nother distinction that underpins formative assessment is student involvement. If students are not involved in the assessment process, formative assessment is not practiced or implemented to its full effectiveness. Students need to be involved both as assessors of their own learning and as resources to other students. There are numerous strategies teachers can implement to engage students. In fact, research shows that the involvement in and ownership of their work increases students' motivation to learn. This does not mean the absence of teacher involvement. To the contrary, teachers are critical in identifying learning goals, setting clear criteria for success, and designing assessment tasks that provide evidence of student learning.

Formative Assessment is part of the instructional process.

it can only help in evaluating certain aspects of the learning process.

“it is the teacher’s responsibility to precipitate andfacilitate learning that has purpose and is focused on essential concepts and worthwhile goals”

However, it is only through active interventionof a teacher that a powerful communications tool such as collaborative computer conferencing[11], or cooperative learning [12] becomes a useful instructional and learning resource.

We concur with Laurillard, Stratfold, Lukin, Plowman and Taylor [17] that the teacher’s task is to create anarrative path through the mediated instruction and activity set such that students are aware of theexplicit and implicit learning goals and activities in which they participate.

Tips for Increasing Instructor Presence in your Distance Learning Course

Record an introductory video for the first week of the course introducing yourself, your teaching style, student expectations and goals for the course. Contact the ATC to schedule a time for recording your video. Start off each week with a brief personalized note detailing your learning objectives for the lesson and what assignments or tasks need to be done for the week. If relevant, include a personal anecdote or a brief comment on a current event. An example would be to welcome students back for a new semester or from the midterm break. This can be done easily in myWPI by Adding an item at the top of your folder and typing your note in the text box. Incorporate your own voice by narrating your PowerPoint slides or other on-screen materials with Camtasia Studio. For written materials, try a more natural and conversational tone.

Show your presence by checking in to the website as often as possible and leave timely "evidence" that you have been there such as posting new announcements or discussion board postings. For example, if you only post every other week the students may feel that the course site has been "abandoned." Set expectations at the beginning of the course for your students of how often you will be checking in and your response time. Share information with your distance learners that will help them in their careers, just as you would with on-campus students. For example, post links to articles or current job postings in your industry to the Announcements area.

the importance of your online teaching presence is that it contributes to online students’ sense of learning and perception of community.  An online teaching presence “is the binding element in cultivating a learning community” (Persico, et al, 2010).  According to Shea, Li & Pickett (2006), “There is a clear connection between perceived teaching presence and students’ sense of learning community.”

For an online learning environment, the emphasis shifts from preparing class sessions to preparing learning modules with specific learning goals, reading assignments, brief instructional materials, learning activities, discussion board posting requirements, assessment procedures, etc.   While you design the modules for your course, you should regularly ask: What do I want students to learn in this module? How will students demonstrate their learning of the materials in this module? What assignments or learning activities will support the learning for this module? By asking yourself these questions while designing modules, you will support student learning and will establish your teaching presence in the design of the course.

“Skillful facilitation allows students to interact with one another and the instructor at a high level” (Palloff and Prat, 2011).   At the beginning of the course, faculty members can help facilitate discourse through ice breakers that ask students to introduce themselves and find commonalities with other students. 

It refers to the process of helping learners achieve self-growth through self-evaluation and cooperation with others.

adults learn best when a facilitator can see that the following six conditions are met: They feel the need to learn and have input into what, why, and how they will learn. Learning's content and processes bear a perceived and meaningful relationship to past experience and experience is effectively utilized as a resource for learning. What is to be learned relates optimally to the individual's developmental changes and life tasks. The amount of autonomy exercised by the learner is congruent with that required by the mode or method utilized. They learn in a climate that minimizes anxiety and encourages freedom to experiment. Their learning styles are taken into account (pp. 47-49).

THINK ABOUT IT Scenario     Thinking Style       Planning a "Road Trip"   Linear Thinkers will plan out every detail of the trip                                   (i.e. location of gas stations, roads to travel, items to bring, etc.). Global Thinkers will get in the car and drive.         Assembling Furniture, Toys or Electronics   Linear Thinkers will lay out all the parts (neatly), and read the instructions                           carefully before starting the assembly. Global Thinkers will look at a picture of the assembled product, and then try to                           put it together like a jigsaw puzzle                                     (i.e. "this piece looks like it fits here, this piece goes over here...").  

So, you should also try to recognize the learning and thinking style of the people you speak (or write) to.  Essentially, you need to hit the hot buttons of the people you communicate with (e.g. provide details to a linear thinker or describe the big picture to a global thinker).

participation in online discussion forums provides opportunities for responsibility and active learning through the expectation of regular participation in online discussions.

hey construct knowledge through the shared experiences that each participant brings to the collaborative discussions. The online web courses about teaching offer deeper perspectives and opportunities to learn because the participants are teachers from school districts around the state and other states.

This particular use of the discussion forum, to negotiate and construct knowledge, is an example of using the technology as a cognitive tool and not simply as another kind of blackboard or one-way communication method. Cognitive tools and environments stimulate cognitive learning strategies and critical thinking (Jonassen, 1998). Students engaged with course content in discussions and group work with other students engage in generative processing of information.

Method 1. Practice good discussion board moderation techniques

Many of the consequences of cognitive overload are well described in business studies. In 'Dying for Information? -- an investigation into the effects of information overload in the U.K and World-wide', [Waddington, 96] a 350 page report based on a survey of 1,313 junior, middle and senior managers in the U.K, U.S, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore -- the key findings were: two thirds of managers report tension with work colleagues, and loss of job satisfaction because of stress associated with information overload. One third of managers suffer from ill health, as a direct consequence of stress associated with information overload. This figure increases to 43% among senior managers. Almost two thirds (62%) of managers testify their personal relationships suffer as a direct result of information overload. 43% of managers think important decisions are delayed, and the ability to make decisions is affected as a result of having too much information. 44% believe the cost of collating information exceeds its value to business.

Many of the consequences of cognitive overload are well described in business studies. In 'Dying for Information? -- an investigation into the effects of information overload in the U.K and World-wide', [Waddington, 96] a 350 page report based on a survey of 1,313 junior, middle and senior managers in the U.K, U.S, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore -- the key findings were: two thirds of managers report tension with work colleagues, and loss of job satisfaction because of stress associated with information overload. One third of managers suffer from ill health, as a direct consequence of stress associated with information overload. This figure increases to 43% among senior managers. Almost two thirds (62%) of managers testify their personal relationships suffer as a direct result of information overload. 43% of managers think important decisions are delayed, and the ability to make decisions is affected as a result of having too much information. 44% believe the cost of collating information exceeds its value to business.

Many of the consequences of cognitive overload are well described in business studies. In 'Dying for Information? -- an investigation into the effects of information overload in the U.K and World-wide', [Waddington, 96] a 350 page report based on a survey of 1,313 junior, middle and senior managers in the U.K, U.S, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore -- the key findings were: two thirds of managers report tension with work colleagues, and loss of job satisfaction because of stress associated with information overload. One third of managers suffer from ill health, as a direct consequence of stress associated with information overload. This figure increases to 43% among senior managers. Almost two thirds (62%) of managers testify their personal relationships suffer as a direct result of information overload. 43% of managers think important decisions are delayed, and the ability to make decisions is affected as a result of having too much information. 44% believe the cost of collating information exceeds its value to business.

. Some researchers continued to believe that intelligence is a learned combination of many different skills and abilities. Others, however, assumed that intelligence is a single trait that is heavily determined by genetics. Some people further assumed that there are large ethnic or racial differences in general intelligence. A new wave of research now supports Binet's original, more progressive, assumptions.

Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) is an instructional theory that starts from the idea that our working memory is limited with respect to the amount of information it can hold, and the number of operations it can perform on that information (Van Gerven et. al., 2003). That means a learner should be encouraged to use his or her limited working memory efficiently, especially when learning a difficult task (Van Gerven et. al., 2003). We need to recognize the role and the limitation of working memory to help develop quality instruction (Cooper, 1998). Thus, we as instructional designers need to find ways to help optimize the working memory. Hence, the key aspect of the theory is the relation between long-term memory and working memory, and how instructional materials interact with this cognitive system (Ayres, 2006).

Gagne also contends that learning tasks for intellectual skills can be organized in a hierarchy according to complexity: stimulus recognition response generation procedure following use of terminology discriminations concept formation rule application problem solving

Gagne also contends that learning tasks for intellectual skills can be organized in a hierarchy according to complexity: stimulus recognition response generation procedure following use of terminology discriminations concept formation rule application problem solving

Gagne also contends that learning tasks for intellectual skills can be organized in a hierarchy according to complexity: stimulus recognition response generation procedure following use of terminology discriminations concept formation rule application problem solving