Tone and Presence
Weiss (47) creates a pragmatic reasoning behind the appropriate way of designing the tone of an online class. An online class must be stationed to develop a personal touch between all participants and allow the formation of an interactive learning and teaching conditions. In a bid to set up a class tone, I will develop the following activity during the initial session of the course.
I will develop an interactive group work at different times. Each of these groups will comprise of 10 compulsory students and any other class member willing to participate in the topic. The 10 student will be expected to attend the group for a period. Since the group work will be scheduled at different times of the day, other registered students will be allowed to participate during the sessions. I will setup 20 minutes towards the end of the discussion to assess and attend issues of every group. In this way, the students will not only argue the purposes and significance of the course to their life, but also create an interactive session among the students and their instructor. This topic has been selected to elevate the vigor of participation in order to provide a broad coverage. Furthermore, the group members will come up with 20 ideas on purposes and significances of the course. The ideas will be submitted to the facilitator during the 20 minutes intervention. As the instructor, I will assess the group chats and video sessions in order to guide the students. In this regard, the learners will be directed according to their comments and participation on the group. Essentially, all students should participate and interact adequately when meeting in order to make it lively.
Application of Principles
Videos are among the multimedia learning objects most applied in presenting better learning of online courses. From the MerlotPlace on Youtube, I chose a video explaining the use of e-learning while using Merlot. The video titled as “Announcing MERLOT II: Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching” has been recorded through the modern HD image capturing systems to facilitate clear visualization (Ferlazzo 15). The flow of ideas and organization of the presentation is organized in a smart way (Valdes 143). There is no wastage of time while explaining the various ideas regarding the use of Merlot. Coherence of the video presentation is a standing principle in this multimedia. Essentially, the coherence of the video assists student to understand the ideas. The video allows the student to internalize the ideas discussed by the facilitator.
The video can be incorporated into a blackboard as a reference for students. Furthermore, it can be enhanced by creating suspense to make it appealing. For instance, the topic can be presented as a question, which may trigger the learners to seek answers. Redundancy can be handled through enabling students to rewind or fast-forward the video (Ferlazzo 87). This multimedia allows students to observe the physical expression of the instructor, which is a fundamental factor in learning effectively. It has also enabled the learners to study the voice of the facilitator, which dictates the tone of a presentation. Videos can boost the interactive capacity of an online class. I would setup a principle to use videos maximally in order to integrate them into the learning system. In this way, the learners will get insight and become motivated to use them often. I can implement this ideology by referring students to MerlotPlace for video lectures.
Planning the Learning Object
The learning object will be a video covering how to make an effective e-learning platform (Clark and Mayer 47). The video will be used to enlighten students on creating multimedia presentations that will not depict time wastage during presentation. The video lesson will be a passive fashion allowing all learners to observe through the lesson. Essentially, this will imply that there will be illustrations and discussions while explaining how to create an effective e-learning class. The lesson will be conducted using a projector and board like most physical classes. This class will happen in real time to involve the students in direct participation and clarifications. At the end of the lesson, the learners will understand:
- The advantages of time management while participating in online classes
- The application of various tools facilitating interaction
- The organization of students in the platform
The video will be released to the learners as a movie to be streamed using electronic devices during class progress. Its format will enable accessibility through such devices as Android, iPhones, iPads, and computers among others in order to ensure that most people watch (Dewey 13). Furthermore, the movie will be set at various qualities including high definition formats. This factor will enable devices to select the most fitting quality depending on the speed of internet connections. The lesson will be delivered using the blackboard where other materials such as texts and ideas about the instructions will be posted. An assistant will attend the discussions and enquiries in order to deliver relevant questions to the instructor. The instructor will use the discussion board to provide responses regarding other questions after the presentation.
Developing the Learning Object
Researchers have paid attention to various applications of video modeling in the education system while paying attention to mentoring research, cyber-bulling, and satisfying the teachers’ needs through VSM. The procedures of developing a 5-7 passive video for the learners is prudent in online classes. The first approach will be to set up a class meeting time at the available time. It will start by making an introduction regarding the topic. The instructor will navigate the PowerPoint presentation using a projector to show images and any other illustration. There are various factors that can be implemented to enlighten the learners on avoiding time waste. These factors will be delivered directed by encouraging students to avoid interactions that will not assist in the class improvements. It may also be implemented by motivating learners to pay attention on the learning procedures.
The second learning outcome will be addressed by showing the tool used for learning online and explaining the relevance to online learning. In a bid to manage the learners, the instructor will show how the class should be organized by selecting one consultant. The consultant will seek and receive information from the lecturer in place of all the other students. A consultant can mediate questions and provide answers that have been provided by the instructor. It is about the use of VSM by the larners and the effects of online applications of videos through such social sites as Facebook and MerlotPlace. It shows how these videos propagate issues and create tensions among the learners. It also depicts how cyber bullying has led to huge emotional influences and suicides among students. However, the review informs that appropriate use of videos may assume the role of counseling in bullying as well as guiding the people affected.
Finally, the literature review addresses how video modeling has satisfied the requirements of the instructors (Foster 212). It informs that diverse teaching methods and replicable capabilities have managed to instruct learners continuously. It presents current information about various forms of content knowledge and predicts the future trends for of the education system.