Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/its-a-small-world-after-all!-part-2/5015080/
Part one of this article (Child Care Information Exchange, September/October 2002) explored key questions about the role of technology in early childhood training, continuing education, and professional development, and identified some of the issues and challenges of teaching and learning online. In Part two, the focus is on specific strategies and effective practices faculty and trainers can use to create a community of learners online. In the companion piece, Sue Bawale, Laurie Todd, and Betty Jones focus on the experiences of adult learners in an effective online learning community.-------------------
In the accompanying article Chip Donohue, who teaches adults online in Wisconsin, offers these recommendations to online instructors:
- Use an online ice breaker to help the students get to know one another
- Build a personal relationship with each student
- Provide a variety of opportunities for interaction (instructor-student and student-student)
- Create opportunities for students to exchange information and ideas.
Teaching advanced classes in human development and early childhood education to students from around the world, through Pacific Oaks College, we find students taking responsibility for each other's learning as they read theory and reflect on its relevance for their
own lives and their professional work. Instructors' provocative questions set the stage for sharing personal stories and reflections on practice ...