Herein, I would like share with you an updated version of my Learning Activities Portfolio:
It is essential to set the climate from the beginning of a course. In online courses, I would like to provide engaging opportunities for students to introduce themselves to me and their classmates. My suggestions include:
- A discussion forum where each student makes an introductory post and reply.
- A collaborative Google slide presentation where each student takes a slide to introduce themselves with text, images and/or video.
I believe maintaining regular communication with learners is key. Emailing my students on a weekly-basis provides connections, offers tips/suggestions, point to exemplary student work, and encourage students to interact. Communication is a two-way street. Thus, as a teacher, I should also encourage students to maintain a conversation that supports learning process. Students will find that increasing their participation level also increases their motivation, which is likely to contribute to success in the course. My other suggestions in the content of learning activities which promote engagement and motivation include:
- Providing opportunities for collaboration, such as group projects and team discussions that ask students to explore the world around them.
- Encouraging students to use the course discussion forums and/or blogs to communicate with classmates and teacher.
- Asking students to read all course communication thoroughly so they don’t miss out on important announcements/information.
- Another interesting option, in my opinion, is providing an opportunity for students to find out if any of their classmates live in their area. This way students can voluntarily meet up in certain occasions. This opportunity would support effective student-student interactions if students are properly guided and encouraged to do certain group projects.