Week 3 Overview, Readings and Resources

Overview

This week we’ll focus on issues of online design and selection of collaborative tools to facilitate online learning. We’ll draw on some of the ideas around supporting learning in an online environment from last week by analyzing a case study that presents experiences of learners and an online instructor within the context of the design of the course environment and the preparation of the instructor.

Keeping our focus on the pedagogy of online learning and the needs of learners, we’ll introduce ideas of how to evaluate the strengths and challenges of online collaboration tools. The need to engage learners in online learning and to support and facilitate the kinds of collaborative learning that are expected in higher education today requires that we have a “toolbox” of options.

In Week 3 there are TWO mini-sessions:

• Course Review Task Force
• Choosing Your Tools