Melissa,
You are right. The technology cannot be the barrier. Nice post
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Rashunda,
You are so right. The student is the most important thing. We have to always remember that.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I think the most important thing to consider when using technology tools in the classroom is the purpose for using the tool. This should help in ensuring its effectiveness.
Next it is important to that the instructor and the students have the capability and know how to use the tool. If either of these components does not know how or cannot use a tool, it loses its effectiveness.
Finally, it is important to consider if the tool is the most appropriate tool to teach the content.
~Melissa
I think that the three most important things to consider in a virtual learning environment are the students, the instructor's teaching style, and the technology tool, in that order. The student should be the main focus to facilate learning because the objective is for the student to obtain the information. There are many technology tools available to assist the instructor with tailoring their teaching styles to fit the virtual learning environment.
Carlos,
What do you mean by dedication from the student? Do you mean motivation?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
1. Availability of instructors to students.
2. Dedication from the student.
3. Reliability.
Virginia,
Won't it be great when technology will be platform and computer agnostic? We can't control the machines but it can become our "problem". Good gomments.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Virginia,
Yes, choose one or two technology to "test". You want to make sure it fits the objective. Master using that technology. Then you can add another technology to master. When you try so many it becomes overwhelming for both you and the student.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Randy,
Great post. You are right, is it the right tool for the right job. You also have to be looking forward continually scanning the technology environment to answer that question.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Tipton,
Wow! You do have interesting DL program. With that plan you have to have students able to access immediately. That does become a challenge when students may not be as technological astute as they think they are.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Twyla ,
That can really be hard to do when you have different time zones. You can have participation grade just like a f2f course does. You can include participation through a discussion band or an online chat. You can say that you have to attend so many. I know it is more punitive but it works.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Sarah,
You are on the right track! Does ease of use include faculty and students?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
In the case of my students, technology must not be tricky to use and must operate on a variety of systems. In particular it must operate on old and slow systems.
Cordially, Virginia
Hello all;
I am very much enjoying a variety of tech tools and I am scrambling to get "up to snuff." I am playing with webex, iMovie, Quick Time, and Collaborate.
Any tips?
Regards, Virginia
I believe the three most important things to consider are:
1. What benefit is the tool being used for?
2. Is this the right tool for the job, or can another better support the objective(s)?
3. How will I be able to measure its effectiveness in providing the desired outcome?
I believe in our course the three most important are:
- Accessibility
- Ease of use or utility of the tool
- Student feedback
Our universtiy deals with students who participate from areas throughout the world so accessibility and utility are very important.
We a six month DL phase by a two month residence phase and have overlapping course. It is paramount that we implement technology shortfalls that we learn during the DL phase and this is reinforced when students report of residence
The three most important things to consider when using technology tools in a virtual learning environment are the ease of using the technology by the student as well as the instructor, a clear and concise way for the instructor to communicate with the student and the student to communicate with the instructor, and a method for engaging the student in the learning process. It has been a challenge to get students to participate in chat sessions. I schedule chat once per week for an hour. It's a time where we can all be logged in at the same time and communicate on the information we are studying. These sessions are not mandatory or graded; hence, the lack of motivation to attend. Do you have any suggestions on how I can engage my students to participate in a forum where we are all either logged in at the same time or on a conference line at the same time?
The three things that are important to consider are 1. Ease of use
2. Reliability/dependability
3. Matching the right tool for the right environment
Dr. Kevin,
You make great points. Technology should be adaptable to the needs of educators and students, not vice versa.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
When using technology in the virtual learning environment, I think that the three most important things to consider are the needs of the instructor, the needs of the student, and the function of the technology. Each instructor has his/her own style and it is important for the technology to match up well with that. Students also have different needs and styles of learning and the technology should match up well with that. It should also appeal to a wide range of learning styles since online classrooms are so diverse. Finally, in most cases, the technology should be used in alignment with its intended function if one hopes to have it improve effectiveness in the classroom.
Kevin
