Interaction has always been a major issue while dealing with elearning. How can learners interact with peers and facilitators, share ideas and thoughts and get feedback from the rest of the participants.
The best way is by having online discussion forums available for any online course, whether it needs a lot of discussion or not, it is always good to have peers interacting with each other regarding the course.
For my Mini Conference I would like to discuss the following issues:
· Importance of Online interaction
· Online Discussions Forums
o Asynchronous communication – text based
· Pros and cons of Online Discussions Forums
· Examples of online Discussion
There are different online applications that you can use for Online Discussions Forums, in this mini conference will discuss the benefits of using online discussion forums rather than analysing any specific discussion forum.
Date and Time: Friday 13th at (4pm or 7:30pm) or Monday 16th at 7:30pm
There is a poll on the left side – please vote to let me know what times are more suitable to everyone.
Venue:Elluminate
Please add your comments and ideas :)
Kind Regards
Krishan
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Mini Conference Ideas
I am thinking of running the mini conference about Online Discussion Forums. I have used a lot of different online application as a student and as well as a staff. I have discovered that there is a very less usage of discusion boards /Forums.
I have used Blackboard discussion Board- and i think it is a very useful tool in elearning. I would like to see why people arent using the discussion Board - or discussion forums.
I am not sure what should I call my conference - Discussion Board is specific to black board. but is simliar to any online forum or blog - where people are able to discuss ideas , projects etc and get feedback from others.
Should I generalise it to any online discussion forum, or make it a specific application like Blackboard - Discussion bord and stick to it. Just trying not to make the topic too broad.
These are my ideas... Please feel free to give me some comments.
Regards
Krishan Mani
I have used Blackboard discussion Board- and i think it is a very useful tool in elearning. I would like to see why people arent using the discussion Board - or discussion forums.
I am not sure what should I call my conference - Discussion Board is specific to black board. but is simliar to any online forum or blog - where people are able to discuss ideas , projects etc and get feedback from others.
Should I generalise it to any online discussion forum, or make it a specific application like Blackboard - Discussion bord and stick to it. Just trying not to make the topic too broad.
These are my ideas... Please feel free to give me some comments.
Regards
Krishan Mani
Monday, November 2, 2009
Social Networking Safety Tips
Here are some tips that can be taken into considerations while working with online networking.
Protect your privacy
You can avoid these risks and enjoy social networking sites by following a few sensible guidelines:
· Don’t let peer pressure or what other people are doing on these sites push you into doing something you’re not comfortable with. Just because other people post their mobile phone number or birthday, doesn’t mean you have to.
· Be wary of publishing any identifying information about yourself. In particular things like: phone numbers, pictures of your home, workplace or school, your address, birthday or full name.
· Pick a user name that doesn’t include any personal information. For example, “joe_glasgow” or “jane_liverpool” would be bad choices.
· Set up a separate email account that doesn’t use your real name and use that to register and receive mail from the site. That way if you want to shut down your connection, you can simply stop using that mail account. This is very simple and quick to do using such providers as Hotmail or Yahoo.
You can avoid these risks and enjoy social networking sites by following a few sensible guidelines:
· Don’t let peer pressure or what other people are doing on these sites push you into doing something you’re not comfortable with. Just because other people post their mobile phone number or birthday, doesn’t mean you have to.
· Be wary of publishing any identifying information about yourself. In particular things like: phone numbers, pictures of your home, workplace or school, your address, birthday or full name.
· Pick a user name that doesn’t include any personal information. For example, “joe_glasgow” or “jane_liverpool” would be bad choices.
· Set up a separate email account that doesn’t use your real name and use that to register and receive mail from the site. That way if you want to shut down your connection, you can simply stop using that mail account. This is very simple and quick to do using such providers as Hotmail or Yahoo.
· Use a strong password.
· What goes online stays online. Don’t say anything or publish pictures that might cause you embarrassment later. As a general rule, if you wouldn’t say it to your boss or your grandmother, don’t say it online.
· Learn how to use the site. Use the privacy features on the site you use to restrict strangers’ access to your profile. Be guarded about who you let join your network.
· Be on your guard against phishing scams.
· What goes online stays online. Don’t say anything or publish pictures that might cause you embarrassment later. As a general rule, if you wouldn’t say it to your boss or your grandmother, don’t say it online.
· Learn how to use the site. Use the privacy features on the site you use to restrict strangers’ access to your profile. Be guarded about who you let join your network.
· Be on your guard against phishing scams.
Further Reading
Another Impotant thing is not to give out a lot of details of hwre you work and what you do - work history online.
Cheers
Krishan
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Social Networking
Hi guys,
There are different platforms of social networking through online communities. And for this course we are trying to try out a few of these platforms. I myself, have created so many different accounts, sometimes it really hard to keep up with all these profiles.
Also I would be concerned about giving out a lot of personal details online. It takes me big courage to publish photo’s in these profiles as well. As Herve had stated in his blog – about ID theft through public profile.
It is very important to be aware of such activities that happen through online social networking. I personally use a few – but keep limited information and photos. Social net working would seem not that safe due to some of these hackers.
It comes to each individual taking risk on putting their personal information online, and who has access to it.
Regards
Krishan
There are different platforms of social networking through online communities. And for this course we are trying to try out a few of these platforms. I myself, have created so many different accounts, sometimes it really hard to keep up with all these profiles.
Also I would be concerned about giving out a lot of personal details online. It takes me big courage to publish photo’s in these profiles as well. As Herve had stated in his blog – about ID theft through public profile.
It is very important to be aware of such activities that happen through online social networking. I personally use a few – but keep limited information and photos. Social net working would seem not that safe due to some of these hackers.
It comes to each individual taking risk on putting their personal information online, and who has access to it.
Regards
Krishan
Monday, September 14, 2009
Discussion Forum Update
Hello,
I had registered to join the Khurram’s online forum and have a look at the discussion happening.
This forum already has administrators, moderators or webmaster that look after the forum under certain rules and regulation. This forum is based on the free speech concept, giving everyone the freedom to express their views and opinions on any subject matter of life.
There are certain terms and conditions that you accept before registering…
I have sent emails to see what their comments!!!
This seems to take a bit of time, so I while waiting I will carry on with other tasks assigned for this course. Will update once i get some more infor.
Cheers
Krishan
I had registered to join the Khurram’s online forum and have a look at the discussion happening.
This forum already has administrators, moderators or webmaster that look after the forum under certain rules and regulation. This forum is based on the free speech concept, giving everyone the freedom to express their views and opinions on any subject matter of life.
There are certain terms and conditions that you accept before registering…
I have sent emails to see what their comments!!!
This seems to take a bit of time, so I while waiting I will carry on with other tasks assigned for this course. Will update once i get some more infor.
Cheers
Krishan
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Hello all,
Sorry for not being active for 2 weeks or so, I was out of the country for a wedding and I have just recently shifted into a new property, so still settling in… so being really busy.
Now this week’s discussion is about Discussion Forums being used as online communication. Text based Communication seems to be most appropriate, when it comes to Elearning. A very good example is this course itself, Facilitating Online Communities 2009 group, we all participants are from different places, and we all have work and other personal life, it is hard for everyone to be able to meet together in the scheduled meetings to communicate together, but through online text based discussion and blogs, we all try to be in the same loop. So it’s not always possible to communicate in a synchronised session, but by having discussion forums, it allows participants to contribute their ideas in an asynchronous text based communication. An interesting reading on text-based communication in e-learning.
Having a facilitator in a discussion forum would be very beneficial, as it would allow the discussion to work properly and conclude in an appropriate manner.
I have not yet chosen a discussion forum yet to discuss, but will post more comments once I have chosen an online forum.
Cheers
Krishan
Sorry for not being active for 2 weeks or so, I was out of the country for a wedding and I have just recently shifted into a new property, so still settling in… so being really busy.
Now this week’s discussion is about Discussion Forums being used as online communication. Text based Communication seems to be most appropriate, when it comes to Elearning. A very good example is this course itself, Facilitating Online Communities 2009 group, we all participants are from different places, and we all have work and other personal life, it is hard for everyone to be able to meet together in the scheduled meetings to communicate together, but through online text based discussion and blogs, we all try to be in the same loop. So it’s not always possible to communicate in a synchronised session, but by having discussion forums, it allows participants to contribute their ideas in an asynchronous text based communication. An interesting reading on text-based communication in e-learning.
Having a facilitator in a discussion forum would be very beneficial, as it would allow the discussion to work properly and conclude in an appropriate manner.
I have not yet chosen a discussion forum yet to discuss, but will post more comments once I have chosen an online forum.
Cheers
Krishan
Friday, August 14, 2009
Teacher, Facilitator, Moderator
A Teachers Role:At all levels teachers play a very active role throughout the learning in of the students.
Helping learners to authenticate learning – making links to curriculum learning, interests, existing knowledge; to harness curiosity, love of learning. There is a good article about the Teachers Role and one thing I picked up was “If the teacher feels joy of feels anger, it will be spread among children because the attitudes of the teacher gets contagious. If the teacher laughs, students also laugh, why? Because teachers are responsible for the social behavior in the classroom.” It’s so interesting to know that the teachers mood affects the learners as well. Which might not be the case with online teaching environment!
A facilitator is an individual who's job is to help to manage a process of information exchange. While an expert's" role is to offer advice, particularly about the content of a discussion, the facilitator's role is to help with HOW the discussion is proceeding. Interesting reading on the Role of a Facilitator. The definition of facilitate is "to make easy" or "ease a process". What a facilitator does is plan, guide and manage a group event to ensure that the group's objectives are met effectively, with clear thinking, good participation and full buy-in from everyone who is involved.
A facilitator is an individual who's job is to help to manage a process of information exchange. While an expert's" role is to offer advice, particularly about the content of a discussion, the facilitator's role is to help with HOW the discussion is proceeding. Interesting reading on the Role of a Facilitator. The definition of facilitate is "to make easy" or "ease a process". What a facilitator does is plan, guide and manage a group event to ensure that the group's objectives are met effectively, with clear thinking, good participation and full buy-in from everyone who is involved.
The Moderator should:
· Introduce the topic of the session and the participants
· Manage the general discussion, make comments on the content of the presentation, identifying strengths and weaknesses, highlighting issues not fully addressed by the participants, asking questions to clarify the content, etc.
· Ensure good timekeeping so that there are no delays or over-runs;
· Summarise the main conclusions at the end of the session.
Moderators are generally accorded additional powers to enforce forum rules and conduct administrative tasks that cannot be trusted to ordinary users.
Difference
A teacher is a person who imparts knowledge or skill through instruction or example while a learning facilitator is one who creates an environment in which someone can come to know something, acquire knowledge, or to gain information.
Reference Reading
1.) http://infolit.unitecnology.ac.nz/3doors/teachers_role.php
2.) http://work911.com/articles/facil.htm
3.) http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/RoleofAFacilitator.htm
4.) http://www.oecd.org/document/18/0,3343,en_21571361_39644413_39717458_1_1_1_1,00.html
5.) http://www.bluehostforum.com/showthread.php?t=19
6.) http://nethowto.net/inquisitive/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=2
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