Engaging Learners with New Strategies and Tools

Planning for the instruction that will take place in the face to face or online classroom is fundamental to effective teaching and technology enhanced instruction is no exception.

Online “interaction” however does take a different turn than face-to-face. Online course or program development is time intensive Hall, (1997); Sudzina & Sudzina, (2003); Wang & Gearhart, 2006). The course or program designer needs to utilize multiple perspectives, methods and tools to impact students’ learning styles and enhance critical thinking. Different learning styles and cultures can be accommodated more easily because effective collaborative learning values diversity Palloff & Pratt, (2005). Using a variety of aids and handouts to supplement text books (Hall, 1997; Sudzina & Sudzina, (2003), audio and video supplements (Lewis & Abdul-Hamid, (2006); Wang & Gearhart, (2006), and guest speakers (Durrington, Berryhill, & Swafford, (2006) all combine to add to collective contribution that are likely to result in better outcomes, design, practices or products.

Discussions forums should not be designed to argue but rather to open the door to pragmatic dialogue. Participants will then be informed in a collective and individual way how to exchange varied thoughts, ideas, and approaches to the different subject matter they are considering. Ongoing feedback to students on their responses and participation, carefully constructed questions by the facilitator (questions that require the students to use critical and reflective thinking skills), quality topics, as well as student moderated discussions Durrington et al., (2006) are great strategies to engage learners.

Using both synchronous and asynchronous modes from live chats, phone calls, formal and informal discussion forums, e-mails (Lewis & Abdul-Hamid, (2006) helps to enrich the online experience. However, the use of blogs, wikis, and podcasting, interactive videos to name a few are some of the new tools that online facilitators are implementing in their course designs to provide students with the opportunity to synthesize, analyze, and apply knowledge acquired over different courses in their program. Siemens (2005) theory of learning called which he called connectivism embraces the impact that technology has on society. His view is that learning in the digital age is no longer dependent on individual knowledge acquisition, storage, and retrieval; but rather, depends on the connected learning that occurs through interaction with various sources of knowledge (including the Internet and learning management systems) and participation in communities of common interest, social networks, and group tasks.

While teaching online can be a “trial and error process and not for the faint of heart” (Sudzina & Sudzina, 2003, p. 5) it also can be a rich motivating and rewarding experience for both the learner and the facilitator. These success factors are inherent not only to the online classroom but face to face classroom experiences as well.

References
Durrington, V. A., Berryhill, A., & Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies for enhancing student interactivity in an online environment. College Teaching, 54(No.1), 190-193.
Hall, B. (1997). Web-based training cookbook: Everything you need to know for online training. New York: Wiley Computer Publishing.
Lewis, C. C., & Abdul-Hamid, H. (2006). Implementing effective online teaching practices: Voices of exemplary faculty, Innovative Higher Education (Vol. 31).
Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: Learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1), January 2005. Retrieved July 20, 2009, from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/index.htm
Sudzina, M. R., & Sudzina, C. M. (2003). Insights into successfully teaching with cases on-line: The view from both sides of the 'Net. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the World Association for Case Method Research and Case Method Application.