Learning Maps and the Importance of Color

Learning Maps and the Importance of Color

Below is a simple Learning Map that goes through the steps that students will need complete an initial use of an online program called Khan Academy. Khan Academy is an online learning tool that offers individualized practice for students in a variety of subjects. The school that I work at is currently using this program in Math classes to support all of our students.

After reading articles about how colors can enhance memory performance and choosing the right color, I created the above Learning Map. I kept it very simple, identifying the three steps that students are expected to complete by giving each step its own color, and offering a bit more detail in a lighter shade of the same color. This will allow the students to visually follow the steps in the progression that I want them to. I used a brighter color to express things that I want the students to be sure to read, and chose a light/cool color for a background to allow all of the text to "pop".

Taking color into consideration when creating Learning Maps, like the one I created, will allow the creator to get their points across in a way that is both visually appealing and effective.

Engaging the Online Learner: Chapter One Summary

CHAPTER ONE: Learning in an Online Environment

I feel that a pre-requisite before taking ANY online class, would be to read this chapter. After reading it myself, I feel that I now understand the "flow" that many of my professors use to facilitate a positive learning environment for their offered courses. Online learners would truly benefit from learning about the different "phases of engagement" and why completing each one in a certain order is important to creating a successful online learning environment.

The chapter simply lays out "rules", or guidelines, about how to make online learning engaging. When doing a bit of searching to see what else was out there as far as rules for creating engaging online learning communities, I came across this website. It is a fellow blogger's list of what they feel are the 10 most important factors. This website goes hand-in-hand with what Conrad and Donaldson explain within chapter one.

My favorite part of the chapter was the comparison between the "Passive Knowledge-Absorbers" and the "Active Knowledge-Generators". These two labels sum up the entire focus of the chapter. 



PKA's (Passive Knowledge-Absorbers) are those who rely on the instructor of the course to spew out information to them. Expecting this type of facilitation from the instructor could be expected from a "lecture-based" online course, however this is not the path that many online courses are taking. Instead, online learners are expected to be AKG's (Active Knowledge-Generators). By being an AKG, something called "power-sharing" is able to happen. Power is shifted from being solely in the hands of the instructor, to being spread amongst the learners within the course. "When an online facilitator invites learners to be a part of the process, more often than note, learners rise to the occasion." (pg. 6)

All in all, chapter one was a great way to open up the "how-to" of teaching and learning online. The chapter offers information and guidelines for both instructors/facilitators as well as students/learners.