Week 12... Almost Done!!!!

Learning is the development of skills or knowledge through instruction, practice, and interactions. If I say that students have learned that means that they have taken some type of assessment to determine if they have obtained the knowledge or skills necessary to complete a task. An example of a task that uses knowledge learned; use knowledge learned to discuss the many variables one may encounter when developing a website. An example of skill learned; use skill learned throughout the course to develop a website that has a graphic header, graphic footer, and text in the body. Student completion of these types of tasks can help instructors determine if the “students have learned?”

Learning outcomes can be assessed through the creation of course goals and objectives. Once an instructor has determined what the goals and objectives are then he/she can have a somewhat accurate idea of learning outcomes. This is because goals and objectives are the information that fills in the gap between the knowledge and skills the student currently posses and the final knowledge and skills the students will posses at the end of the course (Morrison, Ross & Kemp, 2004).

Quality of online learning can be determined by many different factors such as scaffolding, enabling context. Scaffolding will guide the students to achieve successes, which they would not have been able to achieve by themselves (Hannafin et al., 1999). Scaffolding comes in many four different flavors: conceptual, metacognitive, procedural, and strategic. Each type of scaffolding classification provides different types of assistance to learners. For example, procedural scaffolding such as online tutorials for navigating a content management system will help reduce the chances of students encountering cognitive overload because student have the option of reviewing a step-by-step tutorial, which will reduce the cognitive load in working memory.

The enabling context provides students with ability to determine problem types or create problems within a domain (Hannafin et al., 1999). There are three types on enabling context within an online learning environment and they are externally imposed, externally induced, and individually generated enabling contexts. All three of the context will help the student synthesize or create a problem. For example, individually generated enabling context can be assigned to a student by allowing him/her to pick a domain of his/her interest to write a final report about. That student will be responsible for determining problems within that domain and how to solve those problems. As you can see enabling context will promote deep thinking for students.

An online learning community can be evaluated upon its many types of interactions, communications, assessments, and content. The teacher plays the lead role the successful implementation and execution of the online learning community. The teacher leads and moderates communications between students in asynchronous and synchronous communications areas. The teacher is also responsible for creating relevant learning content and assessments, which provide learning to the students. The evaluation of an online community should mainly be focused on how the teacher incorporates all of the many variables into an online learning community. Other factors that need to be evaluated is layout of navigation in the community. The navigation is essential for learners because if it does not function right then it could cause frustration or students could become embarrassed because they cannot figure out how to navigate within the site. Online communities should also posses a dwelling, which is an area the student can call their own.

March 29, Post

I found chapter 8 very interesting because I personally have not thought about teaching an online team environment. I think when approaching a task such as this that an instructor should first and foremost find away to develop trust among the team members. Chapter 8 mentioned that a group meet face-to-face and that allowed each member an opportunity to “get to know” or “trust” each other, but if meeting face-to-face is not an option than perhaps group synchronous chat meetings with webcams would suffice. I would have like the author to explore or even mention using webcams. Once member trust each a group hierarchy should be established between the learners, so that delegation of the task can be assigned.

Learners should be encouraged to take advantage of community discussion forums by scheduling extra meeting times, if necessary. The types of meeting can include group achievements, failures, leaderships, and so on. Group achievements should be celebrated. If it is possible for the group members to celebrate at a physical location for beer and pizza “DO IT!” If not find other creative ways for celebrations to take place. Failures need to be addressed immediately. The instructor should be included in these meeting to provide prompting for “just in time learning.” A failure could possible wither trust between group members.

LOVE the virtual class chatquette; I cannot express the frustrations that I have had in many chat rooms. The protocols that the chatquette offers seems easy to learn and implement into chat room discussions. The protocol of virtual class chatquette works by using “?”, “!”, “///”, and others to express oneself. Each sign has a different meaning such as, “?” is interpreted as “you want to ask a question” and “!” means “you want to make a comment.”

Anderson & Elloumi’s chat protocol is very similar to Smiths’, but Smith’s protocol is more defined because of the symbols used. However, most of Anderson & Elloumi’s chat protocol can be and should be implemented in any chat discussions. One should always consider the feelings of other group members and many of Anderson & Elloumi’s protocols express that. I think that if we were to mix Smith’s symbols and Anderson & Elloumi’s chat etiquette into our D2L virtual environment; our chat discussions can be more focused on content.

Lori mentioned that the moderator and students should have different colors for there names. That way every member in the chat room can be identified. This would not suite somebody such as who cannot tell the difference between certain shades of color. Maybe, someone would be assigned a light shade of yellow, which would be very hard to read. Plus, we do not know if any of our classmates are colorblind. A colorblind person may not be able to see red, so therefore he/she would not be able to read the text at all. However, I do agree that a system should be put in place for easy identification of group members and moderator. Perhaps, every learner and moderator can be assigned a 50X50 jpegs for identification purposes (a head shot). I wonder if it would also make the chat more personal because you see a picture of the person that you are chatting with.

Week 10

My project’s enabling context will be delivered in a variety of formats. I will require learners to edit or create elementary websites using problems, case scenarios, and real-world projects. The problems that will be implemented into my project will be well- defined. For example: Write the html code that will display a webpage that states “Hello, World.” Problems such as this one will develop understanding of basic HTML for learners. Learners need this kind of basic knowledge because WYSIWYG applications do not always perform, as they should. Learners will also be prompted to edit a webpage through case scenarios. Scenarios will include the learners taking the role of a web designer. They will be required to add graphics, sounds, and text into a web page that I have developed. An example of a scenario is: “Your client--a computer manufacture named ABC has decided that they would like a new header for their website. They want it to reflect their new Mac products. Please add a graphic of a new Mac model to ABC’s header.” Their last project will be a real-world project that will require learners to create their own websites, which should at least consist of a home page, a friend/family page, and a favorite links page.

I will use video/audio-streaming tutorials created with Camtasia Studio or Adobe Captivate to provide scaffolding. I will also use Dreamweaver and Flash to create webpage tutorials for learners to access. These tutorials will show learners how to download required softwares and basic functionalities of those softwares. Learners will be required to spend personal time to learn how to use the softwares and they will be prompted to ask each other questions weekly to test their knowledge of the softwares. Learners will communicate using an open forum and weekly chat discussions. Each week, a new prompt will be given and the learners will have to answer it. I will moderate the discussions to make sure that students do not go off target. I have not yet decided if I will incorporate instant messaging. I am afraid that individuals using instant messaging will not pass on information to the group. Conversations, vide/audio-streaming, and webpage tutorials will all be used to provide scaffolding.

Learning Theories, blog number..... something : )

Learning theories and instructional design principles are the foundations for creating meaningful learning materials. Learning theories give designers an idea on how to create learning content for students. There are three learning theories discussed in this book and they are Behaviorism, Cognitive psychology, and the Constructivist theory. Each theory has its own purpose. Behaviorism focuses on changing peoples physical actions, which would be a great theory to use if an instructional designer wanted to teach people how to type. Cognitive theory “claims that learning involves the use of memory, motivation, and thinking, and that reflection plays an important part in learning” (Anderson & Elloumi, 7). The last theory mentioned is Constructivism which, claims that learners interpret information and the observation, processing, and interpretations, and then personalize the information into personal knowledge (Anderson & Elloumi, 7).” There is no theory that is better than the other, each theory can be used separately or mixed within a lesson. Instructional design principles provide a way for develops to know what works for delivering content and what does not. An example of an instructional design principle is the modality principle, which states that audio narrations explaining a video presentation will increase understanding of the video content. The view of technology in delivering online instructions is compared to a car. Without technology to drive instruction we would still be watching instructional videos with a VCR and the only type of learner interaction would be using the telephone to call the instructor. Technology plays a huge part in delivering online instructions. Technology provides the virtual environments, forums, branching lessons, and everything else that deals with the delivery of instruction to computers, cell phones, and any other device used for online learning. The technology that I am going to use for my learning environment is Moodle. Moodle offers chat rooms, forums, and many other features that will be instrumental in the delivery of my online learning lesson. Because of the flexible technology available to me I will integrate three learning theories behaviorism, cognitive psychology, and constructivism into my online lesson. “Learning theories help us create learning environments using new technologies that are based on proven methods of delivering sound learning. When new technologies are based on proven methods of delivering learning it decrease the time spent creating instruction, which improves the efficiency of the instructional designer” (Wilson, 1997).

The “Constructivist theorists claims that learners interpret information and the world according to their personal reality, and that they learn by observation processing and interpretation and then personalize the information into personal knowledge (Anderson & Elloumi, 7).” The role of interaction in online learning is very complex and complicated to explain. The Bransford et al.’s framework of online learning is based on three groups that interact: students, teachers, and content. Each group will interact with itself and the other two groups, so for example students will interact with other students, teachers and content. Students will interact with each other and teachers using synchronous and asynchronous communications, also students will interact with content by reading, applying, and reflecting. “Teachers interact with other colleagues with will cause continual growth in their field of study. Teachers will also interact with content. This is done be the creation of the content and learning activities by the teacher (Anderson & Elloumi, 48).”

Week 7

From my selected chapters I have learned that constructive communications between students is essential for a successful online course. Providing flexibility for learners by mixing asynchronous and synchronous communication is an efficient way to allow reflection of material learned. Through group conversations and understanding of designing instruction learners will become aware of teaching techniques that can benefit themselves and other learners. Learners at this point can design their own instruction. The common characteristics across my experiences are how users interact with each other to encourage learning. A course with just asynchronous communication can benefit learners by enabling reflective and self-paced learning, however superficial communication could fail to address the topic. Synchronous communication allows constant communication among the learners, which encourages elaboration of ideas, thoughts, or concerns. The negative aspect of synchronous communication is that communication between users can become confusing for first time chatters and time consuming.

I believe that students can be a designer of his/her own learning assuming that the proper conditions are meet. Conditions that need be addressed for students to design their own learning include: asynchronous communication, synchronous communication, dwelling space, and a flexible course management. Asynchronous communication benefits students that are not able to meet for synchronous communication, and for leaving messages for the group to read and reply to at a later time. Synchronous communication builds the relationship between the users and allows them to collaborate about work, which promotes the transfer of knowledge. Each student should have an option to create a dwelling. This will give them a place in the learning environment that they can call their own. Course management should be very flexible. The key for learners to design the learning is by allowing them the chance to experiment freely with peers.


Before taking this course I knew how to develop online learning using a variety of authoring tools, but my focus has never been on community learning. This class has really shifted my view of online learning from a singular learner to multiple learners. Designing instruction for multiple learners is very complex because there are so many issues that need to be addressed such as: communication between learners, content, context, scaffolding, and much more. The skills that I have learned, which can directly apply to my upcoming project include: asynchronous communication, synchronous communication, blogging, dwelling, and open-ended questions. I am looking forward to begin development of my online instruction.

Week 5: Chapter 8

Chapter 8

How does context apply to online communities and learning collaboration?


Chapter eight went over many things that we had discussed in the past and really did not seem to bring any new information to light. At the beginning it is noted that there are many different definitions of an online community, which is confusing for me because many of the definitions that are presented all sound very similar. Reduero’s definition seemed the most sensible for me. Recuero defined virtual communities as a group of people who interact through computer-based means long enough to create and organize social relations in a virtual settlement.
As a community socializes and participates in activities content is transferred from one user to another. During this collaboration meaning is given to content and then it metamorphosis into context. Context is the knowledge that we obtain from the content. Therefore, “Context gives meaning to content.” (Afonso, 158)

Week 5: Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The Internet is built upon openness, robustness, and decentralization. How can online communities take advantage of these features? What lessons can be learned from communities that offer peer-to-peer computing, blogging, and open source modules?

The Internet is known for its openness, robustness and decentralization. Anyone who has a computer and phone jack has the capability to explore the World Wide Web. The Internet is so, robust that a person does not need a computer to access the web. Devices like cell phones, PDAs, or video game systems have capabilities to access the Internet. Online communities can create specific functions for members to take advantage of the many devices that are used to access the Internet. For example, creating a specific web page for cell phones and PDAs to access so members can check their community messages, or perhaps have a web client for community members that allow them to chat with other members using a cell phone, PDA, or any other small portable device that connects to the Internet. By default, online communities take advantage of the openness of the Internet. I say, ‘by default’ because the government or any other organization does not censor online communities. However, communities may have moderators or administrators that monitor the boards for vulgar remarks or comments that don’t have any value.

Online communities can benefit by from peer-to-peer computing, blogging, and using open source modules. When community members collaborate there will be times when they need to share files. When files are uploaded onto a central database and download by hundreds of people the bandwidth used for the transfers will become costly for community owners. Peer-to-peer computing can decrease the amount of bandwidth that the online community owners have to pay every month. Peer-to-peer works by members allowing other members to directly transfer a copy of the file from one computer to another. Blogging can help communities by members sharing ideas with each other. It provides a way for a person to elaborate on an idea without worrying about taking up too much space in an asynchronous message board environment. Lastly, online communities can use open source software as a means of setting the standards of sharable files in their communities. For example, free word processing software like Open Office could be a standard. Every member could download the software for free and not have to worry about compatibility issues.

Blog 2

As I read through the assigned material, I found myself constantly changing my view of an online community and all the works that were needed to build, maintain, and improve it. My initial definition of an online community was "an online setting, where people go to communicate.” That definition is now too generic for me. Online community is not only a place to for people to communicate, they also meet online and work jointly on researches, projects, and many more activities. Three points that I would like to comment on in regards to online communities are models of collaboration, developing a learning community, and the future of the Internet.

Many different models of collaboration were mentioned in chapter 12, but I would like to focus on the water-cooler setting. According to a famous study of photocopy technicians, water-cooler is the best place to transfer knowledge. The water-cooler can be compared to an online chat room, where students can easily give and receive knowledge. One disadvantage of online communication is the lack of visual cues, which can only be understood through face-to-face communication. However, I believe that the lack of visual cues can be overcome by practice.

Chapter 12, gives a brief overview of the developing process of the learning community CILT. There are three important steps in this process: define goals, understand the needs of target audience, and decide on what technology will be adequate to meet desired outcome.

In chapter nine, the author presents an interesting view on where the Internet may be going. In the future, Internet users will be consumers rather than producer as of today. Those users can be sitting on a couch using the Internet to watch television shows rather than using cable TV. As the Internet get bigger and bigger, it will be driven by big businesses rather than by users. Even today, big businesses have already started their influence on the Internet by trying to convince lay makers to take away precious bandwidth and choose which content is presented first and fastest.

blogOne - |kəˈmyoōnitē|Perspective

Community - A feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. (Oxford American Dictionary)

Community’s infrastructures are comprised of the people that participate in that community, whether it is in the “real world” or in a virtual world such as Myspace, Facebook, or YouTube. “Real world” participation in a community requires group members to physically interact with each other through a period of time, while participants in an online community only meet virtually using the internet. The virtual community allows individuals to be anonymous. For that reason, a person may feel that he/she does not have any restrictions of what he/she can or can’t write about. This makes the freedom of expression limitless.

Individuals who desire the companies of those who have the same ideas, thoughts, religion, hobbies, etc come together to build communities. As an undergraduate student, I developed a forum for the Multimedia Design department at Cameron University. It enabled the MMD students to help each other develop their projects and to build friendships. I believe that comradeship motivates the students (community members) to participate and help the community grow.