Scaffolding and clear directions of well thought out application assessments are important to assess what students are actually learning.
Learning that a well developed syllabus is very important is what I learned. I never really thought about this process and what time and energy on the instructors part to make sure that the syllabus is in depth and gives percice instructions. This is such a hard thing for me to do in written form and I would have to have a lot of training and examples to be able to make a good syllabus.
I learned that a variety of web-based tools allows for synchronous and asynchronous interaction in the on-line learning community. I aslo discovered that good detailed instructions in the syllabus are the key to a good on-line communication.
Articulate every detail in how to communicate to students through your syllabus. How to communicate and when to communicate, clearly giving a student the knowledge to reach an instructor with email rules.
The more I learn about online learning I think of classic video games. You start out basic with limited abilities and as you progress to future levels you unlock more and are capable of more. Your online class is similar in that you start out basic and as you progress at your pace you achieve new harder things and tasks.
Different types of learning tools can help with students to develop their scaffolding. They should always be engaged in some way and adjustments have to be made to each student.
A syllabus must be dynamic rather than just a one-dimensional text document listing objectives, etc.
Developing an online community requires proactive effort and the appropriate web tools or apps.
Communication comes in many different forms, depending on who is communicating with whom. It can be the one of the most critical indicators of whether students are successful.
Online learning should develop a sense of belonging and community among students; this can be achieved through the use of discussion boards, blogs, and forums in which students feel comfortable sharing ideas.
a strong and relevant syllabus is critical for student success
Students should not feel alone. Students need to feel comfortable sharing ideas, opinions and facts with others.
The instructor is prime in this so the students do well.
In this unit I learned about the various ways to communicate with students online. It is important for the instructor to have multiple, reliable ways to communicate with online students.
Communication of the overall goals and formatting to students makes the online learning process run smoothly. The interactive syllabus should lay out a road map for students to discover thwere the class will take them.
Use the dynamic syllabus to link scaffolding topics to allow students to return to inforamtion that they may not be as confident with yet.
The idea of a dynamic syllabus is very interesting. I have been used to our standard syllabus which is pretty straight forward, but in this changing education landscape, it could definitely use some updating. The scaffolding is very useful as well and helps to point out all of the various communication dynamics in an online learning community and how to utilize them.
I learned that scaffolding provides structure for student learning and focus for student activities. Scaffolding allow students to build upon their prior knowledge, experiences, and skills with new knowledge presented in the online course.
Reply to Courtland Grimm's post:I think that it necessary that scaffolding is in both planning and learning. One needs to have prior knowledge before learning a something new. It's lke teaching reading. I want my students to read an article, story or book but I just can't give it to them and say read it. I have students that don't know the vocabulary. I need to teach that vocab first before expecting my students to do what I want. Things have to be differinated/scaffolded. I can't expect a newcomer to the USA to understand and perform as someone who is fluent in English and has prior knowledge and they don't.
Scaffolding and building skills on already existing skills is crucial to student success. Using effective communication is also key.
I learned that the syllabus is the roadmap to the class. Everything you need to know about the course should be included in the syllabus. Communication is the key to success. Scaffolding is also important in learning the content of the course because it building on prior knowledge.
I like the idea of a dynamic syllabus and the FAQ section of a dynamic syllabus. It would have saved me time the past few weeks addressing student issues
This section has enlightened me as to methods and ways that I can improve current online instruction that is utilized in our CTE area. There were 3 areas that interested me and that I will pursue more information on. They are:
- Dynamic Syllabus
- Wikis
- Scaffolding
For those of us that are accustom to a normal flat syllabus where students must read what is expected of them, we must now start to think a bit differently on how we organize the information. In some cases, this may be doing the student a disservice when they enter the working world of manufacturing. Having said that, there is a need to present information in a logical matter in an electronic file.
Wikis pages or equivalent similar methods have not been used in my area but I will be exploring this further however I must be careful with the links as this is sometimes problematic with some students and even school districts.
The eight scaffolding methods mentioned to build upon previous knowledge/skills and experiences is something I had have utilized in the past but perhaps have not fully utilized all items mentioned. More attention will be focused on
- Clarify purpose
- Keep students on task
- Create momentum
