Virtual
classroom experiences can be tricky. As I navigated through the “Land
of Online Learning” looking at the requirements from a student
perspective, I was reminded just how important collaboration is to
success in the virtual classroom. There are so many slippery slopes
where student can fall down and it is possible that the student will
never recover from those falls. As a private school, the swamp of
surprises has held up some students from taking an online class for lack
of a mentor to be sure the student is registered in an online course.
Next is the importance of a student having enough connected time to
access the material he or she is to cover. Then the slippery slope of
completion. I have seen such a difference between several students that I
have mentored - some get right into the work, work steadily, and finish
before time is up for the class while others make excuses and never get
up to speed nor complete the course they started. For me, the
infrequent feedback and lack of time with the teacher that is
synchronous really thwarted my initial work into the 21 Things for 21st
Century Teachers. As an adult learner, I needed to know that my work was
being critiqued and I needed feedback to feel confident about my
forward movement. My students need that same measure of confidence.
The
CAPSpace (TWICE) site was an amazing resource that I think I could use
more if I was a teacher of an English, History, or World Languages
class. Most of the projects I saw were in those categories. I like the
idea of using video conferencing to connect with classrooms across the
state or around the world. I would like to develop a network of
professionals that I could “bring into my classroom” via skype for a
videoconferencing presentation on career items necessary for student
success. I think that video conferencing has power over even watching
videos because an individual can talk back in forth in real time and see
the responses of his or her fellow conference attendee.
I
would like to use moodle to extend my classroom online. There are
several different ways I could use moodle to streamline the careers
course I teach which would make it easier to give students feedback as
they work through their career development plan. An online classroom
experience using moodle or google drive would allow students to
communicate and collaborate as they learn new information and synthesize
the information into different mediums for redistribution to others. I
have loved the way that Google drive has allowed me to give feedback on
work that students have completed and to see the transitions in their
learning as work is reviewed and critiqued. I think this kind of review
and critique allows students to use their critical thinking skills and
decision making skills to develop the best learning products. This
transfer of knowledge from introduction to completion is a great reason
to use a virtual classroom to moderate the flow of information. This
moderation is one way my teaching and learning will be positively
affected and it will help my students meet several NETS-S.
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