What I Take With Me

After completing this course I know believe in using a wide range of teaching approaches. I still believe in a well designed environment is the main key in learning but after this course I now believe in support learning. I have gotten away from my previous belief that the best way for students to learn was for the teachers to support them directly and have them practice what they learned. I am more in favor of student initiated learning and direct learning. But I have come to realize that there is still room for many teaching approaches that use elements from each. Because every student has unique learning style and needs I am now capable of using the full range to guide their learning. Upon completion of all of this it is important for the teacher to remember that in order for various skills and concepts to be learned different teaching approaches are required.

I have learned that when you want a student to explore and construct an understanding on their own, student initiated learning is proven to be the most effective. This can be even more useful when students participate in collaborative group projects. When completing an assignment of this nature the instructor chooses the project and sets the basic needed but the students get to choose the information and the action. By doing this student alone or together interact with materials/resources freely and in many different ways. In a group each learner develops different concepts through reading, research, engagement, and conversation. After this is complete it is up to the teacher to decide how to scaffold the student’s learning by building on explorations to further learning at the moment or at a later time. Though student initiated learning is a good thing and can prove very educational substantial teacher involvement is still required. So what role does the teacher play in online teaching if there is going to be student initiated learning? While student’s can learn alone or through interaction not all experiences lead to meaningful learning some things just require distinct teaching.

Both student initiated and teacher initiated learning each involve different types of teacher interaction. It is well known that teaching on campus requires a great deal of teacher involvement and online teaching is not different. Actually, online teaching requires just a little more. As the teacher you must be available at certain times, aware of everything (within in your control) that goes on online, non bias, very flexible, computer literate and a whole lot more. Teachers must also be able to support student’s learning using a wide range of approaches. Teachers must interact with students throughout the day to a certain degree. We must determine when a reply is needed, when to observe, encourage, or intervene. Nevertheless, everyday will not be the same. On certain days all you have to do is model a skill or behavior and just guide their students learning. In situations like this open ended questions are very useful because it generates critical thinking. Just remember the teacher is the one who provides the platform to extend students learning. To do this you must be available when teaching online learning.