Thursday, September 30, 2010

Community 1 Members and Dr. Powley:

WK4 Blog Post:  Elements of Distance Education Diffusion

Please review and post your comments and recommendations regarding the communication element of distance education diffusion.

Thank you.

Baylor, Michele

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Michele,

    I really enjoyed reading your post regarding communication and technology. In my research this week, I discovered a great quote in one of Stephen Downes's blog. He was talking about the importance and fundamental lesson of communicating through technology when he wrote, "The topic of the talk is culturality, and connectivism" (2010). I responded to this quote in my blog, but was wondering what your feelings are on it? How do you utilize communication in your classroom (if you are a teacher)?

    As stated on the elearnspace blog "5 ways tech startups can disrupt education" (2010), teachers need to, "provide learners with the tools to connect and form learning networks with others in a course and across various disciplines (diversity exposure to ideas and connections needs to be intentional)." Are there any tools you have recently utilized that have worked really well for you? I am always looking for new innovative ways to increase technology in my classroom, and learning from other people's experience is very important I think!

    I look forward to your response!

    Lauren Dart

    References:

    Downes, S. (2010, May 16). Connectivism and Transculturality. Retrieved from http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2010/05/connectivism-and-transculturality.html


    elearnspace. (2010, August 31st). 5 ways tech startups can disrupt education. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2010/08/31/5-ways-tech-startups-can-disrupt-education/

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  3. Hi Lauren,

    To address your quote my Downes (2010)communicating through technology, I assigned special projects for my students to complete. For example, my students are provided with many opportunities to use the Internet for researching related class topics and expressing their own reflective thoughts about their conclusions and choices. When students are given opportunities to write and voice their knowledge about a specific topic, they began to become alive. Further, this allows each student to learn something new and to share and expand upon their current knowledge.

    Baylor, Michele

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  4. Hi Michelle,
    I think your students are very lucky to have you as a teacher! It seems you have a flexible style and incorporate the net openly into learning. I just finished watching a short video about the power of intentional communication and the creation of as Mr. Lovenheim, the protagonist in the video puts it, a “huge neighborhood of people around the world”? You mention Edmodo, the social network for the classroom. What do you think of the following lesson presented in the New York Times blog, The Learning Network: Teaching and learning with the New York Times. Be sure to watch the short video (about a ¼ of the page down) and ponder the question: How might Op-Eds [opposite editorial] foster, as Mr. Lovenheim puts it, a “huge neighborhood of people around the world”? What role do they play in today’s era of round-the-clock cable television news programming, news Web sites and blogs? (Kavanagh and Epstein Ojalvo, 2010) And do you think there is a role for online newspapers to foster collaboration, communication in the classroom? Do you use story telling in your teaching practice?

    Kavanagh, S. & Epstein Ojalvo, H. (2010, September 28). Opinion through the ages: Exploring 40 years of New York Times Op-Eds. The Learning Network: Teaching & Learning with the New York Times. Retrieved from http://tiny.cc/vkx31

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