Week 12-- Blog 5

I chose to read chapters 4 & 5 which discusses Phase 2 of the R2D2 model, reflective and observational learners. The project I am designing is an online mentoring community for our nursing students. These two chapters contain specific information for using the online features I am including in my community. Bonk and Zhang state that Online reflection is one of the key advantages of online learning; especially when using asynchronous discussion, which is a major function of my community. If learners are able to contribute at their convenience, they have more opportunity to think deeply about an idea and organize their data/thoughts, opposed to being asked to answer on the spot. Students can read and analyze the posts from other students or instructors before participating to get a better understanding of the content. With my community some students may only read what others are posting and be able to get the understanding they need. Others may need to ask questions, etc. Students will be able to use the site in a way that best fits their needs. The book also lists a few disadvantages to this additional time students receive with this type of instruction that I had not thought much about.
1. Students may waste too much time trying to reach perfection in their answers and not post until they absolutely have to.
2. Other students may feel the need to keep posting beyond what would have been enough.
3. Students who procrastinate will not get the full benefit from this type of learning.
Reflective and observational learners may greatly benefit from an online mentoring site due to the options to observe, view, watch, and then reflect on the content. Their behavior is explained by Bandura, who stated that individuals can learn vast amounts of important information from observing others model their own strategies or learned behaviors first. They learn by watching others interact or by being praised or reprimanded for their opinions and ideas. As stated by the authors, writing is referred to as a tool for thinking. My project will allow free expression in this form and hopefully will facilitate this type of learning. Blogging or journaling will be utilized in this community for this purpose. The book pointed out different way that Blogs can be used in my community which are; blogs for personal reflection, dyad blogs for paired activities, team blogs, instructor blogs, and class blogs. I just learned about blogs this semester so this information was very helpful. Blogs also provide access to resources via hyperlinks. Also , the book suggests requiring students to give feedback to one another stating that peers are a free resource. I hope we are able to facilitate the peer interaction in this community, I think it will be a great help to the students. My project will also incorporate online conferences, podcasts, and webinars. Thsi can allow exposure to and expert or professional that they may otherwise not have been able to see.
Chapter 5 lists 25 learning activities for reflective and observational learners. I will discuss the ones relevant to my project. Modeling is part of establishing a community of learners. Nursing students should be familiar with modeling because we do this everyday with them in face-to-face settings. Online modeling can include access to previous students work as an example of what is expected (I know I like this one), post exemplary work after an assignment is graded to motivate other students, or post model answers for assignments.Reuse chat transcripts is another thing I did not know I could do, but is an excellent idea that I may incorporate. It is simply what is says. Save and post the chat session transcripts for all students to be able to read or re-read. This way students who where not able to participate can still benefit from the exchange of info. Self-check quizes and exams are going to be made available to our students in several different areas. They will be optional (for now) and can be used for students to decide if they know the content in particular areas well enough or not. Discussion forums are a big part of my project. All faculty members are involved and trying our best to keep students engaged in the discussion. The book states to make rules for participating, which I am working on because participation in parts of this community is optional. I am hoping we can engage enough students fo that the ones who do not feel comfortable posting, can at least get good info from the others postings.This is also an activity in itslef called lurking. I use it quite often. I did incorporate and online resource library that contains several nursing weblinks, library links, organization links, and just links to helpful tip sites. Social networking linkages is something I have not incorporated yet, but would love to based on what I have learned this semester. I think it would fit nicely with what I am trying to accomplish with this site. I just need to figure out the best way to do this on Blackboard. I think Social networking will help make the 3 campuses feel more like one especially with the more personal sites. Last for my project is small-group case creations. This is where student design cases for other courses or students to solve. We use case studies a lot here. I think this would be a wonderful way to engage students and a great tool for the designing students as well as the solving students. These two chapters have given me several ideas to use with my project that I had not thought about. Thanks, Tomi.