OLTD Learning Outcome:
- Undertake engagement with environments through online facilitation for effective learning
- Understand how to build rapport and manage groups
- establish relationships with learners and families
- build teacher to student rapport
- engage in building learning communities and communities of practice
- Understand how to build rapport and manage groups
- Integrate current cognitive learning and brain-based learning theory
- Examine current research around best practices and emerging practices
Evidence to Support Outcome:
Reflection to Support Evidence:
The evidence I have chosen to support the above learning outcomes is the first major assignment from OLTD 503: My Philosophy of Online Facilitation and Learning. The goal of this assignment was to reflect on and link my core values and beliefs to my teaching philosophy. This paper was created in January 2013 as an exploration of how the current research on best practices for online communication is related to my teaching philosophy.
This paper allowed me to link many of my undergraduate education experiences to the concepts and research around online communication and learning. Through the creation of this assignment I was able to draw clear, actionable links between my previously completed discipline-specific research and my newly gained insights into online communication. This assignment also allowed me to begin to develop my understanding of effective online communication “looks” like and how it might be achieved in the online classroom.
Although this paper speaks specifically to online communication as it pertains to science education, I feel that through creating it I was able to develop a deeper understanding of online communication in general. The concepts discussed throughout the paper will be transferable to many different online teaching circumstances, as they are based in constructivism and connectivism.
These outcomes are critical for building and effective online learning experience for students. In order to build rapport and allow students to develop into a learning community, the teacher must develop a careful, purposeful plan. Effective communication also centers around authentic, engaging activities which also depends on careful teacher development. It is critical for engaged educators to maintain awareness of current research and integrate it into their practice in order to best serve their students.