Author Question: Most states or districts require teachers to participate in specific amounts of some kind of PD to ... (Read 62 times)

leilurhhh · **on:** Jun 20, 2018

Most states or districts require teachers to participate in specific amounts of some kind of PD to keep their teaching certification current or to meet the requirements of their Professional Improvement Plans.

Indicate whether the statement is true or false

Question 2

Describe the characteristics of effective e-learning tasks.

What will be an ideal response?

l.stuut · **Reply #1 on:** Jun 20, 2018

Answer to Question 1

TRUE

Answer to Question 2

Small but critical differences exist between tasks in face-to-face classrooms and online contexts. For example, Jackson (2004 ) contrasts content-high and process-high tasks that occur during e-learning. Content high tasks, the most common in face-to-face instruction, are one-way resource dumps from instructor to student with little interaction. If this occurs during e-learning, students may drop the task or not do well because of the lack of support.

Process-high tasks, on the other hand, acknowledge the importance of interaction and communication among students and instructors before, during, and after the task. Employing process-high tasks is a principle supported throughout this text to support all learning goals and is especially important for online learning experiences (Tallent-Runnels, et al, 2006). However, even process-high online activities lack the kind of student gestures, facial expressions and other feedback that allow teachers to read how their students are doing. Teachers in face-to-face contexts find this type of feedback essential during process-high tasks and must learn either to do without it or obtain it in another manner during online courses. To address this potential problem, effective e-learning tasks must have carefully designed opportunities for interaction.

In addition, effective e-learning tasks employ multimedia rather than one medium. If the interaction during e-learning is solely in writing it can pose a barrier to language learners and other students with different reading and writing abilities. To overcome this barrier, accompany instructions sent in an e-mail message with a recording of the message and/or attach a handout with graphics.

To be effective, tasks must also be diverse and have clear instructions so that students are not bored or confused before they begin. To avoid confusion, effective e-learning tasks should include ways for students to:

receive reinforcement,
review or repeat any part of the task,
ask for help or remediation for parts of the task that are not clear or are too challenging.

This is relatively easier to do in blended contexts because the teacher can interact face-to-face with students and understand their needs more readily.

Finally, because students typically work more independently when involved in e-learning tasks, extra time may be needed to complete tasks. Therefore, build flexibility into the assignment ahead of time.