There's excitement in the online learning wold about elearning. Hey, we can get them more involved! It will improve attention and retention! They can communicate with each other and boost the learning experience! Yay!
But on the student side, the response is often a united GROAN.
They want us to do stuff? To take part? To spend more time on their course than we absolutely have to? Yeah, right.
Of course, there are the keeners. The ones who ask lots of questions in chat and make funny comments. They help the instructor to ignore the fact that the other 90% of the students are on their phones. Or if the session is on their phone, they're listening to music and checking in.
An overlooked factor in the design of live interactive instruction is the extent that the learners manage their own involvement. Should instructors insist that learners show up for class?
Or should we make sure the materials are there, including recorded classes/lectures, to let students succeed regardless of personal contact?
Should student monitoring apps be used to make sure learners pay attention in real time or should the responsibility for making of use of learning resources be turned over to them?
In short, is online learning simply the classroom in another guise or an opportunity to release advanced students from the tutorial teat?
Discuss.
- Mitch
P.S. if you're still with me: I've been doing some reading about how social media (facebook, twitter) is being used for eLearning, and they're mainly as support avenues or for learning management. But no one mentions the live broadcast apps, such as facebook Live or Periscope. These tools let you talk to your students and have them react with hearts, emojis and text in real time, not just on a side tool like chat but in the main screen. It's a totally different experience than a zoom call that is maybe more like a performance than some instructors will be comfortable with, but which also has the same kind of involvement as a performance, as compared with a talk. And the sessions are recorded. If we really want to make students feel involved in a lecure--even more so than in a real life classroom--more people should be exploring this.
But on the student side, the response is often a united GROAN.
They want us to do stuff? To take part? To spend more time on their course than we absolutely have to? Yeah, right.
Of course, there are the keeners. The ones who ask lots of questions in chat and make funny comments. They help the instructor to ignore the fact that the other 90% of the students are on their phones. Or if the session is on their phone, they're listening to music and checking in.
An overlooked factor in the design of live interactive instruction is the extent that the learners manage their own involvement. Should instructors insist that learners show up for class?
Or should we make sure the materials are there, including recorded classes/lectures, to let students succeed regardless of personal contact?
Should student monitoring apps be used to make sure learners pay attention in real time or should the responsibility for making of use of learning resources be turned over to them?
In short, is online learning simply the classroom in another guise or an opportunity to release advanced students from the tutorial teat?
Discuss.
- Mitch
P.S. if you're still with me: I've been doing some reading about how social media (facebook, twitter) is being used for eLearning, and they're mainly as support avenues or for learning management. But no one mentions the live broadcast apps, such as facebook Live or Periscope. These tools let you talk to your students and have them react with hearts, emojis and text in real time, not just on a side tool like chat but in the main screen. It's a totally different experience than a zoom call that is maybe more like a performance than some instructors will be comfortable with, but which also has the same kind of involvement as a performance, as compared with a talk. And the sessions are recorded. If we really want to make students feel involved in a lecure--even more so than in a real life classroom--more people should be exploring this.
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