Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Module 4

The instructor sets the stage for engaging learners. Engaging learners online is very important, “learning frequently takes place between pairs or among groups of individuals” (Shea, Li, Swan & Pickett, 2005)). Communications between students and instructors keeps the online students actively engaged and have a sense of community. The instructor should be a role model for what he expect from his students, timely communication, moderator of discussions, and helping students transition from face to face instruction to the online environment.

There are several ways that instructors can actively engage students. Teacher led discussions, where the teacher selects the topic and the students respond on the topic and to each other, sharing insight and suggestions. The instructor can help discussions along by asking questions or commenting (this is also helpful for students to see what kind questions they should be asking each other. There are also student led discussion, where the student picks the topic, and makes the rubric and their fellow classmates have to respond to that topic. I like the idea of student led discussions; it makes the students feel more apart of the class. With class sizes my suggestion would be to break the class into groups and everybody in that group leads a discussion, so that everybody has a chance to decide the topic. Instructors can also group students to do problem based learning. Where the group is given a problem and the students as a group have to come up with a solution.

As an instructor you have to know when your help is needed and when to step back and let the students figure it out on their own. To do this the instructor has to get to know their students, maybe give an assignment to see how much students know about online environments. Depending on the students experience would depend on how much help the instructor may give, especially on the technical aspect of taking an online course. Having students working in groups, I would think that the instructor would sit back and let the group try to work out any problems that may come up and only intervene when the group asks for help or if he feels that the group is on the wrong path.

References:

Shea, P., Li, C. S., Swan, K., & Pickett, A. (2005, December). Developing Learning Community In Online Asynchronous College Courses: The Role Of Teaching Presence. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 9(4).




This is the link to my graphic organizer.

http://scromwell.pbworks.com/Principles-of-Distance-Learning

5 comments:

  1. I agree that the instructor needs to encourage groups to work out discussions, but what about the inactive members of the class? Isn't it a problem for all group members when only a few will do as instructed? An example might be the wiki project in another course we are taking. One two out of five actually post to the wiki, which makes those two the only active members, thus only those two communicate within the established group. Should the instructor reassign groups and put those who are following guidelines together to have more interaction between those who do and create a separate group for those who don't?

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  2. I would think that everyone would want to participate in a timely manner with their team members. There should be no inactive members. Reassigning the inactive member may be a solution, but if they are inactive in one group, they will be inactive in another as well. Perhaps they need more direction and incentive to follow the guidelines. Perhaps they need a different venue.

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  3. I agree with LaVerne, they maybe inactive for a reason and didn't let the teammates know or they may not even be in the class anymore. Reassigning groups doesn't always solve the problem, because your just moving the problem and not fixing it.

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  4. The "inactive" member is a very common problem. I have been teaching at Walden with group projects for 5 years (about 20 quarters) and there are always a few in each class that don't participate. Of course, there are always "good" reasons, but it does make it frustrating for the group members who are trying and for the instructor. I agree that reassigning doesn't help. Urging them to participate doesn't necessarily help. I am still looking for a solution!

    Tim.

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  5. By the way, your graphic organizer says to "click on the bubble for more information." However, clicking doesn't reveal anything new. Is anyone else having this problem?

    Tim.

    ReplyDelete