In order for a Digital Learning Community to protect both its members and community, the organizers and members must maintain privacy for passwords, student information, family information, as well as faculty information. Protection will also extend to how individuals will uphold laws. Faculty and students must maintain respect for others in educational collaboration as well as in social media. Faculty will also consistently model the fair use of copyrighted material thereby protecting the educator and showing students the acceptable use of copyrighted items. Educators will also provide clear and forthright expectations on the use of digital media and copyright so that students will always be informed of the correct way cite their resources. In a collaborative atmosphere, educators and students will keep purpose in mind when using and transforming copyrighted material as well as look at the amount of material is actually necessary to the purpose. The best way to establish and maintain a digital learning community where all (educators, students, and parents alike) understand, observe and willingly support digital rights and responsibilities is to participate in an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) which is easily understandable with "do" statements on how to act as well as "don't" statements on behaviors to be avoided. Ideally, educators, students, and parents are involved in the creation of the AUP and thus more willingly embrace it.
There are so many factors that affect access to digital communities-- one must consider everything from bandwidth, whether there is a computer/device or internet service at all in the home, and considerations for disabilities.
To eliminate such barriers we can continue to educate the populace. As people gain more degrees, they are more likely to have access to the internet and have the devices necessary to access the web. In addition to provided education, we can also take into account people with disabilities and considerations for their use of the internet. These considerations are useful to all people accessing the internet and should be utilized all the time: organization, tags, labels, tab controls, etc. Over the last couple of days I have been searching for Digital Learning Communities to find those most useful and applicable to teaching Latin as well as my personal life-- Check out these sources! I thoroughly enjoyed both Open Culture and Tufts.edu for my personal edification--
However, in teaching and learning about Latin I came upon Vroma and Joined it. I first came across Vroma as a graduate student when a professor what sharing a Works Cited Page for the material being taught. I have since pointed my own students to it in personal research in the upper levels of Latin. However, I hadn't joined it until today when I realized the full potential of a DLC. Vroma is a basic website with a multitude of text and links to other websites. It contains few videos but does have a plethora of images. The tools and Ideas presented within Vroma address linquistics, vocabulary, history, mythology, daily life, etc! As a teacher, DLCs should become a regular aspect of research and learning for my students. In my experience, they are not always easily searchable via standard search engines. Thus, it has been my job to point students to these opportunities for research and learning through my symbaloo. As a user of Vroma and other DLCs our students can take most advantage of the materials offered when the DLC is organized as well as offers relevant and thoughtful activities, videos, etc. It never hurts to have the technology up to date. There has been an incredible expansion of my mind throughout the exploration of using Social Bookmarking and finding tools, resources, services, and sites that will forever change how I use the internet to teach Latin.
Sources for Teaching and Learning Latin Of the tools I compiled, the three most useful are nearpod, educreations, and all 3 sites that have compilation of images useful in the Classics Classroom. Throughout my career, I have been adding resources to my arsenal. However, I have the benefit of having earned HS, Bachelor's and Master's degrees in the content I was researching. Thus, when material did not pertain to my search, I was easily able to render it useless. My students do not have such a background. In order to aid their use of tools and services from the internet, it is important to teach students at the beginning of the semester and to also remind of the following-- - Check out the resources your teacher has already made available to you (such as in a Symbaloo) - Look for websites that end in .edu as they are primarily used by Educational Institutions of Higher Learning - Use Web of Trust to check the validity of websites - Be wary of sites asking for personal information Teachers, students, parents and administrators must find inherent value, meaning, and ease when utilizing an online platform to impart learning. The purpose driving the learning community must be incredibly clear. Once the purpose has been firmly set, organization of materials and timeline should follow. The organization should clearly support the purpose of the learning community. Students will not only have the ability to read and watch new material, but also to practice and assess their own learning. In this community, learners can find a variety of means to learn, practice, and assess. As the image above attests, there are a multitude of ways to show new material, interact with it, create portfolios, and personalize learning. Through this differentiation, each learner will learn the material in the way most natural to their needs. In the process of practicing and assessment, the ideal DLC can also facilitate meaningful interaction between peers as well as teachers with students. In addition to teaching the material, the DLC finds compelling connections to the learners' lives through utilizing social media such as Twitter and Facebook. Students will know that the content of the learning community is important in both the academic and real world arenas. It is through the myriad of opportunities for differentiation and the connections to student lives that set the ideal digital learning community above and apart. We must as educators use the amazing material that is already in existence. However, not all DLCs will provide for the connections and differentiation necessary to support our students. To that end, educators should weave in the material from DLCs into a vision that provides for the whole student. |
AuthorI teach Latin and absolutely love it. I believe that learning the Classics gives all people the opportunity to expand their minds as well as be more accepting of new concepts and skills. Archives
April 2017
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