Learning Online
Teaching with an online medium differs from how you teach purely face to face without technological aids. I explored this idea with the assistance of the article Lessons learned teaching online by George Siemens. This article provided a very helpful summary of lessons that the author has learnt about teaching and learning online, all of which were helpful when Bridie and I were creating our online WebQuest with online learning capabilities.
There were twelve ‘tips’ for developing lessons using the online medium. One particular tip that caught my attention was based around the understanding that online lessons should not create the feeling of isolation from the teacher or peers, but should be used in a way that it facilitates ‘connectedness’ with a wider audience which is both liberating and motivating. I guess that when this is translated to the classroom, a great example of this connectedness is the collaborative learning projects that I have already discussed. These projects allow students to connect with peers in a way that was previously a slow process (through normal mail) but is now just a click away with the use of blogs, emails, vodcasts and podcasts.
As teachers we should be encouraging our students to connect with the rest of the world, and motivating them to learn from the plethora of resources now available to them because of the online medium. I encourage you to read the rest of the tips that George Siemens has provided. I am certain that there is something there for everyone to learn!
