Teachers must be on top of all new trends in online learning
The positive use of the internet presents benefits and cjhallenges as well
To know the trends of online learners as well as teaching methodology which work best
The COVID pandemic accelerated a new segment of the online education marketplace. The post-pandemic online learner when compared to post-traditional learners, tends to be younger, unemployed or part-time employed, undergraduate degree seekers, and motivated to begin a career, not advance one. Online engagement is critical to these types of learners.
Student retention is as much the job of the institution and those that work there as it is the student. This is so important to remember as an adjunct professor and soon to be director of virtual learning.
As someone who is both an instructor and an online learner (doing my higher degree now), I liked getting these perspectives. I still struggle a lot with self advocacy and technological fluency as a student, and I hope that gives me more compassion as a teacher
Seriously, online learning is not easy to control, the temptation of the Internet is too great
I need to understand the students' backgrounds to determine if they are experienced with online learn, if the are adult learners, and it they have come straight from traditional learning. In that way, I can proactively address the 7 core competencies to ensure effective learning.
I will use the list of 7 competencies in my introductory discussion with my students.
I noticed nothing mentioned spelling, which is worse and worse each year. Their effort to even hit the spellcheck evades them.
Lots of copy and paste and we have SafeAssign that helps to check originality.
I clicked the link to learn more about plagiarism and access was denied.
Jan
The quality of education isn't determined through the delivery method but rather what valuable material is provided, how it is provided and what the student has learned by the end of the class. Differentiation due to high competition is needed to separate one school from another.
I appreciated the section on the core competencies of learners and the explanation for each one. It is not good to make assumptions about students in terms of any of those factors that were listed. Instead, instructors should use surveys and learn about the strengths and struggles of each student to tailor the classroom accordingly.
In this module I learned about online learning, the perceptions and understanding the online student. It was interesting to learn the statistics of F2F learning compared to online learning and the fact that there is a modest increase of online students outperforming the F2F students. The survey of hiring managers looking at prior experience and interview performance as being important for hiring individuals. The comparison of the traditional student versus the post traditional student was interesting in understanding who are online students and understanding their challenges. Finally, the online student competencies was analyzed, I agree that these seven factors must be focused on especially if the student is struggling.
I think that online students prefer this format for the flexibility. As stated, most online learners are older adults with young children. The online environment gives this student the ability to complete assignments at a time that works best for them.
The majority of students fit into the category of working adults. I am aware of this as they are usually working and cannot commit to a face to face class and find online a better fit to their life and work schedules.
There is certainly a paradigm shift in our perceptions and acceptance of online education. Giving students foundational skills specific to success in online education from the beginning is paramount. So many of my students, particularly the self described "old school" students were already behind before they got started simply because they didn't know how to naviage the necessary technology.
Online learning is so beneficial to people that are working and can complete the course on their own time.
In my 17 years of instructing online, I have found that most students I come in contact with in class, enjoy the freedom and flexibility online affords them with. Many note, if they had to attend college on-ground, they wouldn't or couldn't due to work and scheduling. I myself have experienced both on-ground and online in my multiple degree pursuits and I am biased in favor of online for all of the obvious reasons (anytime, anywhere) just to be clear on the latter point.
I learned the importance of making a connection with each student so when you try to contact them to review and discuss their assignments they will find value in talking with you and returning your outreach if you leave a message or send a text message.
While completing this module I reviewed market trends, perceptions of online environments for employers, the characteristics of online students, thus this may have change do to the pandemia, and competences needed for an online student
