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Dynamic Teaching is all about:
Dynamic Teaching is all about:
Effective Contact through Engagement
Effective Contact through Engagement
To effectively enhance student learning and engagement, as instructors, we need to consider three essential components: Social Presence, Cognitive Presence, and Teaching Presence. These presences are crucial in designing any online course.
Social Presence involves building meaningful relationships with our students, which goes beyond being perceived as just a robot on the other side of the computer screen.
Cognitive Presence encourages critical thinking in students, which can be fostered through assignments that promote individual reflection and peer discussions.
Teaching Presence entails creating class materials and staying connected with our students to keep them on track and providing constructive feedback to help them achieve their goals.
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
Where I was.
Where I was.
Before taking the "Dynamic in Teaching Online" course via @One, online teaching wasn't as engaging for me. While I had educated myself on how to use Canvas and upload class materials, I wasn't considering student engagement or how to provide helpful feedback that would encourage learning and improvement. As a new online teacher, there's so much to learn - how to upload materials, design the course, grade students, and integrate everything into the course management system. This can be overwhelming, leaving little time to focus on creative ways to engage students. I took this course because I felt I was missing an important part of online teaching - my students.
Where I am.
Where I am.
I have learned that designing the look and feel of an online course is only one part of it; the other crucial part is creating connections. Unfortunately, online learners do not have the same teacher-student and student-student interaction that comes naturally with a face-to-face class, and as a result, the dynamic of teaching decreases significantly in an online course.
Through my experiences, I have discovered that one way to increase student engagement is to tailor the class material to the students and include current events. By responding to their questions, assessments, and discussions, I am able to be socially present and create an ideal learning environment for my students.
Currently, I am using the features available on Canvas, such as discussion boards, peer reviews, announcements, and project-based learning assignments, to increase the dynamism in my class. I have noticed a significant change in my online class since I started using these tools, and there is now more interaction and connection between students and myself throughout the semester.
Where I'm headed.
Where I'm headed.
Dynamic online teaching is one of my favorite principles because of the many tools and methods I have learned to create interesting content and increase student engagement. However, there are still many more ways and tools I can use to improve my online courses further. For example, Student-Generated Content is an assignment that allows students to create their own practice materials for the course, and I am excited to generate more of these assignments and incorporate them into my future classes.
I am also planning to use Adobe Spark to create more videos, including tips and techniques to address student questions and clarify any concepts they may find confusing.
Overall, I believe this class is essential for any instructor teaching online, as it provides valuable insights and practical tools for creating an engaging and effective online learning experience.
EXAMPLES
EXAMPLES
An Engaging Online Assignment:
An Engaging Online Assignment:
There is an activity that I created for my online "Time Management" class in which I have found to be profoundly enjoyed by my students and lend it to a lot of good discussion about our subject.
Goal:
To create an engaging assignment in which help students get more interested in the topic, work as a team and get to know their classmates.
Student Learning Objectives:
Student Learning Objectives:
Students will apply active reading and critical thinking skills
Student will research the prioritization, elimination of time wasters, and effective scheduling through the development of comprehensive time management.
Student will research the methods to create goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. Also, to evaluate the role goal setting plays in the workplace.
Prompt:
The assignment is about evaluating and prioritization specific tasks of a person who walks into his office and face these 10 critical problems. They have to read, evaluate, and assign a priority number to each task. In other words, decide which problem he would handle first, second, third, and so forth.
Student Instruction:
Students first prioritize the list individually and then they had to come up with a single answer sheet agreed by their group members. Next, each group write their priority numbers they assigned, on the board and we start discussing about their answers in the class.
Time management can change based on an individual judgment, relativity of their work and timing. Therefore, there is not a single correct answer to this assignment and that lead to a lots of good discussions between students regarding why they choose their numbers. They have to defend their priority list and listen to other group member's reasons on why they choose different answer.
Canvas Instruction:
I used group discussion board on canvas and then opened it up with each groups priority list displayed and allowing the full class to discuss on that.
Result:
I feel that this assignment is successfully engaging students and make them think about what they have learn during the class to come up with better reasons for their selections.
Helpful Tips
Helpful Tips
The video on the left is one that I created for my class to watch at the beginning of the course. This particular course requires students to submit a significant number of forms and documents, and I noticed that many were struggling with this process. To address this, I created the video with the intention of providing all the necessary details and tips they might need throughout the semester.
The video proved to be an effective way to answer many of my students' questions at the start of the course. I used Adobe Spark web application to create the video, which made the process straightforward and allowed me to add creative touches to the presentation.
Online Class Survey
Online Class Survey
On the right is a screenshot of my class survey assignment, and I have also included some sample questions below to demonstrate what I typically ask. I find that using this questionnaire helps me to identify areas where my online teaching may be lacking and allows me to modify the course material in order to increase student engagement.
Below you will find a sample of the questions included in my Online Survey Assignment. I make it a point to update the questions every semester so that I can receive feedback from my students on any new tools or methods I have started to use. This survey is anonymous and provides me with valuable insights that help me improve my course each semester. By collecting this information, I am able to identify areas that need improvement and modify my course material to increase student engagement.
Social Presence:
a) In what ways did you feel connected to the class and instructor throughout the semester?
b) How could social interactions with peers and the instructor have been improved?
Cognitive Presence:
a) How did the course content and assignments encourage critical thinking and problem solving?
b) Were there any particular assignments or activities that you found particularly engaging or challenging?
Teaching Presence:
a) How effective were the instructor's communication and feedback throughout the semester? Were course materials clear and well-organized?
b) Did the instructor provide helpful resources to aid in your learning?
A Dynamic Class Announcement Example
A Dynamic Class Announcement Example
Displayed below are two screen captures of announcements I posted during the semester. Through my experience, I discovered that posting dynamic announcements related to ongoing projects and upcoming assignments generates more student interest and engagement. Additionally, I make a conscious effort to address frequently asked questions and clarify any confusing concepts. I also remind students of important due dates and the late submission policy, which assists them in better managing their time.
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