Dynamic Strategies

Strategies for engaging students (Siemens, p. 11-19)

Decide on how the learning occurs
Change the role of the educator
Overlay new opportunities by diminishing geographic lines
Change the role(s) of the educator and instructional designer

On-line instructors must change and in order to be effective, they must move toward the dynamic way of teaching- thus reaching higher levels of thinking and creativeness. As Moller (2008, para.1) stated, “the paramount decision should be the capability of chosen technology to support knowledge building, which indicates the need for interactivity.” With this being said, the meta-analysis of McGreal’s chapter resulted in valid conclusions. I say this because I believe (Anderson , 2008, p.149) stated that internet telephony will “facilitate more fluid and natural communication between different culture groups...” I have experienced this first hand with Skype as Cyndy Shelton and I have collaborated to a great extent on the assignments and have devised ways to involve the children with virtual experiences from Hilton Head Island. I can envision this to help: (a) with the lack of funding for field trips, (b) for home bound students, and (c) for diversifying the learning experiences in every facet of education. This allowed for group interaction much like the ICQ (I see you) messaging.

Developing on-line classes would be more dynamic in proportion to the more collaboration that was planned. Isolation would be of less concern. Part, such as internet telephony would need to be synchronous, but that too could be flexible. The asynchronous part would be the individuals work on wikis and blogs and receiving constructive feedback from peers. According to my readings and experiences using technology in an online setting, media research must have components that allow collaboration. An instructor whether in a F2F classroom or on-line MUST be allowed to use and have experience with this type of technology in order to utilize these valuable resources.

According to Siemens (p.3), “Classroom walls are increasingly permeable.” I thought this was a profound statement because the first thing I thought was, “What does this mean?” I came to the realization that it meant that they may not be coming down, but the walls are able to be crossed by waves in cyberspace. They are being permeable because of the capability of collaboration using social networks, such as Facebook.

Reference:

Anderson, T. (Ed.). (2008). The theory and practice of online learning. (2nd ed.). Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University Press.

Moller, L. (2008). Static and dynamic technological tools. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Laureate Education, Inc. [unpublished paper]

Siemens, G. (2008, January). Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers. ITForum.