Saturday, July 17, 2010

Module 3 Responses

principlesofdistanceeducationwaldenu.blogspot.com    Richard Wasserman
walden-crand.blogspot.com   Christine Rand

Storyboard Responses

andreesimmons.blogspot.com
nyharris.blogspot.com

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Assessing Collaborative Efforts

"To place the needs of the group above those of the individual, some people fear entering into a community because they assume in doing so that they must submit to the will of the group"(Paloff &Pratt, 2007, p 28). The importance of building a community and collaborating must be emphasized to each member of the learning community in order for each learner to get the most out of the class. Although some members of the community may be hesitant to participate, they must understand it is a vital part of the online community and that they will be assessed the same as others for the work they have completed in the group. Going into the program, online learners should have known the requirements of participating in an online enviroment and if there were issues with conducting group activitites, maybe the online environment was not the right choice for these individuals. Instructors should, however, when grading take into consideration the levels of learners that are in the class. A learner who has little experience and has made major growth should be considered as having accomplished a lot. Assessments should be evenly divided into the various sections of the course for what is required in online classes giving learners who may be strong in one aspect and not another the same chances of making a well deserved grade in the class.



Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2005). Collaborating online: Learning together in community. San Francisco: Josey-Bass.

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building online learning communities: Effective strategies for the virtual classroom. San Francisco: Josey-Bass.

Swan, K. (2004). Relationships between interactions and learning in online enviroments. The Sloan Consortium.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Storyboard - Best Practices of Discussion Forums

Story Board for Best Practices in Online Discussion Forums Video


I. Introduction                                                                    Video of f2f class and online

II. What is an online discussion?                                          Definition slide

III. Educational Experience                                                 Video - 
a. Social Presence                                                               Hand shaking
b. Cognitive Presence.                                                         Student learning
c. Teaching Presence                                                           Educator teaching

IV. Timing                                                                           Time table
 a. synchronous
 b. asynchronous

V. Forums                                                                           Video of Logos of various forums
 a. Chats
 b. Wikis
 c. Blogs
 d. Email
 e. Skype (video conferencing)

VI. Similar aspects to f2f discussions                                     Video of rapid fire discussion in classroom
       What to expect

VII. Different aspects from f2f discussions                             Video of clock time moving and collaborative
        What to expect                                                              groups

VIII. Preparation for discussion                                             Educator Responsibilities
                                                                                            -Lists & Video preparation

IX. During discussion                                                            Educator Responsibilities
                                                                                            -Lists & Video of discussion

X. Post discussion                                                                Educator Responsibilities
                                                                                            -Lists & Video of Post discussion

XI. Outcomes, Student Behavior,                                          Student based
       Response and Learning    

XII. Key Note Speaker                                                        Speaker introduction