Monday, September 30, 2013

The Virtual Learning Environment

"Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time."
- Rabindranath Tagore

The virtual learning environment is a place where a community of learners interact with one another in a non-threatening, respectful and positive setting. Educators establish an atmosphere where learners are safe to contribute ideas, give and receive positive and constructive feedback, build knowledge, and celebrate successes.

In what ways are you setting the tone for a positive virtual learning environment within your own "classroom"? Please reflect on the following questions and share your comments below.
  • How do you prepare your learners to participate in your virtual learning environment so that they feel safe to contribute?
  • How has the virtual learning environment affected inquiry?
  • In what ways do you feel a virtual learning environment supports a constructive approach to learning?

If you are unable to see this video, please use the following link:
http://bit.ly/youtubevle

13 comments:

  1. Although I do not instruct in a classroom, I have utilized the virtual learning environment for educators on the campus for professional learning. Our department meetings are flipped so our time together is spent on professional learning and not on house keeping items. We also use the flipped approach to facilitate in the process of "bringing alive" the Learning Portrait into the classroom. Z, the department head, or myself will send guiding questions about the topics pushed out via Educreations, 30hands, Explain Everything, etc... for later discussion.

    When I do walk-thoughs, the environment in most of the learning environments are conducive to collaboration and risk-taking. The educators have built the rapport with the learners and are involved in the learning process. Ms. DeWaal & Mr. Patterson use the blended lab to send learners to create their projects by using technology and cultivating their soft skills needed to be future-ready.

    Mr. Harris constructs learning opportunities for his learners to present topics through the lens of their academy. This builds relevance and the learners develop a hunger to want to learn more about each topic as it pertains to his or her area of interest/purpose. Lots of great questioning by the educator and the learners during the duration of the project.

    The constructivist approach is on-going throughout the learning environments. Learners are working in collaborative groups, the relationships are built to foster a risk-free learning environment and learners are teaching learners by utilizing their choice of technology to demonstrate the learning outcomes.

    Kayla Brown- AP @ CHS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kayla - I love the way that you are modeling the flipped experience for your department. I also like the way that you are modeling different apps that can be used by the educators and learners.

      I agree that the learning environments are conducive to collaboration and risk-taking. Mr. Rohloff's learners were in the blended lab and they were choosing the best way for them to review for their upcoming test. They decided to create a google doc that was shared with the entire class. The collaboration and conversations amongst the learners was fantastic and meaningful to all of them.

      Delete
  2. The virtual learning environment is a great place to construct meaning together. It allows participants to dialogue in real time. The ability to embed video and images and even participants from other parts of the world are extremely valuable.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Modeling virtual learning opportunities for learners is one way to encourage them to feel safe "putting themselves out there." If they are experiencing opportunities such as: skyping or Google plus hangouts, collaborating on Google forms, engaging in Edmodo, etc. then learners will be more comfortable taking risks.

    The virtual learning environment also allows learners to learn from people outside of their classroom walls. Who better to construct meaning with than others?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chantel - there is no better way to construct meaning! I liked reading your post and then seeing the post from Mrs. Alaniz. The two of them complimented each other so well. It's so amazing to see the things that can happen when we move past the 4 walls of the classroom.

      Delete
  4. Learning activities need to be authentic and "real-world related" for our learners in 2013 and the virtual learning environment is perfect for this! These children are consistently sharing themselves in a digital world outside of school so the best fit is to include that same type of learning inside the school. Learners are engaged and motivated to solve real-world problems and to collaborate with others in and out of their school walls.
    Through this collaboration, the kids are posing questions to one another and providing great feedback to their peers. By training them through various lessons designed to bring them to an understanding of digital courtesy and how to provide the right type of feedback, children feel "brave" to put their ideas out there and participate in ways they may not would without the virtual learning environment.
    I have found that the more my learners interact with each other and with other classes and students that it truly increases the feeling of community. It takes time, and sharing of goals and experiences.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. In the library, we connected via Skype for Dot Day. We made connections with other libraries in Maryland, Georgia, Colorado, and Maine. We shared our Dot Day creations, read THE DOT, and, invariably, the conversations led to such topics as weather, favorite books, food, sports, and favorite football teams.

    Learners generated their own questions out of a need-to-know (sometimes guessing location through Mystery Skype). Also, our friends' responses caused our learners to modify their own questions.
    To prepare, we rehearsed greetings, voice volume, etc. Learners also prepared a few questions in advance.

    We crossed time zones to connect.
    We shared laughs and "Aha" moments.
    We now are creating our library's PLN.





    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mrs. Alaniz - what a great way to extend the learning! It is so powerful when we can connect with others around the world. It is apparent that your learners are working in a safe and comfortable learning environment. Thanks for making such a difference in our kids lives!

      Delete
  7. As one of the instructional leaders in my building, we have decided that modeling is the way to begin! Every one of our faculty meetings begins with a 10 minute tip o virtual learning that is then practiced. Ideas are also given for usage by our iTeam genius, Toni Downy, and then by educators. As part of our virtual environment, we encourage our faculty to tweet and blog, as well as use different technologies tomes the communication needs of our families. We also use virtual opportunities as part of our PBL/Club 21 learning experiences in 4th and 5th grade, use apps such as 30Hands to prepare for learner-led conferences, and have our faculty create info graphics to explain ideas to our families such as constructivist learning or the PBL cycle. By leadership providing opportunities, our faculty take risks out into the virtual universe,model this for their learners and then encourage their learners to create within that environment. We are just beginning that process so our inquiry methods have not yet been fully effected, but we are beginning the process so that our Wilson community is learning to construct meaning together. Now we need to get our neighborhood community involved.

    ReplyDelete
  8. As the facilitator for the Blended Learning HUB at CMSW, I see the students building confidence by taking ownership of their learning. All of their assignments are accessed in Blackboard. The students share their ideas and reflections on the discussion board in Black Board, they also post on Padlet. Students also share their work through Wiki Spaces, Spider Scribe, About.me, Prezi or Powerpoint and You tube. They are learning so much and sharing what they learn with each other. Its been a great learning experience for the students and their teachers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Clare - I'm so glad that you are seeing the benefits of the blended learning model. When learners share their work online we really see them take pride in their work that will be seen by so many others. What a great experience for these learners!

      Delete
  9. I am the Vision Teacher for the district - I see 25 students, all in different classrooms on different campuses. Once a month, I take a group of elementary students for a lesson together in the community. I am looking to create a virutual learning environment so that these students can stay connected, learn, and collaborate with one another throughout the year. I am excited to see what I can learn from you all to help make this successful!!

    ReplyDelete