Online Learning

As online learning becomes more widely recognized, and the success stories spread, more and more students are taking advantage of the opportunity, making the online student population more diverse. Guiding and individualizing learning. Communication, assessing, grading and promoting, and developing the online course content and structure. Online learning can provide alternative ways to accomplish academic tasks. electronic learning environments comprising of materials to be read, videos to watch. Activities to do, assignments to complete, discussions to join, tests to take and more. For an online course to be accessible, all of the online learning activities must be accessible.

Differentiated instruction has become a popular approach to teaching and learning, that takes in to consideration the diversity of students in, in school today. Thomas in and Allen 2000 describe differentiation as, quote, simply attending to the learning needs, of a particular student or small group of students. Rather than the more typical pattern of teaching the class as though all individuals in it are basically alike. The goal of a differentiated classroom is maximum student growth and individual success. This is accomplished by instructional and management strategies that allow for students to work at different levels and achieve varying levels of mastery.

Examples include teaching to multiple intelligences.

Individualized questioning strategies, alternative grouping methods, and supplemental materials based on student needs and interests.

According to Cavanaugh Bluemeyer one way to incorporate differentiated instruction into virtual instruction is to adopt the principles of Universal Design for Learning, UDL. A concept introduced by CAST, which I mentioned earlier, but it is the center for applied special technology.

UDL recommends educators design learning environments characterized by three types of flexibility and alternatives, multiple ways in which content is presented. Multiple way, multiple modes for student expression. And multiple means for engaging student interest. The goal of UDL is to create learning opportunities that provide the greatest possible accommodation to the greatest number of students. So again, that's multiple ways of content presentation. Multiple modes for student expression and multiple means for engaging student interest. These are the three components of the Universal Design for Learning, UDL. Most existing online courses are designed for students who are competent readers and proficient at working independently, but many learners fall outside competency and proficiency levels. One way to support exceptional learners is to design courses online that match their specific learning profiles and maximize their opportunities for success. Students with learning disabilities need learning options that are not dependent on reading skills to accommodate students who do not read well. Audio files can be included with the digitized readings of all text contained on each page. Short, narrated video clips can provide overviews of lessons, illustrate steps for strategies and remind students how to perform required skills. All audio and video files for any given page can be available as options to be accessed, paused, replayed, enlarged and otherwise controlled by the learner as needed.

Social Media and Education

It really important to think about your students' needs, when you're selecting a technology. Make sure the technology aligns directly to the learning objective, and that it actually helps you accomplish that learning objective. Gear your technology choices to the kind of audience that you have.

Use social technologies and you can, that you think about them as tools to drive community but also, as tools for learning.    Social media class accounts can be used to create a contained space where students can present ideas, collections, or even work, and then get feedback from other students. Class blogs and students' blogs can be more about reflection, more about collection and development of a project, or getting feedback.

Teachers are challenged when trying to make a social community with using a social technology as parents and administration see them playing rather than engaging students.

 
Still, social media can play a role in enhancing education as it builds rapport. A teacher can make learning fun through uploading class photos. It can also be an extension of the real and the online class.

Gamfication

Gamification is a hot topic. Can games enhance education? Definitely, they can. Use games and apps that are out there, freely available over the Internet, on your mobile devices, depending on what kinds of access your students have. There are lots of free great games.  Check websites that review games. Parents can get engaged in those kinds of games as well too, because they can really help students focus on skills that they may need to build when they are at home. So that is one strand of ways to use games or to gamify.  The second strand is to do it yourself via applying the rules of gamification to lessons. Like using leaderboards in  your class to create healthy competition,  or creating levels and giving badges.  The third way to use games is introducing students to games like Minecraft and Scratch. They allow students to not only play a game in those environments, but then to also build, be creative, and to get real great exposure to technology and even programming.

Online tools that can be used to supplement instruction:

Blogs: 

 The term blog came from a contraction of the term weblog. A website written in the form of a journal or diary log, where readers may leave comments in an interactive formats. A blog is an individual's online journal. A typical blogger or a person who blogs writes about any number of subjects and posts it on the internet. Bloggers may write about hobbies, observations, specific interests like cooking, experience, raising a disabled child, or their life in general. People who read the blog can post comments about the content, and the blogger may be able to comment on those comments, starting a dialogue. Typically, the original blog post is at the top of the page, and readers' comments are underneath it, all only editable by the blogger.

Some blogs have a search function to allow a user to locate specific content within blog posts. Entries are usually arranged by date in reverse chronological order.

A vlog, spelled with a v, is a video blog made up of short video clips.

Photo blogs have content that consists mainly of photographs rather than texts.

Audio blogs are made up of audio files instead of text. These various forms of blogs can meet a variety of learning styles and interests.

Blogs can be used in many ways in learning. With students in grades from Kindergarten, through college and beyond. Blogs can be a way to encourage journal writing with younger students and help develop writing and typing practice. Students can be encouraged to pick an area of personal interest, soccer, movies, ballet, et cetera, and set up a blog to post once a week. In higher education, a blog could be used to post a weekly reflection based on the week's content of the course, as a way to internalize the content and keep a record of what was gained from the course. 

Some sites that are useful in setting up blogs are: blogger.com, Wordpress.com, blogspot.com, and google.com/blogger. 

Wikis 

A Wiki is an open forum for a community to share ideas about a particular topic. Wikis and blogs have both grown in popularity because of their ease of use and the number of free software options offered on the internet. 

A wiki is similar to a blog in that both center on  certain topics , but a wiki offers versatility. A wiki is a website that allows easy creation and editing of interlinked webpages. It is a way for content to be shared and created and can be edited, deleted or created by anyone who visits the wiki. Posts can be edited almost immediately. 

Wikipedia is example of a well-known wiki. Anyone can add to and edit the content  of any article. This makes Wikipedia a great collaborative resource, but also a cautionary source.  Many teachers guide students to use Wikipedia as a start but to locate the source's cited within Wikipedia for actual sources, since content may not be reliable.

The participatory nature of a wiki makes it a great educational tool in online or blended instructional programs. One example of how to use a wiki with students is to have students each create a wiki that serves as a way to post homework assignments and notices to parents. Categories on the class wiki could include assignments, reading lists, online novels, or ebooks, lists of local libraries, writer's corner, and book club discussions. Other ideas for a wiki could be to create a virtual museum or art show, and students creating a wiki based on something they are studying. 

Some sites that are useful in setting up wikis are: pbworks.com, wikispaces.com, and Google sites, google.com/sites.

Based on a lecture

California State University.