[James Kerr]

I find the videos on Khan Academy to also illustrate cognitive apprenticeship; demonstrative, situated learning through imitation.  The videos also show insight into the thought processes needed for mathematical functions.

[James Kerr]

The US newspaper USA Today used to be criticized (pre-Internet) for watering down the news and appealing to the masses because of their over-simplified presentations in graphical formats rather than presenting the news stories in greater detail with words.  All style, no substance.  Funny, how today the concept of a “newspaper” is quickly fading, while infographics are growing in popularity.

I am not criticizing infographics; I find them extremely helpful and valuable as resources, when they are assembled with primary sources by or with input from content matter experts.  However, as anyone can make and “publish” an infographic online, one needs the same set of search skills and filters to identify a quality infographic resource as performing straight Internet searches (Google).

[James Kerr]

Embedding resources, such as YouTube videos, into VLE and LMS is convenient, but only effective as long as the original source remains, and as long as the provider supports the types of linkages and embedding you use.  Granted, this example is about 2 years old, but we still regularly deal with the effects of this change from YouTube:

http://www.reelseo.com/youtube-iframe-html5/

[James Kerr]

Google is such a powerful “weapon” for searches, but it really is a shotgun approach.  Google Scholar helps narrow to reliable, primary resources, but it still casts a wide net.  To be able to use Google for quality search results, one must possess excellent searching skills, identification skills, and patience.  Younger learners do not always have that mix.

Also frequently forgotten is that Google is not unbiased or completely objective; they are a business, and they do make money by promoting results.  The impact of this will vary based on the content area being searched, but will impact nonetheless.

The advantage of using other OER aggregators is that it effectively takes the first layer of searching and creates a filter through which the results are passed.

[James Kerr]

A project I worked on with a small group once involved very short video tutorials on different aspects of our university’s learning management system.  One of the videos we produced was how to set up and change profile information.  At first, others did not see the value in this, but later realized that many students were not even aware they had a profile they could change.

[James Kerr]

A quick guide to boolean logic is almost an oxymoron 🙂 I encounter many students who are ineffective at searching, either using Google or other search engines, definitely within library and journal databases, because of the lack of understanding of AND and OR.

[James Kerr]

I do find it interesting that I’ve had a few comments on the blog and in the forums, but no one has, as of yet, added to the timeline or requested access to it.

[James Kerr]

Connectivism is a core concept of Adult Learning; relating our experiences to the new knowledge being presented.  As adults, our pools of experience are deeper and broader than young learners, which could be why MOOCs are better for adult learners than for young learners.  MOOCs rely on self-regulation and self-motivation, but also the ability to relate, or connect, to the content.

[James Kerr]

Thanks for the feedback-this could easily be taken the direction of a web quest, or used as a progress tracker during an entire term.

[James Kerr]

While using a synchronous online learning environment (Adobe Connect) we capture the live chat as well as the notes and distribute them after the synchronous session.  When doing a hybrid class in the HyFlex model, the backchannel is compiled and shared post-session, although the channel continues to generate questions and comments post-synchronous session.

[James Kerr]

Thank you, Jo, I will check out Illeris  -Jim

[James Kerr]

Karen,

You bring up an excellent point.  I was teaching an introduction to computer science course once, and an adult returning student enrolled in the course; he was retraining for another career after losing his job.  Course prerequisites were sent out and listed with the course description.  It was required that students have a basic comfort level with computers and handle the basics, such as starting applications, opening and saving files, using e-mail, etc.  This student felt he met the prerequisites for the course, but was soon struggling with even the most basic computer tasks.  He later inquired about additional tutoring; he thought the course was going to teach him all the basic computer skills he needed, and not require a functional knowledge of computers already.

There are still folks around for whom things like “click”, “right-click”, “taskbar”, and other names and functions are still unknown concepts.  This illustrates why asking questions and having students assess themselves prior to enrolling in TEL and online courses is still necessary.

[James Kerr]

Sue-congratulations on finishing your EdD thesis! I will be taking candidacy exams this autumn, then on to PhD dissertation.

Different departments in our university approach online teaching differently; one department I’m thinking of specifically is requiring GA and GTA to complete an online teaching course/workshop before they start actually instructing, even f2f courses, because even traditional courses carry a technology load, whether it is providing course documents or even just communicating with students via e-mail.

What is interesting is that the same requirements are not made of faculty, even new hires.  Granted, with each subsequent generation of educators, the base technology skill set grows, but assumptions are still made.

[James Kerr]

Just because a student knows how to tweet does not mean they know how to search a library catalog database, let alone determine primary sources.

[James Kerr]

To whom are they most useful?  To the student, to visualize their readiness or provide them information on support options and an unreliable predictor of success?  Or to the instructor, who could potentially gain some insight into the participant audience makeup?  Or to the institution, as a disclaimer, or a source of further data collection?

[Author]

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