Abstract:

Teaching environments must appreciate, establish, and implement explicit pedagogic rationales for each strategically selected elearning application. Instead of allowing advanced technologies to limit, direct or dictate educational methods and outcome, exceptional class learning experiences often result from deliberately selected and creatively crafted educational opportunities aimed at achieving relevant elearning educational goals. The real innovation is the pedagogic justification that supports the integration of relevant technologies to ensure effective online instruction.

Typical asynchronous applications of strategically employed elearning methods may include but are not limited to: students’ personal web page of introduction, a full set of pre-recorded lecture DVD’s, workbook flash drives, practice quizzes, on-demand steaming audio/video, ebooks, student PowerPoint presentations, reflective class blogs, external links, ichat/skype, online exams, web-referenced textbook, peer interaction, and discussion board study groups, etc. Each of these elearning tools are specifically selected and integrated into each lecture unit to promote motivation and personal engagement for a resulting portfolio of student-centered activities. Several elearning applications inherently afford students greater opportunities for personal discovery and allow selection of relevant methods for attaining academic ambitions. Student presentations permit observation of creative solutions from their peers. This organizational structure and teaching format allows for independent mastery, self-generated goal setting, reflective critical thinking skills, self-directed motivation, personal commitment, peer support, and review of material with identifiable and measurable progress.

When course structure is intentionally asynchronous, students may participate and reach individualized results at their own pace. Because motivation and participation are self-generated, personalized skills continue to have great value inside and outside the immediate academic environment. As a result of multiple educational elearning applications, student progress may be recorded and stored, which allow students and the instructor an opportunity to reflect, review, and document successful engagement within these selected activities. Each semester we have continued to search for innovative ways to incorporate methods that promote greater self-sufficiency, motivation, engagement and success.

This collaborative constructivist philosophy promotes a “Community of Inquiry” which consists of social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence. Through active contribution, these concepts define a successful blended learning or web-based course structure (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008). Social presence enables open communication with professor, and group cohesion between peers. Cognitive presence encourages exploration, integration, and comprehension of key course concepts through discussion and blogging. Teaching presence facilitates a productive student community by monitoring both social and cognitive presence. While different classes and/or subjects may select unique objectives to accomplish and while content may change across disciplines, there remains the important responsibility to identify and justify explicit pedagogic rationales associated with the educational goals for each of the elearning tools employed.

Keywords:

elearning, etools, community of inquiry.