Tools in Online/Hybrid Teaching
By Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano
School of English
Faculty of Social Sciences
Universidad
Latina de Costa Rica
Monday, February 22, 2016
Post 218
As pointed out by Laureate Education, Inc. (2013), “Asynchronous
tools are tools that can be used by different people, at different places, at
different times to contribute to a shared discussion, document, or activity.” And
these asynchronous tools can indeed be utilized not only for communication but
also for collaboration. And as professionals, we are likely to use some
asynchronous tools on our jobs; we send e-mail and text messages on a regular
basis; we get to watch youtube, vimeo, or teachertube videos to find
appropriate material for our classes, and so on. But one tool that has been
there long to signal as a great tool is the use of blogs for educational
purposes.
As language teaching
professional, I have created numerous blogs to satisfy student learning needs
and to plan teacher-led instruction for my current or even future students.
Furthermore, after taking a course on how to use case studies as part of one’s
instruction in class, I decided to create a blog for one of my course where I
wanted my students to be exposed to this learning theory and to really get to
use their critical thinking skill beyond the boundaries of our books and
classroom; I wanted to leave my students with something that could perfectly be
used in their professional practicum as well as in their day-to-day lives: How
to use case studies.
Since “blogs can be used by
instructors or students as a way to share information and comment on the
contributions of others” (Laureate Education 2013), my initial goal was to
create a space that asynchronously linked to class and where students could
feel free to drop by any time they wished. This blog, which I christened BIN-10
–the course code for Oral Communication and Pronunciation III-, intends to gap
the bridge between what is studied in my language class and the number of
credits it has. That is, I really wanted my learners to stick to the number of
hours of independent study that is linked to those credits by having this blog
and by using a number of Moodle tools present in the university’s LMS.
The sample case I wrote for
my students based on course content and objectives, along with their textbook
content and scope and sequence is CASE #3: Forgetfulness and Types of Memory,
which is aligned with the course unit on memory. On this page, learners will
find two different activities for them to perform: One that intends to make
students reflect on the kind of personality they have linked to their memory
capabilities, and one that has students critically reflect on a situation where
a person, in some sort of dilemma or turning point, needs to be given assertive
answers to questions surrounding his/her present psychological or physical
well-being. Additionally, they are provided with a case study form to fill in and bring to class to further discuss
the situation with partners and teacher. 
As part of my online/hybrid
teaching, these collections of case studies have worked quite nicely with
students though they get some trouble with the first one. As soon as they are
familiarized with the procedure for analysis, they usually come up with great
and practical solutions for the cases provided. And due to the fact that
learners must give short speeches where they are confronted with current
events, social and educational issues, and even ethical decisions, the
rationale behind the use of case studies permeates their work allowing them to
design and develop more quality presentations with lots of reflection and
critical thinking.
Laureate
Education, Inc. (2013) Asynchronous Tools. [PDF] Laureate International
Universities.
Monday, February 22, 2016
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