Engaging Learners with New Strategies and Tools

Distance education is growing with many post secondary learning institutions. The growth of distance education has cause educators to retrain and learn how to communicate effectively with online learners. I use distance education because I am allowed to continue my education even though I have a mobile lifestyle with my employer. Distance education is not an easy accomplishment for the student or the instructor because communication is essential.

Instructors online must be able to communicate with learners from a distance with effective communication. One easy way to establish standards and objectives is with a detailed syllabus. I look at the syllabus to find references required for the course along with course requirements for each week. Durrington, Berryhill, & Swafford (2008) believe the syllabus is critical for online courses (p. 191). The syllabus tells you what to expect, but distance education has many tools available to assist in achieving the desired outcome. The wiki is a tool that allows learners to work on group projects from a distance and make changes without sending several e-mails that may cause confusion (Dewet, 2008). The blog is another collaboration tools that engages learners. The instructor can ensure learners stay engaged by setting timeframes to post discussions and respond to other students. Walden University and several other learning institutions use the technique frequently. Calberg (2007) discusses 11 advantages of using blog in education which includes “Using a blog makes education demand oriented, participant-centered”. The blog is easy to access on the internet. Collaboration and communication continues to improve with the capabilities of the iPad and iPhone for the learning environment. The iPhone 4 has Facetime capabilities which can give face-to-face collaboration at a distance. The iPad serves as a digital book reader along with note taking and internet capabilities. Both devices give a huge advantage to mobility in education. The iPhone give students and teachers the capability to access dictionaries online and teachers encourage students to download podcast (Peachey, 2010, para. 9-10). I use my iPhone to listen to the weekly learning videos from Walden University. I can look at the video during downtime or listen to the audio version while driving.

Technology is excellent and many tools exist to aid the strategies for keeping learners engaged. Instructors in an online environment can use self assessment and peer assessment as part of keeping students engaged. Instructors must ensure learners have the rubric for assignments, and students are giving respectful thoughts in the asynchronous discussion process. I like the “ask the instructor” sections that Walden uses because the concept follows the idea of using a frequently ask questions section to create a comfort learning environment for the students (Durrington, Berryhill, & Swafford, 2008, p. 191). Distance education focuses on learner centered education. Siemens (2008) speaks of learner centered education as part of a “curatorial teaching” model. Siemens also believe some learners will not care to use new technology. A good learning environment will allow reflection as part of scaffolding (Wiley, 2007, 63). Instructors that use the new strategies tools will keep learners engaged.

References

Calberg, F. (2007). 11advantage of using a blog for teaching. [Web video]. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/frankcalberg/11-advantages-of-using-a-blog-for-teaching

Dewet, S. (2009, October 28). Wikis in education. [Web video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdq83SWTnOM

Durrington, V. A., Berryhill, A., & Swafford, J. (2006). Strategies for enhancing student interactivity in an online environment. College Teaching, 54(1), 190−193.

Peachey, N. (2010, September 14). English language teachers connect to mobile learning. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/sep/14/teachers-mobile-learning

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

Wiley, D. (2007). Online self-organizing social systems. In Luppicini, R. Online learning communities: Communities in distance education (pp. 289–291). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.