3.1 Classroom Management & Collaborative Learning
Candidates model and facilitate effective classroom management and collaborative learning strategies to maximize teacher and student use of digital tools and resources. (PSC 3.1/ISTE 3a)
Artifact: Online Teaching Portfolio, ITEC7482.
Reflection:
The artifact is a portfolio for an online teaching organized for 9th grade students in the area of visual arts. Online teaching was part of the Facilitating Online Learning (ITEC7482) class that required candidates to apply all the pedagogical experiences to help students to learn in the online environment. In this online learning, I guided students to use online resources and tools to learn about drawing and painting.
In the online class, students were made to read and confirm their understanding of netiquette and policies for the class. The policies formed part of the course syllabus that was made available to the students. There was also a frequent monitoring of students’ behavior and engagement in the class activities. These activities, as demonstrated in the artifact, show mastery of the first part of the standard 3.1 that requires facilitation of classroom management.
The artifact also shows how students were made to collaborate in finding solutions to problems. The collaborative environment was started with students getting to know one another, thereby establishing a community conducive for class participation and learning. There were discussion forums that helped students to offer and obtain feedback on class projects in order to improve upon them.
Lessons learned from completing the artifact include strategies that promote community building in the online learning environment and the use of protocol in facilitating collaboration. While the use of collaborative strategies is required for any online learning, the tools employed in ensuring student collaboration were not so appropriate for the students who took part in the online class. Blackboard Collaborate was the main tool that was to be used to bring students together for synchronous meetings. Students did not have access to individual computers nor Internet fast enough to help engage in video-conferencing. If the online class were to be organized again, alternative video-conferencing tools such as the Google Hangouts would be considered. This way, students would be able to use their mobile devices to participate in the meeting while at the same time have their cameras turned on.
The students who took part in the online art class experienced online learning for the first time. The students now have the basic technology skill such as file sharing, online forum participation, Internet safety, and research fluency that will help participate in future online classes.
The artifact is a portfolio for an online teaching organized for 9th grade students in the area of visual arts. Online teaching was part of the Facilitating Online Learning (ITEC7482) class that required candidates to apply all the pedagogical experiences to help students to learn in the online environment. In this online learning, I guided students to use online resources and tools to learn about drawing and painting.
In the online class, students were made to read and confirm their understanding of netiquette and policies for the class. The policies formed part of the course syllabus that was made available to the students. There was also a frequent monitoring of students’ behavior and engagement in the class activities. These activities, as demonstrated in the artifact, show mastery of the first part of the standard 3.1 that requires facilitation of classroom management.
The artifact also shows how students were made to collaborate in finding solutions to problems. The collaborative environment was started with students getting to know one another, thereby establishing a community conducive for class participation and learning. There were discussion forums that helped students to offer and obtain feedback on class projects in order to improve upon them.
Lessons learned from completing the artifact include strategies that promote community building in the online learning environment and the use of protocol in facilitating collaboration. While the use of collaborative strategies is required for any online learning, the tools employed in ensuring student collaboration were not so appropriate for the students who took part in the online class. Blackboard Collaborate was the main tool that was to be used to bring students together for synchronous meetings. Students did not have access to individual computers nor Internet fast enough to help engage in video-conferencing. If the online class were to be organized again, alternative video-conferencing tools such as the Google Hangouts would be considered. This way, students would be able to use their mobile devices to participate in the meeting while at the same time have their cameras turned on.
The students who took part in the online art class experienced online learning for the first time. The students now have the basic technology skill such as file sharing, online forum participation, Internet safety, and research fluency that will help participate in future online classes.