I learned that communication and utilizing technology is key to effective learning. The syllabus is the road map that directs how things are address in an online learning.
I realized how very basic and traditional my syllabus is. It is the old paper handout simply typd into my LMS. My brain is swirling with ideas to make it interactive with project previews that I think will really get the students excited about what is ahead in the course if they see samples from day one!
I wonder if other instructors experience the same syllabus apathy that I see from my students. Unless they are forced to read it (some of our quizzes are about syllabus content because we found that was the only way to get the students to read it and show they located imprtant information like office hours, drop dates etc.) the students completely ignore the syllabus and want to get into the course content. Lets be honest here, the syllabus is more of a CYA document for the instructor and the institution than it is anything else.
My personal learning experience and what I see from my students (granted that be the nature of the program I am part of, highly kinesthetic in nature) is in opposition to what is being "taught" here. I prefer less "community building in courses. The more effort that I have to put into partiucipating in the "community buiulding" the less I enjoy and get from a course. When given an option of opting out of "community buiulding" in the learning envoronment, I see a vast majority of students opting out, they only participate at the minimum level required by the instructor and have expressed their dislike for it and note it, like it is for me, disruptive to their learning experience. The students do form thier own communities, but often times it is much smaller than an entire cohort and less frequent than is often prescribed and forced in online courses. I wonder where the data is that supports the directive to attempt to create these artificial senses of community? While it may be beneficial for some students or some areas of study, is it really as effective versus disruptive as we are being told?
The two sections I found very enlightening were creating "Most Frequently Asked Questions" and "scaffolding" to which I can implement and use in my online history courses. I have attempted to apply general scaffolding within my courses, but have not made it a conscious deliberate effort in course design - now that I see how essential it is to carry out my student learning outcomes I will definitely apply it to my future courses.
I have learned that it is important to build a dynamic syllabus for an online course. I also learned that it is important to define and give examples of the types of responses that I expect my students to give in community discussions.
good cumunication is important, making sure all students are participating in discussion groups and building scaffolding for each student
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A variety of strategies and components are needed and must be in place to ensure learning takes places from the time instruction and clear objectives are given. Students really indicate who needsadditional help by what they do online or F2F. Scaffolding for gradual release is like bowling with the rails up and the more you guide the better you get with the skill.
I will need to adjust the way my syllabus is online. It needs to be more dynamic. I need to become more familiar with the different communcation tools so I can use them effectively. I realize how important scaffolding in learning is. Without doing the 8 tasks, the scaffolded learning can be more destroying than helpful.
Thi is all new to me and I have learned new formats to structure my on-line teaching and to format a Dyamic Syllabus.
I also read other Instuctors comments and is very educational feedback..
Scaffolding can be a good technique to allow students to build on what they already know and continue to grow instead of waiting on everyone else to get to their level
Creating a dynamic online syllabus is critical for the sucess of an online class/course. Also scaffolding activities and assignments as needed to meet the various needs of the students.
Scaffolding is essential. Building on prior experiences and understandings will help students grow as learners and will enable students to dive deeper into what they are studying.
Communication is key in an online learning environment.
A FAQ page, especially tied to the syllabus, is a great way to reduce workload. So many student will ask the same question over and over. It is much easier to respond by sending them the FAQ page. Forcing students to look for answers that already exist helps them achieve a level of independence they need to have.
I learned about the concept of scaffolding.
The importance behind establishing emailing rules regarding S2I communication. This can save a lot of time when students have a database to to access FAQs to search for answers or post their question. Allowing students to not only post a question but also answer questions is also helpful and if answered correctly, could be given extra credit (as determined by the instructor).
syllabus must be specific and lessons must build on each other
Your online syllabus must be dynamic. A dynamic syllabus provides an opportunity for students to interact with information
Online chates are synchronous, Recorded chats are asynchronous
Blogs or web logs are shared online journals which can be set up private or public
Students should feel like they are part of a community not an idividual online
Purpose of scaffolding learning students need to focus on learnig with technology instead of learning from technology
Online syllabus must be dynamic! Not just a copy/paste flat document. It must provide a way for students to see the course, recognize the resources available and allow for buy-in.
