Any time real life scenarios are incorporated in class activities, it helps the learners to be able to relate to the course work. Through the learners relating to the course work, it helps them to also have a better understanding of the information. Palloff and Pratt (2004) explained that one way instructors can incorporate real life situations in collaborative activities is by having the learners to participate in role playing. Palloff and Pratt stated “Taking roles helps learners to ‘take a walk in the shoes’ of people they may actually be working with outside of the classroom and gives them practice in a safe situation before engaging in work in the ‘real world’” (p. 57). When a learner is able to play a role, they are often times given the opportunity to play the role that is completely opposite of their character. This can help them to maybe be more understanding of individual’s differences.
Palloff and Pratt (2004) explained that when instructor create a simulations for collaborative assignments, that it is directly connected to real life. Simulations can be assigned on a learner to learner basis or as a collaborative assignment. Palloff and Pratt stated, “Simulations can be as simple as the discussion example that follows or can take the form of more complicated, software-driven applications that allow students to work through the various stages of a problem or skill in order to master it” (p. 60).
Instructors can also use learner generated cases for a form of collaborative assignments. Palloff and Pratt (2004) explained that the learners collect case studies form their personal experiences. The learner’s group members will then be responsible for providing feedback on how the situation can be handled.
In conclusion, there are several ways instructors can create real life scenarios and incorporate them in collaborative assignments. The instructors need to remember that anytime they are able to incorporate real life scenarios into the course, the learners will be able to relate to the material.
Reference
Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (2004). Collaborating online: Learning together
in community. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Inc.
One of the forms of online simulations that facsincates me is the use on online virtual environments like Second Life. I have been using it to support various courses and I see others using it very effectively for a wide variety of subjects. Two in particular are health care programs such as nursing or emergency medical technicians and emergency response training. You can set up very realistic scenarios and have people use their avatars to practice responses. Setting up real life scenarios would be too dangerous or costly and could jeopardize the life and health of all participants. I would recommend you investigate. You can get a good idea from various online videos before you actually try out Second Life directly. Here is an example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJY2Iwbzop4&feature=fvwrel
ReplyDelete