Dr. Donna M. Qualters uncovers some interesting information in her research study Do Students Want to be Active? Four important themes emerged from the analysis: the students had an overall positive attitude toward active learning; active learning was perceived to enhance their ability and efficiency in studying; active learning was perceived to improve the learning environment; and, active learning promoted their thinking about their learning and thus helped them to better understand their individual learning style. She also uncovered a few negatives that could easily be converted using the right interventions. She concludes by writing, "The most important need to be addressed is the inability of some students to deal with change. Many of these students come to higher education with expectations of very passive classroom experiences and those expectations must be uncovered, probed and altered. For some students it may go as far as the necessity to reframe what learning is: learning is not about covering material or gathering facts, learning is about integrating and using information in a meaningful way."
USING FACEBOOK IN CLASS
Research shows that there is a correlation between social presence
and student success. When students feel connected to a community of
inquiry they are more enthusiastic, motivated, and they perform better.
If that engagement, communication, and awareness happens continuously
and in real-time, as it does in a face-to-face classroom — all the
better. Sidneyeve Matrix wrote a recent blog entry about bringing students together who are enrolled in a class that is being taught face-to-face and online concurrently so that the e-students would feel connected and not isolated online? Feeling out of the proverbial loop
is one of the most oft-cited challenges for distance learners.
Traditionally, a face-to-face classroom, “requires a disciplined
commitment from the students to actually participate in the learning
activities and reach out to others in the class,” observes Cory Stokes,
director of the University of Utah's Technology Assisted Curriculum Center, in charge of
testing for online courses. Matrix concludes, "In an online course, the onus is on the
student to be self-disciplined enough to engage in self-study, often
without the benefit of a class community to drive engagement and
interest."
DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION
Joshua Kim has written an interesting post about Pearson's OpenClass. He discusses how it fits in the LMS ecosystem and how it compares to Blackboard and Moodle among others. Now that BRCC has decided to move forward with Blackboard 9.1, it is beneficial to take a look at the other add-ons out there. Stay tuned for more information about our eLearning and course delivery efforts.
FILLING IN THE GAPS
Here is an active learning method, pulled from the BRCC Active Learning Manual, that has proven to help students learn from each other and test themselves. Offer note completion time in your class.
Towards the end of a class that you have provided a heavy dose of information,
ask students to exchange notes and fill in any gaps they identify. This
technique helps them generate complete notes as they review the course
material. It also helps them to identify what they know and what they need to
study. In addition, it allows less-skilled note takers to learn from those who
are adept at taking notes. You could also have them share their note-taking tips with the class.
