Group items tagged

t becomes difficult to develop experiences for distance students that continue to provide work-based experiences and engage them as members in their local communities.

Reflection is a major component of service-learning

When conducting online courses, e-service offers excellent outreach to community organizations and fills a void in meeting community needs. As the educational paradigm shifts to more distance learning, students will be looking for ways to gain work experience and build long-lasting partnerships with their communities that will benefit their future careers. The experiences provide rich, authentic, hands-on training for students.

E-learning challenges students to think in new ways, explore new ways of problem solving, and raise critical questions about their learning and service. E-service enhances student academic experience through experiential learning that reflects the complex issues of students' future workplaces. Students get the opportunity to wrestle with complex issues right in their own communities and to become a part of the solution. These solutions are shared with peers statewide, assisting other small towns and businesses that may have similar needs.

Because online students tend not to be the traditional age of on-campus students and usually work a 40-hour week in addition to going to school, access to a community partner can be a challenge.

Twitter

~I continue to be astonished every week with how much I am growing and learning in this course.  Not only am I learning how to be an effective online instructor and everything that it entails, but I am also learning a lot about myself.~

I lose track of time and hours have gone by without me even realizing it. 

“What young children perceive that their teachers do plays a more significant role in their socio-emotional outcomes than what teachers report they do” (p. 30).  We have an EVEN bigger impact than we thought!

“Am I providing a bridge for my students from their prior knowledge to where I want them to be and where THEY want to be?” “What am I doing to facilitate their growth not only in building a positive self-image, but also as learners in general?” “Am I REALLY taking into consideration their interests, passions and motivations?” And finally, “What Would Alex Do?”

“I really like how you tell them you are there for them.  A lot of my teachers give us confusing assignments and I never feel like I can ask them questions.” 

When she was done going through everything she said, “Are you actually going to teach this class? Can I take it when you do?” 

  I was spending so much time figuring out the tools that I felt like I wasn’t spending time on content.  I realize now that I needed to spend that time and those tools were part of the content of this course. 

I LOVE learning in general!  I liked learning before…well I never disliked it anyway…well unless it was math…or science…I had no idea what it was like to truly LOVE learning.  Its sad to me that it took me 30 years to experience this.  Did I work A LOT in this course?  Did I give up much of my social life?  Did I stay up too late?  YES, YES and YES.  Was it worth it? Absolutely!  Did I mind? NOT ONE BIT…Reflecting on the fact that I worked so hard and so much on something and not only wasn’t bothered by it, but enjoyed every moment was a HUGE wake up call to me. 

You just have to have passion and a belief in yourself.

This was the only course I have EVER taken in which I will walk away having truly internalized knowledge.  I know that I internalized what I have learned because when I was reviewing my classmate’s courses I didn’t have to refer to a book or a checklist, it was all in my head.  When I look back at my undergrad education, I have always said that I didn’t feel like I actually “learned” anything until I student taught and learned by DOING.  That’s exactly what happened in this course, I learned by doing.  This is only course that has ever provided me with this type of experience and it has shown me what quality education should be, not only online but in a face-to-face situation as well.

We(myself, my classmates AND Alex) worked together in this course to contribute to the construction of our knowledge. 

It wasn’t until this summer when I turned 31 that I finally experienced being a student in a student-centered, constructivist environment that actually got me to THINK.  Not just think, but think critically…It took 31 years for me to experience a true community of learners!  I don’t want other students to have to wait 31 years to experience what its like to REALLY LEARN!

I want to CHANGE someone the way that Alex, ETAP 640 and all of you have CHANGED me.

A good strategy for developing a supportive online course community is to design a course with a balanced set of dialogues. This means designing a course so that the three dialogues of faculty to student, student to student and student to resource are about equal. In most online courses, the dialogue of faculty to student is provided with (1) mini-lectures in text or video or audio podcasts, (2) weekly coaching and reminder announcements and (3) explanations/interactions with the students.

When faculty actively interact and engage students in a face-to-face classroom, the class develops as a learning community, developing intellectual and personal bonds. The same type of bonding happens in an online setting.

Early feedback surveys or just informal discussions ask students to provide feedback on what is working well in a course and what might help them have a better course experience. This early feedback is done early in the course so corrections and modifications can be made. It is an easy opening for students who might have comments or suggestions or questions.

Quick One-Liner Hints Create open-ended questions that learners can explore and apply the concepts that they are learning Model good Socratic-type probing and follow-up questions. Why do you think that? What is your reasoning? Is there an alternative strategy? Ask clarifying questions that encourage students to think about what they know and don't know. Stagger due dates of the responses and consider mid-point summary and /or encouraging comments Provide guidelines and instruction on responding to other students. For example, suggest a two-part response: (1) what you liked or agreed with or what resonated with you, and (2) a follow-up question such as what you are wondering about or curious about, etc.

As courses come to a close, it is easy to forget the value of a good closing experience. In the final weeks of a course, students are likely to be stressed and not take the time to do the lists and the planning that can help reduce stress and provide a calming atmosphere. A favorite image of mine is from David Allen of Getting Things Done. Allen notes that making a list helps us to clear the "psychic ram" of our brains and we feel more relaxed and more in control. Once we have made our list and schedule, we don't have to continually remind ourselves of what needs to be done and when. Here are a few hints for closing out a course experience with style and panache. Take time to remind students of what's next and when assignments and readings are due. Announcements of this type provide a "To Do" list and schedule for the learners. And by implication this list provides a helpful "To Do" list and schedule for you. As always, it is good to post reminders and make references to the planning list in your comments. And update as you go. Plan the ending of the course experience. A well-designed ending of a course provides opportunities for reflection and integration of useful knowledge. It is also a time to wrap up positive social and cognitive experiences.

How is the learner supporting the community of learners and contributing to the overall growth of the group? We have much to learn about teaching and learning and specifically about teaching online. The good news is that in 2011 we now know much more than what we did in 1990 or even 2000. The list of references that follow are starting points for both general teaching and for teaching online.

One benefit of flow theory is that it presumes that motivation, cognition, and affect are situational

Flow Theory Print Collect It! var shared = false; if(!window['loadedCollectionJS']) { window['loadedCollectionJS'] = true; Asset.javascript('/js/moo/collections/collections.js'); } var scripts = $$('script'), thisScriptTag = scripts[scripts.length - 1], el = thisScriptTag.getPrevious('.collect-button-wrap'); if(el) { el.store('collectPath', "http://www.education.com/reference/article/flow-theory/") } var switchTo5x=true;stLight.options({publisher:'d0d0d8a8-d1f8-49ff-9318-fed5383cff80',doNotHash:true,NotCopy:true,hashAddressBar:false});Email var sharedemail = false; (function() { stLight.options({ onhover: false, clickCallBack: function(){ if(typeof window.sharedemail != 'undefined') { new Request({ method: 'post', url: '/service/service.'+'php?sn=sharelog&f=ase&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.education.com%2Freference%2Farticle%2Fflow-theory%2F&ceid=41882&click=email'}).send(); sharedemail=true; } } }); stWidget.addEntry({ 'service':'email', title:"Flow Theory", summary: "", url: "http://www.ed"+"ucation.com/reference/article/flow-theory/", element: document.getElementById("sharethis-7167") }); })(); if(!window['plusoneloaded']) { new Asset.javascript('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'); window['plusoneloaded'] = true; } function plusone_vote( obj ) { //track in Google Analytics _gaq.push(['_trackEvent','plusone',obj.state]); //track in Omniture if((typeof(window.Omniture) != 'undefined')) { var params = {evars:{5:obj.state}}; if(obj.state == 'on') params.events = [6]; Omniture.fireEvent(params,'Google Plus One Click'); } } By Amy Schweinle | Andrea Bjornestad Updated on Dec 23, 2009 MAJOR RESEARCH METHODS FACTORS INFLUENCING FLOW AND MOTIVATIONAL CONSEQUENCES IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHERS Flo

have the skills to accomplish them

not only do activities with high challenge matched with high skill offer the best opportunities for learning, but they also provide an optimal environment for positive affect and intrinsic motivation.

eachers must provide optimal challenge and support for competence (or skill)

(a) provided immediate, constructive feedback, (b) encouraged students to persist, (c) encouraged cooperation rather than competition, (d) supported student autonomy, (e) ensured that new challenges were tempered with support to match students' skill, (f) emphasized the importance of the material, and (g) pressed students to understand the principles rather than memorize algorithms.