Dr. Muir presented this information at a NECC Conference (now ISTE) and is involved with several different educational foundations exploring online learning. The basic questions she was addressing were: "to determine if online learning could be adapted to individual learning styles and if that made a difference in the standardized testing scores of Internet students" (Muir, 2001).
Dr. Muir reviewed the standard Kolb and Gardiner information, but also included how online instructors can assist students' progress through four different stages of learning: Exposure, Guided Learning, Independent and Mastery. To increase the chances of success, she continued to review how students remember, with the most success being retention of information if they participate through saying and doing the item. Her suggestions for online courses were to make them as interactive as possible and to vary the style of instruction to engage as many different learning styles as possible. Have the students actively participate!

Active participation is important in any learning, whether face to face or online. It is the challenge of the online instructor to continually engage the student to reach mastery level. This is important in all of my work because if I cannot instill love of learning into my students, I am doing them a disservice. Just to get the work done is not acceptable in any course if you want the students to become self-sufficient.

This is an assignment for UWStout E-Learning Practicum-SU12-960C-1101.

James, R., McInnes, C., & Devlin, M. (2002). Assessing learning in australian universities. Retrieved from http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/assessinglearning/03/group.html

The Centre for the Study of Higher Education in Australian developed five practical guides dealing with various issues involving assessing students. One of those guides deals with assessing group work and the concerns it might raise if not done properly. "Group work, under proper conditions, encourages peer learning and peer support and many studies validate the efficacy of peer learning." Three major areas that this guide claims that group work improves or helps are that collaboration directly enhances learning, improves teamwork skills for potentially successful employment and gives instructors a means to more efficiently use their time. Setting up of groups and determining roles of members must be flexible because it depends upon why the group is created and what is the expected outcome. A final section in this paper to consider when working with groups is to determine if the product, process or both will be assessed, by who and with what criteria. Detailed charts were provided for reference.

This paper relates to my work with Intel and their Collaboration in the Digital Classroom because of the group work scenario. The rationale behind group work and clear method of assessment is worth further study.
Stacey-alone in New York

Explains Higher Order Thinking (HOT) and how to ask questions to get HOT. It is important in any class to develop critical thinking. The section on how to ask questions would be helpful in a discussion/forum.

From Saskatoon Public Schools, comprehensive list with resources on Strategies and Methods: direct, indirect, interactive, independent and experiential. The styles of teaching are important to know so that the instructor can modify assignment depending upon the outcome wanted.

Goes through several steps in determing and developing eportfolios.
* Purpose: What is the purpose(s) of the portfolio?
* Audience: For what audience(s) will the portfolio be created?
* Content: What samples of student work will be included?
* Process: What processes will be engaged in during the development of the portfolio?
o Selection of Contents
o Reflection on Samples of Work
o Conferencing on Student Work and Processes
* Management: How will time and materials be managed in the development of the portfolio?
* Communication: How and when will the portfolio be shared with pertinent audiences?
*Evaluation: If the portfolio is to be used for evaluation, how and when should it be evaluated?
An extension of online courses is the portfolio being online. Understanding the types and how to set them up benefits the student and avoids confusion as to what is expected.

Schools are set up for PBL. In Project Based Learning (PBL), students go through an extended process of inquiry in response to a complex question, problem, or challenge. Wonderful video on the planning stage for a year long PBL. Planning is important and the more involved all participants are in the planning, the more participation will come from the students. The planning and presentation in online courses adds a nice challenge.

Web Tools organized by:visual, auditory, kinesthetic. Online courses need to be aware of the different learning styles and provide information for as many as possible.