This video reminds us that understanding student's need and challenges can be as diverse as the students themselves. Nonetheless, it is important for online faculty to be trained in how to assess situations and get creative to help students succeed.
Understanding Student's Needs - Core Competency for Online Faculty
I found this clip interesting. D.K. Philbin from Allan Hancock College gives his opinion of a core competency for online faculty. This particular clip caught my eye not only for the content but because he references student's learning styles. Apparently he sees the value in knowing what those are. He should check into READI - Readiness for Education At a Distance Indicator which measures 5 areas of online readiness including learning styles. Then he would know how to help his students based on their individual learning styles.
As distance learning in the k12 space continues to grow, teachers are looking for good resources to use as of way of making course content more engaging. Searching YouTube for appropriate videos has been a pasttime of some teachers looking for unique ways to engage the visual learner. Unfortunately it is time consuming and difficult to weed out the good, the bad, and the ugly.
In October, a new site was launched called WatchKnow.org. WatchKnow is both a resource for users and also a non-profit, online community that encourages everyone to collect, create, and share free, innovative, educational videos. Beginning as a dream in 2007, of a Memphis-area philanthropist, WatchKnow partnered with Tom Pittman of Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi and Larry Sanger co-founder of Wikipedia to create the non-profit educational video service.
Finally teachers have a place to go that organizes videos, screens content, and offers ways to participate and get involved to share. With thousands of videos already uploaded the future is bright.
Recently we learned about an online professional development newsletter that is designed to be a resource about teaching and learning for instructors. The Toolbox: A Teaching and Learning Resource for Instructors, written by Brad Garner from Indiana Wesleyan University, recently promoted their online version as a FREE resource. The newsletter is produced by "The National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition".
There is a lot of buzz about professional development and helping students make the first-year transition. Check out this organization for more information.
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