Module Four:

Engaging learners requires a new approach, not only to instruction but also to structuring classroom environments and learning experiences. In their article, Durrington, Berryhill, and Swafford discuss structured learning environments, interactive discussions, peer-to-peer interactions, and problem-based learning as critical elements of an engaging online course. In his presentation, “Curatorial teaching,” Siemens outlines the appropriate level of interaction and guidance for educators to help students navigate resources and utilize a structured approach to learning within their field.  

Using the ideas of Durrington, Siemens, and others from your readings, determine which technological tools and strategies are best for involving learners in building content knowledge, engaging in communication with peers and instructors, and working on authentic, collaborative, problem-based tasks in the online environment. Select common technological tools that can be used in order to achieve these goals.

Create a graphic organizer to show these strategies and tools, and post it to your blog.

Example of Graphic Organizer

With your graphic organizer, include a reflection describing how you can bring the technological tools learners are using outside the classroom into the educational process, and which tools and strategies are best for this purpose. Make sure to explain why each tool works well in a learning environment and the benefits and advantages it provides.

Hi everyone, I just finished playing on Inspiration! The link provided will take you to may graphic organizer. I have posted several ideas and comments by others and myself directed at how educators must change or we will work ourselves right out of a job.

I spent some time on Inspiration for College students creating my graphic organizer. Here is the link to it. Sorry I could not post it directly, but when you see it, you will be able to see why. It is colorful, creative, innovative, and forward moving. I hope you enjoy it!

Follow the link below to my world of innovative ways to help learners using everyday innovations:

Please go to:

http://www.webspirationpro.com/view/1228797ac52

Storyboard

October 3, 2012

I am working hard on getting my blogs together, but so far all I keep doing is running into roadblock.
I put together a beginning movie with my clips and stills in it, but for some reason blogger will not allow me to upload the video. My guess is that it is a copyright issue. So, I went back to my webpage to see if it would upload there and guess what? It did. So, if you would like to comment on my beginning, feel free to go back to my original blog attached to my classroom. I have created a separate page that is just for the video and have made it the home page so it is possible to see it right away.
I know this is not what we are supposed to be doing, but as yet I have not even made it over to my other classmates blogs to comment on anything. Too overloaded with too many new things that I have never done before.
The url is: http://www.advancedguidance.webs.com
Please feel free to comment on either site as I know I am making it challenging.
I will be adding the text that will be with the movie as soon as possible. I have six sources that I am leaning on to support my introduction to my first critical thinking conference video.
Please let me know if you have any problems with viewing the video.

file://localhost/Users/Kelly/Pictures/iPhoto%20Library/Masters/2011/03/28/20110328-185519/IMG_0128.

Module Three: Assessing Collaborative Efforts

Module Three:

Assessing Collaborative Efforts

In this module, you watched two video programs in which George Siemens discussed strategies for assessing collaborative learning communities in the online environment, and for creating and maintaining successful online learning communities. Both instructors and learners must take responsibility for achieving this goal. Occasionally, you may run across a student who does not like to work in groups or collaborate with peers. He or she may even request to work on a project alone rather than in a cooperative group.

As an instructor, there are several issues to consider:

• How should participation in a collaborative learning community be assessed? How do the varying levels of skill and knowledge students bring to a course affect the instructor's "fair and equitable assessment" of learning?
• If a student does not want to network or collaborate in a learning community for an online course, what should the other members of the learning community do? What role should the instructor play? What impact would this have on his or her assessment plan?

Reflect on these questions in your blog. Reference your readings and video programs from this module, along with another blog post dealing with the topic of assessing collaborative learning. Be sure to link to all of the resources you cite in your blog.

Welcome to Kelly's First Blog!
Just got to get the hang of this and I will be off. I am one of those slow starters, but once I get the gist of what I am supposed to do, I take off and never stop!
Please join me as I venture into a new world that I have never traveled before. I hope you enjoy the comments, feedback is always welcome!

This is my puppy(DJ) shaking her head to get the snow off of her ears and nose. She loves to put her nose down and just smell everything. What could one expect from a BEAGLE. I am like her, I just need to shake the cobwebs out of my brain and settle down.

She now lives in the balmy weather off the leeward coast of Oahu in Waianae HI. The innovation of flying a dog across the ocean so she will not suffer from the cold weather in her old age is fantastic. She is now nine years old and enjoying the warm weather, chasing mongoose, peacocks, and checking out the turtles. Live cannot get any better for her.

Module One

Welcome to my 1st blog.
Module One:
After reading the three articles by Moller, Huett, Foshay and Coleman, and listening to the Simonson video programs, compare and contrast the reasons these authors believe there is a need to evolve distance education to the next generation. Do you agree with their positions? Why or why not?

Module Two

Principles of Distance Education

Welcome to my world of Critical Thinking!

Module Two:
George Siemens discussed the growing acceptance of distance education in today’s corporate and educational spheres, including three possible elements of distance education that are creating more effective learning experiences and giving distance education an identity of its own distinct from F2F courses: (a) global diversity, (b) communication, and (c) collaborative interaction. Do you agree or disagree with his view?
Select one of these three elements for your reflection in this module and respond to the following in your blog:

• How has this element evolved?
• What online tools are available today to facilitate these interactions among learners?

Kelly Gallagher

01:36 AM on September 26, 2012 

When I think of distant learning, my mind goes to a place that exists within the computer. Strange to think of it this way, but he computer is the cafe/classroom where everyone goes to pick up their work, drop off their assignments, and interact with one another. It is a virtual place that does not exist anywhere and yet it feels like a concrete place. The idea that people from around the world all go to this classroom is not any different than what you would see if you walked into a classroom on a university campus. I am not sure if I feel that distant learning is any different than in the classroom. I remember sitting in the classroom listening to the teacher lecture, and then everyone gathered up their bags, books, and phones and headed out the door with little interaction except with those that sat right around you. This seems to be very much like the online classroom, except that the lecture is written, the interaction is written, and the heading out the door is the heading to the kitchen.
Collaboration is not anything new. It has been around since I was in school fifty years ago; however the idea of interacting with someone across the globe is new. The opportunity to speak directly to someone that lives a different lifestyle, lives in a different environment, and has a different culture is a much more enriching experience than reading about it in a textbook or even watching a film. Social networks, Skype, blogs, video casts, webinars, blackboard, microphones, cameras, and other interactive games and programs enhance the ability to interact and collaborate with one another on projects, programs, and learning in general. Siemens (2012) indicates that there is greater "contribution by experts around the world" with distant education and that the education, government, and business arenas are all interacting with one another to ensure that students are learning what they need to learn in order to be a successful community-global minded individual.
I have a hard time imagining what the education arena will look like in 20, 30 or even 50 years from now. Technology is changing too fast for me to imagine that far into the future.

I found a really neat site: CUE.org. I know it is not a specific educator, but the information is so great that I have to share it: http://blog.cue.org. I discovered it in an article by Yahoo News, CUE.org Announces Education Technology Professional Development Blog. They are also on Twitter and Facebook. "CUE is committed to advancing Ed Tech Professional Development for teachers and educators. CUE?s new vibrant blogging platform will help advance this cause by creating a central resource center that highlights the best of CUE?s educational resources" (para. 4). Dana DuRee is the person of contact for CUE.org.
On other unique blog I found is Wired@Heart, Dr. Marina Kostina's Transcending distances in Online learning. This is really a completely different approach to blogging and I found it really interesting. My mind kept jumping from one place to another! twitter.com/mkostina and effectiveonlineteaching.org/tag/dr-marina-kostina