Ideal participation and engagement in online course settings require all-encompasing communication, familiarity and adaptation to student personalities, and an active classroom. I believe that participation is a major key in being successfull in teaching online courses. With this information I would create checklists within the framework of the course to make sure that I am completing and considering all of these different areas of importance.
I learned about the importance of students' reading and writing skills in an online course. This concerns me because so many students have issues with their reading and writing-- making it imperative that I have supports in place for these students.
Be as clear and concise as you can be, and in good tone when communicating with students, Also ask that of the student also, then the online learning environment should go much easier.
I learned that Adult learners are more successful when they are given opportunities to apply their previous knowledge, skills and experiences to the course content. Also, Students that are able to interact with other classmates can solve problems together.
When teaching and learning online communication is the essential component to succeeding. Effectictive communication is essential to assure understanding in a learning community.
Seth Soronnadi
I agree when it said that " There are a variety of ways to develop participation and engagement; however, the key is to help students understand why the content is important to learn and that you care about their achievement of the learning outcomes. To justify the importance of the content, try to connect it to their lives and help them establish why it will be important for them. To show them you care about their learning, communicate effectively and compassionately."
As an online instructor providing feedback to a particular student based on their writing, you may want to have a private blog or wiki where the two of you can develop a private editing session. The student will feel more comfortable in a one-on-one session such as this and the impact may be seen more quickly as the student may feel comfortable writing more in such a private session.
Communication is very important, but it is especially important when teaching an online class. Being able to articulate your lesson in a concise easy to follow manner is very benefical to the students learning enviornment. I think it is also important to be able to post questions and answers in a place where all students and the teacher are able to access the page easily. This is what I would do if I were to teach a math class.
CoP will a great tool for online groups/classes.
Community of Practice is a great to encourage students to communicate. It is important to communicate clearly to all students and motivate them to communicate with you and other students appropriately.
Things should be clear professional and appropriate at all times. It is important to know different techniques to help students
This module (Module 2 - Non-Technical Skills) covers some key points to creating and maintaining the online learning environment or in this case, the Community of Practice (CoP). Specifically: 1) Defining and maintaining "Good Online Citizenship" - very similar in concept and practice to "Netiquette" from a previous module; 2) Effective commuications - Clear, Professional, Appropriate (CPA) which are not only necessary for solid academic work, but are also required in the "working world" to get (and keep) that job; 3) the need for both the instructor and the student to interact and maintain effective communications and a good level of participation and engagement (on the part of both parties) in order to help ensure a successful learning environment, a healthly level of student engagement, participation and interaction for the duration of the CoP.
Students need to be aware (and frequently they are not) online classes require as much, if not more time, than a F2F class. And, since most communication will be in written form, strong reading and writing skills are essential.
I studied Communities of Practice during my doctoral dissertation and it was really fascinating. Somehow, I never connected CoPs to online learning. I was impressed that this module included it, and hope to use this framework in building a community with my online classes. I think that while it's a lofty goal and many want to 'build community' the most important part is to acknowledge that the community comprises of persons of varied levels of experience with the content. The constructivist approach demands that the instructor finds a way for people to reveal their expertise without forcing them to do it. This way, the students can learn from each other and a community can be built.
Students must feel like they are involved in the community and are participating at a level that is beneficial to them. Instructors must be able to foster this and keep it moving foward.
In order to have an impact on studetnt's success in an online class is to tie together how this class could impact them. Try to connect the class to their lives.
As online instructors, it's very important to establish guidelines for how and when students need ot communicate with the instructor, and each other. Since the class format in online, you lose the clarity and immediacy of a F2F interaction.
Effective communication is clear, concise, professional and appropriate.
Being clear with expectations and guidelines is important with online courses. Students need to be clearn on their expectations. Becoming a digital citizen is important.
Communication skills will enhance the teaching and learning process. Communication is the key to online teaching and learning.
