Module 4: Engaging Learners with New Strategies and Tools

Engaging Learners with New Strategies and Tools

As I continue to advance my education, I am learning more and more about how to use the most updated and appropriate technological tools to complete my course work. The graphic organizer above showcases the collaboration, content and communication tools that I use and have gained great amount knowledge both inside and outside of the classroom.  Outside of the classroom I use Google + , LinkedIn and Skype for a lot of my communication and collaboration projects. These tools can also work very well within the online learning environment because they each have a specific purpose and role that they play in bringing students together from all over the world.

In LinkedIn, students can network together with their classroom peers as well with others within the same field of study. Google + has the ability to better prioritize your social and professional lives into circles so that there is no overlap between the two unless it is requested. Skype allows for students to actually participate in group meetings from a distance while also viewing everyone in the room and vice versa. This tool almost makes you feel as though you are all in the same environment even though you are miles away.  All of the tools above are placed specifically not to just keep learners engaged but also keep the learning environment a fun place as well.

I have commented on the following blogs as well:
http://jeanniefrazierblog.wordpress.com
http://distanceedandlearning.blogspot.com/

Module 3(2) Assessing Collaborative Efforts

Module 3(2) Assessing Collaborative Efforts

Collaborative learning has always had a strong presence within traditional brick and mortar institutions. This type of learning is now being utilized in the online distance education as well. Siemens (2008) states that “participative pedagogy is the collaboration and teamwork in curricular activities”. I tend to feel the best way to assess the participation of the learning community is by requiring peer reviews be completed by group members. They would then submit them to the instructor for final review and grading based partially on their peers responses.

In the Distance education and online learning environments there could be times when a member of a learning community does not want to participate in a group project. I can say this because there have been times when I would have preferred to complete a project on my own instead of working with a group. I believe that a lot of students tend to feel the same way because they simply don’t want their overall score to be dependent on their peers and vice versa. The instructor should rely heavily on the learning community and their peers because they will more than likely use this information to assist with scoring of an individual or overall group project.

Resource

Principles of distance education: Assessment of collaborative learning. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Blogs I responded to: http://distanceedandlearning.blogspot.com/ and http://suzannereaidsscholarsblog.blogspot.com/

Module 3(1)Principles of Distance Education Storyboard for Motivating Adult Learners

Narrative	Visual
Introduction of topic title “Motivating Adult Learners”	Video of Adult Learners actively engaged in a classroom environment.
Specify differences between Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivations	Picture description of both Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations
Describe the different types of adult learners	Pictures and brief description of Young adult, professional, blue collar adult learners.
Introduce possible barriers of Adult Learners	Present examples of  these barriers
Provide possible solutions to barriers	Show some examples of solutions to barriers
Putting it all together!	Brief summary
Introduction of Keynote Speaker “Mrs. Katina Davis (Greater Homewood Board member & 2013 Teacher of the year recipient	Brief video of Mrs. Davis interacting with her students in the classroom at Greater Homewood Community Corporation.