I really enjoyed watching Scooby-Doo as a kid. The original theme song was, of course, the best…”Scooby, Scooby-Doo, where are you? You’ve got some work to do now.” As my Technology Tools to Support Learning course finishes up their self-paced interactive learning modules, I was thinking, “Where are you…in your thinking about elearning and self-paced instruction?” To take you back, though, here’s the video:
For many of us, the past couple of weeks has been an introduction to elearning and many of the students in my course are beginning instructional designers. So, I am hoping that their thinking has evolved over the time we’ve been discussing elearning. For the module they have been producing in Powerpoint, we have been following quite of bit of the suggestions and guidelines from Tom Kuhlmann at Articulate. Certainly one of the points that Tom emphasizes in his posts is making content necessary and meaningful for the learning, such as through scenarios, choices, and consequences.
We’ve also discussed many of the points that Steve Alessi and Stan Trollip identify as essential features for computer-based instruction, or tutorials. These include:
- Introduction
- Presenting new information
- Questioning
- Judging responses
- Feedback
- Learner control
- Closing/Exiting
In addition, we have discussed terms, such as page turners, and in another post some folks have considered what tools really contribute purposefully to the creation of learning content for this year and into the next.
So where is your thinking now about elearning? What have you learned and what do you still need to learn? What’s still a little fuzzy for you? Where are you?
Here are some related posts that you may be interested in:
Where am I on elearning? Here’s where I am…
I have been a student in a few 100% online, graduate-level courses, and I have been teaching 100% online graduate courses in IDT programs for a few years. I often find myself contemplating 2 issues while wearing my professor hat: (1) How to balance what I perceive as a great desire for online learners to take asynchronous courses, with elements of my courses that require student-to-student interactions, thus removing some of the freedom that might have attracted the students to online programs in the first place. And, (2) Finding a balance between creating “quality learning experiences” for my online learners, which are engaging, meaningful, etc. BUT also do not keep me grading 24 x 7. I have around 75 students each semester.
I have no answers (yet), but all you asked was, “Where are you?” That’s where I am.
As a student in Dr. Clifford’s EDU-250 course, we have explored many tools that can be used in the classroom no matter what the grade level or content area pertains too. This is helpful in my “quest” to become an elementary teacher. I have many tools that I can access that are easy to create and learner friendly. This is important for younger children to be able to explore the internet in order to be up to date in years to come. So I guess I am in the still learning process of elearning.
I am a student in Dr. Clifford’s EDU-250 course at Union University; I have learned so much knowledge about the tools that can be use inside of a classroom. My goals are to teach biology at the high school level, so you know there will be challenges to keep the students attention. Being shown how to bring technology in the classroom has just opened my eyes to new techniques I can present to my future classroom. Learning all the different things I can use will only help me get to my students more but also allow my students to feel comfortable and excited about the world of biology. I can’t wait to see what there is still to lean about elearning but I am looking forward to using it in my future.
I admit it, I am an eLearning advocate. There has to be something said about the greatness of being able to sit down at a covenant time within ones schedule to learn. It seems that when class starts at 5:30 on campus, I must be there, on time, with my thinking cap on and force myself into learning mode. For the most part, this is not a problem but everyone has their ‘days’. If you can’t turn on your thinking cap to participate in class discussion or focus on the lecture, you are wasting time. It’s kind of like the ‘in one ear and out the other’ saying. Your body is present but your mind isn’t. eLearning allows for thoughtful response and if conducted correctly, deeper discussion. For example, a response to content through eLearning is thought out, written, proofed and submitted in minutes or hours whereas in a class discussion, the thought is compiled, proofed, and submitted (verbally of course) in a matter of seconds.
The structure of eLearning is still a very new concept to me and I would consider myself a novice at best. It seems that eLearning and site based learning effectiveness fall into the hands of the instructor and student body. Both must deliver meaningful content and discussion to work together to reach a deeper level of understanding and thinking.
The integration of eLearning–technology in the classroom–with the content material provides an optimal and effective teaching instrument. Such a tool creates an atmosphere conducive for growth in knowledge, not only in course content, but also in the usage of technology. As this society is endeavoring to become more and more technologically driven, the eLearning method is what students can easily relate and adapt to.
I am a student in Dr. Clifford’s EDU 250 Class. Before this class, I was not as familiar with e-learning. I have learned alot of different tools to use in my classroom. As an early childhood education major, younger children often lose their focus easily, and need something to keep their attention on. I think that by tools such as showing videos to students are a great way of involving children in learning. It keeps them interested, and focused, rather than the usual lecture. The children are qued in to the video, and learning at the same time. I believe that I am still in the learning process, and look forward to learning more about using technology in the classroom.
Hi!
I am in Dr. Clifford’s class as some of the people above are. In my school, we really did not use elearning. It has been a new process for me through this class, but I have enjoyed the different learning techniques so far. I find your website very interesting and helpful for this journey that I am on, and look forward to hearing more from you in class and through your blogs. I like the idea of different ways to teach material in the classroom and think that this will not only help entertain the children, but also help keep me interested by doing something different. I think that the same old lectures will get monotonous and look forward to learning much more about elearning!
Thanks!
I think that the integration of elearning in the classroom is great. As a student, I enjoy being taught with presentations involving help videos from the internet. The internet is a very useful resource, especially outside of the classroom. The teacher cannot always be with you to teach you the current material. Therefore, using videos from the internet helps me learn material that I may be confused about when I am not in class. As a future teacher, learning this process of integrating elearning in the classroom will help me teach my students more effetively. Also, I think that the students will benefit from elearning when they can see the lesson being taught. I look forward to the continuous process of using elearning tools. Not only has it helped me, but it will help many students in the future.
Hi!
I am a student at Union University in Dr. Clifford’s EDU class. I found this post of yours very pertinent to what we have been focusing on in class. I am a pre-service teacher with a focus in Spanish and ESL. It is good to learn how you can use video streaming and e-learning to enhance your classroom. I especially likes the steps you gave that are needed for computer-based instruction. These are important to remember and not overlook when working with technology in the classroom. I have learned a lot about e-learning, particularly how effective it can be if done properly and the level of interaction it can bring to a classroom. I know that I am just in the beginning stages of learning though and I am excited to see just how broad my knowledge of this can become. Thank you for your blogs!