I think its important to engage the students and they to need to be self directed learning.
I can see why active learning may be questioned by seasoned instructors but if you look at it closely it's not very different from what has been done taiditionally
I have worked for an institiution that has slowly converted away from the traditional way of teaching, standing behind a podium and reading out of a book, to a more student centered learning environment. Example; applying more real world, hands on activities. Collaborations have also increased because we need to teach our students how to commmunicate in the work force.
Activities or assignments that increase students’ attention span and keep them engaged in the class, are at the heart of active learning technique
This is the first time I have instructed an online circulumn. I have Instructed circulumns in the past that have have offered online components as support but not soley online. The following core elements of active learning I will begin to implement are Immersion, Self-reflection, and Individualism. I really like how this course was able to explain these concepts and highlight why its importance in applying them.
I am new to instructing online and it's so different from lecturing in the class room (Sage on the Stage) technique. Using collaborative, cooperative and problem-based learning is something I plan to implement in my online teaching.
Much of the research referenced in this module is not new. However, higher ed has been slow to change to these research based active strategies. It is encouraging to hear they are effective in online learning as well.
The online classroom provides an opportunity to build and sequence these kinds of activities more effectively than in the lecture hall. No flipping or hybridization is necessary. Instructions, resources, and information can be laid out in the course itself, and students can work inside the online course and out in the real world.
The main takeaway for me is in an online course we need to strive for opportunities where students can interact with the material. I was around when online learning first started, and it mainly consisted of reading static PDFs or books and writing responses on a discussion board. There was a need for engaging activities such as interactive labs and simulations to peak a student’s interest. These engaging activities not only improve student success metrics and mastery of the course learning objectives but increases retention and graduation rates. One helpful thing I have seen as an administrator, instructor, and student is video feedback in addition to written feedback. It is a monotonous task to simply post a response to a discussion question and then a few forced responses to classmates. This is not active learning and more of a situation where the students are checking a box to earn their points.
In active learning, students must take responsibility for their own learning. THe instructor can be a guide in this process. Ways to include active learning in the online and F2F envirnoments include individual assignments, small group and large group assignments, talking, listening, and relecting on course materials. The R2D2 approach is good. This includes: reading, reflection, displaying and doing.
