Technology is changing the face of education. We are living in a digital age and education is evolving to adapt to technological changes. Face-to-face learning has been the convention with how students learn; however, with the increase in digital advances, completely face-to-face classes may begin to make room for hybrid classes and total distance learning education.
With face-to-face learning, students and instructors engage each other in a physical classroom environment for a set period of time throughout the week. For web-enhanced hybrid learning environments, students and instructors split class meetings up between physical in class sessions and online sessions which, “Connects the learners in a cooperative, interactive environment that offers online interactive activities”. (Crawford,Smith, Smith, 2008)
Purely web-based classes, or distance/online learning environments occur entirely online. Students and instructors engage each other through discussions and activities in a virtual learning community.
The teaching technique that I believe would work best for face-to-face is clicker use in class. When students do not know an answer to a question, or are uncomfortable with responding, they tend to not answer. It is something that I have seen often with my English Language Learner students. With the use of clickers, however, there is no sense of embarrassment because responses to questions are anonymous. ” The anonymous feature of the clicker system ensures that viewpoints that might not otherwise be expressed during class discussion are given a voice”. (Zhu,2007) Clickers can also help to build a student’s confidence once they see that many people share their same response to a question.
Team-based learning could be a good strategy to incorporate in hybrid learning as teams could interact virtually in order to delegate the responsibilities and particulars of as assignment. When students meet face-to-face, it can be a time to piece together all aspects of an activity in order to create cohesion. With team-based learning, the emphasis is on providing an, “…Environment in which students become actively engaged in the learning process”. (Knight, 2002)
As online learners ourselves, we see that discussion strategies is a beneficial technique for distance learning. Discussion is at the heart of virtual education. Instructors lead online courses by providing thought provoking questions and comments in order to actively engage students. Discussion strategies also helps to keep distance learners motivated as students respond to each other. This helps to create an environment that is conducive for learning.
References:
Crawford,C.M., Smith, R. A., Smith, M.S. (2008) Course Students Satisfaction Results: Differentiation Between Face-to-Face, Hybrid, and Online Learning
Environments. CEDER Yearbook, 135-149.
Zhu, E. (2007) Teaching with Clickers. CRLT Occasional Papers. No. 22
Knight, B. A. (2002) Team Based Learning: A Strategy for Transforming the Quality and Learning.
As we wrap up week five of our course, I continue to be extremely excited about having my kids design their own blog/websites. I think that in the wave of technology that students come into contact with each day, incorporating some type of online learning aspect in educational context could only produce positive gains. As educators, we have to adapt to the changing times and teach in such a way that incorporates all aspects of the ever evolving landscape of education.
One of my recent discussion posts brought up the question of using games as an effective learning tool in the classroom. I am curious: do you think that games/simulations should be utilized in education?
In keeping with my interest in games in the classroom, below is a resource for fun games for learning!
Apple Pie ELLs 