This week I learned about more online
learning tools, in particular to audio-video conferencing tools such voki, and
also about the myths about synchronous teaching. I am grateful for the week’s
topic and readings because they cleared my doubts about the inability of online
teaching to engage learners in a successful way, simply because of the absence
(physically) of the teacher/facilitator.
The readings on the myths really helped also in clarifying some of my
doubts. In fact some of these had been in mind even before I take up ED403, and
now I am really glad I did because I never thought online learning would be as
successful as traditional learning or face-to-face learning. Now I am really
convinced of its worth and the key to its success depends largely on the
facilitator and how the course is designed – content matters most.
The online learning tools that listed on http://c4lpt.co.uk/directory-of-learning-performance-tools/
allow facilitators to create, deliver, manage and/or track learning and/or
provide a social learning atmosphere. There is a wide range of tools that one
can choose from to suit the intended purpose. I am looking forward to exploring
these particularly those that can be used to give a sense of my presence in the
virtual classroom, such as voki, webinar. In this way the learners can hear my
voice and also clarify any doubts they may have over the printed materials.
Learning is made a lot easier by using online learning tools. However, at the
development stage one has to take extra care in choosing the right, appropriate
or suitable one and test it to ensure it works before it is incorporated into
the course. This is because what may work for you on your desktop at your
workplace may not be working for your learners at a remote island in Kiribati.
As facilitators also, there is a need to spend more time to explore these and
familarise yourself with the different tools. I also think that one has to be
clear of the purpose of using a tool so that he/she does not spend un-necessary
time going through each one in trying to select a good one.
This week’s task of creating our own voki
was very interesting and challenging at the same time. First, it took me a
while to create my voki which cannot be viewed by the course facilitator.
Everything in that platform was very new to me and I kind of frightened to
click buttons in case I did something wrong. Besides instructions were not
clear to me so I had to learn through trial and error. I can see the benefit of
using voki in an online course but you really have to invest a huge amount of
time to familiarise yourself with the tool. I created another voki whereby
instructions on presentations are relayed and I liked it. I know I will be
using this tool frequently in my online course to relay important announcements
and other useful stuff.
The myths about synchronous teaching give
insights into how online learning can be successfully utilised to maximise
learning. However, there are questions I would like to raise under some of the
myths for us to ponder upon and to think of possible solutions.
Myth 1 – I agree that OL is not impersonal
on the argument that students get to participate more on OL as opposed to
‘traditional’ learning, and that accessibility to the course can be done at any
time and from any where. I would like to raise the following issue:
1.
Learner Verification - how can
you verify that the one participating in the course is actually Peter, or Tom, (the
one who actually enrolled to do the course) and not a cousin, a relative or a
friend? I raise this because it is
possible and I don’t want to give a grade to someone who does not deserve it.
Myth 2 – Yes, I am afraid my learners would
spend more time on facebook, twitter, chatting instead of spending quality time
on their online course to produce quality work. I know that this is a big
distraction to students, so how can we facilitators ensure that students are
actually learning and producing quality work?
Myth 3 – I agree with this myth in that your
class is unique and your job as the facilitator is to develop your virtual
classroom and make it as interesting as it can possibly be with very clear
instructions and lots and lots of activities to motivate your learners into
participating. The virtual classroom is your learning environment and you are
responsible for making it a ‘learning’ arena.
Myth 4 – I believe that Blogs have values
and therefore clear explanation as to how and what to do are very much needed. May
be it is better to lay down the ground rules and objectives of Blogs right from
the start. Feedbacks from facilitators are also needed to give guidance and
correct students’ writing and also to encourage them to do what is expected of
them.
Myth 5 – before taking this course, I used
to think like this – that forums are just ways to pass on messages from the
facilitator to students or vis versa. The thought was the result of students in
my course not feeling keen to participate in forums even if they were asked to
contribute to a topic. I now know that the failure rested on the way my course
was designed. Topics needed to be more practical and relevant to learners, and
also participation in forums (in my course) has to be awarded marks as a
motivating factor.
In all the myths, one thing is crystal
clear and is becoming crucial in the development of online learning, that is,
the role of the facilitator. She/he has a vital role to play to promote and
maximise learning through online, and I would like to end by saying that we
(facilitators) have a lot to think about and do with our future online courses.
All the best!
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