George Bonnand

Communication is key whether online or in person.  Learning how to communicate effectively via email, chats sessions, IM, or other formats is important for the students as well as for the instructor. I have learned a bit about the different methods (and word smithing) to use when communicating with students.  As I have stated to students who come out of my program and go on an interview to obtain a job-"You never get a second chance at making a first impression" -so bring your A game to the meeting.  This is also true when meeting students online or inperson for… >>>

I think when it comes to having a real connection with students synchronous communication is key (as opposed to asynchronous communication) as it states "... videoconference would be more capable of conveying social presence than an email because this medium can transmit the warm smiles, head nods, and eye contact that usually accompany face-to-face interactions in real time. This sort of immediate, sensory-rich communication makes the experience seem more “real.” Text-based communications lack the cues that accompany face-to-face interactions, which can make relationship-building a bit more challenging without proper training." 

Technology plays a big part in this however regardless students… >>>

Although the advances of online learning methods/technologies has made an impact on education and teaching students I cannot help but wonder if it has truly helped those of us teaching in CTE fields requiring hands on skill.  When it comes to certain types of learning where hands on learning and skills are necessary to learn and required to obtain employment I have found students can be broken down into three categories.  They are as follows:

• Students who do well in the online portion but fail when it comes to the hands on portion such as lab
• Students who do not
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The following is what I believe is the most important part of this session so far:  "In analyzing over 20 years of research, Tinto repeatedly found one factor to be the single most important predictor of student retention: the frequency and quality of interactions between students and staff. This was a strong predictor of student retention, even after taking account of variables such as personality, background, and academic performance."

In my past life as a supervisor, manager and trainer in the mfg. business field, it is one on one relationships that students seem to respond to the best when training… >>>

"Adults learning by doing" and so do students.  Most of my students get very motivated in lecture or lab when they have to mentally or physically solve a problem or make a project or do both.  I have found that "problem solving" is an excellent method to teach students concepts that are otherwise sometimed missed during lecture.  Participation increases 10X as soon as students are allowed to go into the lab to work on a project or solve a problem associated with a project.  This combined with collabrative learning allows students to develop collabrative relationships with each other that are… >>>

My main takeaways from this section is that traditional teachers must be open to more active learning styles and utilization of different assessment methods.  As always, the OJT method of "Prepare, Present, Try out, and Evaluate" is still valid today regardiless if you continue using the traditional teaching method or if you are transitioning to the Online or Hybrid methods.  Students have to learn by doing whether that is in a classroom/lab or online however the effectiveness of which one is best, I believe, is yet to be determined for CTE and vocational trade fields.  I am excited about trying… >>>

From my perspective as a part time CTE instructor at variouscommunity colleges for many years and now a full time instructor for the last 5 years, the following statement is imperative: "Online students must take responsibility for their own learning when taking a course which uses active learning techniques. Active learning courses are not for students who want an easy, passive learning online environment." Although I agree with this statement it should be noted that this applies to traditional methods as well as online or hybrid methods of teaching.  We in the CTE teaching field typically use labs… >>>

There are two items that have struck a cord with me.  They are as follows:

"In any learning environment, there are three components. They include the 1) learner, 2) instructor/facilitator and 3) learning content. The facilitator’s role is to manipulate, mold and direct the student to learn and be exposed to the course content material."  In the future, I will try to incorporate or use a facilitator role in my methods of teaching.  Although I have incorporate some problem solving methods common to most individuals I will need to make it more student driven. 

"Active learning is broadly described… >>>