Scaffolding was one of the main takeaways for me here. I had heard of scaffolding before, but I didn't realize it was broken down into eight important steps. I will definitely use this as I take into account what students already know from their work and personal lived experience as I build an understanding of course concepts.
I love the idea of scaffolding where students build upon their prior knowledge, experiences, and skills with new knowledge presented in an online course to develop more complex and robust learning scaffolds. I have always used that in a live classroom setting. In an online setting, it is vital to include the 8 tasks.
That building a dynamic syllabus is a good idea. This syllabus is like a step by step guide for the student and they can find anything they need there. It spells everything out for them.
The word scaffolding. This is new to me, not the definition, that is always the main objective. but the word itself.
Yesenia Leiva
Since we are in a fast paced internet enviroment, the website tools is especially helpful for students to navigate thru the modules. The tools are accesible and make it easy for the students to use
Communication affectiveness online can be misinterpreted but always compose and translate information with respect and communicate your expectations. Continue to get creative and engage students.
Syllabo need to be dynamic. Ours are not currently and we need to find ways to convert.
The concept of scaffolding was interesting, especially as it was put forth as something students do. Initially, I had connected it to the framework of course design, but I like this view of students building their own house of knowledge.
Nancy Tosh
Scaffolding is important because the students build on their prior knowledge. It can be a problem if the students have different knowledge bases. The instructor has to be careful in order to track all students are advancing in the class.
I appreciate the scaffolding metaphor, (although it makes one think of a gallows t00) but it evokes a narrow defintiion of how students learn and think. Also, the emphasis on"tasks" and "staying on task" paints a picture of students as factory workers. Students learn to "climb" but they can also learn to investigate and explore without being subjected to the hidden curriculum of intellectual obedience. This may include passive acceptance to the opinions of their teachers. Students, and even children, should be encouraged to think for themselves. There should far more emphasis in thinking as part of the scaffold metaphor.
We need another metaphor other than scaffolding. It evokes the gallows.
The first consideration is a dynamic syllabus, meaning not only that it is updated and improved over time, but also that it allows access to relevant supporting resources. Learning communities are very important to provide instructor-to-student, student-to-student, student-to-group, instructor-to-group, and group-to-group communication. This allows students to build on their own knowledge base, to offer outside resources, and to clarify what they may misunderstand. Scaffolding is also very important to give students a way to organize, and therefore use and retain information. While this course recommends using an uncited 8 steps of scaffolding, I will continue to rely on Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction, to which these are similar, and from which they seem to be derived.
Scaffolding is a great way to perceive students building on previous knowledge.
I have learned the importance of developing a syllabus. The syllabus lays out your expectations for the quality of work you expect from your students and shows students how they should prepare for class
After completing this module, I have realized that I am going to have to rethink how I do my syllabi when I am creating an online course. I feel that it needs to be a lot more detailed than one for a synchronous class.
If scaffolding is done correctly then a strong foundation is built and the students will learn. However, if the scaffolding starts out weak or is being built in the wrong direction it will fail to hold and students will not learn and lose interest.
I have learned that a specific and organized syllabus assists the student in building their individual scaffolding for effective learning. As in all instances, good communication helps the indiviual student, any groups, and the instructor to meet and achieve all the courses learning objectives.
Good communication, clear direction, and scaffolding are imporant keys to use in the teaching process. Thus the learner can be engaged and gradually learn the material.
The Eight tasks of scaffolding are important to help facilitate student learning and will present sucessful if good communication is a core element withing the learning community.
A point made in this lesson that really resonated with me is that students need to learn with technology rather than from it. I think many instructors view new technologies or simulations as teaching tools. While they can be teaching tools, the technology should help guide the student towards learning particular skills. This will help with scaffolding the student's learning.
