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
Mark, Thank you for posting the various websites to get great educational tools over the Interent for free. If you had a choice which would you prefer, google docs or zoho?
ReplyDeleteTim
Your graphice organizer is good. As a student and personally, I mostly use the strategies of communication. I'm going to work harder on communication with collaboration and content.
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