Online Teaching vs. Classroom teaching
Posted by Kayla Chester on Friday, March 30, 2012
Under: Online Technology
One of the ideas that I keep running into is using Social Networking as a tool to enhance the learning of students.
A great example of this is Murdoch's LMS system, which allows students studying the same subject to ask each other questions and discuss the unit content.
I wanted to learn more about this, so I read up on chapter 5 of our book (Meaningful Learning with Technology) as to why using these tools is a good idea (or why not).
Face to face communication vs. online communication
So the main argument against having online discussion boards or other online tools is that it lacks the face-to-face conversations, so we lose out on any non-verbal communication. This can be an advantage however, as people think through their responses more on a text based discussion board as they have time to respond.
The way I thought about this, is if a teacher stops in the middle of the class and asks a difficult question, students are left puzzled and silent. If a teacher posts a question on a discussion board, students can stop, think about it, research anything they need to know, and then post an answer that better reflects their understanding.
Online communication knows no distance boundaries
Of course, the main difference between online communication and in-class communication, is that you don't all have to be in the same room. This means you could even post discussion boards between schools in the suburb, state, country or even internationally. This opens up a whole new learning experience altogether, and allows for collaboration between different students resulting in an enriched learning experience.
Going back to the immediacy of real face to face communication, their is now programs such as Skype that means you can have that comfort of a face to face conversation with someone across the world.
All this discussion left me wondering... So how are classes actually achieving this?
I read up on some programs in my book, and then decided to go out and look for social networking sites that I might be able to use in the future.
The first site I thought of was Google Docs, which I had used before in this unit. On google docs, you can create and share documents, presentations, spreadsheets, drawings or forms online with selected people. I found it was great if you wanted your discussion to still be private.
If Google Docs doesn't really appeal to you, I found this website called 5 Great Alternatives to Google Docs that lists some other similar websites (Ironically, I googled this site).
Another site I stumbled upon on the Living and Learning with Technology Companion Website was Diigo. This site allows you to highlight and collect documents, notes, images and pretty much anything else you might find on the internet. This would be fantastic for a research project.
Of course, one really useful tool for any classroom to have is it's own website, like the companion website, or like the examples given on the companion website such as Bluegum School and Bucklands Beach Intermediate School. You could even encourage students to write a blog similar to this one.
A great example of this is Murdoch's LMS system, which allows students studying the same subject to ask each other questions and discuss the unit content.
I wanted to learn more about this, so I read up on chapter 5 of our book (Meaningful Learning with Technology) as to why using these tools is a good idea (or why not).
Face to face communication vs. online communication
So the main argument against having online discussion boards or other online tools is that it lacks the face-to-face conversations, so we lose out on any non-verbal communication. This can be an advantage however, as people think through their responses more on a text based discussion board as they have time to respond.
The way I thought about this, is if a teacher stops in the middle of the class and asks a difficult question, students are left puzzled and silent. If a teacher posts a question on a discussion board, students can stop, think about it, research anything they need to know, and then post an answer that better reflects their understanding.
Online communication knows no distance boundaries
Of course, the main difference between online communication and in-class communication, is that you don't all have to be in the same room. This means you could even post discussion boards between schools in the suburb, state, country or even internationally. This opens up a whole new learning experience altogether, and allows for collaboration between different students resulting in an enriched learning experience.
Going back to the immediacy of real face to face communication, their is now programs such as Skype that means you can have that comfort of a face to face conversation with someone across the world.
All this discussion left me wondering... So how are classes actually achieving this?
I read up on some programs in my book, and then decided to go out and look for social networking sites that I might be able to use in the future.
The first site I thought of was Google Docs, which I had used before in this unit. On google docs, you can create and share documents, presentations, spreadsheets, drawings or forms online with selected people. I found it was great if you wanted your discussion to still be private.
If Google Docs doesn't really appeal to you, I found this website called 5 Great Alternatives to Google Docs that lists some other similar websites (Ironically, I googled this site).
Another site I stumbled upon on the Living and Learning with Technology Companion Website was Diigo. This site allows you to highlight and collect documents, notes, images and pretty much anything else you might find on the internet. This would be fantastic for a research project.
Of course, one really useful tool for any classroom to have is it's own website, like the companion website, or like the examples given on the companion website such as Bluegum School and Bucklands Beach Intermediate School. You could even encourage students to write a blog similar to this one.
In : Online Technology