Online education makes learning opportunities available for millions of people who otherwise would have very limited access to teachers, peers, and classrooms. As educators continue to explore all the ways we can use digital learning environments to better reach kids, we must search for ways to make online multimedia as responsive and personal as a real teacher in a physical classroom. This month’s paper looks at how providing social cues in a digital setting improves student engagement and understanding.
Later we read a paper provided by the community in comments on episode 011 For Whom Does the Bell Toll. How do the demands of curricula that can scale across many classrooms conflict with a school’s ability to provide autonomy for great teachers? We’ll read commentary from a blog post and provide professional literature to guide our next steps.
Finally, our peer review segment will include a phone call from a colleague in California higher education. We’ll reflect on his comments and attempt to provide some follow-up questions to which you can respond.
- First Segment – 1:17 – Social Cues for Online Multimedia
- Second Segment – 25:45 – (011) Do schools support greatness or consistency?
- Third Segment – 37:41 – Peer Review: (009) Curricular Specialists in Higher Education
Primary Citations
Wang, F., Li, W., Mayer, R. E., & Liu, H. (2018). Animated pedagogical agents as aids in multimedia learning: Effects on eye-fixations during learning and learning outcomes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 110(2), 250.
Heick, T. (2018, February 11). Are Schools Prepared For Great Teachers? Retrieved March 08, 2018, from https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/schools-prepared-great-teachers/
Simms, J. A. (2017). Critical Concepts: Alignment to Source Standards. Marzano Research.
Supplemental Citations
- On-line learning migration: from social learning theory to social presence theory in a CMC environment (Tu 2000)
- Re-imagining the nature of (student-focused) learning through digital technology (Hood 2018)
- We shape our tools and, thereafter, our tools shape us. (Medium)
- What we’re learning from online education (TedGlobal)– Daphne Koller
- 3 fears about screen time for kids — and why they’re not true (TED2017)
- Constructing “Authentic” Science: Results from a University/High School Collaboration Integrating Digital Storytelling and Social Networking (Olitsky 2018)
- Affectional Responses in the Infant Monkey (Harlow 1959)
- What to look for in the 2017 NAEP results (Brown Center Chalkboard)
- Josh Farber’s comments on the tension between standards and differentiation (/r/ELATeachers)
Featured Beverage
We drink Victory at Sea, an imperial, vanilla and coffee porter from Ballast Point Brewing Company, located in Virginia and throughout California.