The Use of Social Media in the Teaching of Interest Rates - Essay Example

Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework Name Institution Course Date Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework Introduction With the growing trend of incorporating online learning in the teaching program, there is need to develop effective strategies that will see highly productive blended learning, where face-to-face lessons are supplemented by online sessions. Of greater challenge though is figuring out effective blended instructions (Anyangwe, 2012). Blended programs have been found to impact in the learning process in a positive manner, including providing students with a new interaction platform into which they carry their classroom experiences and discussions. Online learning has utilized the numerous avenues offered by the social media and taken learning to a new level. The commonly used social media tools for online learning include blogs and micro blogs, social networking sites, email and instant messaging, video conferencing and wikis; these representing just a fraction of the other numerous technological applications. This paper therefore presents the strategies that will be most appropriate and effective for the use of social media in the teaching of Interest rates as has been described in the event. Teaching this topic, Interest rates, will include discussions of both simple and compound interest rates, which are important concepts in the broad field of Finance. The use of blended learning for teaching this topic will be the best way to equip students with background concepts before engaging in a face-to-face discussion in class. In this way, I would be able to understand the specific challenges that may face these students with regard to learning Interest rates, and try to help them overcome them while still prepare to further their understanding during the face-to-face class discussion. It is my view that such an integrated learning program will make learning more interesting and productive and improve students’ interaction even out of class and therefore make them understand this topic better and faster. Even though blended learning has continued to become popular in learning institutions, great misunderstandings still exist about it and the specific benefits of these programs in teaching and learning still remain a subject of discussion. These programs have been associated with distance learning, with other stakeholders fearing that they result to loss of emotional connection between the teachers and learners (Anyangwe, 2012). But with the common understanding that these programs increase learning flexibility and convenience with great learning outcomes, I consider developing a strategy that will make the students increase their understanding of the concepts and topics by being able to access learning resources at their convenient time and place and be able to interact with one another even outside the class. And as Rich & Miah (2013) puts it, the online sessions will encourage reciprocity and instinctive thinking among the students. Of greatest concern in the online learning is the effectiveness of these programs and this has been a subject for many researches. Several models of online learning effectiveness have come up, but as Garrison & Arbaugh (2007) note, the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework has managed to attract a lot of attention. This framework, which consists of three elements namely the social presence, cognitive presence and teaching presence, agrees with the constructivist approaches to higher education learning. It raises issues that have important practical and theoretical implications and therefore an effective framework that will help me design, facilitate and direct the online learning process. According to Garrison and Arbaugh (2007), social presence indicators like student group cohesiveness and interaction greatly determine the team effectiveness, suggesting that there exists a strong relationship between learning outcomes and social presence. My online teaching program design will therefore have to ensure that the students get socially and emotionally attached to the ongoing discussions by implementing a system that will encourage student affective expression, group cohesion and open communication. This will go a long way to enhance learner satisfaction and by extension increase interest and participation. As suggested by Macquarie University (2013), student participation will be enhanced by posting online quizzes which will also help to test the progress of the students in terms of their content understanding and appreciation of the learning process. Example of the questions will require the students to define and differentiate between the two types of interests: simple interest and compound interest. Students will also be asked to rewrite the formulas for simple interest calculation and compound interest calculation and state when to use each of the two interest types. To further test their understanding, students will be given scenario questions with different interest rates. They will then solve the problems and present answers. This will help me assess them and know areas where they need clarification and assistance. With this information, I will prepare more effectively for the tutorial sessions. During the face-to-face tutorials, I will be able to attend to their specific problems and strengthen their understanding. The media will also enhance collaborative interaction among the students by requiring their participation in discussions about interest types and in this way allow greater opportunities for enhanced social presence and a greater feel of being part of the online community. This, according to Garrison & Arbaugh (2007), will enhance the socio-emotional climate in the online program. My one among many aims, therefore, will be to achieve social presence among the students during the online learning so that I create favourable conditions for quality interaction and inquiry in order to achieve the educational goals in a collaborative manner. While all these are done to enhance social presence, keen attention will be focused on designing a program that will take the discussions a little higher. The collaboration of the students and interactive discussion will be channeled in a manner that will promote further inquiry; exploration, through critical reflection and discourse; integration, where the students gain a deeper understanding and meaning; and resolution that will see the learners apply their acquired knowledge. Achieving all these will be most difficult but will mean that I provide a design and give leadership and direction that will cause the students go beyond merely interacting, to achieving a deeper understanding through exploration and integration and be able to apply this knowledge in their educational environments (Garrison & Arbaugh, 2007). I will provide more directive assignments. This will involve giving discussion questions that provoke ‘going beyond’ in the students’ learning process. An example would be those with practical implications like a discussion on factors that would determine the type of interest that a financial institution will use when calculating the interest to be paid by its customers who have taken a loan, or whether the governing financial body in a given country uses the same interest type to calculate the interest on the money it lends to other financial institutions in the country as that used by the individual financial institutions on their customers. This will however require that the technology employed will enhance quality and efficiency of feedback to the students. This may be achieved by employing online rubrics that enable quick and easy comments on the student’s work (Macquarie University, 2013). All these will help me achieve the cognitive presence in the online learning but will require that the group be provided with clear discussion goals and clear time when members will come together to participate in the discussions in the most productive manner (Garrison & Arbaugh, 2007). Teaching presence, the third element of CoI, must also be achieved in my online sessions in order to achieve an all round online learning experience. As described by Garrison & Arbaugh, (2007), this involves design, facilitation and direction of social and cognitive processes so as to realize meaningful and worthwhile learning results. This will be achieved through designing learning resources that will enable the students realise the unit’s aims and objectives (Macquarie University, 2013), and include lecture notes and power point presentations, develop video/audio mini-lectures, avail group and individual activities and provide guidance on use of the medium and giving insights into the relevant materials (Garrison & Arbaugh, 2007). Facilitation discourse, another component of teaching presence will be achieved through sharing of meaning, identification of those areas where students have an agreement and those where they disagree and finding ways of establishing consensus and common understanding. I will achieve these by reviewing students’ responses and commenting appropriately, moving discussion in the right direction and ensuring that student participation is balanced and productive. Success of the online learning will also need that I provide leadership and facilitate reflection and discourse by using the various assessment and feedback means to present content and in this way provide the direct instruction, which is important for online learning (Garrison & Arbaugh, 2007). Conclusion It is apparent that development of the microteaching activity will be a huge challenge, but if carefully designed and implemented, will be a huge step towards improving the learning and teaching experience. The CoI framework is detailed and very involving but presents an effective approach in designing of the online learning programs. The technology selected must be appropriate to the achievement of the course’s goals and should ensure that circumstances like students’ special needs, cultural inclusiveness and accessibility are considered. List of References Garrison, DR, & Arbaugh, JB 2007, Researching the community of inquiry framework: Review, issues and future directions, The Internet and Higher Education, 10(3), 157-172. Macquarie University, 2013, Technology options in learning and teaching, retrieved on 28th October 2013 from Macquarie University, 2013, Technology in learning and teaching (TILT) Guidelines for good practice, retrieved on 28th October 2013 from Anyangwe, E 2012, Technology in HE teaching: blended learning and beyond [Panel discussion], retrieved on 28th October 2013 from Rich, E, & Miah, A 2013, Can Twitter open up a new space for learning, teaching and thinking?, retrieved on 28th October from The Guardian Higher Education Network website< http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/mar/13/twitter-transform-learning-higher-education> Read More