I am lucky that the nature of my students work in the industry allows them and expects them to create portfolios. Portfolios exhibit their best work and shows their skills, talent and capabilities. It is also a way for them to talk about business solutions solved and how many times the student have reworked a project to get it to where it is. Hiring managers and Professors often will critique this portfolio. In that way a portfolio is an ongoing process and students can see the progress themselves. It give them confidence.

Let me say that I for one do not see Social Media as a time waster. Do not get me wrong, it can be. I also believe that we teach our students how to best use this platform, it can serve them so well. I have two Facebook accounts, one for me, mostly for game playing (it does cut down on my stress). AND a professional one. I do not friend my students until they have graduated from their chosen course work. Once I friend them, they are encouraged to network, with other graduates, other professionals on my account, and the career sites I am linked into. My current students are given the career sites to start reading and finding graduates from their course. These were wheel based courses, so many of them were in school with each other already. Having access to graduates has made a huge difference to my retention and sit pass rates for their certification testing. I do not feel this could have been accomplished without this media. What are your feelings on the social media?

In order to be a successful hybrid facilitator of learning, one must also be versed in the pedagogy of campus-based and online education. The demand for online faculty members continues to rise since learning can, and often does take place very effectively through the appropriate use of technology as institutions attempt to deliver superior value. Faculty members should become online students first and learn the pedagogy of online education in order to create a healthy learning environment. Understanding its practical application, successes, challenges, and best practices can be of great assistance as a starting place. Education using blended pedagogies and online technology has achieved a special market by offering quality programs convenient to students regardless of geography. It is through the efforts of competent faculty members that online and hybrid formats of education can offer great value to students

E-learning also offers interactivity. This type of interactivity can be in the form of simply clicking on appropriate responses to questions, clicking to animate an object or start a process, or dragging and dropping items to practice a skill. Interactive games based on the training message are also very effective at improving learning. Now, you may be thinking of "Doom" or "Tomb Raider," but gaming in a training setting doesn't have to be quite that elaborate -- although it certainly can be!

Instructors must establish expectations. These expectations help the instructor effectively manage the online classroom. Expectations put all students on the same page. Some students have great study habits and then others do not. This is why expectation must be communicated to everyone. The class expectations need to be consistent and clear. It cannot be assumed that every student understands what is expected. The Online instructor must use announcements to post expectations and provide the students with a means for ask questions.

The use of multimedia appears to be a necessity with this generation of learners.

There is always the question, is online learning as effective as classroom learning. My opinion is that it depends entirely on the course and its content. Some classes are very effective online whereas others simply are not. Like anything, it is not 100% effective in every case. Some classes require memorizing terms and/or dates. That may be a very effective online course. However, if you are teaching a class that requires projects, 3D work, mounted work, and difficult processes, it may not be a good candidate for an online course. Because people learn in different ways, online can be a great option for some. If learners are not disciplined and are not focused, online courses can be a disaster. Colleges need to closely examine course content before developing an online course. They may also need to take a close look at their demographic and determine if their student body are the type of learners that will succeed online.

Hello All, I was pondering on what I wanted to talk about after viewing this particular module. I began to think of my level of technological expertise and upon finishing my evaluation I must say that I am pretty savvy. That being said, I think it is important for instructors to at least have the basics down when it comes to the technology necessary for our classrooms. Although primarily, our responsibility is course content, I think it is also important that we are able to answer questions that students may have regarding technology (i.e. how to attach multiple documents). What are your thoughts? Gregory Becoat

At what scale are online assessments measured ?

Are using Asynchronous assignments in an on ground environment as effective as an online environment ?

Do you think students get a better understanding of the concept if they are forced to come in and do the modular learning appose to just doing it online with no instructor?

For a successful online experience the student as well as the instructor, should have basic computer skills. Since different institutions uses different platforms. There should be some raining on have to be successful using the LMS before the course starts.

This course has helped me to bring more technology into a electrical program to update new models of motorcycles.

There is a need now more than ever for authentic assessments--we do not just want students to know the content of the disciplines when they graduate. We, of course, want them to be able to use the acquired knowledge and skills in the real world. Many professions require some direct demonstration of relevant skills before someone can be employed in that field--for example, doctors, electricians, teachers, actors and others must demonstrate their skills to do their job!

I believe that to use project-based learning effectively, teachers must fully understand the concepts embedded in their projects and be able to model thinking and problem-solving strategies that reflect real-world problems and situations. It allows students to take ownership of their work--because they have greater control over what and how they learn, students often feel more invested and responsible for their work. This type of learning also makes it easier for students to learn at a pace that’s comfortable for them.

Today’s teachers face many challenges in the classroom. We live in an era where schools are accountable for the learning of all students (regardless of their background). Teachers are expected to provide a rigorous and relevant core program while also providing supplemental and intensive levels of support for students whose needs are not being met by core. This includes students who are struggling to meet minimum competencies as well as students who have instructional needs that extend beyond grade level expectations. To ensure that all students are receiving the instruction they need to be successful, it is important to consider the research and best practice regarding teaching for learner differences.

In my courses, this has been an essential part for maintaining active learning and student participation especially with students with special needs. In particular, I've used concepts maps and have lend feedback that relates to improvement. Instructors need to allow student to make personal meaning of their experiences and develop a further understanding of concepts.

I have taught online classes where students prepared marketing and business plans. Each week, they would prepare different portions of the plans, and each week I made individual and thorough comments regarding such, and checked the following week to see if my corrections and comments were incorporated in the plan. Very time consuming. Therefore, I can see why instructors shy away from portfolios and projects.

I have used white boards while lecturing and have been able to print out the notes from the white board and provide them to students. This has been useful because when reviewing concepts using the white board, students often understand the notes and explanations written on the board better than those in the book or in the lecture notes. Providing them with print outs of the information also lessens the amount of time they spend taking notes and redirects their attention to the topic being discussed.

It is true that many of those who take classes online use various online tools and are comfortable with them. However, I am now frequently encountering students who are going to school online because they cannot find time to do so on-ground, and they barely know how to save a computer file,perform tasks on computers one way, and do not understand simple functions such as uploading a document to the drop box, attaching a document to an email, chatting or instant messaging. Does anyone know best practices for getting these students where they need to be without scaring them off or overwhelming them?