Category Archives: Teaching Tips & Strategies

Equipping Online Learners for Success

Equipping Online Learners for Success

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Online classes are creating more diverse “classrooms” than ever before. In addition to your traditional college students, class rosters may be peppered with high school students getting a head start, blue collar workers taking advantage of the flexibility of online education, or working professionals building on their current skill sets.

Equipping Online Learners for Success

The following tools will help you equip all of these online learners for success:

The right educational software. Look for software specifically designed for online classes. It provides a single destination for both students and teachers, like a veritable virtual classroom. In addition to slide lectures, blog-style announcements, and immediate updates, teachers can also create grade books, assessments and polls.

Webcams and headsets. The largest hurdle for online courses is meeting the need for person-to-person contact. Webcams can be used to make group projects, live lectures, or virtual office hours more personable. Headsets improve sound quality and allow students to attend classes or special study sessions in public places, such as libraries or coffee shops, without disturbing those around them.

Social Media. Social media platforms provide another way for you and your students to stay connected. Did you know you can set up private Facebook pages for your classes, giving students a place to discuss information and share relevant sites and links? Use a blog to keep students on track, share additional resources, or to address current course challenges experienced by their peers.

Contact Labyrinth Learning to learn more about eLab and other tools to equip your online classes for success.

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Create a Student Centered Classroom in 2014

Create a Student Centered Classroom in 2014

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Create a Student Centered Classroom in 2014
Focus on each individual student in 2014 with a student centered classroom structure.

As the new year gets underway, how are you planning to create a more student centered classroom? With the following tips you can refine your teaching skills and help your students learn more effectively in 2014 and beyond.

  • Promote interaction among students: The easiest way to encourage collaboration in the classroom is to arrange desks in groups facing each other, in lieu of rows facing the front of the room.
  • Use more thought-provoking assessments: In any old classroom, students might learn about the latest software by listening to a lecture, reading in a textbook, and answering multiple-choice questions. A student centered classroom gives students the hands on experience for a real-world situation. It may be easier to scan a bubble test and call it quits, but meaningful exercises are far more valuable for assessing critical thinking skills.
  • Respond to lack of interest: You may need to shift the original game plan if students fail to show interest. If it’s possible to teach them the material in more than one way, cater to their preferences whenever possible.
  • Make class enjoyable: The goal is to intrigue learners, so even if they weren’t required to come to class, they would. Make the journey an enjoyable one, both for you and your students.

With these tips, the first semester in 2014 can lead to happier, more interested learners. For more on creating a student centered classroom in 2014, please contact us today at Labyrinth Learning.

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Foster a Positive Attitude in the Classroom

Foster a Positive Attitude in the Classroom

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Foster a Positive Attitude in the Classroom
Source: morgueFile

As with anything else in life, it is often the little things that count the most when dealing with another person. Nowhere is this fact more important than in the classroom, where an educator’s attitude can make or break a student’s morale.

Incorrect answers are inevitable in any class, but how an educator handles an incorrect answer can cripple a student’s morale. Instead of simply discounting a wrong answer and moving on to the next student, a superior educator encourages the original student to think through the process and come to the right answer on their own.

Encourage the student to actively learn by saying something like, “That’s good thinking. You are on the right track. Can you think of another answer?” This technique works in most scenarios. In short, it is one of the most proven ways to foster a positive attitude in the classroom. Not only will the original student benefit but the entire class will also respond positively to the process.

For more information on these and other excellent teaching tips, please contact us at Labyrinth Learning. You will find us online or you can reach us directly at 1-800-522-9746.

DOCC May Soon Replace MOOC as the Hottest Acronym in Education

DOCC May Soon Replace MOOC as the Hottest Acronym in Education

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These days, much of the most recent news in higher education circles around the opening and credit transfer workings of MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). Though, under the radar, a new form of online course has been making a name for itself in higher education. DOCC, also known as a Distributed Open Collaborative Course, offers a new twist to online learning.

DOCC May Soon Replace MOOC as the Hottest Acronym in Education
Use a few of these pointers to find the right online course for your students and lesson plan.

Both styles use key features like open enrollment, video components and credit options. A wide range of students can enroll in these courses and receive an in-depth education on a variety of subjects that were previously limited to the number of students a classroom could hold.

You will find a few key differences between MOOCs and DOCCs. A DOCC does not bring a single centralized syllabus to the individuals that participate. It does, however, organize around a central subject.

The DOCC distinguishes itself by actively distributing the expertise and pedagogy throughout all those involved, instead of relying on two or three individuals. This also allows for a bit of leniency in each lesson and can vary immensely based on a number of factors.

It is still unclear which discipline will survive, or if they both have a place in the education landscape, but we eagerly follow the developments to see how these new platforms evolve.

To improve your online courses, please contact us today at Labyrinth Learning!

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Tips to Improve Your Work in the Classroom This Year

Tips to Improve Your Work in the Classroom This Year

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Tips to Improve Your Work in the Classroom This Year
Sharpen your skills in the classroom by following a few of these basic tips. Source: freedigitalphotos

Traditionally the New Year is a time for making resolutions to better ourselves, improve our lifestyles, and conquer bad habits. This year, why not make it your aim to improve your lectures in the classroom?

  • Connect with other professors. Use the Internet to chat with other professionals in your field. Improve your knowledge of teaching methodologies you would like to try and learn new teaching skills you had never previously considered.
  • Make it a goal to remain organized. Organization will help you teach and your students’ ability to learn. Plus, you will always be able to find the materials and resources you need, even on short notice. Extend your organization efforts to your computer by deleting unnecessary files and keeping desktops free of clutter.
  • Teach like a pirate. If you are looking for inspiration, check out the book Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess. It is full of excellent ideas you can put into practice in the classroom that will change the way you teach.
  • Above all, enjoy yourself. This means keeping some time for yourself; working all the time is a bore and your students will soon notice your lack of enthusiasm. Take some time for a hobby, either one that you already practice or something new.

For more support, teaching tips, and classroom resources, contact us at Labyrinth Learning.

How the Digital Age Has Impacted Education

How the Digital Age Has Impacted Education

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How the Digital Age Has Impacted Education
The Digital Age has shifted much of the focus in classrooms toward better usage of technology. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Every generation sees a shift in its perceptions about education. The advent of the digital age just makes this observation all the more evident. Here, detailed below, are some of the changes that a computer-oriented society has manifested for our children:

A Distributed Network – It is no longer necessary to show up for class in the literal sense when a student can just log in and attend a MOOC (massive open online course). The internet is just bursting with opportunities along this line.

An Emphasis on Skills – An increasingly technological workplace requires an ever more tech savvy workforce. This means that the skills necessary to navigate the Internet and the computer world will be in greater demand as the technology expands.

The Face of Traditional Colleges is Changing – Online courses are growing at a shocking rate, and as we look to the future, we may find more students taking lessons from the comfort of their own homes instead of the lecture hall. The students of the future may even be able to choose courses from multiple institutions from across the globe.

For more information on this and other advances in technology in education, please visit us at Labyrinth Learning. You will always find us online or you can reach us anytime at 1-800-522-9746.

How to Teach a Successful MOOC

How to Teach a Successful MOOC

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How to Teach a Successful MOOC
Source: morgueFile

There are many proverbs and cliches readily available to help a new teacher get through their first classroom experience. However, with the advent of the technological education revolution, there are numerous new challenges facing modern teachers for the first time in history.

A deeply disconcerting issue is that, as opposed to the age-old dilemma of struggling to find competent students, for the first time ever teachers are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of interest when teaching a MOOC.

Massive Open Online Courses are the next stage in the progression of global educational standards. However, as the form of instruction emerges into society’s infrastructure, many teachers are finding their traditional methods of teaching to be a bit outdated. It is difficult, even impossible, to have a personal connection with every student when class sizes range in the hundreds-of-thousand of participants, spread across the planet in a dozen different regions speaking a plethora of languages, but all equally intent on learning.

Successful MOOC teachers have found that utilizing effective multimedia demonstrations that encourage group discussion are among the best approaches to this new classroom dynamic. Offering material that impresses, captivates, and inspires students in lieu of purely lecturing them on facts and figures creates an environment of enjoyable learning. What’s more, teaching a MOOC is less about providing plain “information,” for the Internet is full of information, but more about providing students with an opportunity to discuss the ideas with like-minded individuals all over the Earth.

If you’re interested in furthering this conversation, please contact Labyrinth Learning today!

Teaching to the Visual Learner

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People usually lean toward one of these learning types: kinesthetic, auditory, and visual. Kinesthetic learners absorb information through hands-on experience; auditory learners through verbal explanations; and visual learners through graphics, demonstrations, and textual instructions. The secret to being a successful instructor is knowing what kind of learners you’re going to face so that you can prepare materials suited to their style.

Visual learners will be more receptive to taking lessons from the chalkboard than a lecture.
Visual learners will be more receptive to taking lessons from the chalkboard than a lecture.

If you’re working with the visual type of learner, then get creative with your lessons! The following tips and tricks can help you teach a visual learner:

  • Show, don’t tell: For visual learners, you need to explain a process step by step, whether it’s about solving a math problem or assembling a DIY wooden table. It’s better if you use videos, diagrams, and other visual media showing a specific example from start to finish.
  • Paint mental pictures: Memorization can be a difficult task especially for visual learners. Make it easy for them by creating imagery with each item they need to memorize, especially when they have to remember lists, acronyms, dates, foreign alphabet characters, etc.
  • Use technology: The Internet is a bottomless source of information for practically any topic, so encourage visual learners to explore relevant sites in their free time. You can also suggest apps they can download and use in their mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.

The great news is that it’s much easier to teach visual folks now than ever before with a little help from us at Labyrinth Learning. We create effective learning solutions that use innovative online tools. Contact us for more information!

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The Effect of Technology on Education

The Effect of Technology on Education

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In a world of rapidly advancing technology, it can be difficult to sort the useful benefits of tech in the classroom from the distracting noise of marketeers. Of course, for every example of social-networks causing trouble in schools, there’s a story of a self-taught go-getter utilizing Internet resources for something beautiful. Just like in any era, our status-quo has its problems and dilemmas, but embracing technological solutions for educational issues should be lauded as the solution, not the problem.

The Effect of Technology on Education
The chalk board is being tabled in many classrooms in lieu of interactive assignments utilizing technology.

Many teachers are already using technology in education to reach more students, to communicate better with students, to demonstrate complex-concepts to students, and to inspire students to do more with their potential than they ever thought possible.

A major aspect of their success is properly choosing which technology is best for their specific situation. However, any teacher who tries their best to introduce their students to the latest technologies rather than seclude them in the darkness of last decades textbooks and documentaries is having a positive impact.

Technology is and always has been a tool; finding the right way to wield it is just as important as the difference between using an axe to build a home and using an axe to wage a war. For example, when trying to get students to work together, some teachers realize that they are already connected via popular social-networking sites that have options to share data and insight as easily as selfie-photographs and gaming invites.

If you have an active interest in utilizing more technology in education for your students, contact Labyrinth Learning!

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MOOCs Popularity Continues to Grow

MOOCs Popularity Continues to Grow

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MOOCs Popularity Continues to Grow
An increasing number of people are ditching the traditional classroom for MOOCs.

In case you hadn’t noticed, the Internet and its devotees have made significant inroads in the educational world with the introduction of something known as “massive open online courses” or “MOOCs.” The creators of these (usually) college-level courses have seen a massive rise in popularity as the “who, how and where” of the classes has been greatly expanded.

Similar to traditional courses, in that they offer such basics as “Intro to Calculus,” as well as more liberal arts minded classes, the number of people enrolled in a single class can reach into the thousands. Typically, the classes are free and available to anyone with an Internet connection. The only caveat is that a simple certificate is required as proof of completion.

Good luck, however, getting a conventional institution of higher learning to accept them for a traditional diploma. Colleges and vocational schools are engaged in a struggle with these online juggernauts and are not willing to make it any easier for them than necessary. In fact, many top-notch schools are starting their own MOOCs, and commecial vendors have also taken an interest.

While no one can tell the future, it seems that MOOCs are here to stay and that their popularity will only continue to grow in the coming years as they learn to better cater to their clients’ needs.

For more information on MOOCs, in particular, and on e-learning in general, please contact us at Labyrinth Learning.

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