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.
5 comments:
I understand what you mean when you say that the process is complex. Designing the class is not just about content but also finding the right course management system that will meet the needs of your design. (Sometime you have no choice, like in university settings.) However, when you do, it is important to consider how you want students to communicate and what the tools will allow students to do. Because this is a new area of teaching for me, it's like starting from scratch. The content now seems to be the easy part. Thanks for your insight, Nancy Cline
Your discussion of asynchronous and synchronous communication was very good and detailed and I like the way you discussed the pros and cons of each. My focus too has changed from thinking about online learning as a singular personal experience to that of a community. There is so much that goes into the creation of an online community especially if learners are going to be in charge of their own learning. In this too I agree with you that a flexible environment and subjects is key!
David, I believe in that a constructivist type of view is a very precariously dangerous path that designers choose to use because of all the learning elements that are out of the designer’s control. Such as, defined learning goals by the student, time required by the student to follow a learning path chosen by them, evaluation of learning strategies used by a learner. I do believe that a constructivist approach can work in an online environment but it has to be done very carefully.
I was speaking with Dr. Ge the other day about using chat in an online environment and the problems with it. I do believe that someone that is new to chatting has a tremendous learning curve to overcome. However, I just can’t see using chat at this point unless it has absolute constraints for its use.
David,
Good reflections and comments! I agree with you about constructive communication being very important in an online class. I liked your discussion about the pros and cons of synchronous and asynchronous communication. I hadn't thought about some of these before, like how chatting would be difficult for a new user.
Thanks for the insights!
I think all the points you made about synchronous and asynchronous communication and designing your own learning also applies to F2F classroom learning. The things we are learning about online learning (such as communication and interaction, diverse learners, dwelling/ownership, scaffolding, and open-ended questions) should make us better designers and instructors for traditional classrooms and training, too!
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