Dear Curiosity, perhaps technology will help you survive

“It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.” – Albert Einstein

As I journey toward creating engaging online learning opportunities for students both globally and locally, I am exploring where others have gone before.  Reinventing the wheel has never been my style.  Here are three teachers from whom I am gaining great insight into online learning.

1.      Online Learning Insights

Resources for online teachers are not scarce on Debbie Morrison’s blog.  As one example, I will outline the article “How to encourage online learners to take responsibility for their learning.”

Beginning with a provocative quote by author Vincent Tinto (“To single out the institution as being solely responsible for student departure, as do many critics, is to deny an essential principle of effective education, namely that students must themselves become responsible for their own learning.”), this author points out the essentials of mandatory engagement in order for learning to occur.  She refers to J. Bruner’s theory of constructivism and connectivism as she explains how online learners must possess the following in order to succeed:
§  Time management and organization skills where the learner is able to complete assignments within due dates, manage course materials and content effectively.
§  Motivation and drive to learn demonstrated through participation in forums and/or group work.
§  The drive to ask questions and seek instructor support.
§  Strong writing skills where the learner can create discussion posts and interact with classmates.

She also outlines specific steps online instructors can take in order to improve responsibility in online learning situations.

This blog will prove valuable to me as I begin my journey / transition into “online classroom management” – a topic of which I did not consider important until I perused this blog.

2.      Larry Ferlazzo’s Theory ofKnowledge Class Blog

This classroom blog is littered with excellent links to philosophical web sites regarding theories of knowledge on the arts, emotions, ethics, history, human sciences, languages, and perception.  I will use it as an excellent resource throughout this Walden University course on theories of learning and knowledge.  I will also use it as an example of online instruction and collaboration in a traditional classroom.

3.      The Edublogger

This blog outlines specific teaching strategies I can utilize to engage students in my classroom.  The teaching strategy outlined in her latest blog is called memrise, which refers to an online vocabulary wiki aimed at teaching ESL students new vocabulary over a period of time.


It is my hope that implementing a few of these web 2.0 teaching strategies will engage the curiosity of my students and allow them to step into a more meaningful, authentic learning environment.