This chapter was interesting to me b/c so many of our students describe themselves as visual learners. In the classroom this is easy to accomplish using pictures, ppt, presentations, and videos. I have also been trying to incorporate more students drawings and concept/mind maps this year. We are also looking at purchasing access to online video libraries rather than purchasing individual hard copies of videos. This will enable students to have access to the video at home and the library will be continuously updated.
While I feel that I am meeting the needs of visual learners in the classroom, I am behind in meeting these needs in my virtual community. I have incorporated ppt slides with pictures into my modules to help with this problem, but I am struggling to think of other items to key in visual learners. My project VLC is a blended course and many of my face-to-face strategies are visual, partiularly the use of videos to explain the NCLEX exam and to model professionalism in nursing. I have thought about adding an embeded video to my online portion, but I am afraid that this may begin to overwhelm the students with material. They only have 3 weeks to complete the course and they have quite a bit of material to cover in that time. Practical Nursing moves very quickly and only 1 classroom day is dedicated to this course, after that.....the student is all online for Nursing Concepts II, but they begin med-surg at the same time.
Do any of you have suggestions to increase the appeal of a virtual community r/t professionalism (job search, OBN rules) for visual learners? I would love to hear all of your thoughts.
Have any of you used online concept mapping with your students? How did it turn out? I have students create concept maps with markers, pens, etc..., but I have been hesitant to use the computer programs b/c I am afraid that they will become so involved with the technology that they lose focus on the material that they are mapping?
I guess that this is enough questioning for now. I seem to have more questions at the end of the semester than I did at the beginning....Does that mean that I am smarter or.....? I certainly know a lot more about online instruction than I ever dreamed I would!!!
Thanks :-)
Jammie
Jammie, since you and I have the luxury of working together, we could do some role play one day during your Concepts of Professionalism course to display professional versus non-professional behavior during job interviews or staff meetings. The class could serve as the interviewer and we could be the interviewee. Or we could have a mock staff meeting with us(teachers) as participants and the students conduct the staff meeting. I enjoyed reading your blog. Thanks for your prompt entry. Cindy
ReplyDeleteCindy, These are great ideas. Mock interviews would be an excellent experience for the students, either as interviewers or interviewees. thank you for the suggestion:-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea, Cindy! There are some of these role playing videos on You Tube for preservice teachers that are fantastic. If you do this, you might consider adding them there for others to use as a resource.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Does your school enable You Tube?? We are experiencing some problems with resistance as we try to incorporate more online learning experiences into the curriculum. The biggest barrier right now is all of the "blocks" on the internet!! How is your school handeling this?
ReplyDeleteHas anyone addressed the concern of all the online offers we are making (and imagining)being accessible? ADA requirements mean that these courses would have to be close captioned etc for all to participate in. I think we are thinking about our current students and not planning for the future ones. This stumped me, when I was questioned how the hearing impaired would access a course. I am looking at a product called Camptasia that does the closed captioning part. Software, $250 for the basic. Any other ideas?
ReplyDeleteGood point Linda. I don't know of anything specific, but the hearing impaired students that I knew in college always had some software on their computer that would display text for them. I don't know if the school provided it or if they bought it themselves. I also had a friend who was a quadriplegic (not a nursing major) and he had software that he spoke into and it typed for him. He could send e-mails, type papers, anything that way. He had purchased the software himself though, not the school. I imagine that whatever the need, software is outthere to help make learning possible.
ReplyDeleteThe technology for handicapped people is called assitive technology. there are all sorts of things available. I believe if you do a search, you'll be able to find the things you need.-Xun Ge
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