- reading and responding to an article on learner interactions
- reading and responding to an article on online underachievers
- creating a Learning Support Agreement (LSA) using a new online collaborative tool
- exploring the needs of special learning through Universal Design for Learning
Wayne Wollaston
2/2/2011
Post a response to the Discussion Forum on Learner Interactions: How would you prioritize the three types of interaction --student-teacher interaction, student-student interaction, and student-content interaction? Explain your rationale. Be sure to respond to at least two others!
Marc Prensky (2000) argues that different learning outcomes are best learned through particular types of learning activities. Prensky asks not, “How do students learn?” but more specifically, “How do they learn what?”
I totally agree with Mr. Prensky that as teachers we have to seek out how students are learning and meet them on that level. I would prioritize the types of interaction as follows from high to low.
· Student to content
· Student to student
· Student to teacher
Student to teacher interaction is good but here in the twenty first century we are moving beyond this type of interaction. Teachers are becoming more of a facilitator of the lesson; meaning we introduce the lesson and set up the guideline for students to find the information. Students need us to point them in the right direction and give them some form of guidance.
When students are able to share information with each other this is the best kind of learning. I have seen students convey subject content in such simple language to their peers which made me ask myself why we could not have explained it in that way in the first place. As students advance to the upper grades teachers do away with learning centers and this should not be. We need more learning centers in the classroom, than the lecture style of teaching, as it teaches students how to work in cooperative groups. It is a pleasure to watch students in an elementary school share in a discovery at a learning center.
I agree that underachievers are problematic in the K-12 environment and we need to find ways to encourage them to participate. Having underachievers help in sharing the workload is definitely a way to get them involved. This will give some underachievers a sense of belonging and self worth and may motive them to work and be a part of the group. It has been my experience that to get the underachiever to work, he has to see some intrinsic value in the task in order to have maximum participation.
In my classes, I have always tried to relate what I am teaching to the real world as much as possible. This, I have seen really gets my students involved and show them how they can incorporate what they have learned to earning a living in the real world. Math was never my strong point in school, however, until a teacher showed me that what I was learning could help me to earn a living later in life, did I start to apply myself to the subject. So now, I’ve put myself in the place of my students and try to think as they do.
Grades earned by each student will be emailed to the student within two days after the due date of the assignment.
Welcome to Mr. Wollaston’s online course in the Development of the Twenty-First Century Student. If you have never taken an online course before please take the time to read the following. This document is called an Online Learning Support Agreement and will set the expectation of this class, what you as the student can expect from me as your instructor and your responsibility as the student. An online class is a lot different than sitting in a classroom at your school, and requires each student to commit to the program. I am looking forward to a great time exploring the thinking of the 21st century student with you.
As soon as you have read this Learning Support Agreement please reply to this email with an acceptance statement, so I know you have read it and agree to its terms of shared learning and cooperative exchange. Please print out or file a copy yourself, keeping it where you can find it for reference.
Pre-class: Each student will be sent an introductory email. In this email you will be informed of the Wiki and the online format that we will be using to collaborate. It is recommended that each student create a username and a password. Please also create an introductory page and invite me and your fellow classmates to join as editors.
During Class: As your instructor, you will be able to communicate with me on the discussion board, by email and texting. However, most of problems you may email or text and I will respond to all such communications within a 24 hour period. My email is PWollaston@ our communication will be on the discussion board. If you are having yahoo .com and you may text me at 770 628 1829.
All students are required to participate in each week’s lesson. Participation is seen as answering and posting to the discussion board or Wiki each week. You will also be required to post a comment to at least three other classmates’ posting each week. Not posting within a two week period will be seen as the student dropping out of the class. If an emergency comes up please inform me as soon as possible. Make-ups will be reviewed on a case by case basis. If for any reason you feel you may not be able to continue please contact me so we can discuss how you may be placed in a physical classroom. Remember, you must have the six credits from this class either online or in a physical classroom in order to move to the 9th grade.
It is my expectation that each student will have to commit five hours a week in this class which translates to an hour each day. All new weekly assignments will start on the Monday and will be due the following Sunday at midnight. Any work not turned in on time will earn a grade of zero. If you are experiencing problems please inform me at least five hours before the time due. I would advise you to start all assignments early and post your work. Remember your fellow peers are depending on you for feedback. There may be times when you will be a part of a group. Each student is expected to participate as there will be a personal and group evaluation at the end of the course. Students will lose marks for lack of participation.When the course ends: This class is an eight week class. We will start on March 1st, 2011 and end on April 30th 2011. All class materials will remain accessible to each student. All final grades will be sent by email to each student. Students will have seven days after the course ends to download and save to a flash drive all work done in this class. Afterwards the Wiki will be cleared and students will no longer have access to their work.
Technical Support: For any problems with your internet connection, please contact your provider. All students are required to have a working computer that supports Microsoft Windows 7.
Class Announcements: All class weekly announcements will be made on my classroom blog.
Feedback: I will provide weekly feedback to students individually and also as a group. This will all be done by email or on each student’s Wiki page.
