The ability to communicate with those around us, particularly in a educational setting, cannot be overstated. It is necessary to create an environment of collaboration in which one can live, work, and play (Scott, 2008). One of the oldest and most familiar models of "teaching" is that of an instructor lecturing. Yet, when true learning takes place there is dynamic discussion and recipricol interaction (Jung & Riefel, 2011). Below are links to a sample of presentations that have essentially become self-help staples for current Curriculum and Instruction students. I began creating them in summer of 2011 in CI 6318: Effective Instruction and Assessment, and have found them helpful on countless occasions during my stint as a graduate assistant at Angelo State. Topics range from viewing feedback in Blackboard to submiting assignments in TaskStream to using the library's databases for research. Making these well, and making them effective and helpful requires me to figure out what the students need to know, then take them step-by-step through the process they are trying to achieve. This is normally accomplished through a combination of text and images so that students can see exactly what they should be doing, one step at a time. My ability to do this for students has already come in handy at work, as I have been able to make such presentations for faculty use as well.
References
Jung, H. & Riefel, S. (2011). Journal of Research of Childhood Education, 25(2), pp. 194-210. Retrieved from ERIC database. (EJ947069)
Scott, M. (2008). Creating the conditions for effective communication and learning in organizations. College Quarterly, 11(3). Retrieved from ERIC database. (EJ830651)
Recently, there has been an explosion of growth in the field of online, distance education courses (Moller, 2008). When teaching online, maintaining positive, regular communication is one of the most challenging aspects (Lu, 2011), and no wonder. With only technology as a guide, many professors and students will never meet face-to-face or even use virtual conferencing due to technology issues, knowledge of technology, or plain old scheduling conflicts. Consequently, many students will travel through an online course with only written text and the occasional e-mail to guide them. In situations such as these, it becomes crucial to possess clear and straightforward communication skills to avoid conflicts, misunderstandings, and confusion.
The link below leads to an artifact created in CI: 6316 Learning Theories. It is a wiki that allows students to build a portion of their comprehensive program review (CPR) on their personal page. As discussed above, it was very important that there be a clear organization and logical flow to the information. A large portion of the most important information can be found in several places within the wiki. In addition to guidelines and dates, the basics of editing a page are discussed as well as methods for meeting the requirements and sample ideas. Attached below is the content from an e-mail that was sent to the appropriate parties to get them started with the wiki. In this age of technology, the ability to communicate effectively via technology is always beneficial, and I use this knowledge to review e-mails and other messages on a daily basis.
http://asucpr.wikispaces.com/Welcome
References
Lu, Y. (2011). Using a virtual classroom to teach online mathematics. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED519767)
Moller, L., Foshay, W. & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web. TechTrends, 52(4), pp. 66-70.
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