Group items tagged

"Effective online instruction depends on learning experiences appropriately designed and facilitated by knowledgeable educators. Because learners have different learning styles or a combination of styles, online educators should design activities that address their modes of learning in order to provide significant experiences for each class participant. In designing online courses, this can best be accomplished by utilizing multiple instructional strategies. Teaching models exist which apply to traditional higher education learning environments, and when designing courses for the online environment, these strategies should be adapted to the new environment."

"Education technology has many supporters in its movement to alter traditional teaching methods. This list of the top 50 education technology blogs includes writers, technicians and social media experts…but they all are teachers. The "movers" are teachers who facilitate learning among other teachers and in the classroom, the "shakers" teach new philosophies and innovations, and the folks "on the ground" offer news, tools and methods of using those tools in the classroom. This list is divided into those three categories, and each link within those categories is listed alphabetically. The links lead straight to the recently updated blogs, and the descriptions supply information about that blogger's achievements, including careers and jobs."

The Instructional Coaching Scale is designed to help  instructional coaches and professional developers measure the impact of their coaching on the teachers with whom they interact.  It is not intended to measure teacher implementation, but rather the effects that an instructional coach or some other person working in a close 1:1 capacity with teachers whose job it is to facilitate change in instructional practice.  

"Online professional development (PD) fits today's fast changing K-12 educational environment where demands on teachers and re-certification require teachers to continually learn new and challenging content and pedagogy. Online professional development has the benefit of supporting teachers in their daily practice and connecting them with a network of like-minded professionals so that they can learn and share with each other."

""Adults vote with their feet," a favorite adage of adult educators, is frequently used to describe a characteristic of adult learners. In most circumstances, adults are not captive learners and, if the learning situation does not suit their needs and interests, they will simply stop coming. In discussing adult education, Knowles (1980, 1984) distinguished between teacher-centered and learner-centered instruction. He promoted the latter because it viewed learners as mutual partners in the learning endeavor (Merriam and Caffarella 1991). Known as the andragogical model, the use of learner-centered instruction--which supports addressing the needs and interests of learners--is regularly championed in the literature as the most effective way to teach adults. However, Merriam and Caffarella (ibid.) assert that "adult learning in formal settings, for the most part, is still instructor designed and directed" (p. 26). Given the wide support for learner involvement, the discrepancy between adult education theory and practice is perplexing. How can instructors of adults become more learner centered in their practice? This ERIC Digest suggests guidelines and strategies that can be used in formal settings by instructors of adults to involve learners more effectively. "

"Speck (1996) notes that the following important points of adult learning theory should be considered when professional development activities are designed for educators: "

ADULTS LEARN DIFFERENTLY than young people. But more importantly, their reasons for learning are very different. Andragogy (Knowles, 1984), the theory of adult learning, attempts to explain why adults learn differently than other types of learners.

Access and Equity in eLearning online tutorial developed by the Australian Flexible Learning Network. This interactive tutorial provides a concrete look at the difference between universally designed and non-universally designed web-based resources as they impact people with various disabilities, and includes pointers for how to design and/or adjust web-based learning environments to make them more accessible.