Dream it.
You’ve heard of food fusion, where culinary artists merge two different cuisines together to make an even better dish. This is pedagogy fusion, and it requires a dream, inspiration, and motivation to fuse the best components of online tools to make an even better learning experience!
Dream Big!
When I dreamt of a great online course, I thought about all the ways it was similar to my gaming experience. This video showcases the persistence of students to work together, build community, value diversity, and support each other in small groups.
Teach the whole student
Being an online student is different, and I want students to showcase this difference to me as a quality that they bring to the group. On day 1, students teach me their name and share how they will contribute to the group. In addition, I can quickly assess the technology skills demonstrated on this slide, and give individualized support along the way.
Online gives MORE options…use them!
Ever wonder why people are so addicted to social media? They have a sense of community, quick bites of information, and the ability to personalize their response in the public eye. I fuse these affordances in my online class by opening with community based sharing, job postings, support for challenging situations, and sharing of successes. Students share through a variety of modalities including voice, chat, and shared Google Slides so that everyone has a place to share their voice.
Consider multiple factors
There are many factors that influence the success of synchronous-online courses. In this video, I showcase evidence of how I use the big three factors for successful remote classrooms.
Know thyself
It is important to consider your teaching philosophy. My philosophy is based on my experiences and dreams for future education.
Use the class to crowd source
Online discussion boards are popular when you have a question about how to fix something. These FAQ boards belong in online classes too, and I leverage the biggest affordance: community based answers. Rather than field every student question myself, my students post their questions in the Virtual Parking Lot, always found at the end of the slide deck.