very important to provide the student with confort during their learning experience.
Hi Rosie,
Well said about how to be an effective online instructor. The last sentence says it all. If they know you are available and that you care about them and their success you will have a higher degree of satisfaction and completion.
Gary
Hi Claude,
Good point about trying to make the content interesting. Humor is an effective learning tool that should be made a part of all instruction. By using humor you are in no way making light of or reducing the importance of your field you are only helping to make it more interesting. So use humor where ever and when ever you can to keep your students engaged.
Gary
I agree with the semi circle concept. I tend to get more class discussion this way.
Since I teach online, I must be able to virtually manipulate the learning environment of my English classes. I believe that meaningful feedback on assignments, group peer reviews, and daily involvement in the weekly discussion board are the best ways to develop the online learning environment. The key is to be a facilitator and available!
When covering course material, while it is required it can sometimes be quite dry, by itself it isn't very exciting. I will at times try to incorporate some light humor to keep the lecture light and help to maintain their interest. While I take what I do seriously and expect the same from my students, I do want them to know that their education can be fun and exciting.
The classroom should be inviting to the students and complement as much as possible the instruction that goes on. The instructor should keep in mind what kinds of activities will be taking place and arrange the room accordingly. As a language teacher, my room changes as the activities dictate; if we are doing group work, partner activities, lectures, audio activities…. I assess what layout would be more conducive to achieve the daily objectives.
Also, the decor of the classroom is very important to me. I try to bring to the class,as much as possible, the cultures I am addressing; posters, flags, music, all those things bring so much more than what can be found in a textbook.
Hi Linda,
Thank you for sharing how you as an instructor can help to make the physical setting more inviting for learners. By making the setting more inviting you can help to reduce some of the distractions such as the HVAC noise.
Gary
Hi Antoinette,
Thank you for sharing your perspective about adapting the learning environment to meet the learning needs of students. We have all taught in difficult situations and as a result we have been able to be creative and innovative in how we mastered the setting rather than letting it master us.
Gary
Hi Laurie,
Good way to make the best of a difficult situation. Your skills at adapting to the environment you find yourself in are to be commended. This is what a professional educator is all about.
Gary
Hi Dale,
Good to hear about the support you receive from your company. This is what makes application and relevancy so important to the students. They get to use the latest equipment to develop their skills. Anyone would be excited about having such an opportunity.
Gary
The environment should focus the student's attention on the learning activities. The use of posters, diagrams, and models reinforce information to students.
One area of concern for me is the amount of ambient noise present in our classrooms. The HVAC makes so much noise, it is often difficult to hear students and teachers near the back of the room. A quiet environment would be perferable.
The role that the learning environment plays in the instructional process is quite important. If the learning environment is not conducive for learning (for example: construction noise in the next classroon), students will not be as focused on the material that is being taught. Also, it is not a good idea to hold a mathematics classroom in a biology classroom because the classroom will not have the course materials that will be needed to sufficiently teach the math course. It might have a blackboard, but I doubt that it will have audiovisual capabilities needed to conduct the course.
A learning environment can be adapted to maximize the instructional process when few resources are available. For example: When a mathematics course has to be taught in an english classroom. In this instance, we can adapt the course because the classroom has a chalkboard and audiovisual capabilities. However, in most English classrooms, there are computers. So I could set up a table in the middle of the class (away from the computers), so that students can still focus on the material that is being presented. If we needed to use the computers, we can move from the table to the computers with no problem at all. It would be more convenient and students won't have to run to another computer lab.
Any class can be adapted into a learning environment, but the instructor must investigate how the classroom can be transformed into the appropriate area to hold a perspective course.
One of the classrooms that I have been teaching in recently did not have any windows and it was very warm all-year round. I had to keep the door open for air. If I was uncomfortable with the classroom environment, I knew the students were too. Even though I preferred to have the door closed for less distractions coming from the hallway, I had no choice but to keep the door open. I prefer teaching in a classroom that has computers lined up in rows rather than around the room. It makes it much easier to teach technology when everyone is facing the front of the room rather than having to turn around in their seats every time I wanted to explain a concept up front with the projector. Often students would bring their own laptops and sit at tables in the middle of the room with me.
As a nursing instructor, the learning environment is crucial to the instruction process because students learn by having "real-world hands-on experience".
I am a culinary instructor who has been blessed to work for a company that provides relevant and well functioning kitchen equipment. The students are always excited about the chance to work in our kitchens.
The learning environment is very important. It is important to understand the students and what environments will serve them the best. Students should be comfortable in the classroom or online settings. This will allow for optimal learning.
Shelly Baker
Hi Lacey,
You are on to something that is very important to the learning success of online students and that is the social presence. If the students can feel and see through your interaction with them on line that you care about their success they will have a much higher motivation level.
Gary
Hi Wendell,
You are correct about needing to have a comfortable learning situation for your students. The classrooms and labs need to painted and organized in such a way that the students feel that they want to learn in such a setting.
Gary
Hi Bill,
You are doing a great job of balancing the different approaches to instruction. By involving students in the discussion of content and helping them to make applications to what they are learning you are making your content relevant.
Gary
