Thursday 22 September 2011

Key Elements of an Online Program

any innovative instructors at institutions world-wide are discovering the potential of the online environment to deliver instruction of the highest quality to people who would otherwise have limited access to higher education. This is an exciting and challenging time in education. Online education is bringing collaborative learning to the forefront and is affecting the way traditional courses are taught as well. Simply defined, online education refers to courses offered via the Internet. The minimum requirement for students to participate in an online course is access to a computer, the Internet, and motivation to succeed in a non-traditional classroom. Online courses provide an excellent method of course delivery unbound by time or location allowing for accessibility to instruction at anytime from anywhere. Adult learners in particular, find the online environment a convenient way to fit education into their busy lives. The ability to access a course from a home computer via the Internet, 24 hours a day, seven days a week is a tremendous incentive for this group to reach their academic and career goals.

Let’s take a closer look at each of the key elements of a successful online program:

The Students

The Facilitator

The Curriculum

The Technology

The Students

Online programs especially benefit students who (a) are home-bound, (b) live long distances from the on-site campus, and/or (c) have busy lives often juggling family, professional, and other responsibilities. Online courses can also benefit traditional students, especially those who want or need to engage in accelerated learning or who may need to take an online class because alternative on-campus courses conflict with their work/family schedule.

An online student must assume an active role in the Virtual Classroomä and understand the important characteristics necessary to succeed. In a collaborative learning environment highly dependent on written dialog and high synergy, students are able to shape the learning objectives by contributing information related to the course content that is directly applicable to their own academic and/or professional goals.Attitude, skills and commitment determine whether the student will be a good candidate for the online experience. The student must be mature, open-minded, self-motivated, accepting of critical thinking, willing to work collaboratively, and trusting of the online experience. Good written communication skills and a minimum level of technological experience is necessary. Finally, the student must commit the time necessary (four to six hours per week) to stay current, and he/she must have access to the necessary equipment.Students who usually sit in the back of the classroom and avoid speaking in class blossom in the online environment. Participants are more willing to risk written participation than spoken, perhaps partly because they can rethink and edit email before sending it. In the online environment, the visual barriers that hinder some individuals in expressing themselves are largely eliminated.

The Curriculum

It is important for online courses to remain part of the academic curriculum of an institution, with faculty determining the appropriateness and the validity of the subject matter and the delivery methods. It is imperative the integrity of online courses be ensured in order to maintain their transferability and certificate standing. Development of new online courses should have to meet the same standards and go through a similar approval process as their onground counterparts.The curriculum of an online program must be designed especially for the short-term, collaborative nature of online learning. Onground curriculum can be used if it is substantially converted to fit the online environment. Course content should be organized in modules with clear deadlines for the assigned work in each part. Instructors should give simple and clear assignments, and not assign over-complicated tasks. Lectures should be reduced and compensated with open-ended remarks that elicit comments and a display of varying viewpoints. Online curriculum should focus on application of knowledge to the real world and foster critical thinking skills with opportunities for an interchange of ideas among students and with the facilitator.Online curriculum should have clear achievable objectives using appropriate technologies, and the choice of technologies (facilitative tools) should be driven by the curriculum. The learning objectives need to be relevant to the learning needs of the students. The curriculum should be designed to promote maximum dialog among the participants. The synergy generated through online dialog is the most important learning tool in the online environment and has an impact on defining the learning outcomes. In order for this to happen, the climate in the Virtual Classroomä must be open, honest, sincere, and conducive to learning. Ultimately, the facilitator is responsible for creating this welcome environment in the Virtual Classroomä .Online curriculum has two important factors, process and outcomes. The process must integrate life, work, andeducational experiences, generate continuous dialog, draw a connection between the learned concepts and work experience, include ample time for the completion of the assigned work, utilize a minimal amount of memorization, maintain a balance between the technology, facilitator, and the students, and incorporate group and team activities. The learning outcomes must be achievable and offer the opportunity for students to use them in practical, everyday situations.

The Facilitator

A trained facilitator is an important component of an online program. Often, the facilitator is also the designer and monitor of the online course, and thus has a powerful influence on the success or failure of the program. The facilitator’s training, personality, and attitude all impact the online environment. A successful facilitator must know how to integrate life experience, communication, professionalism, and content into the learning environment. The personality of the facilitator is an important component as well, and sets the tone of the Virtual Classroomä . If the facilitator is encouraging and positive, students will quickly develop a level of comfort in the online environment.

Facilitators have two responsibilities to their Virtual Students: appropriate curriculum design and facilitation. Online instruction is not "onground gone digital, audio or video." Interaction among students, between facilitator and students, and between the students and the learning materials, (including the larger community on the WWW) as managed by the instructor makes or breaks the class. When a facilitator makes the transition from onground to online, he/she does not retain the role of "distributor of information" in a teacher-centered classroom. Rather an instructor’s energy should be channeled to become the medium whereby the discovery of learning is facilitated in a student-centered environment. No longer a "sage on the stage, " the online instructor becomes a "guide on the side," helping others to discover and synthesize the learning material. To this end, the facilitator must believe in the effectiveness of the on the online paradigm and the value of critical thinking. Hence, traditional teaching methods simply do not succeed given the changes in the learning environment. This brings new pressures on instructors, both to deal with a different way of teaching, interacting and managing a 24-hour-a-day classroom populated by adults who demand relevance and may require extra support due to their already busy lives.

Some of the responsibilities of an online facilitator include:

Course planning and organization.

Ability to create an atmosphere of collaborative teamwork. Students will depend on one another for a large portion of their learning. The facilitator needs to know how to work as part of this team as well as help the students work with each other.

Construct questions that will have a variety of intellectual levels, varied in their instructional purpose and be open-ended.

Set the agenda and provide leadership and direction without controlling the class. Find a balance between leading the group and creating an environment where students themselves meet the learning objectives. The leadership model becomes one of dynamic facilitation, which is a shift away from an authoritarian style toward a more democratic style.

Develop methods for learner feedback and reinforcement.

Sequence the presentation of content and pace the material so as to avoid content overload.

Personalize instruction to be relevant to the needs of individual participants.

The Technology

Technology is the final component of a successful online program. Selection of appropriate technologies becomes especially challenging due to the fast changing pace and growth of new Internet-based tools that can be used in online courses. Packages of tools offer chat rooms, e-mail, electronic forums that organized discussion responses in varied ways (by subject, time of day and person responding), and quick access to the Internet for research all in one program. The technology should be selected based on the needs and objectives of the online programs, and it must be user friendly, reliable, accessible and affordable. Enthusiastic instructors may be tempted to utilize the most high tech technology due to its impressive features; however, large graphics, video, and audio have high download times and complicated programs often hinder the learning process rather than facilitate it. The technology selected should be the one that best delivers the course content.

Successful use of technology is determined by its ease of use, the degree to which it remains a tool rather than the focus of learning and mostly that the technology remains transparent. Technology is a means to deliver the education, and for successful learning to occur, the technology must be as seamless as possible. Ways to ensure this is that the facilitators must first be comfortable using a particular technology before implementing it in their courses and that students are required to participate in an orientation program before the course begins in order to familiarize themselves with the tools that will be used in their course.

Another technological issue that must be addressed is that the technology used to deliver instruction must accommodate the lowest common denominator in the class. Minimum requirements are necessary to participate in online courses (i.e. access to a computer and modem), however, not everyone has the latest computer model or free Internet access. Equity of access to technology should be taken into consideration when designing distance learning courses.

Finally, technical support is vital to the success of an online course. The facilitator can be well trained, the curriculum in place, and the student willing, but when the system malfunctions, both the student and instructor need to know where to turn for help. Technical issues should not interfere with the learning process.

Deepa Singh
Business Developer
Web Site:-http://www.gyapti.com
Blog:- http://gyapti.blogspot.com/
Email Id:-deepa.singh@soarlogic.com

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Where we are

Found in wiki that our education budget is 11.61 billion dollar, is that,the Indian government are investing this much amount in education,

However, India continues to face stern challenges. Despite growing investment in education, 25% of its population is still illiterate; only 15% of Indian students reach high school, and just 7% graduate.

National education budget (2011–2012)
Budget	52,057 crore (US$11.61 billion)

As of 2008, India's post-secondary high schools offer only enough seats for 7% of India's college-age population, 25% of teaching positions nationwide are vacant, and 57% of college professors lack either a master's or PhD degree.

As of 2011, there are 1522 degree-granting engineering colleges in India with an annual student intake of 582,000,^[6] plus 1,244 polytechnics with an annual intake of 265,000. However, these institutions face shortage of faculty and concerns have been raised over the quality of education

Where we are now?

What we have to do for this?

so many question coming in our mind.... we are not well aware of technology also.....

Deepa Singh
Business Developer
Web Site:-http://www.gyapti.com
Blog:- http://gyapti.blogspot.com/
Email Id:-deepa.singh@soarlogic.com

Higher Education In India,Need Improvements

There was a time when countries could achieve economic success with cheap labour and low-tech manufacturing. Low wages still help, but contemporary large-scale development requires a sophisticated and at least partly knowledge-based economy. India has chosen that path, but will find a major stumbling block in its university system.

India has significant advantages in the 21st century knowledge race. It has a large higher education sector — the third largest in the world in student numbers, after China and the United States. It uses English as a primary language of higher education and research. It has a long academic tradition. Academic freedom is respected. There are a small number of high quality institutions, departments, and centres that can form the basis of quality sector in higher education. The fact that the States, rather than the Central Government, exercise major responsibility for higher education creates a rather cumbersome structure, but the system allows for a variety of policies and approaches.

Yet the weaknesses far outweigh the strengths. India educates approximately 10 per cent of its young people in higher education compared with more than half in the major industrialised countries and 15 per cent in China. Almost all of the world's academic systems resemble a pyramid, with a small high quality tier at the top and a massive sector at the bottom. India has a tiny top tier. None of its universities occupies a solid position at the top. A few of the best universities have some excellent departments and centres, and there is a small number of outstanding undergraduate colleges. The University Grants Commission's recent major support of five universities to build on their recognised strength is a step toward recognising a differentiated academic system — and fostering excellence. At present, the world-class institutions are mainly limited to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and perhaps a few others such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. These institutions, combined, enrol well under 1 per cent of the student population.

India's colleges and universities, with just a few exceptions, have become large, under-funded, ungovernable institutions. At many of them, politics has intruded into campus life, influencing academic appointments and decisions across levels. Under-investment in libraries, information technology, laboratories, and classrooms makes it very difficult to provide top-quality instruction or engage in cutting-edge research.

The rise in the number of part-time teachers and the freeze on new full-time appointments in many places have affected morale in the academic profession. The lack of accountability means that teaching and research performance is seldom measured. The system provides few incentives to perform. Bureaucratic inertia hampers change. Student unrest and occasional faculty agitation disrupt operations. Nevertheless, with a semblance of normality, faculty administrators are able to provide teaching, coordinate examinations, and award degrees.

Even the small top tier of higher education faces serious problems. Many IIT graduates, well trained in technology, have chosen not to contribute their skills to the burgeoning technology sector in India. Perhaps half leave the country immediately upon graduation to pursue advanced study abroad — and most do not return. A stunning 86 per cent of students in science and technology fields from India who obtain degrees in the United States do not return home immediately following their study. Another significant group, of about 30 per cent, decides to earn MBAs in India because local salaries are higher — and are lost to science and technology. A corps of dedicated and able teachers work at the IITs and IIMs, but the lure of jobs abroad and in the private sector make it increasingly difficult to lure the best and brightest to the academic profession.

Few in India are thinking creatively about higher education. There is no field of higher education research. Those in government as well as academic leaders seem content to do the "same old thing." Academic institutions and systems have become large and complex. They need good data, careful analysis, and creative ideas. In China, more than two-dozen higher education research centres, and several government agencies are involved in higher education policy.

India has survived with an increasingly mediocre higher education system for decades. Now as India strives to compete in a globalised economy in areas that require highly trained professionals, the quality of higher education becomes increasingly important. So far, India's large educated population base and its reservoir of at least moderately well-trained university graduates have permitted the country to move ahead. But the competition is fierce. China in particular is heavily investing in improving its best universities with the aim of making a small group of them world class in the coming decade, and making a larger number internationally competitive research universities. Other Asian countries are also upgrading higher education with the aim of building world class-universities. Taiwan, which is a major designer and producer of IT hardware, is considering merging several of its top technological universities to create an "Asian MIT."

To compete successfully in the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century, India needs enough universities that not only produce bright graduates for export but can also support sophisticated research in a number of scientific and scholarly fields and produce at least some of the knowledge and technology needed for an expanding economy. How can India build a higher education system that will permit it to join developed economies? The newly emerging private sector in higher education cannot spearhead academic growth. Several of the well-endowed and effectively managed private institutions maintain reasonably high standards, although it is not clear that these institutions will be able to sustain themselves in the long run. They can help produce well-qualified graduates in such fields as management, but they cannot form the basis for comprehensive research universities. This sector lacks the resources to build the facilities required for quality instruction and research in the sciences. Nor can enough money be earned by providing instruction in the mainstream arts and sciences disciplines. Most of the private institutions do not focus on advanced training in the sciences.

Only public universities have the potential to be truly world class institutions. Institutions and programmes of national prominence have already been identified by the Government. But these institutions have not been adequately or consistently supported. The top institutions require sustained funding from public sources. Academic salaries must be high enough to attract excellent scientists and scholars. Fellowships and other grants should be available for bright students. An academic culture that is based on merit-based norms and competition for advancement and research funds is a necessary component, as is a judicious mix of autonomy to do creative research and accountability to ensure productivity. World class universities require world class professors and students — and a culture to sustain and stimulate them.

A clearly differentiated academic system has not been created in India — a system where there are some clearly identified institutions that receive significantly greater resources than other universities. One of the main reasons that the University of California at Berkeley is so good is that other California universities receive much less support. India's best universities require sustained state support — they require the recognition that they are indeed top institutions and deserve commensurate support. But they also require effective management and an ethos of an academic meritocracy. At present, the structures are not in place to permit building and sustaining top-quality programmes even if resources are provided.

A combination of specific conditions and resources are needed to create outstanding universities.

Sustained financial support, with an appropriate mix of accountability and autonomy.

The development of a clearly differentiated academic system — including private institutions — in which academic institutions have different missions, resources, and purposes.

Managerial reforms and the introduction of effective administration.

Truly merit-based hiring and promotion policies for the academic profession, and similarly rigorous and honest recruitment, selection, and instruction of students.

India cannot build internationally recognized research-oriented universities overnight, but the country has the key elements in place to begin and sustain the process. India will need to create a dozen or more universities that can compete internationally to fully participate in the new world economy. Without these universities, India is destined to remain a scientific backwater.

(Philip G. Altbach is Monan professor of higher education and director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College.)

Deepa Singh
Business Developer
Web Site:-http://www.gyapti.com
Blog:- http://gyapti.blogspot.com /
Email Id:-deepa.singh@soarlogic.com

Monday 19 September 2011

Teaching Strategies: Online Teaching

Online teaching is increasingly common at many types of higher education institutions, ranging from hybrid courses that offer a combination of in-person and online instruction, to fully online experiences and distance learning. The following resources provide guidelines for creating an online course, best practices for teaching online, and strategies for assessing the quality of online education.

Instructional Strategies for Online Courses

Effective online instruction depends on learning experiences appropriately designed and facilitated by knowledgeable educators. Because learners have different a combination of styles, online educators should design activities that address their modes of learning in order to provide significant experiences for each class participant. In designing online courses, this can best be accomplished by utilizing multiple instructional strategies. Teaching models exist which apply to traditional higher education learning environments, and when designing courses for the online environment, these strategies should be adapted to the new environment.

ONLINE COURSES AND MULTIPLE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Traditionally, in a teacher-centered classroom, instructors control their environment because they have a monopoly on information. In an online course, with instant access to vast resources of data and information, students are no longer totally dependent on faculty for knowledge. As faculty are beginning to teach online, learning is becoming more collaborative, contextual and active. Educators must first design their curriculum, goals and objectives and then consider how the online environment can best serve the instructional objectives and activities of that curriculum.This requires changes in pedagogy, with instructors taking the role of facilitators of information while guiding students toward solutions. In order for online learning to be successful, teachers as well as learners must take on new roles in the teaching-learning relationship, and faculty must be willing to release control of learning to the students.

Online learning environments permit a full range of interactive methodologies, and instructors have found that in adapting their courses to online models, they are paying more attention to the instructional design of their courses. As a result, the quality, quantity, and patterns of communication students practice during learning are improved.

Of the many instructional strategies available for use in the online learning environment, most have not been developed specifically for online instruction, but are currently used in traditional classrooms, and can be successfully adapted for facilitating online learning. Educators should choose instructional strategies that are most effective for accomplishing a particular educational objective. From this perspective, instructional strategies are tools available to educators for designing and facilitate learning . Below are ten instructional strategies which have been effectively used in the traditional classroom and can likewise be used in the online learning environment:

LEARNING CONTRACTS

Learning contracts connect educational needs to individual student needs and are useful when there is diversity in learner needs and interests in a class. A learning contract is a formal agreement written by a learner which details what will be learned, how the learning will be accomplished, the period of time involved, and the specific evaluation criteria to be used in judging the completion of the learning. Learning contracts help the educator and learner share the responsibility for learning.

Contract learning can bring about many practical benefits, including deeper involvement of the learner in the learning activities which they themselves have been involved in planning. Once a learner passes through the stage of confusion and anxiety associated with developing a contract, he/she will get excited about carrying out their own plans. Another benefit of utilizing contract learning is an increase of accountability, since the learning contract provides more functional and validated evidence of the learning outcomes. The contract also provides a means for the learner to receive continuous feedback regarding progress toward accomplishing learning objectives.

LEARNING CONTRACTS

Learning contracts can be extremely effective in the online environment. Because physically meeting with the class to discuss learning goals, objectives, and expectations is not possible online, instructors must be very clear and concise in what is expected from the learner. Likewise, the learner must also be clear about what he/she expects from the instructor and the course. A learning contract can facilitate negotiation and clarity of learning goals and outcomes. Sample learning contracts can be placed on a web page for the student to use as examples, and students can be encouraged to brainstorm ideas for learning contracts with their online peers as well as negotiate the final contract with the instructor through utilizing email or online conferencing.

LECTURE

The lecture is one of the most frequently used instructional methods in adult education. It assumes the educator to be the expert and is an efficient way of disseminating information. Most educators agree that the purpose of lectures is to lay foundations as the student works through the subject, and good lecturers know their students and develop their lectures according to the students' needs. Most importantly, lectures are most effective when used in combination with other instructional strategies.

DISCUSSION

Discussion is the instructional strategy most favored by adult learners because it is interactive and encourages active, participatory learning. The discussion format encourages learners to analyze alternative ways of thinking and acting and assists learners in exploring their own experiences so they can become better critical thinkers. The discussion is often the heart of an online course.

The Internet offers several modes for discussion including mailing lists (listservs) which focus on particular topics and online conferencing programs. Both of these options utilize asynchronous communication. Synchronous (real time) communication can be offered by utilizing chat rooms or text-based virtual reality environments, better known as Multi-user Domains (MUDs) or Multi-user Object Oriented Environments (MOOs).

SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING

Self-directed learning is learning initiated and directed by the learner and can include self-paced, independent, and individualized learning as well as self-instruction. Whatever terminology is used, self-directed learning places the responsibility for learning directly on the learner. Learners who take the initiative in learning and are proactive learners learn more and better than passive learners (reactive learners). Proactive learners enter into learning more purposefully and with greater motivation. They also tend to retain and make use of what they learn better and longer than reactive learners. The independent learner is one who is more involved and active within the learning process.

SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING

Online learning supports the self-directed learner in pursuing individualized, self-paced learning activities. The learner, working at a computer at a convenient time and pace, is able to search and utilize the vast resources of the Internet research nearly any topic imaginable. Students can visit libraries, museums and various institutes world-wide, talk to professionals, access recent research, and read newspapers and peer reviewed scholarly journals online. Students can write collaboratively with peers and even publish written and multimedia products on web pages.

MENTOR SHIP

The aim of mentorship is to promote learner development drawing out and giving form to what the student already knows. A mentor serves as a guide rather than a provider of knowledge and serves the function of introducing students to the new world, interpreting it for them, and helping them to learn what they need to know to function in it. Mentors in education teach by interpreting the environment and modeling expected behaviors. They also support, challenge, and provide vision for their students.

A major benefit to online mentorship is the opportunity for frequent, convenient communication between mentor and student. Weekly or even daily journals and communications can be sent between mentor and student via e-mail, providing an ongoing "dialogue" which supports the development of the mentor relationship and offers numerous opportunities for timely feedback on student questions, concerns and issues.

SMALL GROUP WORK

In small groups learners can discuss content, share ideas, and solve problems. They present their own ideas as well as consider ideas put forth by others. In this way, they can be exposed to a variety of viewpoints on a given subject. There are many small group formats that encourage and provide opportunities for interaction:

The discussion group allows learners to reflect on a subject under discussion and present their views. Discussion within the small group is often on high intellectual levels - specifically analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Guided design encourages interaction in small groups. Here the focus is on developing learners' decision-making skills as well as on teaching specific concepts and principles. Participants work to solve open-ended problems which require outside class work to gather information. This format encourages learners to think logically, communicate ideas, and apply steps in a decision-making process. Learners are also required to apply the information they have learned, exchange ideas, and reflect on suggested solutions. The instructor's role is to act as a consultant to the groups.

Role playing is another format available for use with small groups and involves recreating a situation relating to a real-world problem in which participants act out various roles. This promotes an understanding of other people's positions and their attitudes as well as the procedures that might be used for diagnosing and solving problems. Role playing can be used to simulate real-life group work situations and can help learners gain a fuller understanding of a problem or situation.

Games requiring two or more groups to compete while attempting to meet a set of objectives is another form of small group learning. The game follows a set of rules and procedures and information is provided which requires decision making. Most instructional games reflect typical real-life situations. The rules, procedures, and objectives of the game should be clear and concise.

Online learning environments offer several distinct benefits for small group work. First, they allow small groups to work independently while still having access to the instructor. In some cases where it is difficult for all members of an online class to meet synchronously, small groups can be organized according to their time zones, making it possible to find a convenient time to meet synchronously. Larger groups can benefit by communicating asynchronously via conferencing programs. A second benefit of online environments for group work is that they equalize control among participants. Factors such as geography, gender, or disabilities do not disadvantage learners in this environment. Finally, the instructor is able to respond directly to questions and needs of particular groups without taking the time of other groups.

PROJECT

Online projects give students an opportunity to pursue their special interests and can be done individually or within groups. Projects also provide students with practical experience and a sense of accomplishment. Using projects in a learning activity makes the learning more relevant to the learners. Products can be shared with others in the class and critiqued. Many times an individual project is only critiqued by the facilitator, but by sharing individual projects with other participants, the learner has the opportunity to obtain more diverse viewpoints and feedback.

Many of the instructional strategies discussed above can be considered group projects. Group projects can include simulations, role playing, case studies, problem solving exercises, group collaborative work, debates, small group discussion, and brainstorming. As with individual projects, participants in group projects should receive peer feedback to expose them to diverse viewpoints. With independent and group projects learners pursue special interests, write or create for an audience, and publish or present their findings and conclusions via the Internet. The Internet provides the potential of receiving feedback from experts or interested peers outside the course by accessing the project online.

COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

Collaborative learning is the process of getting two or more students to work together to learn. Students often work in small groups composed of participants with differing ability levels and using a variety of learning activities to master material initially developed by an instructor, or construct knowledge on substantive issues. Each member of the team is responsible for learning what is taught and for helping teammates learn.

Collaborative learning methods are now used in over a third of higher education courses, and their use has increased in the past six years more than any other learning method, according to a recent survey conducted by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute. Employers want workers with collaborative skills and are looking for graduates of educational programs that teach these skills. Collaborative learning can be more effective than interpersonal competitive and individualistic efforts in promoting cognitive development, self-esteem, and positive student-student relationships.

Online learning models are natural environments for collaborative learning, but they are not collaborative learning environments by definition. Learners may interact with other participants without collaborating, for example when receiving on-line tutorial help. Learning activities have to be specifically and somewhat carefully designed to work effectively.

CASE STUDY

The case study is a teaching strategy which requires learners to draw upon their past experiences, is participatory and has action components which are links to future experience. The key to a successful case study is the selection of an appropriate problem situation which is relevant both to the interests and experience level of learners and to the concepts being taught. The case report should include facts regarding the problem, the environmental context, and the characters of the people involved in the case. It should be factual, but also contain the opinions and views of the people involved. Learners should have access to the problem solution, but not until they have reached their own conclusions and can then compare their results with the actual decision taken to resolve the problem.

The case analysis can be carried out with the learners working independently or in groups One advantage of using the case method is that it emphasizes practical thinking and it assists learners in identifying principles after examining the facts of the case and then applying those principles to new situations Case analysis is equally effective when used in combination with other instructional strategies.

In the online environment case studies can be presented on web pages and discussed in conferencing groups. Cases can be developed by class groups as collaborative projects. In addition, the vast resources of the Internet can be tapped by students and educators to contribute data, information and expert advice to case development and analysis.

FORUM

The forum is an open discussion carried on by one or more resource people and an entire group. The moderator guides the discussion and the audience raises and discusses issues, make comments, offers information, or asks questions of the resource person(s) and each other. There are two variations of the forum: the panel and the symposium.

The panel is usually a group of three to six people who sit in the presence of an audience and have a purposeful conversation on a topic in which they have specialized knowledge. Guided by a moderator, the panel is informal in nature, but allows for no audience participation. The symposium is a series of presentations given by two to five people different aspects of the same theme or closely related themes. Although the symposium is formal in nature, questions from the audience are encouraged following the presentations. An obvious benefit of the symposium is that it gives learners exposure to a variety of experts' viewpoints and offers an opportunity for the audience to ask questions.

Because the online environment facilitates group communication, it is ideal for the types of information exchange typical in forums. In fact, the forum can be more convenient and effective in the online environment than in the traditional classroom because speakers, experts and moderator can participate without having to travel or even be available at a particular time. Both synchronous and asynchronous communication can be utilized to support online learning forums.

CONCLUSION

he online learning environment allows educators and students to exchange ideas and information, work together on projects, around the clock, from anywhere in the world, using multiple communication modes. Given the advantages and resources of this rich learning environment, how can multiple instructional strategies best be utilized for online learning? Just as in the traditional classroom, instructional strategies are most effective when employed specifically to meet particular learning goals and objectives. Effective course design can begin with asking and answering the key question: what are the major learning goals and objectives for this course? Once these goals and objectives have been identified and clearly articulated, the question of which learning strategies, activities, and experiences to employ can be addressed.

Online learning can employ any of the strategies discussed here. Much of the power of learning via the Internet lies in its capacity to support multiple modes of communication including any combination of student-student, student-faculty, faculty-student, faculty-faculty, student-others, others-students, etc. Taking into account the varied learning styles of learners and providing opportunities for self-directed and collaborative learning, educators can facilitate powerful, effective courses geared to achieve specific learning goals and outcomes using the vast resources and capacities of online learning.

The online learning environment is, after all, just another learning environment, in some ways similar to and in some ways different from more traditional environments such as conventional classrooms, seminar rooms, or labs. When we move our class onto the Internet, we should plan for and make the best use of the online environment. The various instructional strategies we use to meet the goals and objectives of our courses are likely to be similar in each environment. However, the ways in which we utilize the strategies will differ as we make the best use of the characteristics and capacities of each environment.

Deepa Singh
Business Developer
Web Site:-http://www.gyapti.com
Blog:- http://gyapti.blogspot.com/
Email Id:-deepa.singh@soarlogic.com

Saturday 17 September 2011

Present in good way if you want to be success in professional life

Good Cover Letter Will Create a Good Impression

Published on Wednesday 16th 2007f May, 2007

Your resume is impeccable. It lists all of your impressive accomplishments – graduating with honors, numerous intensive internships, ample relevant skills – and you do not think that any employer could possibly turn you down. Only, they do. After dropping off what seems like hundreds of copies of your resume to companies you are interested in, you do not receive a single call back. But have no fear, the culprit may not be your qualifications – it could be your cover letter. And luckily, this is an easy fix.

Crafting a good cover letter is an essential skill that all recent graduates must learn. This is because many hiring managers look through lots of resumes every day in order to narrow down the field for the open position. After a while of leafing through resume after resume, the whole task can be tedious. After all, it can be hard to decide which applicants would be the best fit for the company when you're staring at a list of bullet points. Instead, to get a better idea of the applicant's personality and qualifications, hiring managers will first read over the cover letters that applicants submit with their resumes. The way a cover letter is written speaks volumes about the applicant and a good cover letter will warrant a closer look at the applicant's resume whereas a poorly written cover letter will be immediately tossed. This means that even if your resume is perfect, your entire application will be thrown away if your cover letter is less than desirable.

The first thing you need to do with your cover letter is to find out the name of the hiring manager and address the letter to that person. If you cannot find out the manager's name, simply write the company's name or "to whom it may concern." This way, your letter will seem more personalized. Next, craft a cover letter that will make the hiring manager want to read your resume. This means that instead of simply reiterating what your resume says, elaborate on the qualifications that you possess which make you a great candidate for the position. For example, if you are applying to work as a journalist, elaborate on your experience in the school newspaper or magazine and what you learned. Also explain how you could benefit the company. After all, the hiring manager is ultimately looking for someone who will help the business, so if you explain the reasons why your experience will be valuable, you will encourage the manager to look further into your application

Deepa Singh
Business Developer
Web Site:-http://www.gyapti.com
Blog:- http://gyapti.blogspot.com/
Email Id:-deepa.singh@soarlogic.com

Monday 5 September 2011

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Doctor of education (Ed.D.) – Nova Southeastern University
Doctor of Education in Instructional Technology and Distance Education – Nova Southeastern University
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Thursday 22 September 2011

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Monday 19 September 2011

Saturday 17 September 2011

Good Cover Letter Will Create a Good Impression

Monday 5 September 2011

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