Engaging Learners with New Strategies and Tools

Outside the classroom, students are using many technological tools that translate to productive, educational applications. Siemens (2007) recommended a curatorial teaching model where instructors provide information, interpretation, and guidance of classroom materials. These steps serve to guide the building of content knowledge. Sites like Pinterest, Learnist, and Notefish allow instructors to curate and share quality research articles and websites that support content for the course. The goal of these tools is to collect, organize, and share online materials. Joomla and Blogger are tools instructors can use to manage their own content for students. Teachers write, post and share document they create for the purposes of the course.

Blog with more information: Pinterest in Education

Along with building content knowledge, engaging in communication between peers and instructors is important. Durrington, Berryhill, and Swafford (2006) highlighted the use of discussion boards to communicate in asynchronous conversations. In general these methods are employed through the use of learning management systems operated from within the course environment. Asynchronous communication is also possible through Facebook, Twitter, and email. The familiarity a lot of students already have with these tools allows students to focus on the coursework in a relaxed environment. Skype, Instant Messenger, and Facebook allow for synchronous communication with familiar tools. The advantage of using these tools is to be more productive with answers to questions and follow-up questions without the inconvenience of waiting for a response. 

Blog listing free apps for education: 50 Free Collaboration Tools for Education

Working on collaborative assignments presents the biggest hurdle for instructors looking to engage their students in online coursework. Durrington et al. (2006) suggest introducing problem-based assignment as a strategy for encouraging group interactivity.   Google Docs and Wikispaces allow students to post and edit work from any members invited to access and/or edit their documents. This allows for input to be added collectively from multiple members of a project group. Zoho offers a similar collaborative environment, specializing in slide presentations. Campfire offers a combination of instant messaging with document sharing. This allows for real-time communication with document writing and rewriting. MindMeister offers real-time mind mapping in a group setting, also integrated with live chat. This allows group members to develop ideas, even before needing the services of Zoho or Google Docs. Educators looking to engage online learners using technological tools have many options. There is no one solution, but a combination of tools will go a long way to achieving these goals.

  

An online education blog: 5 Tools and Strategies that Support Group Collaboration Online

References

Durrington, V. A., Berryhill, A., & Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies for enhancing student interactivity in an online environment. College Teaching, 54(1), 190-193.

Siemens, G. (2007). Networks, ecologies, and curatorial teaching. Retrieved from: http://www.connectivism.ca/?p=93 

Assessing Collaborative Efforts

            Assessing individual participation in a collaborative learning community is a challenge to any instructor. Siemens (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008) recommended changing the assessment model to emphasize working together. It is important to build accountability through acceptable assessment methods to increase participation from all students. Morrison (2012) stated that it was an assessment through the use of a rubric that raised the bar on online participation. A rubric provides easy to follow, clear expectations for students. Rubric sections can include the initial contribution, follow up contributions, word count for discussions, and timing of contributions to the collaborative environment. Varying levels of skill and knowledge students bring to a course can affect the fair assessment of learning by favoring individuals comfortable with the environment. Piper (2012) recommends combating unfair assessment by evaluating students based on their skills areas. Students take roles in collaborative assignments that fit their skill set, and are held accountable for these elements.

Blog: Another possibility: Peer grading 

Getting students to participate in online learning communities can be a challenge for both the instructor and other students. Other members of the learning community should communicate clearly, be supportive of one another, focus on the tasks at hand, and actively participate with one another frequently (Morrison, 2012). The other members of the learning community have the responsibility to actively engaging other students, and keep them engaged. The instructor should play the role of facilitator and moderator (Morrison, 2012). The instructor designs course strategies based on learning objectives and creates guidelines and expectations for students. These expectations should be clearly identified within the assessment plan or rubric used with students. Clear communication within the learning community and clear assessment guidelines can go a long way to promote an effective collaborative online learning environment.

Blog: Why don’t students participate?

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Principles of Distance Education. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Morrison, D. (2012, June 28). The methods and means to grading student participation in online discussions [Blog post]. Retrieved from: http://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/06/22/how-to-get-students-to-participate-in-online-discussions/

Morrison, D. (2012, June 22). How to get students to participate in online discussions… [Blog post]. Retrieved from: http://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/the-methods-and-means-to-grading-student-participation-in-online-discussions/

Piper, K. (2012, September 20). Collaboration in project-based learning: How assess fairly? [Blog post] Retrieved from: http://ilc21.org/collaboration-in-project-based-learning-how-assess-fairly/

Gamification Storyboard