Internet-Based Multimedia Resources for Online Learning

This week, I have explored two games that are available on the Internet and are appropriate for my future Adult Basic Education (ABE) learners.

“Games provide an effective and painless, even fun, review format (Kaupins, 2005; Moy, Rodenbaugh, Clooins, & DiCaro, 2000; as cited in Nilson, 2010, p. 148).  Online games place learners at levels that challenge but are achievable and “reward player effort and practice with acknowledgement of incremental goal progress, not just a final product” (Willis, 2011).  This reward produces motivation and active learning as learners realize that they answered challenging questions correctly or solved a puzzle or problem.  When students use online games, they experience authentic learning and are able to clearly realize their progress.  The ongoing and accumulating feedback learners receive from online games is the reward they need to move on to the next levels that challenge them even more.  Learners "brains invest more effort to the task and are more responsive to feedback…when they play their…[online] games” (Willis, 2011).  Willis (2011) refers to this an “intrinsic reinforcement.”  Conrad and Donaldson (2011) stated that games are comprised of tasks that include the components of decision making, engagement, and acquiring knowledge from a different perspective.  For Adult Basic Education learners, I believe that the two games reviewed below would be fun, review skills already learned, achievable, challenging, offer rewards, motivating, and would help students see their progress.  These games would also involve decision making, help students acquire English and Math knowledge in new ways, and promote active learning.      

Skillswise English and Maths for Adults:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise

Skillswise is a website that is free to use and was created for students to improve their adult literacy and numeracy skills.  It is produced by a group from the BBC Learning Department in Salford, England.  The website offers online games, videos, quizzes, and printable worksheets and factsheets for learners to use in class or at home in English, Math, Job Skills, and Adult Learning.  On this website, I played three games.  In the Blown Away Punctuation Game, I learned about when words need capital letters in a sentence.  The Going to Work with Commas Game reinforced when to use commas in sentences as well as when not to use them.  In the Logging Sentence Game, I learned to compose a sentence from many word choices.  These games could be used to reinforce ABE learners’ skills in English literacy.  They could be played individually or in small groups.  I also think that online ABE students could be referred to use this website to improve their English writing skills.  On just the English Games page, there were 54 different games from which to choose.  As an educator, I would want to make sure that I had played the games from this website before assigning them to my learners.  I would also refer them to specific games needed for reinforcement of specific skills being worked on in class.  One concern would be the fact that this is a British website and some of the English words or expressions might be unfamiliar to U.S. learners.

Math Fraction Games:   http://www.math-play.com/math-fractions-games.html

Math Fraction Games is a free-to-use website with 17 different games to play that offer practice in adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions.  The fractions page is one of many available at the Math-Play.com website, all offering many free math games.  I played two of the fraction games.  The Baseball Math—Simplifying Fractions Game definitely challenged me to make the batter hit home runs which then resulted in even more challenging fraction problems to solve with multiple choice answers.  The Fractions Jeopardy Game offered me practice and the opportunity to reinforce my math skills using fractions and, again, multiple choice answers.  Both games were fun to play, and both could be used with multiple players.  One concern I had with both of these games was that they did not explain what the correct answers were to the problems missed or explain how to solve them.  I think that information would have been helpful to learners playing the game—to figure out where they went wrong in their problem-solving attempt.   

I believe that the games offered on both of the above websites meet four of the five components of Conrad and Donaldson’s (2011, p. 103) checklist for effective games:  learners would be involved in decision-making and would learn from game outcomes, the games offer exploration in a real-world subject, they are engaging and help students acquire knowledge in a different way, and they are provided in a safe environment.  The Baseball Game and the Logging Game would be the only ones that require learners to assume a different persona.

References

Conrad, R., & Donaldson, J. A. (2011). Engaging the online learner: Activities and resources for creative instruction (Updated ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 

Nilson, L. B. (2010). Teaching at its best (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Willis, Judy. (2011, April 14). A neurologist makes the case for the video game model as a learning tool. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/video-games-learning-student-engagement-judy-willis             

      

 

      

 

 

Setting Up Effective Online Learning Experiences

This week, I will give my reaction to the following questions regarding setting up effective online learning experiences.

What steps are most essential for setting up effective online learning experiences for adult learners?

The most essential elements for online courses according to Boettcher and Conrad (2010) are “the syllabus, the weekly plans and discussion postings for the first weeks, and the course site” (p. 63).  The syllabus for an online course provides the big picture of the course for learners and having this information helps them to plan their lives accordingly.  This is essential to learners and promotes a sense of control for them.  The syllabus for an online course is similar to that of a face-to-face class, and also includes policies and procedures that learners must understand about communicating effectively with other students and the instructor in the online environment (p. 64, 72).  “In the online classroom…teaching presence is expressed in the weekly plans, teaching guides, discussions, and faculty comments and observations” (p. 64).  The educator in the online setting transforms the time used to prepare lectures in the face-to-face class into the preparation of “text, audio, or video pieces” which familiarize the students with the week’s goals as well as the reasons behind the use of the week’s activities (p. 64).  Moreover, the discussion board and other online tools are the places where educators come to really “see” their learners.  These are the places where real student-to-student interaction, dialogue, and discussion occur.  “Investing time in developing good questions for the discussion boards and planning out the scoring rubrics and evaluation of the discussion boards makes a real difference in how quickly a learning community starts to form in a course” (p. 65).  The course site is the place where learners gather to share experiences, perform class activities, make meaning, and interact with each other.  The instructor acts as the host and is the glue that holds the learning community together (p. 65).  Because of this, it is the educator’s responsibility to make sure that everything is in place for the course site to run smoothly for everyone using it. 

Why is it necessary to communicate clear expectations to online learners?

One component of an online course that significantly impacts learner understanding and satisfaction is the educator giving clear and explicit guidelines about what is expected from learners while in the class.  Clarifying how a course “will work and sometimes might not work can help create a smooth and trusting learning environment” (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010, p. 55).  The instructor should also communicate what the student can expect from her like the time involved for responding to students’ emails and discussions, how frequently students should log into the course management system, how many discussions to respond to and by what day in the week, and depth and length of posts (p. 74).

What additional considerations should the instructor take into account when setting up an online learning experience, especially one that targets adult learning?

One additional consideration would be to focus on activities that promote social presence.  “Social presence…is the foundation of building trust and presence for the teaching and learning experiences” (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010, p. 51).  Connecting on a social level sets the tone for developing trust and understanding that culminates in learners “reaching out and risking beliefs in the content discussions” (p. 51).  This can be accomplished by the educator and students posting personal introductions and bios.  The instructor lets learners become acquainted with her and gives them the opportunity to make their presence known—bringing the human element into the exchange.  Icebreaker activities also help promote social presence and are fun and great ways to let students know how the class will be moving forward (Laureate Education, Inc., 2012).  After social interaction has been encouraged, learners should be ready for to focus on content.  The instructor should thoroughly plan activities that will encourage social presences when setting up an online learning experience for adult learning (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010). 

Another consideration would be to devise ways to get learners to focus on their own learning goals as they relate to the course content.  This could be accomplished to asking students to identify these goals.  “This is the early launching of cognitive presence” (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010, p. 52).  This activity will help the instructor gain insight into how ready students are to learn. 

The instructor should also plan to take the responsibility to make sure that all students “are engaged, present, and participating” (p. 52).  The educator becomes what Conrad and Donaldson (2004; as cited in Boettcher & Conrad, 2010, p. 52) called a “social and cognitive negotiator.”  Initiating the learning community is also up to the instructor and means trying to make sure that students are engaged in and thinking about core concepts.  The educator should also have a good grasp of the basic skills and tools involved in using whatever course management system is being used by the institution and how they are relevant to pedagogical purposes.  The teacher should also spend time developing good, open-ended questions to promote active discussion exchanges between students.  The questions should require the learners to explore and “integrate information for multiple resources, including their own work or life environments” (p. 89).  Lastly, for this blog posting, teachers should plan how to manage, evaluate, and assess discussion postings (p. 93).

All of the above suggestions will help ensure that an online course and the learning community become effective and significant experiences for the online learner.

References

Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2012). Launching the online learning experience. [Video webcast].  Retrieved from http://www.courseurl.com

 

 

 

       

 

Online Learning Communities

Because the landscape of higher education is being changed by the growth of online courses “the development of learning communities in online courses is essential to effective learning” (Maddix, 2013, p. 139).  A crucial goal in online learning is the development of learning communities which provide opportunities for students and instructors to share learning and life together and focus on purpose.  This, then, results in collaborative learning which research has shown is essential to the advancement of these communities and the attainment of desired course outcomes (Palloff & Pratt, 1999; as cited in Maddix, 2013).

Palloff and Pratt (Laureate Education, Inc., 2012) identified three essential elements involved in building online learning communities.  These are people, purpose, and process.  People need to communicate, interact, and connect with each other and develop a social presence through text.  This allows others to see who they are and their human characteristics.  Purpose explains why the class has come together, administrative policies and issues, and also encompasses guidelines for communication as well as rules of engagement and participation with other learners.  Process involves the interaction of student with student and student with educator.  It also includes educators empowering learners to be self-directed in their learning in a social constructivist manner that results in learners engaging with each other in order to understand content and, together, make meaning.

Online learning communities impact adult learning significantly because they create an awareness or perception of co-created meaning and knowledge.  These communities are reflective because one component of their work is continuous reflection.  They also produce transformative learning because of the nature of the active learning in which they are participating.  Online learning communities move learners toward increased self-direction and reinforce their social presence.  Students’ satisfaction with online education, then, increases because their perception of learning has been augmented as they sense more and more that they are valuable to the learning process (Laureate Education, Inc., 2012). 

Online learning communities can be sustained in multiple ways.  First and foremost, instructors must help learners understand that both educators and students are equal participants in the learning process and the building of the learning community.  Students must also be allowed to establish their identity in the learning community through introductions and ice breaker activities.  Educators should get to know their students and make sure that they are familiar with the technology that will be used in the online class.  To accomplish this, a week-long new student orientation could be added to the course curriculum.  It is also important to keep the technology simple at the start of the class and then gradually build on it as the course progresses.  In addition, it is crucial that educators, during the first two weeks of a course, recognize those learners who are waning in their participation and reach out to them to show their concern for having them remain a part of the learning community (Laureate Education, Inc., 2012).

Finally, the relationship between community building and effective online instruction is evident in the fact that learners provide their fellow students with support in the learning process.  They study course content together and co-construct meaning and understanding of that content.  Furthermore, as students are challenged by each other and exchange appropriate and professional feedback with each other, learning is enhanced and becomes more active and significant (Laureate Education, Inc., 2012).  

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (2012). Online learning communities [Video webcast]. Retrieved from http://www.courseurl.com

Maddix, M. A. (2013, Spring). Developing online learning communities. Christian Education Journal, 10(1), p. 139-148.  

 

 

 

This blog will explore and review different online instructional strategies for adult learners.  Over the next six weeks, I will be discussing the significance of online community building and setting up online learning experiences.  I will also look at multimedia presentations and games for online learners, how technology impacts adult learning, and plagiarism detection and prevention.