I assume synchronous chats are in real time but how do they work?
Bob Cohn
Himesh:
Synchronous chats are acceptabel means of communication between Instructors and the student population and among students. They have to be scheduled and properly managed. Allowing each student to ask a question is fine; however, you cannot do that for each session unless you have an extremely low number of students; say three Chat session.
Satrohan
If the students are computer literate than I believe the comfortability lies in the students access to instructors. Another forum discusses office hours. I also would like to add the idea of synchronous chats. Since the students are literate, despite their difference in typing speed, I feel that allowing each person to ask a question or add to the discussion in an organized manner is of major importance. In a "real" classroom setting we can have everyone raise their hands to answer the questions but the problems arise if we allow more than one student to answer. Either we won't know what anyone has said or one student(this student will be comparable to the fast typer) will speak louder or longer to drown out the other student(s). Media and other ISD's are also an imporant aspect in student course retention. The more the mind is stimulated the more the brain releases the feel good neurotransmitters and the more the students enjoy the class.
Himesh:
Computer literacy should not be, in my opinion, an issue to the majority of younger students; unless we are considering an underprivileged student population; or certain sectors of an adult learning population.
The statement you have made in the last sentence is a valid one.
Assuming that you are teaching computer literate students, what measures would you take to ensure that they are comfortable in the online class?
Satrohan
I strongly agree to the statement. Students with either little or know computer knowledge will be exposed to an unfamiliar environment. Comfortability, as it applies in the classroom, is a must. We have all noted in our classrooms that we have day-dreamers, go-getters and the rest fall inbetween. Attention spans seem to be the key to understanding. Students should feel comfortable using and navigating around the virtual classroom to promote discussion and eventually learning.
Sheri:
Thank you for sharing your opinionson this aspect of a quality online course.
Yes; online courses should be engaging. I may temper "attractive" with "appealing" but that is just a difference in choice of words.
The presentation is also very important. The manner in which we organize content, display sequences, visual appearance of individual screens, ease with which to locate and retrieve information, ensuring that audio is properly synchronized with displays, even down to text foreground and background---- all play an important role in knowledge acquisition as they all influence the senses through which we learn. Too many glitches easily result with disgust,disenchantment, disinterest. Inappropriate use of technology can lead to similar results, as glamorous as they may be.
While learning design principles recommend that the technology must not dictate the learning solution, we cannot create an electronic page-turner and classify it as a qulaity online course.
Satrohan
I agree that an online course needs to be attractive and engaging, but the content is much more important than the presentation. If teachers and developers spend too much time and money making a high tech program they may have little left for updating content, interacting with students, and/or making important curriculum changes. I'm learning that it is often better to be simple and fresh, than to be complicated and tedious.
Sheri
Roy:
Some educators share the same views. We have to recognize that not all content may lend themselves to the "fun and games" notion. For those that lend themselves to that kind of treatment, we have to have a solid budget as it will be costly.
Satrohan
I agree, the involvement of our learners is connected to the fun they have while taking our online course. The "x-box" generation gets board easily by the uninteresting. We need to teach and be "edutainers" in the process....just my thoughts
Robert:
Please include this recommendation in your evaluation of this course.
Satrohan
I was referring to the present course.
Bob
Bob:
My response assumes that you are referring to online learning in general and not to this course. Please advise whether this assumption is correct or whether you were referring to this course when you mentioned "the present on-line experience"; in which case I will provide an alternative response.
I concur with your recommendation. One of the best ways to improve quality is to review what others have done; select the best strategies, modify some, and avoid others.
Satrohan
I think we could turn the present on-line experience into a more productive one if we each critiqued what we have been doing and how it might be improved.
Bob
Richard:
Please help me to provide appropriate feedvack to your contibutions by advising me whether your response is in regards to online learning or face-to-face instruction. Thank you kindly.
If you are referring to an online environment, please share with us the strategies a "true facilitator adopts to inspire learning without a word and motivate with subtle inspiration.
Also please clarify what you mean by assessment. Are you refering to the assessments to measure intended learning outcomes? If yes, explain how those can be used to determine course quality.
Satrohan
Satrohan
I was always able to tell a well developed online class, as soon as I experienced the assesment. There are few experts that can produce assessment that truly is authentic and designed for a face to space class. The true facilitator inspires learning without a word and motivates with subtle inspiration. The student who is facilitator driven also emotes their passion and their epiphanes which can be felt.
Surfiene:
The appeal of the individual screen displays play an important role in learning; just as appeal is important in other aspects of our lives.
Satrohan
I agree. I am currently pursuing my PhD online and find the aesthetics are an important part of the online experience. It is maybe not equal to the content but it can influence how you perceive the content and what level of reliability you attribute to it.
For instance, if the site is full of “eye candy” or if the class is provided through outlook express I am not as apt to attribute a serious tone to the content. But, it also depends on who the audience is and what the course content is.
Surfiene
Richard:
It is quite true that many courses classified as online courses are really folders containing reading materials, assignments etc. The technology is used primarily as a means to access materials. Such courses may not necessarily even meet the requirements of some glamorous print-based distance education courses. There are usually PowerPoints in the ones I would qualify as sub-standard. These PowerPoints seem to be the ones that were used to guide the delivery of the on-the-ground version fo the course. The words the Instructor said to support the topics in the PowerPoints are missing. In other words, the lecture component is missing.
Please share with us the nature of the courses you have classified as "Face-to-Face Curriculum" designated online courses. Thanks Richard.
Satrohan
The look and feel of an Online Course is extremly important. There are many courses that claim to be Online, and are really Face to Face curriculum that has been tranposed to an Online format. A professional online course will allow the passion and emotion of the learner to be expressed to the facilitator and other students involved in the interaction. Online courses are not easier for a facilitator but require more effort creatitivy, especialy in the area of assessment. The facilitator in the Face to Space course has a greater role than an instructor, and is recognized immediately.
Sunny:
Please share your perception of "look and feel" so that i can be in a better psoition to provide more indepth feedback to your response. These are some pointers to note.
A well-designed course should not have content overload; neither should it have distracting multimedia. If it does, i agree with you that the the credibility of the course can be questioned. So can be the credibility of the course development team and even the credibility of the offering institution.
Share with me what you would consider to be the right balance in use of technology tools.
Satrohan
