Blog Posting: Engaging Learners with New Strategies and Tools

In online distance education, the courses must be learner focused in order for true academic achievement to be attained. Technological tools can provide a vast amount of ways to implement strategies that will ensure learner success. When learners are engaged and enjoy what they are doing, they will in turn benefit from the course. According to Durrington (p. 191), “The research in both traditional and online contexts suggests that student interactivity contributes to positive student learning experiences and is a key to effective instruction.” Thus students who feel comfortable, will be willing to share experiences with classmates, which allows for successful collaboration.

In addition to creating the environment and preparing learners for successful collaboration, the important factor that must be implemented is the content of the course. It is necessary that the instructor not only be well versed in the content that he/she intends to facilitate, but that he/she does so in a clear manner, i.e. syllabus. When objectives are shared with learners, they know what to work for and what to expect from their learning as well.
Siemans, spoke of the teacher being like a curator in a museum in his podcast, Curatorial Teaching. He discusses the need for teachers to become Guides of learning and not mandate what learners need to know. Students have greater access to information through this guidance, thus becoming “wayfinders” in the process.
The following technological tools and strategies are examples of what learners use outside the classroom that would be beneficial in the educational process:
Content:
a. Instructor involvement—emails, Skype, video, and podcasts allows for communication with the class
b. Online libraries—references available online, hosting ebooks, journals, and databases allows for easy access by the students
c. Journals—professional organizations publish journals that can be retrieved online for student review
d. Podcasts—audio or video speeches or commentaries can be downloaded to the computer or Ipod for convenient viewing/listening
e. Videos—speeches or commentaries, allows for students to visually learn the subject area
Communication:
a. Skype—instant messaging or video conferencing, allows for instant communication
b. Email—text messages sent and received at convenience
c. Chats—similar to instant messaging, group messages posted and each member can respond
d. Usernet—based off of email, large group gathering space, can be broken into smaller groups
e. Text messaging—text messages sent via mobile devices for instant communication
Collaboration:
a. Wikispaces—group/team working area where members can review each other’s work.
b. Whiteboards—chatting area, slide shows, and podcasts
c. Class Cafés—areas for students and instructor to freely discourse
d. Discussion Boards—area where students respond to a question and other students’ opinions.
e. Blogs—area where students can post their responses to a question or theme, or an area of interest. Others can comment on their posts.

Durrington, V. A., Berryhill, A., & Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies for enhancing student interactivity in an online environment. College Teaching, 54(1), 190−193. Use the Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article's Accession Number: 19754742

Storyboard again

Ok, this only took me 2 1/2 hours to figure out!!!! the slides have shifted, but its a start!

this is the url which should work now!
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=d6rg4sz_0fszhhrgc

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=F.e75d24c7-64c7-471b-9b7d-de8ef6b7a976

My storyboard is on power point right now, but I will be changing it!

Click the link above