Becoming an Effective Online Teacher

Organization and design of activities largely determines the effectiveness of learning and, therefore, needs to closely reflect the current perspectives on the theory of knowledge and learning process.  Although connectivists do not clearly define the role of teachers in learning and knowledge creation, placing the focus on the individual and the network, as well as the flow of information (Bates, 2019), it seems obvious that to avoid chaos, there is a need for a teacher to provide the framework for the inquiry channels, to facilitate the establishment and growth of networks and the exchange of information across, and to facilitate practice and reflection in learners.  Siemens (2005) confirms that the " Knowledge that resides in a database needs to be connected with the right people in the right context in order to be classified as learning." According to the author within social networks, well-connected people serve as so-called hubs to foster and maintain knowledge flow...

In my own teaching practice and learning for professional development purposes I have had to deal with a range of learning management platforms. Edmodo contrasted substantially against the more commonly used LMS systems such as Blackboard, Canvas or Moodle.  The interface looked extremely simple and that was appealing. When teaching online, the last thing you want is to put off students' engagement by the complexity of the learning environment.  And of course there was the Edmodo app. That simplifies things even further.  The other feature that appealed to me was "the wall". The wall called for teacher and student posts, replies, likes, questions - INTERACTIVITY! COMMUNICATION! I always felt like the other platforms, although had the capacity to support forums and discussions, lacked teacher-student, student-student interaction. The teacher had to create prompts for it and then students deal with them like another piece of assignment - they have to leave a few comments, t...