Comment on Samuel Beaumont's post:
Agreed. It is up to the instructor to relay what the expectations are for their students. This may be the first time the students are taught how to critically think and problem solve. This will set the tone for the students college career and they will have these skills to build upon.
I believe in the importance of active learning; however, I have always thought it depends on the subject matter and end goal. Although it takes extra time to prepare for active learning on the instructor's part, it is worth it when I'm teaching my Ethics course.
I have more fear trying to make it work for my more scientific courses in our accelerated program. My students take boards at the end of our program where part of their score comes from factual, rote information. The other half is filled with case studies and critical thinking where active learning has benefited.
I have implemented Jeopardy, Scavenger Hunts, Videos, etc., but at the end of the day there is large part of information that simply has had to be memorized. This is what I struggle with.
I think lecturing has worse limitations than active learning. Students may think they want lectures, but this forces them to also do much of the learning at home. In the active learning environment students may feel some reservations, but it helps them to find out what they don't know they don't know. Sometimes, that can be a little frustrating to be staring at something one does not know the answer to, but I feel this is much better to experience with community. This is instead of being stuck at home, alone, frustrated. As a facilitator, I feel that is one of my main jobs: to help students deal with frustrating time before the material "clicks." I always try to encourage them to keep working till it "clicks."
course flexibility is important to the students.
Keeping online videos short to 15 minutes helps keep attention span
The thing I learned from this module is that students may be against active learning techniques. It will take an explanation from the instructor and active outreach to the students to keep the students involved in the class.
I think the information on having a backup plan for technological issues was a key thing that we should consider.
Communication is very important in online learning. Stating the expectations at the beginning of the semester and class could help to reduce potential problems. Reliable technology could facilitate the online learning process, while unreliable technology could ruin that.
I have learned that I need to break up video instruction into short 15-minutes segments so as not to overwhelm students.
I feel that instructors can use video technology to increase students’ motivation to learn. There are multiple things that an instructor can do to teach their students and to keep them engaged so they don't feel overwhelmed.
Limitations of active learning:
1: Technical challenges.
2: Lack of physical interactions.
3: Time constraints.
4: Technology dependency.
Misconceptions:
1: Equating active learning with technology.
2: Believing passive learning is Inevitable.
With the new ways of technology you should always have a back up plan if you encounter any issues.
Reliable technology is essential for online courses. Instructors should be aware of any barriers that can impact student's success.
I learned that sharing the active learning environment and expectations for the beginning is best I really liked this tip: "Therefore, it would be beneficial to all parties involved for the online instructor to make a short video presentation to clearly explain how active learning techniques will be used in the course and how intense the academic load may be for the student. By seeing specific examples, the online student can be better prepared from the outset to commit to the course load and activities."
I like the idea of instructor as facilitator, and appreciated the emphasis on reliable technology in ensuring a course goes smoothly from start to finish. The responsibility of students to be proactive in their learning is also key, though I do see it as my task to find new ways to creatively inspire and motivate students to value what they are learning in the class.
I like the discussion about self actualization and self reflection. Something that I will continue to utilize in my courses.
teaching virtually always help students to be more comfortable at there own time and they way that they sit or lay down and watch the instructor preforming the class , also it gave the ability to move around and be relaxed the whole time of the class time.
It is important to be ready for technological difficulties, and have a plan in place to properly utilize active learning in the online setting.
I'm looking forward to continuing to delve more into this subject.
I have learned a lot more about the possible limitations and misconceptions associated with active learning, and some strategies that can be followed avoid them. I particularly appreciated the section on instructor limitations as it helped allay some of my concerns with switching to a wholly active learning model, but it was good see that limitations to transitioning to an active learning model can be institutional and technological and not placed entirely on the instructor. I think it will be a challenge to overcome some of the student complaints (I've heard those covered more than a few times) but this just inspires me to learn more about active learning and how to overcome such student concerns. More specific suggestions on how best to implement an active learning model will useful for designing my synchronous online class sessions and I may enroll in another course or seek information outside of this training. I will also seek out material on active learning more specific to my discipline as I move onto designing class sessions.
