Effective Instruction: A Two-Way Street of Transferring Skills From and to Face-To-Face And...
Posted by Marius Boboc on April 6 2016 at 11:08 p.m.
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Posted by Marius Boboc on April 6 2016 at 11:08 p.m.
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Dear Marius,
When we work with instructors (tutors) for our e-courses, we focus them that the main purpose of their work is to help learners acquire new skills and positive experience. Because we clearly understand that positive experience is necessary to enhance memorising of learning content. Some people are very sceptical about mastering certain skills in virtual learning environment, so I'd be interested to know your idea of transferring skills between F2F and VLE.
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Dear Mr. Katernyak,
There is a lot that has been written about the range of skills online instructors should master in order to be effective in virtual learning environments. For instance, we can focus on a range of areas of practice from design to implementation to evaluation of e-learning. Each one of the generic categories mentioned includes a variety of discrete parameters, such as the psychology of online learners, student motivation theories, formative/diagnostic assessment, etc. From a comprehensive analysis of descriptions of effective teaching in f2f, traditional classrooms, we are interested in learning more about how that spectrum of pedagogical strategies transfers over to the virtual world. One particular aspect we have not found evidence of (by way of research) is how effective online instruction transfers back to f2f classrooms.
I appreciate the comment - please feel free to continue the conversation.
Marius
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Virtual Interfaces of Learning and Teaching
Yuanzhong Zhang Email: yuanzhong.zhang001@mymdc.net
The theme of how to recontextualize the criteria of effective instruction based on the face-to-face classroom in the new virtual learning environment mediated by web technologies as framed by Professor Marius Boroc is well taken. It can be both a great opportunity and challenge for teachers and learner alike to deliver instruction through the virtual interface. The virtual interface itself needs to be navigated and familiarized in order for productive learning and effective instruction to take place. Different from the face-to-face instruction which utilizes predominantly the print format, the virtual interface often applies an interactive structure in the organization of information and materials through the web media that require constant interaction, internalization, and reconstruction. In other words, it can be considered that print-formatted information and materials are grounded on the model of product for learning and teaching, the digitally formatted information and materials found on the virtual interface are developed based essentially on a process-based model so to speak. As a result, the objectives of learning in the face-to-face classrooms in which learning and instruction revolve print can easily be defined textually in terms of the content of the information and materials while the objectives of learning in the virtual environment are more fluid and flexible, offering a multiplicity of perspectives and options.
It is important in learning and teaching to be committed to and focus on a selected perspective or aspect for in-depth inquiry. What virtual learning offers is to broaden the range of perspectives and options that are quite narrowly constrained in the face-to-face classroom to allow for greater freedom and liberty in selecting which area to focus. But it is by no means intended to dissolve the focus area which is required for all forms of learning especially for academic, scholarly and professional purposes. From my own experiences in language and literacy studies, technologies help to identify the focus of inquiry in far more effective, strategic and efficient ways than the traditional print means. The homework for teacher-researchers to do utilizing virtual mediation is a lot, and exceeds perhaps that is required than the old days when paper and pencil serve as chief means of learning. It requires, among other things, the teacher-researchers to narrow down and refine the focus of inquiry by pulling out the most relevant and pertinent information from a plethora of data and information.
Bio: Zhang, Yuanzhong [张源中] has been offered a position of professor of developmental English/writing in the Florida State (Community) College system. His teaching experiences include also being a faculty member of Shanghai University, China, an offered visiting senior faculty position of Guangzhou University of Foreign Studies, and an offered guest professorship at a career and technical college in Qingdao, Shandong, China.
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