Charlotte Strauss

Guidelines create a structure for the student and instructor to follow.  In order to measure how the student is communicating, a rubric should be used to provide the expectations of their online discussions.  The teacher becomes the Guide on the Side as students create a community where communication and collaboration exist together so that students develop strong relationships with each other and can share/discuss openly in these forums.

Generations are different and bring a variety of gifts to the table.  Online the instructor will have to work with each generation in a slightly differential way - and make sure that expectations are clearly communicated as to how communication will flow in the course.

In my Marketing Class, we have a beginning of the semester activity where we develop a Class Code of Conduct - we brainstorm in small groups then bring all ideas together for the class to then develop this Code.  It is printed out and everyone signs it, making a commitment as a class to follow the Code.  Even in a virtual setting, this could be developed in this manner - with Instructor guidance.  What do you think?

Creating a safe community for learning demands that civility in communication between I2S, S2I, and S2S is expected and directed.  Clear expectations, rules, and consequenses must be outlined and communicated in a Code of Communication Conduct to the students and modeled by the instructor.  

I love email and texting as great communicator tools and a way to connect with multiple or just one student.  I use these forms of communication all the time.  I had not thought of setting up a facebook group for my class - but that may be something to investigate.  Zoom and Google Meet have been my go-to large group communication tools since we left school and have worked well - but definitely need to communicate at the start of the course what the expectations are.

You really have to ask the questions - is it relevant to the learning outcomes desired? The movement of a course to the online platform seems like a challenging task, but just as we develop unit and lesson plans, this is an opportunity to transform what you have been doing successfully face to face into a different arena that will provide teachers with a true job of sifting through what we have always done into what we will do now.

As the Guide on the Side, a strong facilatator will determine their method, develop a plan, evaluate the process, and reflect on how it went.  In my instruction, I want to be this guide on the side and facilitate a true problem based learning experience for my students.

Whether you are teachiing in a sychronous or asycronous situation, organization, teacher delivery, and commuication all play key roles in the students success.  A blended setting may work well in most cases, but the student ability to Be There at That time must be taken into consideration.

Since this pandemic started and we were sent home from school, I have received SO MANY emails for tools to use to teach my content to my students.  I have listened to webinars, sat in on many Zoom workshops, participated in GoToMeetings on so many different tools that are available - most free, but some cost quite a bit (those companies are very proud of their products) - to me.  Like your tool box at home for repairs, you have to be sure you use the right tool for the job you want to do - You don't use plyers… >>>