|
|
|
About the Online Course for Teachers |
|
|
|
|
On line Community-Building The Online Course for Teachers: Teaching Evolution is designed as a constructivist learning experience for a community of learners. |
|
| Emphasize that online communication between participants is key to building community and contributes to the course outcomes. |
|
| Create a course participant list before the first session and include online posting of participant's photos. |
|
| Use the development of discussion guidelines as a community-building activity. |
|
| Do introductions and community-building activities at beginning of the course. If possible, include at least one face-to-face meeting at the beginning and one near the end. |
|
| Take advantage of the opportunities built into the course for participants to share expertise and dialogue and reflect on learning evolution content and teaching strategies. |
|
Discussions Discussions are an important part of the online course -- both in building a learning community and in creating meaningful dialogue that enhances learning. |
|
| Establish guidelines/ ground rules for discussions with participants -- give some guidelines and have participants add others. For example, need for respectful communication, need to be constructive, length and deadlines for postings, format for attachments. |
|
| Distinguish between asynchronous (not in real time) vs. synchronous (real time) discussions. |
|
| Create multiple places (Web boards) for students to interact: individual work, whole class, small group; social vs. work places. Distinguish the functions of each place. |
|
| Distinguish between public vs. private Web boards. |
|
| Use "threaded" discussions (responses are organized by content, not chronology). |
|
| Provide opportunities for participants to teach and facilitate discussions. |
|
|
|
Next: Assessment |
|
|