Lauree Russell

Going from the corporate working world into the online world has been a mind shift -

I find it quite refreshing that the online world allows students unlimited flexible time to learn & share with their fellow students/co-workers.

And I find that 'guiding & providing the unspoken questions' as an instructor quite fulfilling as I see that my students are gaining more critical thinking skills than in a traditional regimented exact-structure environment.

In fact, now that I have worked with individuals from both the online and traditional educational experiences, I find the 'online' students to be much more fluid… >>>

Lisa,

I am not sure exactly what statement you are surprised by -

I do know that in some of my online classes, I often share conflict responses that are more 'logical & thoughtful' than sometimes my often 'reactive' response in a conflict.   I have also found that reading other's responses has opened my mind to new ideas and new ways to relate to others.

Because the online environment is 'less emotionally charged', I find it a safer, more peaceful, way to learn about conflict than my 'real life' conflict situations.  This make sense?

Yes, I too appreciate the flexibility of Active Learning in an Online Environment.  As for accountability, often online classrooms can be set up to have certain weekly activities to be automatically closed to students.  

Having been a single mother of a child that was in an accident and became blind, I tend to be very merciful -  

In my online courses, students still must complete their work based on clear detailed rubrics.  I do allow retakes of tests and additions to ANY discussions through out the course.  However the Course Modules are closed a the end of… >>>

Coleen,

Self-advocacy does seem to be an issue with online students.  Possibly using Social Media in online classrooms would break down emotional behaviors & encourage students to reach out more.

If a student can see an Instructor as a 'real person' rather than an 'authorative figure', then possibly more communication would occur, don't you think?

I wonder what the disadvantage would be if student's viewed their Instructors as 'real people'?

I believe that time will tell if students are learning from our online Discussion topics.  I believe that moving to an established Social Media tool like Facebook for discussions is out of policy for most schools, so we will continue with the 'in-house' secure discussions for years to come.   

What I am wondering is, once everyone becomes familiar with the online WRITTEN discussions, will we see more of the VERBAL video discussions?  It does seem that our students need to gain more skill & knowledge of how to present themselves with VERBAL communication.   However, a video & photograph… >>>

Hi Sarah,

I have mixed feelings about whether Social Media will be more focused on the 'Social' aspect rather than the 'Subject' at-hand.

Especially working with teens and early college students, personal comments with photos rather than factual & informational comments may cause distraction from truly understanding the topic or retaining the topic.

Possibly if no photos of students and a concise or micro-blogging, students may still be gaining insight into the content the instructor is desiring her students to ponder.

Time will tell if Social Media will have a stronger presence in our online classes in the future!  … >>>

Hello Sabahudin,

Keeping students engaged and curious begins within the first few seconds of them viewing the announcement, discussion, comment, etc....

I use three different tactics to grab the students attention: (1) A colorful large clear font & unique photo applicable to the topic (sometimes gifs are very eye-catching too),  (2) My subject line in the topic is either  'funny or controversial', and (3) Within the comment I use links to the information/video and include 'my personal perspective' AND 'open ended questions'.

Because we are constantly bombarded with information, it is important to grab your student's attention from the start… >>>