I’d never heard of the word “scaffolding”. But I understand the concept and will make sure all my lessons follow those rules.
building is important and being organized is as well.
I intend on giving my class syllabus a makeover and linking the 5 minute videos to it for viewing before class.
I learned about "scaffolding": students will build their learning off of what they know, experiences and work. This is important for an Instructor to understand from each student; this will help the instructor with each student's learning meter. How will I apply this to my class? what came to light were the dynamics of communication with Instructor 2 Students. Making sure each dynamic is met effectively.
I feel that the most important area learned in this module is on the topic of scaffolding. As we learned, students create good learning scaffolding by building on prior knowledge and experiences, by taking cues from instruction on where to focus learning energy, and by depending on a good course framework to guide them through the course. I also enjoyed learning about the importance of creating a sustainable online learning community that involves developing forums in which students feel comfortable sharing ideas, opinions, and facts with others, etc. I am excited to apply all of the helpful information from this module to improve my courses.
I learned that it is important to have a dynamic syllabus and that scaffolding allows for students to build on their prior knowledge and experiences.
Setting communication guidelines in the syllabus is a must. I also like the FAQ page, where students can go for help without judgment. I have used this before in an online class I took and found it very helpful. No one has all the answers, and teaching students to ask for help and share in a community is great.
Using innovatice website tools to promote interaction in discussion forums which will allow students to build upon what they have learned.
It seems we practice all of these, with the exception of tests. My classes have no exams.
Creating a syllabus that is easily accessible and easy to follow is important.
The importance of creating community.
When I have my students do discussions, I tell them WHAT to discuss, but I need to remember to also tell them HOW to discuss rather than assume that the process is self-explanatory.
I have learned the importance of developing road map that assists students by having a logical sense of the course and its expectations as well as a guide for their success.
The syllabus is a core document that outline expectations for students and instructors alike. This dynamic document is invaluable to the success of a course.
In an online teaching environment, instructors must ensure that students are learning and applying their knowledge through targeted activities. The course framework and module templates provide consistency, helping students scaffold their learning by building on prior knowledge and skills. The instructor acts as a guide, supporting students' success by providing structure through scaffolding, which helps students focus on learning objectives. Effective scaffolding involves tasks such as providing clear instructions, clarifying purpose, keeping students on task, offering assessments, guiding students to valuable sources, and reducing uncertainty and disappointment.
I thought the consideration about allowing students to post to discussions anonymously was interesting. While I like the grace it affords to certain students whom are sharing more sensitive content, I could also see this feature being abused. There is a certain accountability that comes with putting your name to something, and I think students under aliases could become too comfortable saying things they might not if they were to use their real names.
Syllabi for the online environment must be dynamic. Using the old, flat method to a course syllabus will not be effective for online.
Syllabus is the foundation and use of the scaffolding to assist and encourage students
I liked the section on building a syllabus that highlighted the importance of not just posting a flat syllabus. In my courses I have steadily added to the syllabus and created a more dynamic document. There were some good suggestions on using blogs and wikis for creating an online learning community that I should put into practice.
Students are more apt to have a more concrete understanding of materials when they can not only communicate with one another, but also use scaffolding to build information on top of itself for learning purposes.
