Plagerism Detection and Prevention

On page 1 of Dictionary.com plagerism can be defined as the act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author.  Plagerism is done when learners are young but as the learner gets older and attends college they need to understand the if they do not document then the learner can get into trouble.

When it comes to online classes most teachers use turnitin to check student papers for plagerism.  Another site is grammarcheck.com which is a free site that helps online instructors or educators grade papers for mistakes and plagerism.  When writing papers it is easy to get lazy and copy other people papers or ideas to complete an writing assignment.  In a online enviorment educators expect their students to make sure the learner understand the information begin taught during the online course.
By having a assessment the professor is able to make sure the learners understand the learning objectives within the course.

In a future online class I plan on using turnitin for my learners. 


Reference:  

www.dictionary.com 2013.  Definition of plagerism.

Imapact of Technology on Adult Learning

     When it comes to teaching or taking an adult class, technology helps make that coiurse easier.  One of the way technology make the course easy is through virtual classrooms.  With a virtual classroom learners are able to do discussion boards with other students and have group activity online.  Technology also allows learners to view professors discuss different learning topics or learning objectives.

      Before incorporating technology in the online learning enviorment instructors should consider the geopraphic, culture and gender.  All three are important topict to consider when taking a coursein a adult enviornmenr.  If the instructor understand that learners learn at different paces and online classes are designed to help working adults with children, work and full schedule to be flexible to accomadate the learner finishing class.  Also if instuctors understand the geographic of were the learners are located then they will continue to give the learner the full seven days to finish work because some learners may have extra time dependin on where they live.

      In my personal opinion usability and acessibility are key in online classes.  For example if you ahve a good website but none of the learners understand how to operate the site or have acess to the website than that is a wasted source.  Also users that are using these different site have to be given detailed directions to operate these websites.  Because sometimes the sites need different acess codes or passwords to log on to the website.
     
      Technologies vary online because instructors use different technologies for different purposes.  For example a math intructor will use different websites to educate students about mathematics versus a english teacher using different online enviormental sites to teach english.  Most online enviorments have instructors giving online lessons that will help the learner understand the learning objective for that week.  Another good tool for learning is discs or CD's.  Last good site is website with differeent educational informatiion that focus on the course.

Internet Based Multimedia Resources for Online Learning

Multimedia Resources for Online Learning
Week 4
Hiraman Byrd

This week were asked to explore different online learning resources that can help a learner become engaged and interested in learning.

URL:  http://www.youtube.com/teachers

It may come to a suprise but my first resourse comes from a site that is used for entertainment but recently it has been used to educate the learners in the classroom and in the community.  This site is Youtube.  YouTube EDU currently includes over 700,000 high quality educational videos from over 800 channels. A team of teachers around the country scour the site to uncover the latest and greatest educational videos to add to YouTube EDU, ensuring that there are videos on everything from Astrophysics to Zoology.

Nothing beats the collective brilliance of educators everywhere though. Send us your suggestions of great videos, playlists and channels to make YouTube EDU more engaging and educational for students of all ages and backgrounds. (YouTube Teachers, 2013, p.1).  Recently I used this channel to a step by step solution to a mathematical problem.  So I undertand how helpful this site can be to a learner.
URL:  http://www.learner.org/

This next learning resourse Annenberg Learner uses media and telecommunications to advance excellent teaching in American schools. This mandate is carried out chiefly by the funding and broad distribution of educational video programs with coordinated Web and print materials for the professional development of K-12 teachers. It is part of The Annenberg Foundation and advances the Foundation's goal of encouraging the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge.
Annenberg Learner's multimedia resources help teachers increase their expertise in their fields and assist them in improving their teaching methods. Many programs are also intended for students in the classroom and viewers at home. All Annenberg Learner videos exemplify excellent teaching (Anneberg, 2013, p.1). 

Both sources are good but unless the learner utilize these sources or other multimedia sources than the learner will struggle in achieving their academic dreams.

Setting Up an Effective Online Learning Experience

Setting Up an Effective Online Learning Experience  Week 3

When setting up an online classroom environment, it is essential that you are creating an environment that will be an open and effective environment between the learner and the facilitator.

In order to make sure the facilitator or instructors are doing their job he or she should follow these steps:  Step one is to establish a professional learning relationship between the learner and educator.  When a relationship is established the leaner has a trust to communicate to his facilitator during school and the learner will give it his best because the facilitator has set the tone of expectations.  Next step is to communicate the educator’s expectation for the online course clearly.  When expectation is explained clearly the learner has little questions and the class becomes easier to accomplish.  Step3 is one of the most important steps and that is to make sure the learner is engaged into the lesson.  This can be evident through the instructor participation in lessons or activity.  Also by encouraging participation throughout the course and making sure grades are given back on a timely manner.  Step four is making sure the learner is prepared for the course with the right tools needed to be successful such as setting aside a certain amount of hours for learning, the correct course book; they complete the correct assignment etc.  If these steps are followed the learner will expand his or her knowledge of the course and the educator will have a lease stressful environment.

 

It is important to communicate clearly online so that the expectation for that course is communicated clearly to the learner so that a learner will not complain about him or hers not understanding an assignment.  Online learners also need to their expectations from the stand point of the learner is expected.  The learners also need to make sure they understand when deadline are due and if the assignment is a special assignment and it needs to be turned into turn it in or another site.  Next the educator needs to encourage participation in the course so that the learner can learn the expected outcomes for the online course.

 

Any time you are dealing with adult learners and you are the teacher you have to take into consideration that each encounter with a learner will be different.  Also when working with adult learners you also have to consider that they are taking an online class because they may have an issue with working, or family and trying to finish their education.  The teacher has to be willing to extend their hours or be flexible to make sure the experience at that college can be as good for them as it is for the educator.  If the educator can accomplish these needs of the adult learners than the learner will appreciate it and work even harder for the educator while in your course.

Online Learning Communities

 

Online learning is an oppurtunity to learn information with other learners at your own time and pace on a virtual social enviorment.  It also is a way to earn a degree, diploma, cetification, etc. in a short time span while continuing your daily life responsibilities such as working, parenting, etc. 

The essential elements of online community building has to be the learners, or teacher, the his or her purpose for seeking the infomation, and the experience gained from the learner.  Ex.  Was the learner purpose a good process or not?

Online learning communities significantly impact the learner’s learning and satisfaction with online education by first understand engaged learning and be amenable to adopting the strategy.  Impact of online learning communities can also be done by:  "incorporating the strategy and attitude of engagement is presented, having a safe student-centered learning environment, and opportunities for self assessment or reflection are provided" (Conrad and Donaldson, 2011, p.7).


In order to sustain online learning the instructors first establish their own learning goals, information given to the learner should be information that can be used after the learning environment the learner may need help from technical support, and the learners need to be exploring appropriate resources to answer meaningful questions.  "The task that are multidisciplinary and authentic, with connection to the real world" (Conrad and Donaldson, 2011, p.6).

The relationship between community and online instruction are similar in the since that they give the learner a opportunity to learn in a environment whether virtual or face to face.  Both offers different academic courses to advance learning experiences.  Online learning offers students a opportunity to learn at their own pace and also express their opinion during discussion boards and academic advising.

References:

Conrad, R.M. & Donaldson, J.A. (2011). Engaging the Online Learner: Activities and Resources for Creative Instruction. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Introduction

Thank you for taking the time to view my new blog.  This blog will explore online strategies to help adult learners become better bloggers and users.