Engaging K-12 Learners with New Strategies & Tools - Module 4

Hyperlink to Graphic Organizer:  https://acrobat.com/app.html#d=GprlsNmzB0CjY5-3vKwFTQ

Current students in K-12 education received most of their technical knowledge at home rather than school.  These youngsters are a part of the Net Generation that can’t remember a time without the Internet and World Wide Web.  The majority of them grew up with a computer in the house and evolved with social media and mobile devices.  With this being said, it is difficult to understand administration and teacher fears of technology influenced pedagogy and the possibilities for the future.  Reservations about technology innovation in K-12 need to subside before any true implementation can be feasible.  The best way I can think of to alleviate some of these fears is to express to these professionals that a large majority of the students are using a lot of these tools on their own out of school.  These tools can be used for different purposes and are relatively simple to figure out.  That once you learn how to use them, you should not forget.  Many would say that it is like riding a bike, sort of. 

Here is a short description of the tools and strategies seen in the graphic organizer above.  Certain tools provide certain benefits to different learning context.  Remember, online teaching has three primary objectives which are to deliver cognitive, social, and teaching presence (Anderson, 2008).  Furthermore, it is believed that student interactivity is the key to effective instruction and contributes to learning success (Durrington, Berryhill, & Swafford).  Keep this in mind as you read through the tools below.  This will be an attempt to clarify some basics of what online tools work well for what and why. 

Content Tools – Databases, Search Engines, Cyber Library, Instructor/Facilitator, Resources

·         Databases are content oriented electronic filing systems that deliver peer and professional reviewed documents, journals, articles to specific key words.  This tool is best for educational research and should be the primary tool locating other research studies.

·         Search Engines, like Google & Bing, will deliver researchable, non-specific web-sites and are common knowledge to most all students.  These are normally best suited for secondary informational resources that are commonly used to support other research.

·         The majority of online learning environments have cyber libraries.  These virtual information filers are real people that aid students in finding what they need.

·         The online instructors themselves are providers of content information as well.  This can be requested in asynchronous environments as well as synchronous via other online tools.

·         Resources are the links to normally mandatory videos, web-sites, and documents to be analyzed for the lesson.   

Communication Tools – Email, Discussion Boards, Instant Messaging, Smartphone, Skype

·         Everyone knows Email, right?  Well, not quite but it is getting there.  This is the most common communication online tool that has evolved into the multimedia tool it is today.  Assignments could certainly be handed in this way from mobile device to teacher.

·         Predetermined discussion boards are awesome places for intermittent communications between all class participants.  They too work asynchronously in an ongoing conversation sort of way.  Students have critical thought conversations this way about specific ideas.

·         Instant Messaging (IM) begins the move towards  more synchronous conversations between students and their peers or teachers.  IM is almost synchronous but not quite which offers a quicker return on inquiry from another student or the facilitator.

·         The Smartphone devices that are common today have a wonderful ability to make learners mobile.  This tool is the “flux-capacitor” that transcends time and place.

·         Don’t forget about Skype.  This two-way video and two-way audio is face-to-face, second generation synchronous conversation.  Get good lighting for sure. :/

Collaboration Tools – Chat Rooms, Eluminate Live, Wiki, Blog

·         A chat room is a text-based online environment that facilitates group collaboration.  It too borderlines synchronous conversation and is recordable.  Archives of past conversations are available to students as well as teachers for future assessments.

·         Eluminate Live is a multimedia web-conferencing program that allows synchronous online conversation while also accommodating visuals with a white board.  This is a virtual conference room meant for collaboration or interactive discussions.

·         When it comes to asynchronous collaboration tools, nothing beats a wiki.  Here, students and instructors can talk and comment on each other’s critical thoughts.  He or she who makes the guest list is a collaborator and an editor of the wiki itself.

·         Weblogs are becoming popular as well.  Blogging is about as asynchronous as you can get.  Blogs are more individualized for the blogger is the only one who edits it, but is still functional as a collaboration tool.  Best for critical thought conversation between participants.  

With a good mix of these content, communication, and collaborative tools, engaging learners in online education usually happens.  I say a mix because a new blended learning teacher does not have to implement all of these, but rather a select few from each category that meets his/her own needs concerning pedagogy.  The ability to generate and collect data goes much faster than our own abilities to organize, manage, and utilize it (Learn Online, 2007).  With this being said, there is much room for trial and error in the K-12 learning environments to effectively use these tools with the specific purpose of engaging learners. 

References

Anderson, T. (2008). Teaching in an online learning context. In T. Anderson (Ed.). The theory and practice of online learning. (2^nd ed.). (pp. 343-365). Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University Press.

Durrington, V. A., Berryhill, A., & Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies for enhancing student interactivity in an  online environment. College Teaching, 54(1), 190-193. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Learn Online. (2007, September 20). Re: 10 minute lecture – George Siemens – curatorial teaching [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://learnonline.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/10-minute-lecture-george-siemens-curatorial-teaching/

Assesing Collaborative Learning - Module 3 Part 2

Evaluating collaborative student learning can be difficult if not designed appropriately.  It is important that assessment align with learning objectives and collaboration activities to make students satisfied with the instruction and assessment easier for the facilitator (Palloff & Pratt, 2005).  If one of the objectives is to establish a solid sense of a learning community through group instructional strategy, first plan on informally meeting in a more relaxed cyber atmosphere like the Class Café Walden University utilizes.  This can somewhat simulate a breaking of the tension and also give the instructor a glimpse of who the students really are,  maybe even figuring out some personal and technical demographics of the student course population.  These clues should help determine authentic assessment fairness, equity, and validity of all students involved (Laureate, 2008).  It is thought that this can help instructors figure out more closely how each individual student has grown and compare them to the others.  Not everyone is going to learn the same things, but some will definitely learn more things and this can be recognized and used for assessment value.  It is important for the instructor/facilitator to stay informed of all developments of a community group so as to act decisively and quickly if necessary (Palloff & Pratt, 2007) and this could include modifying the assessment strategy even on the run if need be.  One thing is for sure; there are not many near perfect evaluation strategies to take a template from when instructors assess online individuals and groups of individuals.  My advice would be to try to understand the context of each individual collaboration member and the dynamics of the group altogether.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Assessment of collaborative learning. [Video webcast]. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5701360&Survey=1&47=9580570&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building online learning communities. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.  http://www.amazon.com/Building-Online-Learning-Communities-Strategies/dp/0787988251

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2005). Collaborating online: Learning together in community. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.  Retrieved from http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787976148.html

Assessing Collaborative Efforts - Module 3, Part 1

In online learning and training environments, collaboration is often necessary to enhance the processes of instilling and retaining needed information in the human audience.  This is difficult to fathom for it is not in a predominantly synchronous, face-to-face (F2F) mode of communication.  Innovative forms of human interaction and the development of skills for resolving conflicts, setting goals, building trust, and collaboration are normally the backbone of typical team training or education programs (Hurst & Thomas, 2008).  Instructors play major roles in the developmental and assessment methods of these necessary skills by putting diligent effort into the process side of teaming and teaching (2008).  In turn, it is equally important for instructional to actively participate in group learning as it is the student target audience.

To assess these online collaborations, there is much to consider.  First, we as educational professionals must recognize that this is authentic assessment which utilizes non-conventional methods.  That is, instructors measure levels of participation while all participants aid him/her in the assessment process by critiquing their peer’s uploaded projects (Laureate, 2008).  What we as online educators are most interested in is more robust experiences in education that students can take with them after the course is complete.  The more students participate in collaborative activity and assessment, the much more likely a learning community will develop that will last well beyond the course (Palloff & Pratt, 2005).  Furthermore, it is recommended that clear guidelines and rubrics are provided to collaborative online students (2005) so everyone is on the same page and a true synthesis can be achieved.  We must understand that online learners have a wide range of varying skills and knowledge.  Assessment by an instructor/facilitator should measure student growth by asking where the students started in their knowledge versus where they ended up after the lesson (2008).  Only after all this can a true assessment be determined for a lesson or course.

What if a student is does not engage in the collaboration effort and is difficult to persuade into the learning community?  Well, there is not any concrete process to alleviate this issue, but here are some recommendations for instructors.  First, encourage other group members to coax the difficult student into the learning community to see if it can be handled from within.  Emphasis on politeness is probably the best approach which makes the instructor take on a mediator role.  Next, the instruction professional needs to assess his/her own diligence in the preparation of the collaboration lesson’s (2005) and hopefully the instructor has a Plan-B for how to intervene in this type of incident.  Maybe a more individualistic approach for the difficult student can achieve the same goals and objectives.  When developing the collaborative experience, it is a good idea to create a mix of individual and community based activities (Laureate, 2008).  Like a role play for instance that could give the difficult member an individualistic task to complete.  This could even change the assessment of the facilitator of the collaboration activity of a group.  But probably not significantly for if the difficult student just absolutely refuses to participate and after everything has been tried, well then the others must pick up the slack and accomplish the task at hand.  That is the way it is in the real world, so why not in this instance.              

References

Hurst, D., & Thomas, J. (2008). Developing team skills and accomplishing team concepts online. In T. Anderson (Ed.). The theory and practice of online learning. (2^nd ed.). (pp. 441-472). Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University Press.  http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/second_edition.html

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2005). Collaborating online: Learning together in community. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.  http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd0787976148.html


Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Assessment of collaborative learning. [Video webcast]. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5701360&Survey=1&47=9580570&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Learning communities. [Video webcast]. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5701360&Survey=1&47=9580570&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1