My Post: Communication & Online Communities
March 26, 2015
There are many learning theories that attempt to describe how we learn. The two theories I’d like to focus on are Constructivism and Connectivism. Constructivists believe that learning is a process in which the learner constructs or builds new ideas or concepts based on current and prior knowledge. Engaging with others is how learning occurs. It’s a project based learning with hands on activities and experiences.
The latest learning theory is for the digital age and is known as Connectivism. Connectivists believe that learning is through connections and shared resources within a community. Learners can improve their own learning by connecting into existing nodes or sources of information. I found it interesting that this theory states that knowing how to find information is more important than actually knowing the information.
There’s an abundance of information distributed worldwide accessed through Web 2.0 tools and social media. According to D. Wilkes in his article, “Connectivism” he states, “Leaners become the creators of knowledge and not consumers.“ They gather information and then send it out. How can we be sure that the information offered by others in a network is accurate? Contributors base their information on individual values and concepts. The diverse network and quality of information depends on those contributing. Gathered information must be filtered and verified by experts through empirical testing in order to form new knowledge.
I personally believe learning is a combination of the two theories and promotes lifelong learning. We use technology to connect and interact with others to learn and construct our own personal meaning based on our existing knowledge.
In student-centered online learning environment instructors become the facilitators who help guide learners into discovering knowledge on their own. Students must assume responsibility for their own learning. As instructors it’s important that the students know our expectations and the requirements so they can successfully complete the course.
Communication is the key to building a learning community that contributes to the student’s success in the course. Listed below are 5 ways to create a successful online learning environment.
1. Course Design
2. Creating Content:
The instructor needs to:
3. Teaching Presence and setting the climate of the course.
The instructor needs to:
4. Online Communication & Class Participation:
The instructor needs to:
5. Evaluation & Feedback & Assessments
The instructor needs to:
I will implement the following principles in my course by:
There are many learning theories that attempt to describe how we learn. The two theories I’d like to focus on are Constructivism and Connectivism. Constructivists believe that learning is a process in which the learner constructs or builds new ideas or concepts based on current and prior knowledge. Engaging with others is how learning occurs. It’s a project based learning with hands on activities and experiences.
The latest learning theory is for the digital age and is known as Connectivism. Connectivists believe that learning is through connections and shared resources within a community. Learners can improve their own learning by connecting into existing nodes or sources of information. I found it interesting that this theory states that knowing how to find information is more important than actually knowing the information.
There’s an abundance of information distributed worldwide accessed through Web 2.0 tools and social media. According to D. Wilkes in his article, “Connectivism” he states, “Leaners become the creators of knowledge and not consumers.“ They gather information and then send it out. How can we be sure that the information offered by others in a network is accurate? Contributors base their information on individual values and concepts. The diverse network and quality of information depends on those contributing. Gathered information must be filtered and verified by experts through empirical testing in order to form new knowledge.
I personally believe learning is a combination of the two theories and promotes lifelong learning. We use technology to connect and interact with others to learn and construct our own personal meaning based on our existing knowledge.
In student-centered online learning environment instructors become the facilitators who help guide learners into discovering knowledge on their own. Students must assume responsibility for their own learning. As instructors it’s important that the students know our expectations and the requirements so they can successfully complete the course.
Communication is the key to building a learning community that contributes to the student’s success in the course. Listed below are 5 ways to create a successful online learning environment.
1. Course Design
- Instructors need to set a schedule and provide guidelines for interaction and learning.
- The syllabus must have clearly stated objectives and student outcomes for the online course. The grading policy should be included that shows the weight distribution percentages for assignments, tests and participation.
- A rubric for grading is required, that has examples and criteria spelled out so student’s sense fairness in the grading of assignments.
- Contact information is also available that encourages student and faculty interaction. Introducing yourself as the instructor creates a teaching presence.
2. Creating Content:
The instructor needs to:
- Make available a variety of learning materials with different perspectives.
- Offer netiquette tips for online communication to create an environment of trust.
- Support the needs of all students by offering quality materials for the visual, auditory and tactile learning styles of the students to enhance favorable outcomes.
- Create presentation slides or video to deliver content each week.
3. Teaching Presence and setting the climate of the course.
The instructor needs to:
- Be present to help the students succeed.
- Check in on student’s progress to insure they understand the assignment or if they have any questions. They should begin a dialog with students who are not participating in the course.
- Keep students informed through announcements and course updates to keep the lines of communication open.
4. Online Communication & Class Participation:
The instructor needs to:
- Set a climate of trust by creating activities and opportunities for learners to share their ideas on a topic. The learners need to feel their voices are heard and they matter in the course.
- Be prompt in replying to student’s emails.
- Create a learning community that engages students through Discussion Boards, Wikis and Blogs to increase their learning opportunities.
- Be involved in the discussions to answer questions, offer additional discussion topics and have a presence. Using Bloom’s taxonomy to creating discussion questions will encourage critical thinking and problem solving.
5. Evaluation & Feedback & Assessments
The instructor needs to:
- Give students feedback regularly so the student feel the instructor is interested in their progress.
- Provide opportunities for the student to reflect on their own learning and contributions to the course.
- Assess student’s work by following the rubric designed for each assignment.
- Revise the course, as necessary, for better learning outcomes.
I will implement the following principles in my course by:
- Creating a learning environment through the Discussion Board, Wiki and Blog assignments that encourage students to interact as well as receive points for participation. These environments encourage collaboration and interaction. To show my presence in the course I’ll be interacting with the post, also.
- Helping students understand the material better I’ll have them restate what they have learned in their own words. Student using their own vocabulary helps them link the new information to previous knowledge.
- Creating assessments to evaluate the student’s performance. Adding a rubric for each assignment will guide the students to know what is expected of them.