Welcome to Week 3!
Last week you were getting organized finding your way through Brightspaces (UVic’s current Learning Management System) and meeting with your class in a synchronous Zoom session. You were also asked to Introduce yourself to the class, read two articles and completed an open book online quiz.
Some of you may have also joined our Slack channel (check our Social Spaces page for more details) or starting following/ contributing to our #EDCI339 Twitter Hashtag.
Social Pods
Your social pod is made of peers in this course who will support you throughout this course. Your social pod peers are expected to reply and give feedback to you about your blogposts and hopefully some support when you need it during the course. Please connect with your social pods in Brightspaces under the Pod Groups Group Discussion.
Blogs: Giving Feedback
Every week you will be writing a reflective blog post. Your blog is your space to reflect and demonstrate your understanding about the course key concepts, content and ideas. You will be handing in 4 updated blog posts throughout the course. The first blog post will be due this Sunday, Sept 27 in the Assignment #2 Dropbox in Brightspaces. The rubric for the blog posts is HERE
If you are wondering about the expectations of a reflection, here are some ideas:
- Writing (Examples of how to write a Reflection)
- Podcasts (Starting Your Podcast)
- Sketch noting (Getting Started with Sketch noting)
- Creating Videos (How to Create YouTube Videos)
- Write a song (Writing Lyrics)
- Slam Poetry (Steve Colman – Wanna Hear a Poem)
If you are wondering how to give each other feedback, consider the following:
Giving feedback is a review of what you are reading NOT an evaluation.
These are some of the possible questions to ask yourself (and then answer) in order to give your peers some critical feedback for their blog posts.
What is the central focus of this blog, in your opinion?
Is the focus of this blogpost clear or do you think the focus needs to clarified or described differently or in another way?
What spots were most confusing to you in this blog and what would make them clearer?
If this were your blogpost, what is one thing you would do to revise it? Why?
Which aspects of this blogpost did you wish you could hear more about?
What examples to support the focus did you find most convincing in this blog and why?
What sections were most interesting to you on this blogpost and why?
Always try to suggest follow-up actions for their peers and or end your feedback with a question that needs to be answered.
ACTIVITIES THIS WEEK
This week you will be reading:
Barnes, C.L. (201). Where’s the Teacher ? Defining the Role of Instructor Presence in Social Presence and Cognition in Online Education. Humanizing Online Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from https://humanmooc.pressbooks.com/chapter/wheres-the-teacher-defining-the-role-of-instructor-presence-in-social-presence-and-cognition-in-online-education/
This week, the reading will focus on the Community of Inquiry Framework.
I have added my own notes in Hypothesis – an online Annotation tool. To learn how you can access the Hypothesis plug in, and my notes and links, please add the Hypothesis plug in to your computer THEN join the EDCI339 Ao2 Hypothesis study group (the information to join is on the password protected Social Spaces page).
Add your OWN annotations and collaborate with others. Consider replying to each other – through Annotations.
Questions to Consider for your Blog Post:
How can you connect the readings for Topic 1?
Please consider exploring how Humanizing Online Learning, building relationships and developing a social presence in online learning contexts supports learners in online courses.
What are your experiences with developing a social presence in your online courses? What kind of social presence activities do you prefer as a learner?
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns,
Dr. Roberts 🙂