How much social media plays a big part in learning .
Understanding user interface and comfort level with different platforms/tools/software is very important. I liked the idea of assessing user knowledge upfront and creating tutorials to assist students to get the most out of the technology tools.
Many students learning in the online environment see synchronous meetings as a way to develop a relationship with the instructor and feel more a part of the learning community.
I liked the information on social networking sites. Also the infrmation on learning spaces was informative.
One benefit of online learning involves course rigor and professor expectations. The same grading standards apply to on-campus and online learners. As a result, online courses prepare students for their future just as well as on-campus courses. Additionally, accreditation agencies evaluate online courses and approve only the best ones.
Checking in the beginning of the course as to your students technical skills is a must. Some students when signing up for an online course forget to think about what to do if they loose an internet conection. This coild be as simple as going to a free wi fi spot so they can continuing with their lessons rather that asking for an extention for the assignments do.
It's important not to assume students will have the same comfort with/using technology skills, no matter how simple it may be to the teacher.
In your Learning Management System LMS focus on Student not Teacher with Balance between presentation and content. Content needs to be accessable to all students. Personalize your Online community to fit your teaching style and be aware that is Dyanmic and continuially changing and developing. Feedback from students good or bad can help in adjusting your content delivery.
One aspect of my program I struggle with is encouraging students to participate in synchronous seminars. I often hear crickets when I ask for student participation. This section gave me some good ideas on how to motivate my students to participate. I particularly like the idea of application sharing. I will research ways to apply this to my seminars.
There is much to consider with learning tools. The incorporation of too few tools may lead to a boring environment that does not tap into the full potential of learning, but the incorporation of too many tools may lead to the course serving the tools more than the tools serving the learning. Finding the balance or what works best for any given course and its objectives is what is important. And then making the most of those tools so that students can construct learning and build community.
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Developing a learning space that is more student-centered requires focusing more on the students than the teacher. Through this environment, students should learn how to construct knowledge rather than simply receiving it from the teacher
I like student centered because it allows my students to construct knowledge. A lot of times, I feel like am just talking; this allows them to drive the learning.
I was familiar with the synchronous learning tools available such as chats, conferencing, IM, etc but didn't think too much of the asynchronous component and how those can be helpful to students when the class is offline. I never did consider the use of social media in a classroom environment as it may be distracting (depending on platform). Now with the use of groups on social media, there may be some community knowledge students can benefit from.
Online teaching requires that students know certain technology skills which some may not possess. As an instuctor you need to compensate for those student's deficiency. There are many online resources available for instructors to use.
I agree that understanding the level of experience each student has for technology is important.
This is a learning experience because I've always taught " hands on " so this is a learning experience for me also so I'm going to be learning at the same time about wikis ,blogs, and chats so I have to keep up so my students get the education they need for my course so they can sucessfully learn my course and earn the knowledge they need to progress
The learning environment will develop, therefore, it is important to ask students what is working, what is not, and how to improve it. Additionally, social networking and social media are different. Social networking is a way for students to continue communication, knowledge construction, and relationship building.
Social Networking can be used to assit with online learning, online communication, develop relationships, etc.
I think that students should really take the time to educate themselves what tools are available to them. I always compare online technology to cell phones. Every time you get a new model you have to learn the new functions. I equate this to whatever online tools are used on the platform that is being used. We are still pretty new to online technology in our school and it is evolving rapidly so we are all learning the new tools available. I find it quite challenging because we have changed up quite a bit.
Being generally fimilar with the different ways to commuicate online will help students learn other sytems faster. Use different platforms in your online to keep things enganged.
We must keep in mind that social network and social media ae not the same. Social media is seen more as a communication channel, where as social networking, is the act of of actually engaging through social media.
