Virtual Learning

Hey people,

last session we had an online seminar. Actually, it was a lot of fun. Unfortunatelly it was more about technics working or not working than about content.

First, we started chatting via skype. It was the “welcoming part”. The technic worked out well.

Then, we had a telephone conference via skype. The technic worked but communication was more complicated as I didn’t know who was there and sometimes it was hard to distinguish who was talking.

Third, we tried another web site/program (can anyone give me a hint how to get to this program?) where we could see the skype chat, a “white board” and the teacher via camera and hear the teacher’s voice. Unfortunatelly, most of the time we could not hear the person speaking. The teacher tried to explain something but I could not follow it.

Last we watched a video on You tube and then went back to chat.

Well, summed up, it was an interesting experience. We had a lot of fun and it was my first time using internet for a class. I want to give a short comment on what could be improved.

Most problems arised with the technic. Skype (chatting and calling) basically worked well. The sound of the new program was a major problem and therefore it was not effective. The program itself offers various possibilities and it therefore is highly recommendable to be developed.

Preparing an online session it would be effective if there was a clear goal set, like an exercise that has to be handed in at the end of the session. Then, you could use the communication choices more targeted. Chatting is important and mostly used for relationship building and fun. As a teacher it should be a goal to use the communication tools to communicate about topics you want students to discuss.

That’s it for now. Thanks to the people who made it possible and who spent there time for offering this session.

Juliane

Following the seminar on “Interkulturelle Aspekte des beruflichen Lebens” I could write about intercultural learning or intercultural management. Don’t have a concrete idea yet.

Pros: School AND companies will be interested in a topic like that!

Pros: I will know much about the topic by the time I will start writing because of 3 seminars and my own experiences.

Pros: It seems very interesting to me! I like my presentation on international presentations, negotiations and conflict management and my study on banking and intercultural learning very much!

Pros: I know where to start the book search!

Pros: Most likely my professor will be very interested in this topic.

Cons: I don’t have a precise and useful idea yet.

Cons: It might be a good topic for a written or an oral exam???

This is my current overview on the topics I am planning to take and I know it s not much yet (but it’s still more than half a year to go): Finals

Hey,

this is a category that does not really fit only into this seminar but is supposed to go beyond it. Here I want to collect ideas for my final paper (Diplom- oder Examensarbeit) which I am supposed to start next year.

Following the complaints of Prof. Meyer that teachers are still hunter-gatherer in terms of their teaching materials I thought about collecting teacher-made materials online, structure it and write about it. I found an Online Link: http://moodle.scheffelgym.de/moodle/ where the scheffle school collects their materials via moodle.  This is something I could do for a school in Hamburg. I could write about the process and difficulties of doing this or the materials itself.

Pros: It has something to do with E-learning.

Pros: It is something very useful!

Cons: I don’t know much about moodle yet.

Cons: Need to find a school that is interested and teachers that are open minded to give their material. – Schlankreye????

Cons: Seems a lot of work only for collecting things without getting started with the paper.

Cons: I don’t know where to look for materials on the topic yet.

Cons: It hasn’t much to do with English didactics (?), linguistics or international management – I could do it for English only????

Cons: Does it prepare me well for a job in teaching? Does it prepare me for creating in-house seminars?

Hey,

I thought I take some time to check out what other people did so far and I found something interesting. Selma mentioned on her blog http://levke.edublogs.org/2008/05/06/other-blogs/ that she checked out two other Blogs of experts on E-learning. The first one is Downes and the other one Siemens.

Downes wrote ten things you really need to learn, like How to predict consequences, How to read, How to distinguish truth from fiction, How to empathize, How to be creative, How to communicate clearly, How to Learn, How to stay healthy, How to value yourself, How to live meaningfully which he considers as to be taught in school. Furthermore, he summed up nine rules for good technology like Good technology is always available, Good technology is always on, Good technology is standardized and so on. Check out: http://www.downes.ca/ for more details.

On Siemens blog I found a link to Tery Andersons book: “The theory and practice of online learning”. There I consider the part of design and development of online courses as interesting for future work.  I might want to check out more on: http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/ later.

Selma also mentioned that Siemens developed the learning theory of connectivism which I never heard of. I ve heard of constructivism, behaviorism and cognitivism. Connectivism seems to be close to constructivism. This theory (as I remember it from my paper on webquests) says that every individual “designs” or “constructs” its own reality and tries to make new information fit into existing patterns. Learning takes place as soon as these patterns have to be changed. Selma wrote on connectivism: According to this theory (connectivism) is learning a network-building process. New knowledge is constantly combined with existing knowledge and experiences. Learning becomes a process, in which different information sources and networking joints are constantly combined.

I guess I’ll come back to this later…

Juliane

Hello out there,

I’d like to take you to my favorite learning places.

Most of the time you’ll find me sitting at my desk.

The advantages of studying at home outweigh the disadvantages. I do have a very good and fast wireless internet connection, a fast and quite printer and a lot of space on my desk. I can listen to music whenever I want to and I can turn it off if I need to concentrate. I do have all my documents close to my working area and it’s all as well organized as I need it. Furthermore, I can go and get me a free coffee and free food whenever I want to. The only disadvantage I see is that I have to sleep in the same room and studying till late I sometimes can’t fall asleep. So, I need to see something different.

That’s what my second favorite place is for! I like to study in coffee places as well. Unfortunatelly, there I don’t have my home working atmosphere (no internet, no printer and only a part of my documents) but it’s a different ambiance, I get to see people and I get a yummy coffee with steamed milk. The disadvantage is that I usually don’t have much space in coffee places, I spend more money and it’s noisy. But sometimes it’s necessary for my well-being anyway. I sometimes need people around.

That’s it for now. Hope you liked my little insight..

Talk to you later..

Juliane