varied pedagogical strategies were used by instructors across all disciplines.

Teachers can draw on technology applications to simulate real-world environments and create actual environments for experimentation, so that students can carry out authentic tasks as real workers would, explore new terrains, meet people of different cultures, and use a variety of tools to gather information and solve problems." (p. 43)

technology can enhance student engagement and productivity. More specifically, technology increases the complexity of the tasks that students can perform successfully, raises student motivation, and leads to changes in classroom roles and organization

collaborative.

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.

I’ve included the student need for teaching presence in my discussion rubric but need to further create ways to be part of their learning.  This might be just sitting on the sidelines and observing until I feel the need to re-set the climate for learning if it’s off track.

“Students have the power to participate in the media, to react to the media, to create the media, to be the media. With this newfound power, our youth don’t have to simply be fed what the media presents; they can join in the process, to provide a broader more and relevant perspective, while at the same time defining themselves in new, and powerful ways. This idea of redefinition can influence the birth of a new youth cultural renaissance.