Turntin, Playscan, Checkforplagiarism.net, iThenticate are
just a few software resources available to online instructors or any instructor
for that matter. But even with all of
these resources there are still gaps in the system. I remember when paying to have a company
write a paper was the “in” thing to do.
I don’t know how even with all the check systems we have plagiarism is
still such a big issue. I think one
thing that does make jobs easier for professors is the ability to check things
quickly with the online resource. I
think that by giving students choice you allow them the ability to express
themselves and not feel pressured with something that you as an instructor are
familiar and comfortable with. Of course
as with anything you have to ensure that all students are aware that plagiarism
is not tolerated under any circumstances and that there will be consequences
for violators. One helpful tool would be
for instructors to allow for checkpoints in assignments that require heavy
references. I know when I was getting my
Master’s Degree one portion of our capstone was just the references, I think
this kept everyone focused and made us really do our research and the flag of
awareness was up that plagiarism would not be tolerated. I personally think that models of good student
work and poor student work can help reduce plagiarism. A lot of what students go into college
knowing about research and plagiarism is little to none. And that maybe something education has to
start looking at and that is incorporating more well developed research
resources for students in high school, so that when they get to college it
becomes somewhat second nature because research is a big part of college
education.
Welcome To Aubrey's EdCorner
Monday, February 18, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Impact of Technology on Adult Learning
Technology has a
great impact on adult learning it allows us to collaborate and stay in instant
contact with each other at all times.
Before incorporating technology into any online learning environment instructors
should ensure that they have provided students with the opportunity to become
knowledgeable with navigating online systems if they’ve never done so and make
a checks and balance sheet for what students do and don’t know. By knowing what students already know,
faculty can design experiences to ensure an accurate knowledge structure and
growth of that structure (Boettcher and Conrad, 2010, p. 24). It is very important for adult learners in
online courses to have full usability and accessibility to online access. A number of online adult learners are already
in demanding careers and have families, so the flexibility of being able to
log-in and talk to classmates, the professor or a help desk from anywhere and
at any time is very important. Nurturing
a learning community as part of an online course is almost as important as
being a significant presence. A learning
community in a face-to-face environment often develops spontaneously as
students generally have more opportunities to get to know one another and
develop friendships outside a particular course. More explicit nurturing and planning is
required in the online environment for a learning community to develop
(Boettcher and Conrad, 2010, p. 38-39). Ipads
are very appealing for teaching online classes the technology allows a student
to do everything from research to connecting for collaboration and even sharing
information in real time. The assistance
that this technology brings to students is unbelievable being that we are all
spread out all of the country.
Boettcher, Judith,
V. and Conrad, Rita-Maria (2010). The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple
and Practical Pedagogical Tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Internet-Based
Multimedia Resources for Online Learning
For this assignment I chose the following two sites. There is a wealth of information on the
internet and educators have to make sure that it aligns with their
instructional goals. In addition to what
a learner has to master with the Universities online site educators also have
outside expectations of their students and must keep in mind that exploring a
school’s site can be the first time that an online student has engaged in an
online program therefore lots of direction and student monitoring could
possibly be needed. By involving cyberstudents in activities that utilize games
and simulations, real-life skills can be enhanced and learning can be made fun
(Conrad and Donaldson, 2011, p. 101).
Google Docs is a Web-based word processing, presentation and
spreadsheet program offered by Google. This
software is similar to the Walden online website and most online educational
websites in that students can connect from any device that is internet
accessible. With this technology adult
learners are able to collaborate on group projects at the same time by tracking
and updating data, take quizzes, check grades and form discussions all on line. I selected this technology because it’s free it
does not require the need to sign up for any license. I would use this technology to specifically
allow multiple students to work outside of the classroom in groups several would
be able to collaborate on one document as a group assignment then present as a
group in addition I would build on conversations via discussion board and/or
blog.
This speech recognition technology assists with
teaching students to read. A reading
monitor reads information to the student and then the student is afforded the
opportunity to read the information back.
If the student is successful he/she receives positive feedback if not
the user is able to try again. As the
students reading skills improve the monitor reads less and the student reads
more on their own. I selected this
technology because ELL students need lots of practice hearing accurately spoken
words and being given the opportunity to practice for accuracy and
understanding on their own. I would use
this program in the classroom during instruction so that the students could
revisit the material in class and at home.
I would also set up online tutorials for the student to utilize at home
over the weekends and breaks.
Conrad, R.M. and Donaldson, J.A. (2011). Engaging the Online
Learner: Activities and Resources for
Creative Instruction. San
Francisco, CA. Jossey-Bass.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Effective Online Learning Experiences
Week
3: Setting Up Effective Online Learning
Experiences
The steps for setting up an
effective online learning experience for adult learners should not be that much
more different than that of a face-to-face adult class. The most important thing should be the
instructor’s connection with the content.
Does the instructor have a wealth of background knowledge and experience
with the course to help direct and support learning adults or no different than
children when it comes to learning we need someone to learn from to. This helps to set up the learning environment
and what is expected of students.
Learning online only takes place when the instructor and students are
engaged in the material and one another.
Online learners depend on each other
to build knowledge based on constant feedback from each other. While in a face-to-face class students take
notes, take a test and write papers and experience a great deal of interaction
with the instructor and peers. With
online classes there is this notion that independent discipline is a must. Students must make it a point to read and
re-read for understanding how to navigate an online university from the course
page to the resources of the course and the university’s library. Students answer discussion questions, post
papers and as in this course create blog pages. A lot depends on the clarity of written
communication because online is in a sense not in real time. If there’s a question you have an area you
can email the instructor for assistance or call during normal business hours
(keep in my online means students from all over the world with different time
zones). But for the most part there’s a
technology support line to help with technical difficulties.
In planning a face-to-face course,
many faculty devote significant time to creating and developing lectures. For online teaching, the time spent in
preparing lectures transforms into preparing short text, audio or video
introductions or mini-lectures, developing and managing threaded discussions,
and monitoring other student spaces, such as forums on the course site
(Boettcher and Conrad, 2010, p. 65). The
instructor should always keep the discussions interesting, because they have an
advantage with communicating with students that face-to-face instructors don’t
have. Investing time in developing good
questions for the discussion boards and planning out the scoring rubrics and
evaluation of the discussion boards makes a real difference in how quickly a
learning community starts to form in a course (Boettcher and Conrad, 2010, p.
66). I think online students are willing
to respond and share more not only about the course but also about themselves opposed
to in a face-to-face course. More
simply put just keep in touch with students and provide them with as much
feedback that fosters positive learning as possible.
Aubrey
Boettcher, J.V. and Conrad, R.M.
(2010). The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and
Practical Pedagogical
Tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Week 1: Online Learning Communities
When
I reflect on my experience as an online learner I have to agree with Dr.
Palloff and Dr. Pratt with online learning the Instructor can’t be the focus of
attention is not a face-to-face show where all eyes are on the instructor, but
rather students and their ability to communicate with one another and build
conversations that foster feedback and learning from each other. Students cannot be passive
knowledge-absorbers who rely on the instructor to feed information to
them. In an online course, it is
imperative that they be active knowledge-generators who assume responsibility
for constructing and managing their own learning experience (Conrad and
Donaldson, 2011, p. 5). There has to be
a sense of accountability for students taking ownership of their learning by
actively engaging with their peers and instructor every step of the
course. The involvement of the learner
in the course, whether one calls it interaction, engagement, or building
community, is critical if an online course is to be more than a
lecture-oriented course in which interaction is primarily between the learner
and the content or the learner and the instructor (Conrad and Donaldson, 2011,
p. 4-5). Online learning gives every
student the opportunity to have a voice and grow academically with their fellow
classmates at the same time. Online offers
students the forum to communicate openly especially those learners who are
reserved to speak out in face-to-face classes.
Often times in face-to-face
classes only a few students participate in discussions, but online every
student participates in some way whether it’s with personal experience or
building off of the experiences of others.
Online learning communities can be sustained by instructors making
learning student centered, engaging in discussions, providing feedback,
ensuring that the course is learner friendly without millions of navigations
and posting places, making sure the technical help is available 24/7 and access
can be from anywhere. The relationship
between community building and online learning is that the curriculum should be
designed to promote individual and group activities that enhance continuous learning. They should be real world applicable as possible.
Conrad,
R.M. & Donaldson, J.A. (2011). Engaging the Online Learner: Activities and
Resources for Creative Instruction.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Welcome To Aubrey's Blog Page
Hello Fellow Classmates!
Happy New Year!
Welcome to my blog page. This is my second certification course with Walden University. I must say I have truly learned alot the last 8 weeks ~ I had no idea that there was so much to this big world of technology.
I look forward to learning and growing with each of you!
Aubrey
Happy New Year!
Welcome to my blog page. This is my second certification course with Walden University. I must say I have truly learned alot the last 8 weeks ~ I had no idea that there was so much to this big world of technology.
I look forward to learning and growing with each of you!
Aubrey
Friday, December 21, 2012
Week 8
Week 8 Educational Technologies Blog
I visited one of Revonne’s site: http://vtisp.org/resources/vocabulary/digital-citizenship/
it defines for users the nine elements that comprise being a solid digital
citizen. The user is able to click into
each of the nine elements and read a prompt with resources. What I like most about this site is that it
is adult and child friendly. The cite
has different individual and group tasks.
The curriculum is designed to accommodate Pre-K thru 12th
grades. It has a professional development
component for teachers and a resource page for parents. I would use this site to introduce digital citizenship
to students and to build on professional development with teachers who use
technology in their classrooms.
I also visited Chris’ site: http://www.isafe.org/
an internet safety site. It is designed
for K-12 programs teaching students about internet safety. Each lesson includes activities and class discussions. What is most interesting about this site is not
only is it educational for students, but it also encourages educating parents
by hosting a parent night. The program
also calls for law enforcement teaching a Predator identification awareness
section. I would use this site as a
teaching component of internet safety for educators and to have students create
a campus wide internet safety campaign not only for the campus but for their
entire family. This site makes it easy
for the entire community to be involved in internet safety.
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