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Date: September 30, 2004

TIPS FOR eLEARNERS 1

In an article titled, "eLearning: What Students Can Teach Us?", from Exchange (2004, July), Chip Donohue, Selena Fox and Monica LaBonte share these lessons for eTeachers:

Role of the instructor
•Instructors who are active participants in online discussions, and who model collaboration and higher-level thinking, encourage a sense of community and high-level learning.

•Instructors who get to know their online students will be ready to pose questions that, at the right moment, encourage unsure students, support motivated students, and challenge curious students.

•Personal and specific feedback on reflective journal assignments provides students with essential encouragement to extend their thinking, to propose ideas in online discussions, and to draw conclusions.

Instructional design
•Instructors can effectively and efficiently use online interaction in the learning process by designing a course so that students begin learning through readings and individual assignments and proceed to knowledge construction during online discussions.

•Thoughtful instructional design creates a supportive and challenging online environment. It is crucial to provide study guides, readings and resource materials that support the detail seeking and curiosity of the beginning stages of knowledge construction.

•Designing courses that effectively use online interaction in the later stages of knowledge construction through online discussions. Interaction and a sense of community are essential in course design because they facilitate high-level knowledge construction.

Donohue, C., Fox, S., & LaBonte, M. (2004, July). eLearning: What Out Students Can Teach Us. Exchange, pp. 79-82.