I can see if the instructor makes a course too interactive with too many active learning based activites students can become bored, annoyed, and not enjoy the expected engagment activities. Don't have these activites be too much or too time consuming. Students do take online courses for the easy and time convience. However, it is important to have them in an online course. Active learners will also need to develop criticial thinking skills and this is important to start to focus on in the beginning of the course. That way they can build upon these skills.
It is very important to test everything out and to provide students with the information they need to be successful in the course. Planning is important and does take a lot of time on the front yet, but it provides a better experience. Having a Plan A, B, C, etc. is important as technical issues do arise. Additionally, students need to see the relevance of the activities, the "why", and have a little fun to be engaged.
Even though students are responsible for their own learning, they still need guidance. It's still a partnership.
Through this topic, i have learnt the importance of applying visual software in my work. This software is essntial in that it can improve my learning experience. The topic has encouraged me to look foward to such software due to its application in the learning process.
Online Instructors must take additional time and planning for active learning to take place in an online course and be successful.
It can be frustrating at times to teach on-line classes, when your main instruction is HANDS ON LAB INSTRUCTION for a technical field.
Some subject matter translates readily to an online environment, however technical fields can be challenging to create a good useable online model for, because not all students have the same access or understanding of technology in general, let Aline to the particular class of instruction. Yet, as instructors we are expected to somehow achieve the same results from F2F classes as those online, when it's hard to "show" someone that doesn't have access to equipment a video of how to work or utilize equipment or technology. One of my fellow instructors put it like this, "It's to teach someone how to use a saw or hammer if they have never physically handled one. YouTube has a million videos of how to accomplish or do certain tasks with just about everything, and competing with that as an instructor can be a challenge, with the current mindset of most younger students.
The DECISION to actually LEARN content as opposed to getting a passing grade to get the certificate, degree or pice a paper that says I know my stuff does not seem hold the same weight.
For a generation of learners that have SO much knowledge readily available, there doesn't seem to be as much enthusiasm to ACTUALLY LEARN.
I learned a lot in this segment.I learned and reaffirmed that "technology" can and does play an important role in the instructors ability in incorporating active learning techniques.
I also learned the threefold plan to incorporate active learning in the classroome Online:
1. Instructor release time
2. Financial incentives
3. Infusion of community scholars information
I will apply what I have learned from this segment with encorparating more videos into my Online instruction. I will make sure to incorporate the suggestion of not posting videos more than 15 minutes in duration
I learned that peer review (peer criticisms) can be helpful feedback for planning and executing an online active learning lesson.
I think I started as an instructor in an academic program thinking that all students would have already developed some level of critical thinking skills by the time that they reach college. Being reminded that recent models of K-12 education have focused more on "teaching to the tests" as a way to meet the requirements that all students be able to demonstrate certain basic knowledge in order to graduate from high school. The idea that this focus in education has limited the development of critical thinking skills and led students to expect that this will be the same with advanced education. The question I frequently receive from students of "what do I need to know for the test" makes more sense to me after hearing this in this module. I learned that it is important to clearly let students know at the beginning of the course that "active learning" is an important part of the course and that it will help build and strengthen the critical thinking skills that are required in the field that the student is pursuing a career in.
Active learning is a transformative shift from some student thinking education is a "retail model: I pay for my schooling and you give me a degree". Students are required to be active participants in the learning process through problem solving and getting away from "teach to the test" concepts. Lastly the importance of professors and students to have the tools required including technology tools, communication and a good internet connection.
Having to rely on technology is scary. I understand that a backup plan is a must, but I have a difficult time figuring out what that might be. Any suggestions?
Not having adequete WIFI, or tech issues can disrupt the learning process for the cohort. It is frusterating, when issues that are out of our control happen, but it is important for us as instructors to be vigelent and keep an eye on the things we can control and fix, (i.e., camera working, mic working, videos loaded and ready to play for the students. )
Active learning activities may take extra time in planning and execution
There are some limitations to online learning and advantages. It is important to note that with online learning students must have self-determination.
Reply to Samuel Beaumont's post:I couldn't agree more on your point.
A lot of students are used to be spoon-fed and not willing to spend time on a project to develop the critical thinking and decision-making skills based on the integrated knowledge they have been taught prior to the course. I feel student's reaponsibility is just as important to be reminded frequently.
Some limitations and misconceptions relating to the transition to active learning are, instructor concerns with changing delivery and loss of control of their process, student transition to ownership of their own learning process, providing motivation for student driven self-actualization, institutional academic support, enabled supportive technology.
Reply to Samuel Beaumont's post: agreed!
What struck a chord with me during this portion of the course was the failure of technology. Having experienced this first hand with intermittent WIFI, it can certainly bring a halt to the learning environment. Always having a backup plan is a great method to incorporate for this issue that will take place sooner or later.
It is interesting that in some respect what is addressed as an issue is that students may not have had a significant amount of critical thinking skills before entering higher education. I wonder how a better bridge can be built.
Making sure there is appropriate access to technology is important and making sure there is knowledge and a plan for if technology fails.
There are many misconceptions as well as expectations about online classes. I have heard exactly what the lesson mentioned that online classes are easy A's, which is not true. Just like traditional classes, learners must do the work to earn the grades. Per lesson, many learners expect the lessons to be "spoon fed", then they just have to do some simple tasks and the lesson is done.
As an educator, there are many aspects to consider when creating lesson plans for learners. As in this class, I appreciate the consistency and format of the class as well as the clearly defined process. I would try to duplicate this process when designing my class. Clearly defined intructions, and consistency will minimize confusion.
