Building Online Learning Communities

Building Online Learning Communities

Author: Rena M. Palloff

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2009-12-30

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 0470605464

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Building Online Learning Communities further explores the development of virtual classroom environments that foster a sense of community and empower students to take charge of their learning to successfully achieve learning outcomes. This is the second edition of the groundbreaking book by Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt and has been completely updated and expanded to include the most current information on effective online course development and delivery. A practical, hands-on guide, this resource is filled with illustrative case studies, vignettes, and examples from a wide variety of successful online courses. The authors offer proven strategies for handling challenges that include: Engaging students in the formation of an online learning community. Establishing a sense of presence online. Maximizing participation. Developing effective courses that include collaboration and reflection. Assessing student performance. Written for faculty in any distance learning environment, this revised edition is based on the authors many years of work in faculty development for online teaching as well as their extensive personal experience as faculty in online distance education. Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt share insights designed to guide readers through the steps of online course design and delivery.


Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace

Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace

Author: Rena M. Palloff

Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Published: 1999-03-17

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13:

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Written for faculty, instructors, and trainers in any distance learning environment, Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace shows how to create a virtual classroom environment that helps students excel academically, while fostering a sense of community. This practical, hands-on guide is filled with illustrative case studies, vignettes, and examples from a wide variety of successful online courses.


Collaborative Learning Techniques

Collaborative Learning Techniques

Author: Elizabeth F. Barkley

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2014-07-22

Total Pages: 455

ISBN-13: 1118761677

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A guide to thirty-five creative assignments for pairs and groups Collaborative Learning Techniques is the bestseller that college and university faculty around the world have used to help them make the most of small group learning. A mountain of evidence shows that students who learn in small groups together exhibit higher academic achievement, motivation, and satisfaction than those who don't. Collaborative learning puts into practice the major conclusion from learning theory: that students must be actively engaged in building their own minds. In this book, the authors synthesize the relevant research and theory to support thirty-five collaborative learning activities for use in both traditional and online classrooms. This second edition reflects the changed world of higher education. New technologies have opened up endless possibilities for college teaching, but it's not always easy to use these technologies effectively. Updated to address the challenges of today's new teaching environments, including online, "flipped," and large lectures, Collaborative Learning Techniques is a wonderful reference for educators who want to make the most of any course environment. This revised and expanded edition includes: Additional techniques, with an all-new chapter on using games to provide exciting, current, technologically-sophisticated curricula A section on effective online implementation for each of the thirty-five techniques Significantly expanded pedagogical rationale and updates on the latest research showing how and why collaborative learning works Examples for implementing collaborative learning techniques in a variety of learning environments, including large lecture classes and "flipped" classes Expanded guidance on how to solve common problems associated with group work The authors guide instructors through all aspects of group work, providing a solid grounding in what to do, how to do it, and why it is important for student learning. The detailed procedures in Collaborative Learning Techniques will help teachers make sure group activities go smoothly, no matter the size or delivery method of their classes. With practical advice on how to form student groups, assign roles, build team spirit, address unexpected problems, and evaluate and grade student participation, this new edition of the international classic makes incorporating effective group work easy.


Connecting in the Online Classroom

Connecting in the Online Classroom

Author: Rebecca A. Glazier

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2021-12-07

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 1421442663

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Building rapport with students can revive the promise of online education, leading to greater success for students, more fulfilling teaching experiences for faculty, and improved enrollment for universities. More students than ever before are taking online classes, yet higher education is facing an online retention crisis; students are failing and dropping out of online classes at dramatically higher rates than face-to-face classes. Grounded in academic research, original surveys, and experimental studies, Connecting in the Online Classroom demonstrates how connecting with students in online classes through even simple rapport-building efforts can significantly improve retention rates and help students succeed. Drawing on more than a dozen years of experience teaching and researching online, Rebecca Glazier provides practical, easy-to-use techniques that online instructors can implement right away to begin building rapport with their students, including • proactively reaching out through personalized check-in emails; • creating opportunities for human connection before courses even begin through a short welcome survey; • communicating faculty investment in students' success by providing individualized and meaningful assignment feedback; • hosting non-content-based discussion threads where students and faculty can get to know one other; and • responding to students' questions with positivity and encouragement (and occasionally also cute animal pictures). She also presents case studies of universities that are already using these strategies, along with specific, data-driven recommendations for administrators, making the book valuable for faculty, instructional designers, support staff, and administrators alike. The science-backed strategies that Glazier provides will enable instructors to connect with their students and help those students thrive. Speaking to the paradox of online learning, the book also explains that, although the great promise of online education is expanded access and greater equity—especially for traditionally underserved and hard-to-reach populations, like lower-income students, working parents, first-generation students, and students of color—the current gap between online and face-to-face retention means universities are falling far short of this promise.


The Internet and Higher Education

The Internet and Higher Education

Author: Alfred Rovai

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2009-01-30

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 1780631626

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The purpose of this book is to increase understanding of the major theories, issues, challenges, and solutions related to online distance education. It balances practical advice with a description of the theoretical and research-based underpinnings for the culturally-responsive strategies presented. An important integrating theme is the impact of globalization and internationalization on all aspects of distance education. Consequently, the book examines the implications of global reach and cross-border education and promotes the integration of global learning in academic programs. - Addresses the global reach of distance education and associated cultural, linguistic, and accreditation issues - Describes the latest online learning technologies, e.g., blogs, wikis, podcasting, mobile learning, virtual worlds, etc. - Addresses the culture of higher education and forces that are moving higher education in new directions, e.g., academic capitalism, consumerism, and competition among non-profit, for-profit, and corporate universities


The Total Classroom Management Makeover

The Total Classroom Management Makeover

Author: Michael Linsin

Publisher:

Published: 2019-09-24

Total Pages: 72

ISBN-13: 9781088754320

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"Michael Linsin is the Shakespeare of smart classroom management, and his 18 lessons can transform American public education." --Eva Moskowitz, Founder and CEO of Success Academy Schools The Total Classroom Management Makeover is a condensed shortcut to effective classroom management. Presented as simple dos and don'ts, the 18 lessons you'll learn have been boiled down to the bare essentials and written in the most accessible way possible. Together, they form an innovative approach to teaching and managing behavior that is specifically and uniquely designed to create within each student strong intrinsic desire to listen, learn, and behave. The result is a tough-minded, hardworking, well-behaved class and the satisfaction of knowing that you're making a lasting impact on your students, your community, and the wider world.


The Knowledge Gap

The Knowledge Gap

Author: Natalie Wexler

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2020-08-04

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 0735213569

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The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty. It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware. But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.


Community Building in the Online Classroom

Community Building in the Online Classroom

Author: Dominique Moyse Steinberg

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2021-06-15

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 1527571149

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This book offers theories, principles, and strategies for developing the online classroom as a deep and full learning community that students feel is truly about, by, and for them. To be immediately useful, it offers practical ideas for helping students to actively contribute to shaping classroom affairs toward relevance and meaning. However, in order to elevate the discussion beyond the “primer” level, the book anchors those ideas in social and educational principles and theories. As social learning theories posit, deep and full learning occurs when our full cognitive, emotional, and social selves are engaged. This book mitigates the challenges to such engagement in the virtual classroom, arguing that a strong sense of community ownership will enhance students’ ability to successfully master content. Although not all strategies are group based, the use of groups both large and small is a primary way of helping online students to become active on their own behalf in building a learning community that meets their needs. Strategies outlined here focus primarily on promoting shared authority, visibility, and voice and on encouraging student disclosure of needs and peer connection.


Leaving College

Leaving College

Author: Vincent Tinto

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2012-04-27

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 0226922464

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In this 1994 classic work on student retention, Vincent Tinto synthesizes far-ranging research on student attrition and on actions institutions can and should take to reduce it. The key to effective retention, Tinto demonstrates, is in a strong commitment to quality education and the building of a strong sense of inclusive educational and social community on campus. He applies his theory of student departure to the experiences of minority, adult, and graduate students, and to the situation facing commuting institutions and two-year colleges. Especially critical to Tinto’s model is the central importance of the classroom experience and the role of multiple college communities.


Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies

Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies

Author: Michelle Pacansky-Brock

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-09-10

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 1136216642

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As social media and Web 2.0 technologies continue to transform the learning trends and preferences of students, educators need to understand the applicability of these new tools in all types of learning environments. Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies will provide both new and experienced online, hybrid, and face-to-face instructors with: practical examples of how low-cost and free technologies can be used to support student learning best practices for integrating web-based tools into a course management system and managing student privacy in a Web 2.0 environment "Showcase" spotlights woven throughout the book, providing examples of how the tools described in the book are already being used effectively in educational settings an easy-to-reference format, organized with visual icons used to delineate each tool's visual, video, voice, and mobile features ideas for integrating mobile learning into your students' learning experiences. This practical, easy-to-use guide will serve the needs of educators seeking to refresh or transform their instruction. Readers will be rewarded with an ample yet manageable collection of proven emerging technologies that can be leveraged for generating content, enhancing communications with and between students, and cultivating participatory, student-centered learning activities.