Setting up an Online Learning Experience

Before beginning a course, the instructor has to take time to think and prepare his/herself and the learners for an online experience. There are several things to consider before the course begins.

• What is the significance of knowing the technology available to learners?
• Why is it essential to communicate clear expectations to learners?
• What additional considerations should the instructor take into account when setting up an online learning experience?

 Knowing the technology that is available to you is significant because various amount of tools are used in an online environment. As an instructor, you want to pick online tools that would benefit learners and the objectives of the course. The instructor should also keep the technology that is used simple at the beginning and eventually progress to challenging technology. The types of technology that would be beneficial to online courses are email, course announcements, turnitin, blogs, and discussion forums.

Instructors also have to tell the learners what are the expectations from the course from day one. Students need to know everything from what time are assignments due, category weights, how to turn in assignments, on down to what do I need to do to be success in an online course. Instructors can communicate these things in the course syllabus and in course announcements. "Clear and unambiguous guidelines about what is expected of learners and what they should expect from an instructor make a significant contribution to ensuring understanding and satisfaction in an online course." (Boettcher and Conrad p 55)

 Finally, the instructor must take learners background, community building, and social presence into consideration when setting up the online learning experience. All the students that will be participating in the online course come from different areas, cultures, ethnicity, and different backgrounds in learn and/or online learning experience. The instructor has to be certain to meet the needs of all learners and try not to loose any students in the first two weeks.
The instructor has to also make the first step in getting the learners in the course to create a learning community. Online learning is different from traditional learning. It can get very lonely. If the students and the instructors develop a community from the start no one will get left behind.
Social presence can tie right in with community building. The instructor has to establish a presence in the course. He/she has to make themselves available to the students. Instructors can do this by posting a getting acquainted post and posting announcements.
Student success in an online course is almost depended upon the set up of the online environment.

Reference
Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Online Learning Communities

Being successful in an online program starts with the building of a learning community. Online learning can be completely different from traditional face-to-face learning. In online learning, the students are in charge of their learning and the course instructors are the facilitators. Students that are not accustom to online learning can find themselves in a state of isolation or loneliness. That's where online communities come into play.

The learning community impacts student learning and satisfaction with the online course. The learning community acts as a support system for the learners. "The power of the learning communities is learner-to-learner engagement. The goal is a sense of co-created knowledge and meaning." (Palloff, Pratt Online Learning Communities) Once the feeling of community is established in the course students can excel and the satisfaction with the online course goes up.

In order for an online community to be successful the essential elements of building a online community has to be present. The essential elements of an online community are course navigation, course atmosphere, and the instructor's role as a facilitator.

The course need to be easy to navigate and user friendly for any student regardless of online learning experience. The atmosphere of the course should be welcoming and friendly. Dr. Palloff gave several suggestions on how to make the course user friendly. She suggest using naming conventions, emoticons, explanation points, and giving the student lounge a catchy name so students will feel comfort utilizing the lounge to talk. Finally, the instructor's role as a facilitator is to set the tone of the course. The facilitator has to provide support for the students and lead by example.

Online communities can be sustained by the instructor being supportive and encouraging the students, students establishing a relationship with each other, and maintain the importance of students and facilitators are equal partners.  Community building equals effective online instruction.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog. This blog will document my journey through my Walden course (EIDT 6510). Topic that will be discussed are the effectiveness of online learning and strategies to make online learners successful. Welcome and I hope you enjoy and find some useful tips.