Get Your Students Hired
James,
You are right, another tool may not be the answer when you have an appropriate tool in the tool box.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
James,
Great post! You are right, it may be the "best thing since sliced bread" but if you can't get the data you need from it or if the learning curve for all parties is so great it isn't used it is a worthless tool.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
When using technology tools in a virtual learning environment, I believe the three most important things to consider are: What tool will let me deliver my material to students' with different learning styles. What will capture my audiences' attention and what will give me the best result without losing them.
This is a good point. Many times even the best ideas won't really work because people are not trained to use them. Of course, training schedules and pre-requisites can be problems. Sometimes it is easy to say we should have training, but it is quite difficult to find the right approach to making it happen.
I think this is correct. More is not always the best way to approach a problem. Sometimes a simple solution is the best. The big question is whether it meets the needs of both instructor and student. If so...it might be better to go with the simpler approach in order to avoid technical problems later.
The function of the tool is important to assess because, no matter what the intent, if the technology does not contain the needed functionality, then nothing is going to work right. Secondly, the needs of the student population must be considered and addressed. Thirdly, the requirements, or at least the intent, of the instructor must be examined. IN this way it will be possible to see what can be done and how it can best be accomplished.
lea ann,
You make an interesting comment; why wouldn't you assume that students have access to the Internet? Don't you think that may be the first barrier for students, lack of easy access to Internet?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The three most important things to consider when using virtual tools are how well can you incorporate this tool with your course content, ease of use and accessibility. As instructors we can't assume that all students have easy access to the internet.
Daniel,
What a great post. You are right, we have tools that students can assimilate into their learning not accommodate because it has to be used!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The three most mportant things I would coonsider are
1. ease of use for the students. I do not want a student "turned off" by a high learning curve in order to get the full use of a tool;
2. ease of use for the facilitator. As one uses a tool, it becomes easier and easier to use, but sometimes the learning curve can be very high, particularly when there is no one around to help over the rough spots; and,
3. if the result of the tool is compatible with teaching the material to reach the goal of learning the objectives.
Daniel
Robert,
Wow, do you have certain hours that you are "offline"? I worry about your workload. . .
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Emmanuel,
That is a great point. We have to stop talking about the technophobic nontraditional learner as if they will hate the technology. These are skills they can hone to improve their marketability. These are skills they can bring into their own workplace. This is never a bad thing!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Emmanuel,
You are lucky! Not everyone has great tools or want great tools. You have realize you have to maximize the use of tools to provide a robust online learning experience.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I like your point on the 3 minute call. However, I leave the time open to the student needs. Sometimes an assignment clarification can be handled in a few minutes while consulting on career paths may take longer. My only restriction is on the time of the call....not after 10 pm Eastern. I take and return calls on weekends and consider it as my open office time.
Ronnie,
I agree with you, we have great tools to get our job done. Majority of our students are adult learners and making learning accessible is fascinating to them.
When using technology tools in a virtual learning environment, what do you believe are the three most important things to consider?
Virtual classrooms (VCs) provides a synchronous educational experience that also be recorded (archived) and viewed at a later date (Maxknowledge.com). This is the beauty of the VCs that can never be duplicated by our traditional counterparts. The three most important things to consider are: chat area is it working; are the cameras functional and the microphone is it okay. AIU, and its subsidiaries (CEC, SuccessFactors and the employees have gone beyond the call of duty to make sure we have the tools to impact knowledge to our students at Serious U.
Kimberley,
Great post. You are right the most important consideration in the course objective. The tool can be a variety of different tools that can do the same things.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Denise,
You make great points. You don't want the course to be about technology it needs to be about the content. Saying that, I think all students can learn to use the technology. It is important nontraditional students not assume that they won't have to learn the technology. We want everyone to be life long learners.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Robert,
Thank you for sharing. I think all of us need to hear how others manage their workload. You make a great point about the 3 minute call.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Robert,
What a great post. You make so many great points. I agree the technology should facilitate learning much like the instructor does. The focus should be on the content, the technology just makes it happen.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson