Hi William,
Thank your for sharing these two resources. As you say this is a real challenge for online instructors. As more resources become available in this area we need to share them because we are all working through these strategies together.
Gary
Thanks for sharing these titles. I think the kind of work we are doing here sharing best practices is a good way to stay involved in the development of effective classrooms.
every class I get has a very dynamic range of students. It is important that I plan on at least three different ways to teach each subject because that is normaly what it takes to get my more difficult consepts accross.
I have a couple of good books that I use as aids. "Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace: effective strategies for the online classroom," Palloff and Pratt and "The Digital University - Building a Learning Community," Hazemi and Hailes.It's difficult enought building a learning community in the on-ground classroom, on-wow, but there a some guides beginning to be published.
Even when you think you know students, you may not. We unfortunately had two incidents where a student was threatened by another (two separate incidents involving two sets of students). One was in my class and the other involved a student of mine in another class. I had been out of the classroom during a break and had just returned when things heated up. Apparently three students working on a joint project had a disagreement and it escalated. Threats were made, curses were exchanged as I entered with some of the other students. I told the returning students to extend their break and then settled down the argument. As I was attempting to calm thing down, the students started again. I had to ask them forcefully to leave the classroom informing them that the could only return with the Dean. The students were suspended for a week. The incident was not forgotten, nor should it have been, bad feelings remained, the student project teams were badly disrupted.
The second incident had to be disarmed by another teacher from another classroom. The teacher in whose class the incident occurred was unable to react and stood by, watching. In this case, neither student was disciplined; things seemed swept under the rug.
There is too much of this happening outside the college and yes, it occasionally comes to us. Too often, especially now, in a recession with millions out of work, we see it in the classroom.
By teaching us how to create the right lesson plan to support the students and the class
it helps use to create the right lesson plans to be used for the students or class
Hi B Birdsong,
You have a very good approach to helping your students be successful. Your personal touch in terms of support is very important for students like the three ladies you mentioned in your comments.
Gary
I find it extremely helpful. I think some instructors forget that the classroom should be just another safe and "normal" place of human interaction resulting in learning something new and applicable to the subject. Getting to know each student and their background allows the instructor to build a classroom culture where all feel welcome and comfotable to learn.
Hi Terry,
Good point. You are right about the power thing. By being confident in your knowledge that you know how to tailor instruction to meet different student needs you are going to be a much better instructor since you know that you know what you are doing.
Gary
Hi Michele,
Great to hear. Online learning has changed so much in the past few years. It is good to hear about how instructors like yourself have been able to find and use the tools that enable you to make the online learning process effective and efficient.
Gary
Hi David,
How do you go about setting up your learning groups to provide help to students that are learning challenged.
Gary
Hi William,
Great example of what can happen with a class of students. Your formula is a good one in terms of being challenging for an instructor. The "Lessons learned = don't assume anything" statement say it all. We have to be flexible and quick to make adjustments if we are going to be successful with our students.
Gary
Hi David,
Good way to introduce the human factor into the classroom. With your methods you are helping the students to develop their persona as a new professional in the field. They can start to see how they are going to fit into their new career as a result of how they are treated in the classroom.
Gary
understanding is a real understanding good instructors need
I have found that in the career college environment it really helps me to spend time with each student getting to know what their goals and dreams are. Finding out a bit about their lives away from campus helps also. Without getting too personal with them I am able to understand the demands placed on them while not in the classroom.
In a recent class that I moderated I had 3 ladies who were all from Vietnam. They had a basic understanding of the english language and did fairly well. They each had an electronic interpreter so that when I went over something that they did not understand completely they could enter it into the interpreter and it would decipher the mystery in their native tongue. This helped them be very successful in the anatomy and physiology portion of the class.
I find your last statement being particulary pertinent in dealing with students with some cognitive disabilities. I sometimes find it difficult, although I do so, to maintain the standards of performance for some of these students, especaily when I perceive them working markedly hard to learn the material.
I know this sounds like something from School House Rocks, but knowledge is power. Understanding the learner's characteristics makes the instructor aware of how to taylor the subject in such a way, all students gain from the experience in the classroom.
Yes, I remember back in 2003 when I was told I'd be teaching online. I couldn't understand how I'd possibly replicate the classroom. However, we have so many tools at our disposal to make the environment a learning one.
Knowing our students, even if it's very basic information, will help us help them. The key to instructional design is to with students learning styles and characteristics. It is very important to develop a program based on the characteristics and individual needs of students. It will also help in preparing students to help themselves. Student should learn strategies to improve their own learning. By encouraging students to take responsibility for their learning, we can increase their chances for success.
