Session+One

=__**SESSION ONE: REFLECTION ON LEARNING COMMUNITY**__ =

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Think back to a course you have facilitated in the past in which you felt a quality learning community developed. Describe a scene or aspect of your course that demonstrates either social, teaching, or cognitive presence in the course. If you did not feel you ever achieved an effective learning community, describe what you felt was lacking.=====

The first time I taught the Web 2.0 I had a small group of participants but the most engaged group of any I have ever had. It was such a great group that one of the participants organized a group of us to present at the MECA (Mississippi Educational Computing Association) conference to let more of the state teachers know that workshops such as Differentiating Instruction, Web 2.0 Tools, and others were available to them. Elizabeth Spooner

I facilitated (in this case more "taught" a course in physiology for high school students in Virtual High School in Massachusetts). This course was an honors course and involved a lot of work and much discussion over 15 weeks. One class I remember particularly had a student who was especially interested in the course and who was a good communicator. The high quality of her posts seemed to spark the rest of the class in their posts. There were some of the best discussions in that session that I saw in my years with the course. Because of the high level of social presence the students seemed to get more than usual out of the course. ~Frances Coleman

I had a wonderful experience facilitating a course on Web 2.0 Tools. One of the participants was so excited about the materials and interactions with other teachers and just did a wonderful job of expressing to others the importance of the course. She was helpful to all other students and really did quite a great job of getting other participants excited about the experience. This particular participant was an Art instructor so it was interesting to see how she incorporated and used the tools and materials in her field. The discussions were always meaningful and focused in this group. The participants genuinely enjoyed each other and it was evident in their posts. This group attained a wonderful sense of community. I looked forward to facilitating the course a second time......it was a totally different story. Social presence of the students, as Frances pointed out, does make a difference! Barbara Patterson

I find that I have a great sense of community when the course includes some new technology. My participants seem to bond because of the need for some of them to rely on the expertise of some of the tech savvy students. ~ Becky Burt

The most recent course that I facilitated, Best Practices in Differentiated Instuction, had the best social presence of any course that I've worked with. Participants seemed to listen to each other and build upon the ideas presented by fellow participants. Ideas for their projects were developed from the interaction between the participants. There was an overall feeling of support from, and interest in, each other. As the course drew to an end, there was a sense of genuine sadness that they would not be in daily communication after the class, and there was a sense that there would be a continuance of the exchange of ideas long after the online course concluded. Cathy Gilreath

I have noticed several of you have commented on the good sense of community that developed when you had a small group. I experienced the same thing when I facilitated Special Education Inclusion. I really think there were several things going on in that group. We were small, in the fall of the year and everyone was very invested in the subject matter. I only mention time of year becuase I did the same course in the summer and I felt like a barely got people through the course. Belinda Beech

In thinking back on some of the courses I have taught, I must say that most have been very good classes that felt cohesive. Students are generally excited about going back to school and taking courses online. They are also excited to learn that they are not alone, sitting at home behind a computer screen. They enjoy meeting each other and learning more about each other. I think that in the courses that felt most successful, a spirit of "we are all in this together" was fostered. Students were willing to share openly and accept the viewpoints and ideas of others. Problems occur in classes when negativity creeps in, and students do not support each other. I feel that the lack of nonverbal cues hurts communication greatly when students only see the words on a page. They may misunderstand the ideas of others and react without thinking through their messages. We should teach students that the nature of online communication is different than that of face-to-face communication, and they should give others the benefit of the doubt rather than reacting. Susan McIlwain

I agree with Susan. When students start adding each other to facebook and become friends outside the course, I know I've created a genuine social community. Several of my former online students have even become friends and even DATED in real life from getting to know each other from my simple discussion boards. W.R. McCammon

Thinking back to the courses I have faciliated and taught at Co-Lin, having students that never thought they would be able to work in the online environment and then did a great job made all of the work so worth it!! I can remember emails like "please be patient with me, this is my first online course" in both settings and then that student ended up leading discussions and really participating within the course was just a neat thing to be a part of. I love watching people learn and grow! Shannon Doughty

I can remember taking my first online course and realizing how important it was to meet the deadlines for completing assignments. I learned the importance of responsibility when taking an online courses. I also learned that online courses can be just as effective and engaging as a f2f course. I remember this because before then, I never had any interest in chat rooms, and after having to interact with other students for this course, I found chatting exciting!

One of the courses that I have facilitated, Using Primary Sources in Social Studies, certainly hit the mark with our participants. They had a variety of tech skills and levels, but each of them got totally immersed in the array of websites and activities which were taught. I think the discussion in that group was livelier and more active than I've had since! I almost couldn't find room to chime in! I'm not sure if it was the group, the subject matter, or the time of year (fall)! Linda Grafton