Online Classrooms
A teaching strategy for the middle years

Characteristics
• Is not a replacement for the classroom!
• Is a space for teachers and students to
collaborate though two way conversation
to do things that are too hard to achieve
otherwise.
• Developed to give additional formative
assessment and student questions
• Is more informal than formal

Teaching strategy
• To be a facilitator, not a judge
• To be a critical, supportive friend
• To allow students to take ‘side trips’ into
avenues that they are interested in and not
to stick too rigidly to the curriculum
• To let students know where they are in
their own learning

Stages of development
Lesson 5
Student’s Role Leaving
brevity and distance between the steps
Lesson 4
Teacher determines the
Lesson 3 Making
Lesson 2 Conversing
Lesson 1 Welcoming
Arriving Teacher’s Role
Students climb steps based on a set of tasks/problems

The teacher’s role is to
design the learning steps
Finding the learning balance
Too easy Too frustrating
Too boring Too distracting
No technology Too much tech
How can we tell?

Teacher Taking stock of tools and features you have.
Take time to set up your classroom

Important!
• Issue a naming convention - hide their true
identity ie Firstname + First 2 letters of their
surname + class JohnSmK7
• Issue any parent permission (tell the boss)
• Issue the class rules (behavior, respect)
• Speak online as you would offline.

Arriving
http://htav09.shoutem.com
Finding and setting up your online space.

The Arrival Lesson
Our online classroom Designers Tip:
http://htav09.shoutem.com Create 6 dummy
accounts using Gmail
Flight Check accounts for testing.
Introduce yourself
Say hello to a student Use them in class for
Add a hyperlink students who try to
Add a photo game the activity ... I
Check someone’s link don’t have email, I
Post a comment on forgot my address,
someone’s photo. what’s my password.

Welcoming
Our online classroom
http://htav09.shoutem.com
Welcoming Students
Great your class often
Share something you are thinking
Say something you like about thier work
Ask a question that makes them wonder
Explain what to expect is going to happen

Conversing
Our online classroom
http://htav09.shoutem.com
Joining in conversations
Encourage open questions about anything
Don’t answer all the questions
Point students to other students
Correct ‘group’ deviation and errors
Don’t ask all the questions

Making
Our online classroom
http://htav09.shoutem.com
Joining in conversations
Skills based activities
Issues based activities
Pre-activity reflection (what will happen)
During activity reflection (what are we doing)
Post activity reflection (what did we do)

Leaving
Our online classroom
http://htav09.shoutem.com
Joining in conversations
Feedback to the group
What did you like about what you did
What make you wonder/rethink
What would you do in the future
Talk about their achievements (group)

http://www.etherpad.com
(small group sharing)
http://www.edmodo.com
(class sharing)
http://groups.google.com
(forum - but less features) Spaces to try
http://www.tinychat.com
(web-cam and voice too)
http://www.meetsee.com
(Virtual World)