There are many technological tools learners are using outside the face-to-face classrooms to complement the educational online learning environment. Effective teaching strategies centered on communication, content and collaboration are more easily integrated with the use of today’s technology tools.
Content can be found in many journals, scholarly articles, periodicals, books, websites, blogs, and videos, in online libraries across the Internet. There are many hosted media sharing cites that allow users to post and share their audio and or video presentations. Students can sign up for scheduled webinars that teach and instruct content of specific nature. TeacherTube or YouTube provides the opportunity for users to upload video files and Slideshare allows for PowerPoint presentations to be shared among users.
Collaboration is enhanced with the use of wikis, social networking sites, student moderators and problem–based learning projects. According to Durrington, Berryhill and Swafford (2006), one of the suggested strategies that foster student interactivity is problem-based learning. Because this is very challenging for both the students and the instructor, both asynchronous and synchronous opportunities are imperative for students to post and discuss their findings. The advantage to using synchronous method of communication, according to Education Blog (2003), is it provides instant feedback for student’s performance. The advantage to using asynchronous mode of online education is it gives flexibility of more time for students to work with their members. The use of collaborative wikis provides a blank slate for students to add and share content, give peer assessments and coordinate decisions on project-based tasks. Other technological tools that help coordinate collaborative efforts are the use of social networking sites such as Facebook, VideoChat, Skype and Twitter. Although these sites couple as communication tools, they provide an integral part of the collaboration process. Lastly, the use of a student moderator helps to motivate students in an online community to build relationships, generate new ideas, and develop pride and ownership in their growth as a group with a designated purpose.
Communication is fostered by several online technological tools as well as by personal cell phones. The use of email, texting and or instant messaging allows students to communicate with other students and get feedback with or without sharing it with the rest of the group. Blogs allow users, both instructors and students to post content and comments on user content which helps taper or expand learning among the users. The use of voice, video or web conferencing is an exciting way to share ideas and communicate in real time. Lastly, discussion boards provide a means for students and instructors to share their personal experiences as it relates to the given content. Instructors can respond to various posts and provoke further discussion on selected ideas.
References
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.
Anderson, T. (Ed.). (2008). The theory and practice of online learning (2nd ed.). Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University Press.
Siemens, G. (2007, September). Podcast. Curatorial Teaching. Retrieved from http://learnonline.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/10-minute-lecture-george-siemens-curatorial-teaching/
Educational Blog Retrieved from http://www.tangoseduction.com/tag/means-of-communication/
Karen
ReplyDeleteA well expounded blog, except for your picture covering a tool of collaboration. What tool is that?
Also, couldn't you have reduced or navigated your graphic organizer so that it fits on the page, then viewers would click on it to increase the size?
As I said, you have explained, in details, the various tools of collaboration, communication, and content. Your explanations, however, have centered around the reasons for the tools, you didn't mention how the tools were used.
Facebook is such a successful tool in technology, if not the most successful tool currently; but why is it that colleges and universities, in particular, don't use it as a tool to aid in the learning process?
Karen
ReplyDeleteWhen I view your blog on my laptop I see all the tools, including the missing one - wiki. It was my PC that didn't show it, due to your picture.
Hello Milton, Thanks for your comments. I struggled with the graphic and I wasn't aware that the viewer could click and it would enlarge automatically. I will know this for next time. My interpretation of the task this week was to relate the tools and strategies with each of communication, collaboration and content. I probably should have expounded more on how this is accomplished with each tool. I don't use Facebook, mostly because it is a risky tool to use with high school students. I like to keep boundaries from personal and professional life. Even if I used a separate professional Facebook, it is still a social network and too much can be misinterpreted among sensitive imaginative young minds. Do you use Facebook for educational use? Maybe there are some positives that I don't know about. Thanks
ReplyDeleteKaren
ReplyDeleteTechnology has its ups and down. That's understandable. We all can't get it right the first time.
I do have a facebook page; also, after my first residency in 2009, a network group from the Walden University residency started a professional space (ProSpace) exclusively for us when we were writing KAMs.
I transferred out of the Mixed modeled program, not doing anymore KAMs, but I still work with the group, seldomly.
Karen
ReplyDeleteI understand the frustration when technology does not work the way you want. I had trouble converting the graphic when I transferred it to my post, but I finally figured it out.
The tools you selected are those that we should all be familiar with, so using them for online instruction should not be a technological disaster for someone new to this format.
Cheers
Linda H
Karen, thanks for including Text Messaging here as a communication in education device! I would love to include this blog post in a presentation that some students I am working with are working on to convince their school district to allow them to utilize cell phones, iPods in their daily activities. Please now that as a scholar-practitioner, your research/work is already being cited.
ReplyDeleteKudos!
Karen, Nice post! As I read through it, I'm struck again by how many choices we're faced with as educators as to technological tools that are available. Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of stuff that is out there?
ReplyDeleteKaren,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post, and as Mike said, it is boggling how many tools are available for us to use to reach our students. Sometimes we forget, and we get stuck in the routine instead of adopting innovations that we know would better serve our students. I'm thinking of starting a blog that provides educators and students with a resource list of all the technological tools available to them with product reviews. What do you think? Is this something the educational community could use?