Just as teaching good citizenship in our traditional classrooms is critical, it is also critical and more complex in the online environment due to the lack of face-to-face (F2F) communication. Communication should be focused, consistent, clear, complete and consise. Teaching communication is essential to student success. Developing a policy for academic honesty is a must to communicate at the beginning of the course. As well as remind students of their committment to honesty throughout the course. I can see adapting exit slips into discussion boards as a viable formative strategy.
We spend 80% communicating with others. Teaching students how to appropriately communicate via email is important, such as inserting a "topic/subject" in the subject line, using bulleted points for organization and proofing before sending.
Communication is key. It must be clear, professional, and appropriate. This can be challenging as the course is not F2F, but that makes it more important. Instructors can model the type of communication they expect, as well as provide students with tips and feedback to become better communicators.
Conducting oneself in a professional manner is expected in all aspects of online learning. It is the instructors responsibility to provide resourses on what constitutes such professional expectations.
I specifically learned about Jigsaw Cooperative Learning Groups and look forward to using that strategy with my 9th graders, but also applying the constructivism concept of using authentic problems for them to solve as they study our Earth Science content/issues. That should underscore exactly why it is important to them to understand Earth Science (why thay are tasked with studying it).
While reading through the module concerning exit slips and ensuring participating by all students, I wrote in my notes that once I indentify those students who may be reluctant to participate, I could email them the exit slip questions in advance so they can jot down notes as we go through the content and review. So often even with adult learners (me) it is the blank screen or piece of paper that intimidates, particularly when one is also fearful of being wrong. I hope this may bring some of my more timid kids out of their shells.
Good online citizenship information may include specifics about plagarism, copyright issues, and academic honesty policies.
Good communication is so important in the online learning course because we can't rely on nonverbal signals to help send our messages. I liked the acronym CPA. I had never thought about using exit tickets in the online environment.
A lot of students know how to text very well. But they often forget when they send emails or type essays that they should not use text. Therefore, it is important to take a few minutes to discuss the proper vocabulary and writing skills students should use when typing assignments or sending professional emails. I learned that it is also important to teach students the proper way to cite information. Therefore, it would be great to take at least one class section to have activities set up to help students learn about how to cite information.
In an online class effective communication is important. It is important for students to understand the expectations involving effective communication. Instructors have to model for students what effective communication looks like. It is also important that students learn how to communicate in different ways in an online environment. Creating a CoP allows students to feel a part of a community while working on communication skills.
In the Preparing Students to Become Good Online Learners course, module two, Non-Technical Skills I learned that online instructors have to teach their students about being a good online citizen. Also, similar to traditional classrooms, students need to be instructed on the importance of becoming a good reader and writer. Good reading and writing skills are needed for all forms of education. Student participation, the feeling of being part of a community and effective communication are characteristics required for student success.
The learning disability is typically not as readily observable as a physical disability; therefore, there may be no obvious sign of the disability. The procedure must be implemented to ensure all students are accommodated and no student is faking the disability. It is essential that instructors understand the disability and provide appropriate accommodations.
Community knowledge is greater than the sum of individual knowledge.
It is important for students to understand what say to them. Have more discussions and interactions. Use tips and examples.
It is important to communicate with students and make it clear so they may understand what you are saying.
Getting students to participate and be engaged in the learning process is necessary for sucess in an online class. Group engagement is also very important. This can be done by assigning roles within the group, such as, leader or facilitator, etc. You can also assign portions of the assignment to different members of the group. Students must also realize the importance of online citizenship. As an instructor, you must make sure that they understand the academic honesty policy of the course. This should be relayed in your syllabus.
I learned some ways to incorporate group learning with my classes. I had not considered using jigsaws with online learners, but the example provided made me see that this technique can be adapted to use with an online class.
Communication is essential to success in an online class as well as a "traditional" classroom setting. As an educator, I realize the imporantce of explicitly teaching effective ways to communicate with each other as well as through modeling. We often take this for granted the older the students you are working with in your classes. Helping student make connections between what they are learning and their personal lives is important.
Communicating with students and clearly stating the rules and regulations in the syllabus will help deter plagiarism. Adult Learners can pull infomation from past experiences to help with course content.
Helping students improve their communication skills is part of any course
If remote learning continues in the Fall, I want to make sure that I am able to movtivate the parents of my students to participate in the assignments and communicate with me. Due to how quickly remote learning had to begin, guidelines and rules weren't established which caused some confusion in the communication process.
Communication is timeless nd needed now more then ever in our electronic driven world of texting. So many times the message gets lost due to unclear communication and within the online classroom one must remember they don't see our faces or non-verbal emotions.
