This teacher stated, ,"...the terms "learning" and "community" are both necessary to successfully guide students to the knowledge that they need. With online learning, With online learning, I think that one might seek to establish too much of one without enough of the other. Yet, as instructors, we should have our students connect both with what they are learning and with each other. Here are some guidelines to do just that."
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Building a Learning Community Online |
• Who is your audience?
• What is your timeframe between modules?
• Where in the course would it be most beneficial to incorporate a conversation?
• What types of conversations could you have?
Then, begin asking how questions can be written that will engage students with one another and NOT just the facilitator?
Encourage multiple answers/perspectives!
The "Principles of Online Discussion" document is one that could be shared with course participants. It outlines the behaviors that could be practiced in your online discussions.
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Tips |
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Principles for Online Discussion |
Online participants need course facilitators to help them connect. Online learning involves more than a list of assignments to be done and graded. How do we help our participants connect? We connect them to multiple resources, to purposeful discussions, to thinking that moves beyond the obvious, to learning processes that move towards successful performance of course objectives, and more.
Your personal responsiveness to messages from online students is an important communication-builder and creates relationships which help students feel connected to the course.
TIP #2
Lessen Feelings of Insecurity
Crafting directions so that online students know what to do is only part of the process. To lessen feelings of insecurity, provide resources to help them know how to accomplish the task.
TIP #3
Create real discussion in asynchronous interaction by phrasing your response to the audience of the whole. After Mary has posted, add your response using “Mary says…” phrasing and include a question or two addressed to the whole group
From: http://www.lincotower.com/
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Tips & Links |
Tutorials to help you and your students to work in the online environment.
For FACILITATORS and/or TEACHERS:
- Classroom management (choosing a skin, roster)
- Adding pages (& organizing pages)
- Editing page (title, layout)
- Adding content (pages, calendar, connect, & assess)
- Activating pages and class
For PARTICIPANTS and STUDENTS:
- Accessing pages
- Accessing calendar
- Accessing announcements
- Accessing discussion board
- Posting in discussion board
- Accessing drop box
for FACILITATORS
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Haiku LMS Web Site |
for PARTICIPANTS
To add a picture to your profile, do the following:
1. Be sure there a photo saved to your computer.
2. Click on the MY ACCOUNT tab at the top of this page.
3. Scroll down to PROFILE PICTURE
4. UPLOAD your favorite image
5. Click on SAVE.
From now on, your image will appear in the discussion board whenever you participate.