Learning Interactions
The eBook by BJ Schone “Engaging Interactions for eLearning: 25 ways to keep learners awake and intrigued” caught my eye last year when I first cam across it (from a post on Tony Karrer’s blog). So, when I was tidying my desk up a little earlier this week, I have found it again, and did a little speed-reading to get myself re-acquainted with it.
Schone talks of:
- Scatter steps
- Interactive timeline
- Order of importance
- Find the mismatch
- Story-based questions
- Game-based interactions
- Scavenger hunt
- Teach-back
- Before/after, old/new
- Branching stories
among others, but all are designed to give the learner a better/wider training environment/experience. As Schone says:
“We want them (the learners) to be interested, inquisitive, challenged, and engaged. We want to throw puzzles and problems at the, and push them to stretch their brains.”
The other piece that really stood out for me was Schone’s conclusion on eLearning 2.0:
“… eLearning 2.0 focuses more on collaboration between learners and the use of advanced web-based tools for storing and retrieving information … eLearning 2.0 takes place outside a typical course. These interactions allow the learner to contribute their knowledge on a specific theme, design problem, or subject area, while also benefiting from the knowledge of their peers.”
I can happily agree with the last sentence of the above; our fully online students are looking to us to provide the initial materials, and the direction they need to take for the assignment, but are also happy (in the majority of cases) to be self-directed and take advice and/or direction from each other. This is not only giving them a stronger community feel, but is keeping our academics on their toes – the discussions and activities often take a different direction than was first anticipated.
