4.3 Social and Professional Networks Change how we Learn

The Internet has changed the way I access information and therefore it has affected the way I learn and communicate with the world.   For example, search engines allow me to be curious and follow my curiosity to an answer within minutes.  Via the extensive availability of resources like Google Scholar, online White Papers, YouTube and online university courses, I can go as deep into a topic as I want.  I can keep up with trends in education via LinkedIn, Edutopia and EducationWeek. 

I can stretch my technical know-how, build 21^st Century skills and establish a web presence by accessing free online resources like Picktochart, GradeCam, Collaborize Classroom, Google Sites, Blogger, wikkis, SlideShare and more.  In the New Media Age, learning and doing do not have to cost much more than your time and the cost of a device for online access. 

The Internet can distract me from focused learning, too.  I think in multiple directions at once.  As a result, I end up with 8 – 10 tabs open in multiple browsers on a daily basis.  That is just how I process.  I tend to want to extensively investigate and explore options before taking action or creating new content.  I may be writing a blog post and come to a thought that I want to explore further.  I could zip around the web for an hour or more before returning to the writing process.  And then, of course, I’ve left up five more tabs that I resist closing . . . I just don’t want to say goodbye to the content I’m holding in my mind.

Last week, I popped my computer onto the LCD projector to show some high school students the type of information available through Ancestry.com.  Sure enough, I heard gasps and laughs and “Oh my gosh, look at all the tabs she has open!”  High schoolers aren’t as likely to have “multi-tab browser disorder” like me, but they have other vices that slow them down in an online environment. 

Based on my observations and conversations with students, adolescents and young adults get distracted mostly by social media, music sites and online gaming.  When I walk the classroom supervising an online activity, I often see students attempting to hide their AngryBirds and drop down Pandora before I arrive at their desk.  This tells me that I need to keep working on creating engaging online activities that will keep a majority of the students focused on the task at hand. 

While high school students do get distracted in an online environment, that distraction can help them discover resources that can actually assist them in their learning.  One high school student I know stumbled across YahooAnswers when looking for help with a physics problem.  Now she uses the site regularly to check her work in physics and advanced math. 

When students come across an online tool that really helps them, they often share it with me.  Then I share the “new discovery” with all of my students.  In this way, I can support my students in using the Internet as their own personal learning space.  

2.2 Reflection: Methodologies of the Online Instructor

The role of the 21^st Century teacher is changing.  As flipped classrooms and blended learning environments become more prevalent, teachers must adapt to a new role that requires a greater degree of precision in written communication and creative approaches to individualized learning.  To prepare myself for teaching in online and blended learning environments, I will need to adjust several aspects of my instructional methodology.

           

While “many core elements and practices in successful ‘brick and mortar’ teaching are also present in the blended and online environment,” online teachers must take a step beyond and engage their students, determine student strengths and weakness, accommodate for learning disabilities and differentiate instruction all without ever meeting students face to face.  Online teachers must not expect that the technology in itself will keep online learners engaged.  The online teacher’s role includes creating or selecting engaging content and tasks that move students “beyond the mere acquisition of information into the development of critical thinkers and learners.”  As an online teacher, I will need to know how to create online discussions using Learning Management Systems AND know how to design discussion questions and feedback that get students analyzing, evaluating, creating and engaging in intelligent online debate.  From my practice in brick and mortar schools, I know that the skills needed to create, select and promote online discussions of this kind will take years to develop. 

Writing learning objectives and assessments for an online environment will be significantly different than in a typical face to face learning environment.  I will need to rethink the types of tasks that students can do and how to measure student learning.  When the entire Internet is at student fingertips, fact-based questions seem useless as an assessment.  Project based learning using 21^st Century tools seems much more fitting.  Asking students to synthesize and create is more appropriate in this environment than asking students to recall or understand. 

Online teachers must also infer student learning styles and learning disabilities through student communication.  I will have to remain alert to nuances of language and read between the lines.  In a brick and mortar school, I often pick up on body language and intonation.  These clues will be lacking in written communication.  I will need to pay close attention to word choice and even spelling.  Then I will need to ask carefully worded questions in order to investigate the need for accommodations and differentiation.  Student – Teacher email dialogue could provide clues about student comprehension, but it will take time and experience to develop an intuition able to identify those students most at risk.  An excellent resource for an online teacher would be a “red flag” list that alerts one to the types of comments that would likely require intervention.

As an online teacher, I will also need to improve and expand on my communication skills in order to best support student learning.  I will need to be very precise in my written communication and be aware of how my words can be interpreted.  In addition, I will need to increase my familiarity with video conferencing tools and research best practices in online communication.  As a frequent participant in webinars such “Making Digital Curricula Meaningful” provided by Education Week, I will be able to discern what can go well and what can go wrong in a synchronous web-mediated lesson.  This information will help me to learn from other’s mistakes and avoid common pitfalls.  I will also need to keep abreast of current trends in online education via websites like Edutopia and Ted Talks on Education.

While learning to teach in an online environment is a daunting task, it is necessary to engage 21^st Century learners and prepare them to be successful in the jobs of tomorrow.

Note: All quotes are from LEC Text Module 2, Online and Blended Learning: History and Concepts