Frequency of interaction is a meaningful measure of the satisfaction of those taking the course. The instructor can gage the overall effectiveness of their learning environment by looking at the level of excitement and the frequency of interaction between students, in addition to what is required to meet course expectations. The higher the rate of interaction, then presumably, the higher the student satisfaction.

2.      If interaction is more important for certain groups of learners than others?

I believe that interaction is more important for groups of learners who are working toward a degree, particularly an undergraduate degree, which they have not yet had experience working in. Interaction and collaboration in this setting can foster better mastery of the material, and encourage brainstorming and problem solving skills. I feel that for graduate students, interaction is less vital and desired, as many of these students are not only experienced to some degree in the material that they are studying, but they are able to devote less time to the course as a whole.

3. If interaction affects learning outcomes such as retention?

I think that interaction does have a positive effect on retention and student satisfaction because students are making connections with their peers and networking.

4. If interaction increases student comprehension or satisfaction?

Interaction does increase student comprehension and satisfaction, by making the course more engaging and allowing students to delve deeper into the material. Students can share personal experiences and opinions with their peers; however, too much forced interaction can have exactly the opposite effect.

5. If a certain form of interaction is more critical than others?

I believe that guided interactions, based around a specific topic or concept are more critical to student comprehension and understanding. While personal experiences and social conversations help to create a sense of community, they do little to contribute to the overall effectiveness of the course itself.

6. If the pattern of interaction needs to change during a course or program?

I do not think that the pattern of interaction needs to change throughout the course of the program. Any break in the monotony that this would provide would also cause greater confusion for the students, as to what their expectations are at any given point in the course.

7. What strategies will you use to have interaction in a synchronous class vs. an asynchronous class?

For asynchronous classes, a mixture of interactive blogs and forums would serve the purpose well. For synchronous classes, a technique similar to Facebook live, where students could watch the lecture, and comment live on the content and answer each other’s questions would be very beneficial. I would also utilize live chat sessions for students to discuss the material in a Socratic form.

8.      What challenges will you encounter when having interaction in a synchronous class vs. an asynchronous class?

I feel that problems in a synchronous class would far outweigh an asynchronous course. As with a face-to-face class, a synchronous class would encounter tradition issues with student participation and attendance. Also, the time restriction places a restriction on the amount of material that can be presented in one class meeting. An asynchronous class would exhibit problems with lack of communication, and keeping students all on the same page. It would also be more difficult to monitor student learning and accurately assess mastery of the content in this self-paced setting.

9. How will you know how interactive are your online courses? How will you design a rubric for assessing interaction in online learning?

I will be able to determine how interactive my online courses are by assessing student participation in the blogs, forums, and discussion boards. I would base this assessment on the interaction that my students exhibit in addition to the required basic interaction expectations. My rubric would be based on the required interactions of my students, and would be based on whether or not the student met the requirements and demonstrated understanding of the material that the prompt pertained to.

2. If interaction is more important for certain groups of learners than others? 

·       “Well-organized course material and streaming lectures can assist student learning, facilitate student-content interaction, and increase learning retention.” Offering video based lecture or course content along with written forms of information, may increase student retention. Instructor should increase student to content interactions by offering more than one content supplier in each weekly module. For example: offering a video, an article, personal notes, and a discussion board. All work together to simultaneously increase student retention.

4. If interaction increases student comprehension or satisfaction? 

5. If a certain form of interaction is more critical than others?

I think that by combining student-instructor, student-student, and student-content, online learning can be optimized. If I had to choose, I would say that student-content was most critical. It is important to keep the student engaged and entertained in order to support retention and learning in an online course. I also feel that multiple lines of communication to the instructor are important to answer any questions along the way. The interaction should be student centered and the instructor should act as a guide along the journey.

6. If the pattern of interaction needs to change during a course or program?

I think that interaction between the instructor and student should be at its peak at the start of the course. It is important for the instructor to introduce themselves and to show interest in getting to know his or her students. It is also important for the instructor to ensure that students have proper equipment and technology needed to participate in the entire course. Next I think that student to student interaction should be stressed as it is important for classmates to feel comfortable asking for help from not only their instructor but also their classmates. This will also set the stage for future assignments. Once interaction between instructor-students, and student-student has occurred student-content will fall suit. Students will be able to demonstrate their content knowledge through content interactions at the end of a course.

2. As a current or future on-line teacher/designer, what are your thoughts about these questions:

1. What strategies will you use to have interaction in a synchronous class vs. an asynchronous class?

I would say by using multiple means of communication student to student, student to content, and student to instructor, interaction can be increased. My rubric will assess how often interaction is occurring. I will provide students with two windows of time for synchronous chats to optimize interaction opportunities. I will also offer multiple performance task choices to increase student interest in interaction. Rubric scoring will be based on number of contact methods used and frequency. 

 If interaction is more important for certain groups of learners than others?
                 Interaction is important for all types of learners.  Interaction between and online class and a face to face is extremely different.  While completing my Bachelor’s Degree I needed that interaction to keep me focused an on track.  Now, I do need it as much because I have become more disciplined in my studies.  

If interaction affects learning outcomes such as retention?
                 I know I personally retain information better when I interact with someone.  Even if it is through a computer screen, it seems to sink in better. 

If interaction increases student comprehension or satisfaction?
                 For a student to be completely satisfied with their class, there needs to be acquit interaction between the students and the instructor.  The instructor needs to provide the student with positive feedback.  This in turn will show that student comprehends what a course is asking of them.

If a certain form of interaction is more critical than others?
                 All types of interaction is vital to online learning.  For a student to feel like they are accomplished in a class interaction is key.  There is a sense of accomplishment and gratitude to the students in the class.

If the pattern of interaction needs to change during a course or program?
                 Interaction in online should happen all throughout the class.  During start of the class the instructor and students should interact a lot to get the feel for the course and each other.  As the class progresses the instructor should be more of a facilitator and let their students interact more together.

What strategies will you use to have interaction in a synchronous class vs. an asynchronous class?
                 Synchronous online classes are very interactive because everyone has to be online at the same time.  To get an asynchronous class to interact it will take a little creativeness.  I would have to figure out a way to get a classes attention and get them to produce clean and concise answers. 

What challenges will you encounter when having interaction in a synchronous class vs. an asynchronous class? 
                 During a synchronous the biggest challenge would be making sure each student has the proper internet connection to participate in class.  I would be able to lead a solid class via Go Meeting or a program like that.  During an asynchronous the challenge would be connecting to the students and have having the students connect with each other.  Since there isn’t a set time it makes connecting challenging. 

How will you know how interactive are your online courses? How will you design a rubric for assessing interaction in online learning?
                 Student will receive points for interacting with their classmates.  They need to be held accountable in the class.  Deadlines will be set and will need to be met, if they are not, points will be deducted.  Of course there will be times of extreme circumstances that I would think about changing these rules.  For myself as an instructor I would make it a point to get online every day.  

Interaction in a course is important in the learning process. Students need to feel that they are connected to the materials along with others.  I feel that the level of interaction needed is gauged upon the level of experience of a student with online learning and independent studying.   Students that are not dedicated and intrinsically motivated will not perform as well in an online class with less interaction.

 

Being a teacher of students with special needs, I believe that certain groups of learners would require a higher level of interaction.  At the collegiate level, undergraduate students would require more interaction than a student pursuing a masters or doctorate degree.  The level of dedication to learning would also impact the level of interaction needed by a learner.

Retention is affected by the level of interaction based on the needs of the student.  A student that feels disconnected from the teacher and other students will not retain as much information if they are not intrinsically motivated to learn on his own.  Retention comes from building connections in your brain through interaction with meaningful materials.  A nonengaging, noninteractive environment will impact retention.

Students will develop connections with other students and with teachers in a classroom that has a high level of interaction and engagement.  Most students crave feedback from their peers and their teacher.  Positive interaction and negative interaction will both influence the comprehension of materials and the satisfaction level of the student.

The different types of interaction are all subjective to the learning style and level of autonomy of the student.  A student that is an advanced graduate student would do better with student/materials engagement than a student that is disinterested. A disinterested student would thrive better in a student/peers and student/teacher classroom.  The most critical form of interaction is dependent on the student’s needs.

I feel that the patterns of interaction need to be explained explicitly at the beginning of the course.  If the student is aware there is going to be changes in interaction throughout the course in the beginning, it will create less frustration and confusion for the student.  The change of communication could cause some students to feel overwhelmed.

In teaching a synchronous class, I really like the Second Life learning environment and Facebook Live.  Chat sessions would also be a good technique for a synchronous classroom.  In teaching an asynchronous classroom, forums and blogs have worked well in my online classes, so I would use these methods.

Synchronous chat classes can create technology issues with logging in and feeling overwhelmed when everyone is chatting at once.  Students have to be cautious of misconceptions based on interpretation of the things that they post on chat discussions.  A student could be answering a question that was posted previously and someone could think the student was responding to another post that popped up seconds before the student posted.

Asynchronous classes have downtime where there are no responses to forums for student feedback and interaction for several hours or days.  The varying schedules of the students causes a feeling of frustration for some learners.  

Student responses and engagement in my lesson would tell me how interactive my online course materials are.  Feedback from students after the course is taught will also help me gauge how students felt with the online class.  I would design a rubric that gives clear expectations on professionalism, numbers of times a student needs to post, and understanding the materials.  

Interaction in all courses is important to help enhance student understanding. Interaction must be carefully designed  so that that are both meaningful and relevent to the learner. It is also important that interactions are measureable and that students know how they are being measured.

Interaction is important for all learners. I believe that interactions can be more or less important for certain types of learners. Some students understanding are enhanced by interactions while others find interactions to be more of an nuisance. Students with disabilities my thrive more off of interactions than others. Likewise a shy or timid student may feel hindered or discouraged by peer interactions. 

I believe interactions in a course can enhance learning outcomes. In my own experiences as a student and a teacher, I have found that meaningful and relevant interactions help enhance your or your students understanding of a subject matter. On the other hand, interactions that have a less obvious connection to the subject can lead to misconceptions or discouragment. 

Meaningful and relevant interactions increase student comprehension. I  also thing that communication and feedback from the instuctor can help encourage students and lead to better student comprehension.

There are many different types are interactions. I think that it is important to incorporate many different types of interactions into an online course. Different types of interaction will keep the course from becoing "stale" and will reach the intererest or the learning style of various students. 

I think that there needs to be consistency with interaction in a course to keep students motivated and alert. That being said, I believe it is important that the types of interaction need to vary so that the course stays meaninful and relevant to students.

In a synchronous class, I would provide students with a set of class meeting times. We would use a form a video chat to connect and interact. In an asychronous class, I would have to carefully and creatively design interactions. The interactions would vary in style and have clear and concise instructions.  

In a synchronous class, I think that the greatest challenge would be technology problems such as internet connections.

In an asynchronous class, I think that the greatest challege would be facilitation interactions that are successful and meaningful. I also think a chould would be preventing student misconceptions. 

Interactions will be measurable to ensure that all students are interacting. I will provide students with a rubric that I design that clearly outlines my expectations for their interactions. I will also provide feedback to there interactions to encourage them and prevent misconceptions.

1)         If frequency of interaction in a course is a meaningful measure?

 

Interaction amongst students is very important in the learning process, and even more important in online learning.  Instructors should be fostering online discussions between students, and/or have them learning in small groups in order to hear others ideas and opinions about the content.

 

2)         If interaction is more important for certain groups of learners than others?

 

Interaction is an important piece of the learning process for all students, but some thrive on it more than others.  For instances, students who are social learners would like more interaction in an online class than those students who are intrapersonal learners.  But, online learning could bring out the shyness of some learners, since they are not face to face with their classmates in a traditional setting.

 

3)         If interaction affects learning outcomes such as retention?

 

Retention of material comes best when material is presented over and over in more that one manner.  So, interaction like a discussion on a topic among students will help that student retain the material longer because they are sharing thoughts and ideas about the topic. 

 

4)         If interaction increases student comprehension or satisfaction?

 

Interaction will increase the student’s understanding of the material.  Being able to obtain feedback from one’s interpretation of the content as well as read others’ should give the student a better understanding of the material.  And while the instructors try to satisfy all their students to their best capabilities, there will always be unsatisfied people.  Those students who learn and grow from interaction will be satisfied and those who did not take it seriously and saw it as a nuisance will not be.

 

5)         If a certain form of interaction is more critical than others?

 

I do not believe there is form of interaction that is more critical than others.  Each person will have their own opinion as to what type of interaction work best for them, and it is the instructors responsibility to provide a variety of interaction types to best fit everyone’s needs.

 

6)         If the pattern of interaction needs to change during a course or program?

 

I believe that there should be a consistent pattern of interactions.  Being an online course, many students are planning school around their schedules, so having a set day for a forum or live chat will help students participate to their fullest potential.

 

7)         What strategies will you use to have interaction in a synchronous class vs. an asynchronous class?

 

While teaching a synchronous class I would most likely video chat in.  I would like to have a chat room running as well so that students could pop in questions at any time during the lesson and they could be answered immediately or shortly after the lesson if need be.  The chat room could also be used to answer questions I ask in the video chat.  This is a great way to formatively see what students know about the material and what I should further go into detail about.  While teaching an asynchronous class I would most likely have forums for students to participate in weekly as well as some group assignment so students could interact more personally with a selected amount of classmates if there were a large number of enrolled students.

 

8)         What challenges will you encounter when having interaction in a synchronous class vs. an asynchronous class?

 

The biggest challenge I could see happening is technology failure, and that would hinder the learning of a synchronous class.  I have not had this happen to me personally, but have co-workers that have students videoed in from other districts, and sometimes if technology is not working, those students have to miss the class.  If the class were asynchronous, then students would mostly be meeting over discussion forums, which can be done over a period of days so technology issues can be better avoided.

 

9)         How will you know how interactive are your online courses? How will you design a rubric for assessing interaction in online learning?

 

I will know how interactive my courses are by seeing how often students are participating in forums and blogs, and by reading what they are posting.  My assessing rubric will consistent of points for participating in the required amount of responses to students as well as meeting set deadlines.  

 

Interaction amongst students is very important in the learning process, and even more important in online learning.  Instructors should be fostering online discussions between students, and/or have them learning in small groups in order to hear others ideas and opinions about the content.

 

2)         If interaction is more important for certain groups of learners than others?

 

Interaction is an important piece of the learning process for all students, but some thrive on it more than others.  For instances, students who are social learners would like more interaction in an online class than those students who are intrapersonal learners.  But, online learning could bring out the shyness of some learners, since they are not face to face with their classmates in a traditional setting.

 

3)         If interaction affects learning outcomes such as retention?

 

Retention of material comes best when material is presented over and over in more that one manner.  So, interaction like a discussion on a topic among students will help that student retain the material longer because they are sharing thoughts and ideas about the topic. 

 

4)         If interaction increases student comprehension or satisfaction?

 

Interaction will increase the student’s understanding of the material.  Being able to obtain feedback from one’s interpretation of the content as well as read others’ should give the student a better understanding of the material.  And while the instructors try to satisfy all their students to their best capabilities, there will always be unsatisfied people.  Those students who learn and grow from interaction will be satisfied and those who did not take it seriously and saw it as a nuisance will not be.

 

5)         If a certain form of interaction is more critical than others?

 

I do not believe there is form of interaction that is more critical than others.  Each person will have their own opinion as to what type of interaction work best for them, and it is the instructors responsibility to provide a variety of interaction types to best fit everyone’s needs.

 

6)         If the pattern of interaction needs to change during a course or program?

 

I believe that there should be a consistent pattern of interactions.  Being an online course, many students are planning school around their schedules, so having a set day for a forum or live chat will help students participate to their fullest potential.

 

7)         What strategies will you use to have interaction in a synchronous class vs. an asynchronous class?

 

While teaching a synchronous class I would most likely video chat in.  I would like to have a chat room running as well so that students could pop in questions at any time during the lesson and they could be answered immediately or shortly after the lesson if need be.  The chat room could also be used to answer questions I ask in the video chat.  This is a great way to formatively see what students know about the material and what I should further go into detail about.  While teaching an asynchronous class I would most likely have forums for students to participate in weekly as well as some group assignment so students could interact more personally with a selected amount of classmates if there were a large number of enrolled students.

 

8)         What challenges will you encounter when having interaction in a synchronous class vs. an asynchronous class?

 

The biggest challenge I could see happening is technology failure, and that would hinder the learning of a synchronous class.  I have not had this happen to me personally, but have co-workers that have students videoed in from other districts, and sometimes if technology is not working, those students have to miss the class.  If the class were asynchronous, then students would mostly be meeting over discussion forums, which can be done over a period of days so technology issues can be better avoided.

 

9)         How will you know how interactive are your online courses? How will you design a rubric for assessing interaction in online learning?

 

I will know how interactive my courses are by seeing how often students are participating in forums and blogs, and by reading what they are posting.  My assessing rubric will consistent of points for participating in the required amount of responses to students as well as meeting set deadlines.