PLE & ONLE Instructional Strategies

PLE and NLE instructional strategies are unique. Effective instructional strategies for technologies can be applied for PLE and NLE; however, PLE and NLE have their unique instructional strategies. Students must integrate these unique instructional strategies into their project in additional to Constructivist Instructional Strategies.

It is very important that ETC students have good understanding in these learning theories and strategies:

Introduction to Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching, and Technology By University of Georgia (Read Section 3: inquiry strategies, tasks if you are interested in instructional strategies.)

Note: You select the one(s) that you are interested to conduct further readings.

• Learning & Cognitive Theories.

• Learner-centered Theories.

• Inquiry Strategies: Tasks

• Inquiry Strategies: Change Learners' Minds

• Tools for Teaching & Learning: Changing or Encouraging human Behaviors

• Tools for Teaching & Learning: Technology Tools

• Socially Oriented Theories

• Directed Instruction Strategies

• Tools for Teaching and Learning: Technology Tools

Students should distinguish PLE and ONLE technology from PLE and ONLE instructional strategies. PLE and NLE instructional strategies may or may not related to technologies. For example, RSS is a social network technology and an instructional strategy to engage learners in information management tasks.

Open Network Linkage Design Model

• All learning content, and resources are linked by gadgets, widgets, embedded scripts, RSS, personal portal, 3rd party, hashtag, social tagging, social network, mobile apps etc.

• Example:

  • Gadget/Widget Linkage: Students do not need to visit Twitter to view course Twitter announcement or discussions. Students can access from their iGoogle, course wiki, blog etc. other web locations. This design is done by using gadget/widget to display course Twitter announcements on other tools in additional on Twitter.

  • Social Tagging Linkage: Use social tags to build PLE/NLE architecture to allow students to organize and to share their learning content and resources. ETC645 requires students to use tags, such as ETC645 Lesson1 Team1 etc. on Diigo or other social bookmarking tools to share and to organize learning content and resources. These social tagging architectures can be applied any web 2.0 tools that have tagging features, such as wiki, Diigo, Flickr etc.

Par: Participatory Web

• Learners are engaged in contributing online content and/or web pages etc.

• Q: Is online discussion considered as participatory web?

• A: Generally, we do not consider online discussion board as participatory web since online discussion postings are in loose-organized content. In ONLE context, participatory web is integrated with UGC or even Community-Community interaction to become more interactive.

• Example:

  • • ETC645 students can create web content and pages on course wiki, blog etc.

    • ETC645 Team blog: Learners can comment others' wiki page or blog postings etc.

UGC: User Generated Content

• Students are empowered to create learning content for peers to learn rather than instructors. Frequently, we integrate UGC with participatory web to enhance learning.

• Q: Is it considered as UGC, if I ask students to use wiki to create their assignments and share with other students?

• A: Yes & No. UGC requires students to generate "learning content," "share with other students," and "other students must read learning content as activity requirements. If simply sharing students' wiki content, it is just learning resources.

• Q: Is online discussion considered as UGC?

• A: No completely. UGC generally requires more substantial content creation. If we view online discussion as UGC, the discussion content is not well organized and hard to follow. Content generally require better organization.

• Example:

Community-Community Interaction

• Community interaction go beyond within the same semester. Upcoming community earners are able to interact with previous community learners.

• In ONLE context, Community-Community should be seen as cross communities/courses/semesters/schools etc. Within the same course, generally we do not consider it as Community-Community interaction.

• Example:

  • • ETC645 Spring 2010 can interact with ETC645 Fall 2009. We can see previous semesters' learning resources via Diigo's tags.

Agg: Aggregation; Aggregator

• Learners are engaged in aggregating process to get updated on information, such as news or announcements etc.

• Example

  • ETC645: students can aggregate different RSS feeds to get updated on information, such as gadgets: Twitter, Twitter Search, News etc.

Mash: Mashup

• Learners are engaged web development that learners combines online content or online resources from two or many more external sources to support learning.

• Example:

  • ETC645 course wiki site that combines and links multiple Web 2.0 tools into one web location, such as Twitter, Diigo, Google Calendar etc.

  • ETC645 Course Blog that combines and links multiple Web 2.0 tools into one web location.

  • ETC645 Facebook Page

Share: Social content sharing

• Learners are engaged in online sharing learning resources and content etc.

• Social content sharing is another level of online student publishing. Simply posting any content/assignments online is not considered as social content sharing because it requires others to locate/search the shared content. Social content sharing has two-step process: 1. Locate/create content. 2. Social & Sharing the content: Generally many web pages have the sharing features by applying different web 2.0 tools, such as sharing the web pages on Facebook, Twitter with our networked friends and/or followers.

• Example:

  • ETC645: Students are required to use Twitter to identify and to share emerging technologies with analysis with course Hashtag on social network.

Remix: Allow remix online contents

• Learners should be encouraged to remix learning content accessed from social network.

• Example:

  • ETC645 Assignment 4: Online Professional Development for Global Digital Learning: Student groups are encouraged to remix the learning content they find online and/or from previous students with appropriate references.

RSS: Real Simple Syndication

• Create online content with RSS feed feature; Engage learners in RSS activities.

• Example:

  • • ETC655 students add RSS feeds to their PLE, such as Symbaloo, and Netvibes to get updated with dynamic online resources.

Folk: Folksonomy, social tagging

• Learners are engaged in systemic tagging to organize and to share online resources.

• Simply asking learners to tag online resources to share is not considered as effective design because learners may use different tags and tag formats to tag the resources. It is necessary to design a social tagging architecture to guide learners to apply effective tagging methods to share.

• Example:

  • • ETC645 assignments require students to use required tags to share with the course community, such as ETC645 Assignment etc. tags. It requires effective social tagging architecture design. ETC645 Social Tagging Architecture.

Network: Social networking

• Learners are required to network with others, such as Friends, Fans, and Following etc.

• Example:

  • • ETC645: To create learning community, students are required to "follow" ETC645 course Twitter to get updated on course announcements etc.

    • ETC645: Students can "Like" ETC645 Facebook Page.

InfoViz: Information Visualization

• Learners are required to apply digital visual learning tools to support learning.

• Example:

  • • ETC645: Students are required to apply "Wordle" to examine their group Assignment 12 Lesson Content Development to ensure their content reflect their ideas well.

ML: Mobile Learning; Ubiquitous Learning

• Engage learners in mobile learning on mobile devices, such as smartphone, iTouch etc.

• Example:

  • • ETC645: If students have mobile devices, students can access course instructions via Apps, such as Twitter, Diigo, Facebook, RSS etc.

CC: Cloud Computing

• Engage learners utilizing distant network servers for web applications, data storage and management on Internet browser rather than on were traditionally done with software installed on an individual computer.

• Example:

  • • ETC645: Google Docs, students use Google Docs to create, edit, and share work processor, spreadsheet, and presentation documents on the browser. All documents are saved on Google's servers (clouds).

AR: Augmented Reality

• Augmented reality, a capability that has been around for decades, is shifting from what was once seen as a gimmick to a bonafide game-changer. The layering of information over 3D space produces a new experience of the world, sometimes referred to as “blended reality,” and is fueling the broader migration of computing from the desktop to the mobile device, bringing with it new expectations regarding access to information and new opportunities for learning.

• Example:

  • • Using smartphone AR apps to learn Spanish at street corner.

GEO/LBL: Geolocation-based learning; Location-based learning

• • Location-based learning takes advantage of the ability of mobile devices to know where they are located and deliver information that is time- and place-relevant.

• Example:

  • • Guided historical tours to more complex applications for mapping, fieldwork, and immersive activities, location-based learning holds promise for just- in-time learning tied to a student’s physical location.

Game: Game-based learning

• is a branch of serious games that deals with applications that have defined learning outcomes. Generally they are designed in order to balance the subject matter with the gameplay and the ability of the player to retain and apply said subject matter to the real world but it is not limited serious game only.

• Gamification is considered GBL as well. Gamifing learning content is considered an effective way to enhance learning engagement.

• Example:

  • • Learners earn different status/points by answering classmates' questions.