Engaging Online Learners

Public

Ask a question from your peers to help you in your professional work. Seek different points of view on a topic that interests you. Start a thought-provoking conversation about a hot, current topic. Encourage your peers to join you in the discussion, and feel free to facilitate the discussion. As a community of educators, all members of the Career Ed Lounge are empowered to act as a discussion facilitator to help us all learn from each other.

Traci Klein

Understanding technology among different generations

How important is it to understand who we are teaching to and what generation they are from when we embrace technology within our online courses?

Mark Miller

group/team assignments

I find that one way to build online community in a online learning environment is to have group/team assignments. It also helps to assist the more quiet individuals to become more engaging in the discussion process.

Mark Miller

Avoiding texting language

I require my students to communicate with me frequently through technology. This activity prepares them to deveop their communication skills through these methods and developing proper writing skills and avoiding texting language.

Mark Miller

student/technology match

i often find when blending technology or using technology in an acadmic setting it is important to ensure that students are comfortable with the use of that specific technology through an orientation prior to the class. many of my students, even the younger ones find online learning a difficult process without it.

Jennifer Fisch-Ferguson

Critiquing Content not Contributors

In my online courses I tend to shock the students. I ask them to critique their peers content. This of course is met with shock and silence until I explain the importance of peer evaluation, being able to take a critique as well as learning how to communicate with each other online. The first and most important rule is always critique the content not the contributor - I show them examples of that as I grade their essays. I never write "your thesis lacks an argument" it's always "THE thesis lacks argument" or "The essay did not meet word count".… >>>

Christopher Bloss

Courtesy

As an English teacher where posts are very important, I find it is a significant part of my job to manage that element. It is so easy to cut-off student writing, especially when another student wants to use discussions to assess other students. Chris

Christopher Bloss

Telephone

I still think the standard telephone helps many online students feel a bit better about the class, the instructor, and what they are doing. Chris

Tanya Mifsud

Not responding right away to a student in a DB

This may make sense in other disciplines, however in math I do not believe this is a good idea. In math students are very nervous and would like encouragement. I like to check into my DB daily to make sure that everyone is on the right track. The risk you run by letting an error go unaddressed is that the other students might follow this bad example. Are there other subject matters which not responding right away could cause some trouble?

David Landau

Synchronous vs. Asynchronous

In my program we pride ourselves on a primarily asynchronous program. By doing so it provides more flexibility. However there is a lack of connection wit Asynchronous programs. What do you believe is the best? Synchronous, Asynchronous, or a blend.? Some educators are quick to suggest Synchronous learning without taking into account the very real limitation of studentâ€™s, home, work, and personal schedules. I am open to hearing my classmatesâ€™ thoughts on the matter.

Sepehr Tavakoli

Rubric Role

Hello, A rubric's role is to make clear for the student the expectations of the an assignment. Secondly, it allows for structured grading by a teacher, as they are to compare a student's work to the rubric and assess whether the work is satisfactory.

lisa angius

rubric

How many of you use the same rubric guideline for each assignment?

lisa angius

Group work

How do you go about setting up guidelines for group work?

lisa angius

Netiquette

How many of you have established rules regarding this?

lisa angius

communication

Should a teacher give out their private home number to students?

Joseph Axel

Technology and Communication

When assessing the use of technology communication tools in a virtual learning environment, one of the most important things to consider is how much and what type(s) of experiential equity a student has. Some students may communicate effectively through one medium, such as email, while other students work better through multiple mediums.

Victoria Spera

restrictions with technology tools

While I believe that technology tools lend themselves well to building relationships in the online environment, what if you are restricted to the schools learning/classroom platform. I teach at an online school where communications are restricted to inside of the classroom for reporting purposes(blackboard). Is anyone familiar with any technology tools that enhance communications on blackboard outside of email and holding chat sessions?

Michelle Louch

Text "language"

While we focus on the content of the message, we also need to consider the visual impact. If you are able to choose your typeface, make sure that it conveys a professional image (e.g. Times New Roman, Georgia, Cambria, or Ariel). Using a font that is childish (e.g. Comic Sans, Kristen ITC, Freestyle Script) suggests that you are more playful than serious and that you are not particularly professional. A heavy font (e.g. Impact) will make you look pushy. This might sound silly, but there's a ton of research on the impact that typeface has on the reader's perception of… >>>

sanjay jain