Siemens,
Anderson and Durrington suggested instructional strategies for engaging online
students and suggested tools for structuring classroom environments that will
improve teaching and learning experiences. Siemens in his podcast, for example, spoke of
inherent issues with online learning where students have web access to all the
material/resources that the teacher has, and that teachers should not to expect
students to navigate effectively through all these resources without some
guidance (Learnonline, 2007). Siemens’ solution to these problems was
curatorial teaching. Anderson (2008) on the other hand, believed that to fully
engage learners online, there need to be sufficient levels of three components
of presences in online learning environments: social presence, cognitive
presence, and teaching presence (p.344).
Based on this notion, Anderson (2008) constructed the Community of
Inquiry model. Adding to this body of knowledge and resources to improve online
teaching and learning, Durrington, Berryhill & Swafford (2006) suggested
strategies for increasing student interactivity via structured learning
environment, discussions, peer-to-peer interactions, and problem-based learning. The following is a graphical
display of these instructional strategies for engaging learners in distance
education. Please note that there are common
characteristics shared between strategies surrounding:
and
For instance,
Siemen’s curatorial teaching (with web artifacts) is present is all three areas. Also, Durrington et al. (2006) asynchronous mediated
discussion strategies and student mediated discussion are present in both
content and communication segments.
Figure 1. Graphical organizer depicting instructional
strategies for engaging learners in distance education.
Bringing Learners’
Technological into Distance Education
Online
tools are in abundance today, aiding interactions between co-workers, family
and friends. Many of these online tools that learners use outside the classroom
on a social level can also be used in distance education to help students
collaborate and construct knowledge. For instance, virtual bookmarks can be
shared among learners who are using digital books. Examples, of virtual
bookmarks are Delicious or Diigo. Social networking sites such as
Facebook, Friendster, LinkedIn and MySpace can also be brought over into online
courses of which peers will be allowed to post photos, videos, and comments as
a means of connecting and networking online. Google offers practical collaborative
tools such as Google Docs and Google groups. Synchronous communication can occur with most
of these tools, which can improve authentic learning. Twitter, live video
streaming and podcasting are good examples of this. Online learners already possess
computers and Internet connection to become engaged in all these activities,
the only missing element here is an incorporation of these tools within the
learning platform.
References
Anderson, T. (Ed.). (2008). The
theory and practice of online learning (2nd ed.). Edmonton, AB: Athabasca
University Press.
