Encouraging learners to try new paths

Photo Courtesy of Shena Macdonald

One of the main problems our learners have is time management.  I spend many hours tracking who has handed in and I often have to carry piles of marking home.   I am always terrified that I will lose someone’s script.  Therefore the idea of online hand ins was appealing, as it meant I could mark anywhere, so long as I had internet access and the sharing of internet links could assist me in tracking learner’s hand in status.  

However, learners are sometimes slow in trying something new, so we offered the learners bonus marks if they did their work online.  Many of them found the online process easier and have began using online presentation forums for other subjects as well.  

As teacher working online has improved my record keeping and assessment process, but I have realised that you have to allocate lesson time to getting the learners familiar with online learning environments.  For example in 2013 I decided to try a photo project with the Grade 8s (click here to view the project http://studio2-41.blogspot.com/2013/02/grade-8-advertising-challenge.html).  I asked them to email the pictures instead of printing them,  as it would save paper and being able to email is an important life skill.  Well, it took them a whole term and I realised that although this generation may seem technology savvy, but they have no idea how to use technology to generate work.  Thus there is need to teach learners to move beyond social networking into working with technology rich learning environments that prepare them for the world around them.

Some of the learners are more familiar with computers and others take longer to familiarise themselves with online learning. Thus I demonstrate in a new school in class and also spend time assisting learners individually at second breaks and during the lessons. I find that learners tend to work in pairs and this makes them more comfortable working online. I have also been testing creating online tutorials that show learners screenshots of processes discussed in class. However it seems that learners mostly learn through trial and error, but they need a push to get out of the comfort zone and take the first step. So as a teacher one needs to be firm in your expectation of their ability to conquer new tasks so that they don't give up too early, but encouraging and approachable at the same time, so that they feel comfortable asking questions. Also learning a new skill takes time so don't rush online projects. For some learners switching on a computer and locating the chrome icon is a challenge, so make sure you are wandering around the class interacting with them as they progress through the project.

Another problem we have had with introducing online learning is that the computer resources sometimes don't co-operate. For example our computer labs had a very slow internet connection so it took a long time for the projects to load. Thus I try to set the learners an online task with a hand-generated element so that they have an activity to start with while they are waiting for the computers to load.

Another method of introducing online learning is to start with devices that learners are familiar with... such as cellphones...the learners seem to be addicted to these devices and are so excited when they find out they can use them for school work.. however I shall write about that experience in another post.

link to PPT on how learners access our blogs