Guest Blogger: Brenda Snider
As we continue to
develop online learning, what can we do to prepare students to succeed?
Consider the tools and resources you need to help your online students succeed.
Online students do not always have access to campus resources. Departments such as the Learning Resource
Center and the library will need updated websites to provide the resources
online students require to complete their assignments.
The role of the instructor of an online course is to guide the learner. The student becomes responsible for his/her own learning and develops into a life-long learner. Instructors must guide the learners to be critical of online resources. The students need to learn which online resources are trustworthy.
The role of the instructor of an online course is to guide the learner. The student becomes responsible for his/her own learning and develops into a life-long learner. Instructors must guide the learners to be critical of online resources. The students need to learn which online resources are trustworthy.
Consider the
following technology to help with your online classes:
Have you ever
tried Grammarly? This program checks for grammar issues and plagiarism. In addition, it provides a personal writing
handbook. This online handbook lists grammar rules based on your usage of
Grammarly. The program is simple to use.
Copy and paste your text in the document box, and click “start review.” When the program finishes the review, you see
your score, a listing of your errors, and suggestions on how to correct
them. To sign up for a free seven-day
trial, visit grammarly.com.The appropriate use of media elements can improve learning. An effective tool is podcasts, which may be audio-only, audio with images, or video. Pod Bean is a free tool for creating podcasts (http://www.podbean.com/start-podcast?sourceid=bing_01).
Jing by TechSmith allows you to capture basic video, animation, and still images, and share them on the web (http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html). The program is free and limits your output to five minutes. The captures are short and focused. This program can be used for clarifying an important aspect of the learning materials. If you review the short videos on the D2L faculty resource page, you will see examples of how Jing works. These short videos may be added to your online classes. In addition, your students may create videos for highlighting what they have learned.
Another tool is mind mapping. XMind is an example of mind mapping (http://www.xmind.net/). This tool can be used to clarify thinking, manage complex information, brainstorming, and organizing your thoughts and projects. A free version is available.
With online classes, the possibilities are endless. We have to open our minds to new ways of presenting information without going overboard. Too much technology can be overwhelming and hinder learning. A little technology goes a long way in promoting learning.
Thanks Brenda for your suggestions and words of wisdom.
ReplyDeleteI think "the tools and resources you need to help your online students succeed" are not very different from the tools and resources you need to help your traditional or regular brick-and-mortar or face-to-face college students succeed. Spoon-feeding tends to be for children. Colleges and universities are supposed to be for adults and (the production of) critical thinkers. Hence, your comments below can be generalized to apply to almost all college or university instruction and use of technology:
"The role of the instructor of an online course is to guide the learner. The student becomes responsible for his/her own learning and develops into a life-long learner. Instructors must guide the learners to be critical of online resources. The students need to learn which online resources are trustworthy."
"We have to open our minds to new ways of presenting information without going overboard. Too much technology can be overwhelming and hinder learning. A little technology goes a long way in promoting learning."
Safro Kwame
Dr. Kwame,
DeleteThank you for your comments, and thank you for not being too hard on me since I am just a fill-in blogger. I would agree with your comments. However, when students begin as freshman or first time online learners, some "spoon-feeding" needs to happen to obtain the desired outcome.
As a fill-in blogger, my goal for the blog is just to introduce a few free tech tools. (Grammarly is not free, but offers a free trial) since Lincoln's funds are limited. I am hoping to start a discussion on what technology everyone is using in the classrooms. Do you have any tech tools that you would recommend?
Respectfully,
Brenda
Just a fill-in blogger! You are doing a wonderful job! Maybe we should have more fill-in bloggers.
ReplyDeleteYes, Grammarly is not free, but Paper Rater is.
PaperRater.com is a free resource, developed and maintained by linguistics professionals and graduate students. PaperRater.com analyzes documents immediately, 24/7, in real-time. We provide in depth analysis to help the student improve grammar and writing. Some of our features include:
Plagiarism Detection
Auto Grader
Spelling and Grammar Check
Style and Word Choice Analysis
Readability Statistics
Title Validation
Vocabulary Builder tool
Paper Rater
Safro Kwame
Dr. Kwame,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. I have never heard of Paper Rater. It looks like a great tech tool. I want to establish a database of tech tools as a resource for the campus community.
Brenda
Brenda, thanks for giving us so much to think about! I agree with Kwame that much of what you said pertains to any good teaching, not just that done online.
ReplyDeleteOne question your software recommendations raised for me has to do with the utility of grammar checkers. As a writing teacher, I always feel they fall into the COIK category: Clear Only If Known. If students understand what a run-on sentence is, or passive voice, or whatever, and simply made the mistake in haste, then having a program that slows them down and points out the potential error is definitely a help, just like spellcheckers fix up typos. But if the student doesn't understand the category, and software like Grammerly flags something, the tendency is to make a change without understanding why, often changing something for the worse or changing something that really was fine in the first place.
It's an issue I struggle with. I would love to hear how other faculty and staff use (or don't use) grammar checking options.
I use grammar checking software, such as Grammarly, as a second opinion and for almost the same reason I use spellcheckers and computers. They are helpful, but not necessary.
ReplyDelete"Grammarly provides another set of eyes to help perfect your writing" or give students feedback.
Note that these software tools do not just check grammar; they check for plagiarism too (which helps me confirm my fears and provide students with evidence of plagiarism).
Safro Kwame
That is why I run my papers through Grammarly twice. I can see if I corrected the problem or not. In my opinion, the only learners who are going to use a grammar checking software are those who are required to or are truly interested in improving their writing. I did look at Paper Rater. It did not offer the examples for corrections that Grammarly offers. Grammarly gives you examples of incorrect and correct examples and explanations.
ReplyDeleteFor me, it is faster to use a grammar checking software. Just call me lazy! It points out my errors so I can correct them. I tend to write passively. Grammarly recognizes this and reminds me of my errors.
I think Grammarly is a necessity for those of us who cannot remember all of the grammar rules just as the spell checker is necessary for people who cannot spell. I think Grammarly is a time saver.
Brenda
Thanks for this useful information
ReplyDeletegrammar check