Barry Westling

Hi Sunshine, Good planning. Since you can't "require" online chats, can these be archived, and made required viewing during the weekly time period? Our OL chats are done this way, and in fact, students learn that it's more beneficial to them to be present for the live version since they get to particiapte and get more from it. But if key material is presented in an archived session, at least the main points will be covered. I believe there is nearly always multiple methods to get the message across. Barry Westling

Hi Sunshine, Sounds like you're trying your best to be creative, make learning interesting, and keep abreast of technolgy. Actually, many online students can benefit from real-time online chats conducted at a predetermined time. This can visual via webcam technology, or simply live, chat time via something like Go-To-Meeting (C). Depending on the length of you course, these "chats" could vary from once to once a week. If you LMS is up to date, these strategies should be available. I encourage you to inquire about it. Barry Westling

Hi Emily, Great! I think one of the better and more appropriate uses of PPT slides is for this purpose: art, drawings, charts and tables, designs, schematics, photos, algorithms, flowcharts, etc. Of course text, if used briefly to highlight main points (such as bulleted lists) are best. Long reading is best left to handouts or direct reading from the source (textbook, workbook, printout, or hyperlinks, for instance). Barry Westling

Hi Jane, At 42+ years in my profession, I'm amazed I still see new and innovative techniques used by my peers and applications I can use in my classroom. Truly, I think this is part of what keeps me going back to work year after year - there's alsways something new! Barry Westling

Hi Alnita, Theres almost nothing more memorable than a good field trip experience. Sometimes, this is the first time a student actually recognizes what it is they are being trained for. It's a powerful activity. In some ways, I think a well planned field trip should be a required activity early on in every career program. Barry Westling

J.E., Student centered simply puts the focus on the individual student needs (rather than the curricular or teacher needs). The more we do this the better retention and learning will occur as the result. Barry Westling

Hi Alvin, Good points. Like a reality check. So often, students are ill informed how they're performing, how they could be performing, and what is needed to get their performance improved. Frequent and early on discussion are necessary to accuretly share where they're at, and give enough time for correction (if applicable) to occur. Barry Westling

Hi Dellene, Sounds great! If it's valuable, I might suggest why not include that project as a required assignment rather than EC? I choose not to offer EC, but each teacher has to decide what works best for their class. In my classes, every assignment is integral to their ultimate performance functioning in a medical environment, so EC doesn't fit well in my classes. Barry Westling

Hi Dellene, These are good techniques, especially if you sense the students just are not going to focus. It's unfortunate that having to resort to such tactics needs to occur. But if the material is related to the subject matter, then it probably is better than wasting student (and teacher) time if students are not paying attention anyway. Barry Westling

Hi Alvin, Often, students get disengaged just for a short period, either from disinterest, being tired, not understanding, not prepared, or distracted by other thoughts. Sometimes this can be remedied by "techniques", such as breaking away for a few minutes and randomly asking questions of students, or even just circulating among the seats as class prgresses. These "mechanics" can assist the teacher getting the attention of students, then getting them refocused. As you say, discussion is a good way to bring students back on topic, too. Barry Westling