Module 4-Graphic Organizer

Click here for a larger view of my Graphic Organizer

“New technologies offer wonderful promises for a better, brighter tomorrow” (Sapp). This statement holds true in every aspect of the learning process. Worldwide technologies are meant to be used to enhance the learning process and should be used inside of the classroom when appropriate. The Internet one technological tool that can add to the educational process. The net provides expanded opportunities for learners to plunge deeper into knowledge. This aids students and teachers alike. Teachers can use the Internet to find useful lesson plans to engage students in learning and students can use the Internet to research answers when they do not understand, play educational games to build their content knowledge, and collaborate with their peers in an educational setting. Blogs are another technological tool that can be used as a tool for educational purposes. Blogs can be effective technological tools and for learning. There are several useful blog-based activities for learning such as (1) reading blogs of others (2)receiving comments and (3) previewing tasks of others and reading feedback receive in relation to these(Churchhill, 2009). Lastly, Wikis are another technological tool of many other tools that can be used for educational purposes. Wikis are a "quick and easy way to energize reluctant learners, promote classroom synergy, and encourage authentic learning ” (Grant, 2006). It is a powerful tool in my opinion that increases participation because students love to work on the computer to post their thoughts and respond to their peers and teachers. Blogs, Internet and Wikis can get students actively involved, along with a host of other technological tools.

References:

Churchhill, D. (2009). Educational applications of Web 2.0: Using blogs to support teaching and learning. British Journal of Educational Technology , 179-183.

Grant, L. (2006). Using Wikis in Schools: A case study. FutureLab , May 2006.

Sapp, S. G. (n.d.). Diffusion of Innovations: Part 2. Retrieved December 26, 2009, from The Sociology of Technology: http://www.soc.iastate.edu/sapp/soc415Diffusion2.html

Below are useful sites for:
Wikis:

• http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001969.shtml
• http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/page/Wikis+in+the+Classroom

Blogs:

• http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/educationupclose.phtml/47
• http://www.21classes.com/

Internet Usage in the classroom

• http://www.internet4classrooms.com/
• http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/ntti/resources/internet1.html

Collaborative Assessment

"Assessment can be seen as the engine that drives students course activity; online or off (Swan, Shen, & Hiltz, 2006). Assessing students correctly and effectively can be challenging for individual students, however, group collaboration has been a challenge to assess for a while. According to Siemens (2008), collaboration is not the issue; the issue is how you change an assessment on a model based on collaborative learning. Simenens suggested that students should access their peers which can take a minor load off of instructors and allow students to interact and share experiences through online discussions (Laureate Education, 2008). The peer to peer assessment will not only allow students to participate with each other and gain knowledge from each other, it can become a significant part of their course grade. Students should be assessed in a collaborative learning environment by participation alone. There are several technologies used today for group members to be able to communicate and work collaboratively. Wikis, blogs, and online discussions are networks that allows for students to participate with their peers. If students are not participating, then it should reflect in their grade. I believe that what matters most if whether the students have actually learned something despite their skills or knowledge that is brought to the learning environment. I am uncertain if knowledge or skills should affect an instructor’s ability to equally assess learning in a collaborative learning environment. It may be an assumption that during collaborative learning, students bring some sort of knowledge or skill to their group no matter the varying levels of skills. Roles in the learning community should be delegated by skills and knowledge, the instructor should be informed on these skills so that they can assess effectively. Students could possibly fill out a self-aptitude test which is used to determine the strengths and weaknesses of an individual’s capability. This test could aid the instructor in determining what students are strong in what areas so that they can be assessed in that area.

If a student does not want to network or collaborate in a learning community, others in the learning community should inform the instructor about the student's lack of participation and continue to collaborate among the students that wanted to be involved in the learning community. The instructor should then inquire about the student's lack of participation because he may have a justifiable reason. A justifiable reason could be a student's lack of knowledge associated with the use of online communication tools. For example, I was unfamiliar with how to use Wikis to interact with my classmates in the learning community, and that was the cause of my lack of participation. I did not participate because I was unfamiliar with how Wikis worked, however, I finally figured it out! The choice not to participate in a learning community would have a major impact on an individual’s assessment plan because assessment is not being allowed to be utilized because of the lack of participation. Also, an instructor is not able to determine if the students is understanding the course content if he or she is not participating with peers online.

References:
Siemens, G. (2008). Assessment of collaborative learning. Vodocast. Laureate Education, Inc

Swan, K., Shen, J., & Hiltz, S. (2006). Assessment and Collaborating in Online Learning. Educational Technology Center .

Useful Links:
http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/collaborative.html
http://www.aln.org/publications/jaln/v10n1/pdf/v10n1_5swan.pdf (GREAT ARTICLE)
http://www.computer.org/plugins/dl/pdf/proceedings/icce/2002/1509/00/15090262.pdf?template=1&loginState=1&userData=anonymous-IP%253A%253A71.199.168.58 (GREAT ARTICLE)

Motivating Adult Learners (Stroyboard)

Click the link to view my storyboard for Motivating the Adult Learner

Collaborative Interaction

"One of the most important facets of collaborative learning is the interaction between individual and collaborative learning activities - between divergent perspectives and shared knowledge building." (Puntambekar, 2006). Working together to solve a problem or to achieve a common goal has always been more effective than solving problems and goals alone. Collaboration allows for different talents and abilities to be used to meet a specific objective whether it via online through distance education or inside of a traditional classroom setting. Collaboration is important in every aspect of the society that we function in, however, it plays a major role in the field of distance education. Collaborative interaction plays a role in the relationship betweeen teachers and students and it is indeed a new type of approach for instruction.
Collaborative Interaction's Evolution:

It is fair to say that collabortative interaction evolved with the evolution of the Internet which created the electronic mail evolution. Email has long been the most widely used Internet application (Electronic Mail, 2009). For some people, it is also their most frequent form of communicationExchanging information and communication via email was the first type of collaborative interaction globally. I am sure that online education's idea was sparked from the high usage of collaborative interaction that was taken place because of the Internet.

Online Tools

Blogs, Wikis, Email, and Disucssion boards are all online tools that are available today to faciliate interaction among leaners. Blogs are websites maintained by individuals that contains content. Our current use of blogs for this course is an example of how collaborative interaction is taking place. After we were assigned groups, we interacted collaboratively with each other via our blogs. The interaction occured by our weekly comments to each others blog which sparks conversations within our learning community. In the other course that I am currently enrolled in, Wikis were set up so that we are able to collaborate and interact online. Disucssion boards and emails give the most type of collaborative interaction because it allows for daily collaborative and communication between learners and instructors.

References
Electronic Mail. (2009). Retrieved December 31, 2009, from Living Internet: http://www.livinginternet.com/e/e.htm

Puntambekar, S. (2006). Analyzing Collaborative Interactions. Computers and Education , 332-351.

Useful Information:
http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/796109-f1KWOQ/native/796109.pdf
This is a PDF file that discusses integrated set of software tools that helps facilitate the broad range of collaborative interactions.


Nonverbal Communication to Support Collaborative Interaction in Collaborative Virtual Environments for Learning
http://ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/Publications/CEUR-WS/Vol-384/FULLPAPER-p1.pdf

The Evolution of Distance Education

Distance education: the only type of learning with several different names such as distance education, e-learning, virtual school, online learning...however their is only one outcome the acquiring of knowledge with the use of a computer. After reading the article and listening to the vodcast Distance Education: The Next Generation” by Dr. Michael Simonson, it is safe to say that the evolution of distance education is a topic of discussion around the world. However, every one's views on the need to evolve distance education the next generation. Dr. Simonson believes that distance educations needs to be evolved to the next generation because it allows for learning different types of skills at a distance. Simonson compares the evolution of distance education to the evolution of the computer. He stated that the computer grew over time and "if you look at the pattern of distance education we can expect growth to continue". Anyone with vision can see how computers have shaped our lives and changed our lives, and Simonson believes that distance education is headed this way as well. He believes that it should be widely adopted and used, but never to abolish traditional schools.

Authors Moller, Wellesley, Foshay, and Huett of the articles Implications for Instructional Design on the Potential of the Web think otherwise. They have different reason to believe that distance education should not evolve to the next generation just yet. They feel as though there are some things that need to be worked out before it evolves. Some of those things include instructors having the proper training, broaden courses offered, cost, and distance education (virtual schooling) being used effectively.

Both authors believe that distance education has the potential to evolve and evolve rapidly because it is growing constantly right now as we speak. I agree with both of the authors and their views on the evolution of distance education. I believe that it does provide learners with skills that they never knew existed and that it is a powerful tool if used correctly. However, there are somethings that could be done differently with distance education before the next generation is introduced to it.

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W. & Coleman, C., (2008, September/October). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the Web (Part 3: K12). TechTrends, 52(5), 63–67.