Technological tools that learners use outside the classroom that can be utilized in the educational process include Skype, wikis, blogs, phones, email and IM. These tools can all be used to first provide learners with the opportunity to interact and develop rapport within their learning community, then to increase student interactivity and enhance their learning experience, as stated by Durrington, et al. (2006). With these tools learners are able to collaborate regardless of the geographic distance between them. The advantages of these tools are that they are all easily accessible and quite user friendly.
Great outline! There are a lot of tools to help facilitate participate in a course. I know we are struggling to put a calculus course online right now- we can't seem to find the right tool to get the process of solving the problems across- we are experimenting with screen casting right now.
ReplyDeleteLove the graphic organizer! I placed instant messaging into the collaboration section. Do you feel that it could also be placed here? Learners could instant message one another to discuss the topic at hand. They could then post their culminating thoughts to a message board, wiki, or blog.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent way to show how the parts come together to form the whole. Which ones to use at which time can be the question. Sometimes we can have too many tools to chose from, don't you think?
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