"This author's position is that asynchronous online discussions face an array of resolvable pedagogical and course management challenges. Online discussions can transform mere course chatter into a cyber forum of student-centered learning through meticulous planning, designing and orchestrating. After introducing common issues, a literature review summarizes the contributions that online discussions bring to distance learning. The author then addresses pedagogical and managerial issues that plague online discussions with strategies that instructors may readily employ. In the pedagogical realm, these include insights on organizing online discussions, using groups to facilitate interactions, establishing discussion parameters, and ensuring that the course syllabus introduces online discussion details. In the managerial realm, approaches are offered regarding overseeing discussion windows, using icebreakers, assessing student performance, ongoing communications, maintaining an online presence, netiquette, and a variety of other online discussion tips. In support of online instructors, the article weaves in relevant literature with the hard learned lessons from the author's ongoing attempts to improve online discussions. It concludes by urging instructors to cultivate improvement continuously through candid self-critique supplemented by student feedback."
IF STUDENTS are to succeed in today's complex economy, they need to know more than just English, math, science, and history. They also need a range of analytic and workplace skills.
Mastering those skills means learning how to think critically and creatively, work collaboratively, use the Internet to do research, and communicate clearly and effectively.
Students also need to be responsible and accountable, to be up on the news, and to have a workable knowledge of economics and business.
Now, this is a report some skeptics might well dismiss as another attempt to reinvent the educational wheel.
From IT to business etiquette to networking to preparing a resume to little things like having a proper handshake and making appropriate small talk, Oliver says she's learning how to conduct herself in the business world.
Nonsequential, the free CyberSmart! Student Curriculum is easily integrated, in part or in full, into your current curriculum. Each lesson stands on its own. A consistent lesson model, including free reproducible student activity sheets, makes planning ea
That's right...you heard me! And it's one of my favorite activities all year long. Paper Blogs. I use them to introduce my seventh graders to the idea of blogging and, more importantly, commenting.
So you have heard about blogging with your students and you are considering taking the plunge but just not sure what or how to do it? I am here to tell you; blogging with my students has been one of the most enriching educational experiences we have had this year, and that says a lot. So to get you started, here is what I have learned: