Teaching Technologies in Online Discussions - Assignment Example

Discussion: Learning From Your Online Experience Factors Inhibiting the Effectiveness of the Learning Process for Long-distance Learners The effectiveness of Long-distance learning is constantly facing inhibitions as a result of various factors including; the relatively high costs involved in developing and implementing the necessary system and training staff members on its usage. The younger persons tend to prefer a more visible face-to-face learning environment as opposed to an online system of learning.

Faculties often face severe copyright restrictions that tend to discourage any form of international or institutional sharing of electronic books and material (Dholakia et al. 2002). The Changes in Feedback Needs in a Classroom setting that is Traditional in Nature vs. an Online Environment Online learning environments often require different forms of feedback in comparison to the more traditional brick and mortar classroom setting. In a virtual online environment, instructors are required to proved feedback which is more detailed in nature as compared to the traditional setting.

Feedback needs to provide follow-up questions as well as highlighting key ideas instead of only posting words such as “good job.” Modern forms of feedback such as the use of voice-supported chats and the use of audio clips to provide feedback to their students are also being used in the modern online environments (Bonnel & Smith 2010). The Best Practice Strategies That Can be Used in the Development of Online Discussion Questions Several strategies can be used to develop effective online discussion sessions.

Some of these include; specifying a target number of specified weekly contributions by each student to the discussion is a strategy that can help in encouraging students to become more active in the discussions. This can further be emphasized by awarding marks to the discussion that will eventually contribute to the student’s overall grade (Gilbert & Dabbagh 2005). Another strategy that can be used is for the instructor to try and ensure that they are actually present in the discussion several times a week.

This will help in portraying a visible presence in the discussion by the instructor which will potentially increase the likelihood for the students to participate and contribute to the discussion (Gilbert & Dabbagh 2005).