Presence
I Certainly agree with some aspects of this module but find myself disagreeing with others.
First and foremost, it has been my experience that instructors can project a presence by continually and consistently maintaining communication with students. This includes personalized emails, group announcements, participation in discussion boards and responding to emails promptly.
There was one quiz question which suggested that projecting video clips was an effective online instructional technique. I can see where this has certain merits, such as using multimedia, but I have never understood or believed how using videos can be superior to high-quality instruction directly from the teacher. Thoughts?
I too missed this question. I believe personalized email messages and targeted responses in the discussion board are more effective than a "canned" video.
I do agree that video clips are not the most effective media strategy to project authority. Instead I think that direct, personal communication and interaction in the form of live chat sessions and emails could be much more effective. It does depend on the demographics of the class however and the course level.
I think that this question is answered by the individual discipline of students, rather than the mode of delivery. In one class, I have military students, who attend Live Chats at 3:00am, their time, and complete a 5.5 week course, on time. On the other hand, students in the same class refuse to read the text, refuse to attend any of the Live Chats, and fai to do so, after repeated feedback on their inabiity to pass the course with that work ethic!
There may be more peer-pressure on students in a traditional classroom, but that is the only discernable difference in student success...
Jesse and others, I agree that video clips are not the most effective media strategy to project authority. Video clips are effective in that sight and sound together (multimedia) is powerful, but I think that direct, personal communication and interaction in the form of live chat sessions and emails is more effective.
Fayasha,
I felt the same as I responded to the quiz for this module. I have always felt that personalized responses and attempts at contacting a student have gained me the most engagement for my effort while communicating with my students online.
I hear that they feel that getting materials dumped on them is similar to having the TV babysit. They know the instructors won't be there 24/7, but they want to feel that the instructor is just as engaged as he or she is asking the students to be, and not just phoning it in.
Creating a full learning experience is critical and video can be part of that experience, but relaying on it exclusively would be problematic. Thanks for your comments Faysha!
I also met this particular question with a degree of diagreement. While video is a great way to attempt to engage the student, I don't necessarily think that it is THE most effective method. I find that just as in the traditional classroom that video can be as easilty "ignored" as a synchronous lecture that is delivered traditionally or online. Video must be used in conjunction with other instrusctional techniques to create a full learning experience.
I don't think video clips along can replace the teacher, however, the challenge the instructor has is to provide a variety of teaching tools and methods to engage all students in the learning process. Are there other thoughts on this question?
