Online Teaching and Learning

Category: OTL201 (page 1 of 1)

December 7, 2020 / 0 Comments

TRU Engage – otl201 Post 5

  • What are the 2-3 most important concepts that have impacted your thoughts on student engagement and retention during this course?

I am interested in the model of learning presented by the course based on interactions that include student/self, peer/peer, and teacher/self. I am particularly interested in how I as the instructor can open up opportunities for introductions and social interaction that will facilitate this model of learning.

  • Discuss your rationale for implementing 1 or 2 course facilitation strategies to increase student retention and engagement.

As I am teaching asynchronous classes where students can drop in at any time and are therefore at different stages of progression I unfortunately do not have many opportunities to facilitate student to student interactions. However, I will try to facilitate interaction by creating an introduction video and by using the online forums.

  • Identify 2-3 specific goals that you would like to achieve in light of what you have learned about social presence and creating effective educational media;
    • make sure that your goals are SMART,
    • identify strategies you intend to use in order to meet your goals.

As I discussed in my learning activity portfolio, I am interested in making use of the online forums in my courses. This may include an introduction post, a forum for posting current events, and a forum to develop a toolkit for online learning.

  • Think about some questions you still have with respect to student engagement and retention. Post these questions and also a strategy for finding the answers.

I’m curious to see how effective these goals will be as I currently only have 2 students active in one course and one lonely student in my second course. I really have questions about how to engage students in this situation where it really is primarily student-directed and motivated.

November 25, 2020 / 0 Comments

TRU Engage – otl 201 Learning Activities Portfolio – Activity 3

Another forum I could develop would be a toolkit for online learning. I’ve noticed that students who do not have experience with online learning can experience particular challenges (this has been particularly true with students who had to abruptly transition during the pandemic!). One way I could help increase social presence is to create a forum for us all to share strategies for online learning. Here’s a possibility:

Toolkit for Online Learning

Here’s a forum for us to share tips and strategies for online learning. Let’s start a discussion! What challenges have you experienced with online learning? What strategies have worked for you in the past? What resources (blogs, articles) have you found helpful for issues such as time management? Let’s help one another to successfully complete this course.

November 25, 2020 / 0 Comments

TRU Engage – otl 201 Learning Activities Portfolio – Activity 2

As I think about how to create social presence in my classes, one thing I’m considering is to create a forum for events/blogs/articles/etc related to the class. Since I’m unable to modify the course content, this would be a way for me to help my students develop a sense of shared purpose. Here’s an example:

Welcome to the Current Events Forum! Here’s the place for all of us to post events, newspaper articles, blog posts, or YouTube videos related to our course. This could be content related to issues such as Indigenous legal systems, police brutality or  incarceration in Canada. Let’s start a discussion! How do these current events relate to and extend the conversations we’re already having in our class?

November 25, 2020 / 0 Comments

TRU Engage otl 201 Learning Activities Portfolio – Activity 1

Activity 1 – Introduction Post

Students can enter my TRU classes at any point in the year, so unfortunately this makes it difficult to engage them as a community. However, I’m thinking that creating a forum for introduction posts — where I’ve posted one as well — would be a good way for me to attempt some community for the small number of students in these classes. Here’s a possibility:

Welcome to the course! The Moodle class discussion forum is one of the community spaces we will be building in this class. If you have not yet done so, please upload a profile picture for your Moodle account and indicate your pronouns.

Then, for your first ever post:

1. Introduce yourself and, if you like, post another photo of yourself

2.  Say why you signed up for this class and/or what social justice means to you

3. Tell us something about the land where you currently live or post a photo

4. Tell us something that has recently made you laugh

OR … do none of the above and instead write your own creative post to introduce yourself!

November 25, 2020 / 1 Comment

TRU Engage – otl201 Post 2

  • describe the ways in which your introductory post should have enhanced social presence in a course that you teach

In my introductory post I was attempting to link course content to current events to show how it is relevant for students today. I was also trying to give a sense of my own interests through a visual photo.

  • identify at least one improvement that you might make in light of what you know about social presence since completing your first post
  • describe how your thinking about social presence has changed since your first post.

I appreciated learning how social presence is not necessarily about creating social interactions, but rather creating a shared sense of purpose. I’m reflecting on a course that I’m teaching where students are so motivated, enthusiastic, and lively in the online classroom. I didn’t understand why, but now I’m thinking about how I’ve managed to create a shared sense of purpose and goals for this particular class. I will think about this more purposefully moving forward. I think it’s important to set this tone from the very beginning of the class. At TRU, since my courses are primarily online and text-based, the introduction post becomes quite important. I’ll rethink how to create an introduction post that clearly states the learning objectives by tying them to current contemporary issues and concerns that will engage students and to give a sense of my own investments in the topic.