One aspect of my program I struggle with is encouraging students to participate in synchronous seminars. I often hear crickets when I ask for student participation. This section gave me some good ideas on how to motivate my students to participate. I particularly like the idea of application sharing. I will research ways to apply this to my seminars.
In your Learning Management System LMS focus on Student not Teacher with Balance between presentation and content. Content needs to be accessable to all students. Personalize your Online community to fit your teaching style and be aware that is Dyanmic and continuially changing and developing. Feedback from students good or bad can help in adjusting your content delivery.
It's important not to assume students will have the same comfort with/using technology skills, no matter how simple it may be to the teacher.
Checking in the beginning of the course as to your students technical skills is a must. Some students when signing up for an online course forget to think about what to do if they loose an internet conection. This coild be as simple as going to a free wi fi spot so they can continuing with their lessons rather that asking for an extention for the assignments do.
One benefit of online learning involves course rigor and professor expectations. The same grading standards apply to on-campus and online learners. As a result, online courses prepare students for their future just as well as on-campus courses. Additionally, accreditation agencies evaluate online courses and approve only the best ones.
I liked the information on social networking sites. Also the infrmation on learning spaces was informative.
Many students learning in the online environment see synchronous meetings as a way to develop a relationship with the instructor and feel more a part of the learning community.
Understanding user interface and comfort level with different platforms/tools/software is very important. I liked the idea of assessing user knowledge upfront and creating tutorials to assist students to get the most out of the technology tools.
How much social media plays a big part in learning .
Having a variety of technical tools in your toolbox for instructing is critical.
Make sure students can use the technology needed for the class. Check for students understanding on the type of technology skills that will be needed.
Just repeating more of the same, with different ways to reach out to students, blogs, etc.
Developing an environment in which students can work collaboratively impacts relationship building as various technologies enhance the experience.
The techinical skills (synchronous communication, asynchronous communication, use of technology, online learning space, social communication) needed to do well in an online course are described in this module.
It's important we don't just assume a student level of technology competences. Asynchronous allows student to log in when needed and complete their needed tasks
There are a lot of little technocal skills like copy and paste that we assume the students know that they struggke with at times. These things need to be addressed in order for the students to have success.
An overarching theme in this section on technology is that instructors should never assume their students have all the required technology skills. Therefore, when I choose to use technology tools, I will assess the students' ability to utilize it first.
Various types of online resources can help create a more dynamic interface for students. Using social media platforms with which they're likely already familiar with may help integrate learning as they cross different platforms to discuss ideas.
Synchronous and Asynchronous communication is used online and face to face. Asynchronous allows the student to access the material on their time schedule but too much of that doesn't really allow the instructor to build a relationship with the student. Using Social Networking should be kept to a minimum unless using specific sites.
Technical skills may also be limited by the devices provided. I have had students who cannot do assignments because of them using the iPad instead of a desktop or laptop. In fact, I have parts of an entire class that CANNOT be completed on the iPad. These instances have been brought up multiple times and still the devices are being given. Some may say to tell the students to use their own PCs, but I have had students who do not have them and are then stuck. They have to hunt and find a PC or schedule time away from other labs to do the work on the school PCs.
