Jo Ann Bartusik

An important consideration to any of the suggestions in this module is whether or not you are allowed to use 3rd party websites. Some schools only allow approve sites to be used in the curriculum, which means you may not be able to have your students use GoogleDrive or other sites that require them to create a login. The same is true if you are looking to create a wiki, blog, or other information sharing site. Check with your IT and academic departments to make sure there are no policies that would prohibit this.

There are many different learning techniques that can be used to help students acquire new knowledge and skill. One thing that I feel is important for instructors to remember is that the same technique may not work for all students. For example, a graphic organizer may work well for a visual-spatial learner while an outline to fill in may work better for a verbal-linguistic learner. After introducing each type of device, it may be beneficial for the instructor to make multiple devices available to the students and let them chose which works most effectively for them

My classes always have a mixture of students from all different majors in all different points in their education. The benefits of this are that they can learn from others. A first term Criminal Justice and a fifth term Criminal Justice student in the same writing class can be beneficial. The first term student may not be aware of how this course will be a benefit in that major. By discussion how students will implement and apply the information after the course, students can see how the course content will help them.

Our primary or preferred methods of learning are comfortable for us. We all have multiple intellegences and we have those that we use and rely on more frequently than the others. However, as educators, we should be taking our students outside their comfort zone of learning. The only way for someone to increase the areas that are not their strongest is to apply them. It is important to offer variety in teaching methods, but only delivering information in a student's preferred method does not teach them to find new ways to learn

I think it is very important to relate each session's information for the students. Learning is a process; they are building on that process each time they meet for class. The connection may not always be obvious to the students or they just may never have thought about it. Helping them to make the connection between class sessions or between different classes can often help to make the learning long-term