Engaging Learners with New Strategies and Tools
Since Siemens (2008) refers to today's learner as millenial, educators must constantly adapt content material with the ever-changing Internet. Today's learners can use what's on the Internet to learn content, communicate ideas and learning with others, and collaborate.
Search engines provide a quick and easy method of locating information. Most students are already familiar with Bing, Google, Yahoo, Dogpile, and so forth. Search engines give students an array of possible links that may be applicable to the topic at hand. Print materials, such as books, magazines, newspapers, and pdfs, are available in the traditional form and online. These materials can be a reliable source of information. Online journal articles, though perhaps not the first choice of teenagers, are a great way to get reliable, factual material. Podcasts provide a great auditory means of learning. And finally United Streaming is used online in the classroom, as well as embedded into powerpoints. Overall, learning is dynamic and ever-changing. Learning content online also changes with technology and the growing amount of information.
Once students locate information, communicating ideas and knowledge is the next step in learning. Students can email their teachers and fellow students with links and/or attachments. Email is as second nature as is texting on a cell phone. Blogs provide another way in which to communicate. Students can post thoughts, ideas, and projects on their blogs. There are also many blogs that students can use to refer to when doing their research on a topic. Wikis also are used to communicate. Skype is a great alternative to email or the cell phone. Students can use the camera to see each other when discussing projects or they can simply use instant messaging. Attachments can be sent with the instant messaging as well as emoticons. YouTube is another way that students can communicate with each other and with the world. A video that is uploaded can then be viewed by the members of a learning group. Uploading videos is much more efficient than attaching them to an email. Communicating is much more than the term paper or the speech at the front of the class. Nowadays communication is much more hi-tech.
Collaboration used to mean going over your partner's house to work on a poster, diorama, or speech. Now, students can use, with their teacher's help, Sharepoint. Sharepoint is a secure sight that teachers can upload or download projects. ePals is another great way to collaborate with students in the United States and other countries. This global collaboration provides a means of deeper learning since values and customs from other countries would be considered or incorporated. SlideShare is used to upload powerpoints and documents. Students can view the progress of each member of the group and download those materials. Google Docs is a form of collaboration that many schools are using. Finally, Web 2.0 is a collection of user-friendly tools that help students become creative when presenting their learning. Fewer one-person assignments are given. Students are now being asked to create and present their learning in a collaborative team effort.
Resources:
Anderson, T. (2008). Teaching in an online learning context. The theory and practice of online learning. Edmonton: AU Press.
Siemens, G. (2008, January). Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers. ITForum.
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