If I were going to use elluminate in one of my classes, there are lots of things that would have to be considered. The first consideration I would have to address would be if my students had access to the necessary technology needed to participate in the course. My students are from the lower economic level and alot of them don't have computers at home and rely on the ones at school or the library to complete their work. I would have to jump over that hurdle first. The second consideration would be their level of computer knowlege and ability to access Elluminate. I would have to educate them on the program, how to use it and how to hook up the headset and microphone and then assess thier abilities to use the system by trial and error, much like we have done for this class. Another consideration would be their level of maturity and motivation. As adult learners, we are motivated to attend these sessions and focus on each lesson because our job depends upon this and because we have paid for the course. I don't feel like most of my lower level students would have the maturity to attend class and pay the necessary attention that an elluminate lesson involves. As for the activities I would include, I would like to use short film clips, group work and PowerPoint lessons. The white board would be used for student presentations and of course classroom discussion would be a major activity.
Overall, I love the elluminate technology for myself, but I feel that it may be a little advanced for my students just because the motivation to attend an independent learning session such as this type requires just is not there most of the time.
2 comments:
It would be very unfortunate if all your students were not able to take part in the online session. I agree with you when you say it would be hard to teach a class online in the high schools. But in the near future, I know that high school classes will be taught online. Currently in our school system there are already several classes being taught online. If I had more time I could set up a class online right now. The real problem is when the students are not at school and do not have access to the internet and a computer. I think the problem could be solved if all Georgia school systems furnish students with take home laptops with free internet services provided by internet providers. This would not solve all the problems such as students breaking their computers but it would be something to look into for the future.
I agree with you Shelle that overall high school students aren't mature enough or motivated enough to use this technology to learn content. I like how you state that we are highly motivated to try and use this technology because we have paid for it and our jobs depend on it. Also our money and time are tight and this program works to our advantage. We are going to make this work for us. As Mark states in his comment to you that students are already taking online courses, these courses are not "live" like Elluminate and I think that makes a big difference. To take the Elluminate course you have to be ontime, attentive, and participate just like you do in a real classroom. It is actually easy to sign in, you can look like you are present, but you can easily get up, walk away and not be there at all or for long periods of time and miss information. The instructor needs to make sure that everyone is giving feedback to ensure that they are engaged with the process. Our class is very large and it is difficult to make sure everyone participates. Small group work is very important to ensure that and would definately have to be done with a high school group.
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