Frequently Asked Questions
- Why engaged learning?
- Why did I need to apply as part of a
team?
- Why do we hold chats?
- Why write a scenario?
- Why must we have a plan for staff
development?
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- Course Materials and Tool
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- Where can we share URLs and
ideas?
- Can we use COW, chat and listserv for
additional tasks?
- Why do I feel so
frustrated?
- How do I look at my pages?
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- Why must we have a plan for staff
development?
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- LInC is essentially an instructional leadership
course. We know that the typical participant to the LInC
program is a leader in their own school building or
district. One of the LInC project's objectives is to
disseminate a shared vision of engaged learning. We
realize that in order to make this a reality, we need to
ask participants to create a plan for sharing their LInC
experience. This plan greatly increases the likelihood
that sharing will take place.
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- Why is it beneficial to apply as
part of a team?
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- Although some LInC participants enjoy working alone,
a LInC team can be formed to support each other in
learning the course material, in troubleshooting local
technical difficulties, and in conducting staff
development in their home district. In addition, the team
can be critical in supplying emotional support and
encouragement throughout the course. Your team can also
support one another as you implement your project and the
staff development you will facilitate after you finish
this course.
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- Why write a scenario?
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- The scenario is a very effective way of sharing your
vision of your project. Some find the scenario a
challenge to write, but in the process of telling the
story of your project you are compelled to picture all
the indicators of engaged learning and best use of
technology in your project.
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- Why engaged learning?
- Engaged learning allows students to direct and assess
their own learning. It allows the teacher to facilitate,
co-learn, coach, and continually assess the students.
Research shows that students retain more information when
they are directing their own learning than when the teacher
is the disseminator of knowledge. We are trying to model
engaged learning in this LInC course.
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- Why do we hold
discussions/chats?
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- Weekly discussions/chats are a very important part of
the LInC course. The weekly session is our version of the
typical course class meeting. The
instructor or the participants have selected a focus for
that evening's discussion. The instructor will use this
opportunity to discuss with participants their progress
and roadblocks encountered. Announcements will often be
made during the discussions/chats that our of great
importance to participants. It is a great time for
participants to share with one another and offer feedback
on their ideas.Your attendance and participation at the
sessions is part of your overall course grade.
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- What is a chat tool (real-time
discussion tool), and what is it used for?
- The chat tool that
your facilitator has instructed you to use in this course has
been developed for you to communicate with your facilitator
and other participants in real time - (meaning,
everyone reading and typing responses to each other during
the same period of time). This tool helps you to get
immediate feedback to questions, but it does require others
to be online at the same time you are. It is most like a
phone conversation.
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- What is a listserv, and what is
it used for?
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- The listserv
that your facilitator has created for your class is an
automatic e-mailing system. It allows the
sender of a message to type one message and have it sent
automatically to all of the people who have subscribed to
the listserv. You will probably get most listserv
messages from the facilitator of the course. The listserv
will frequently be used for course announcements. You may
also use the listserv to send messages to all of the
participants. Be sure that your message is of importance
to all participants. This is not the place to send a
message to only one or two participants.
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- What are the LInC Online Web
pages, and what are they used for?
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- The LInC Online Web Pages are our version of the
class text. These pages contain a great
deal of information. Our course index is much like a
table of contents that lists the various sections of your
online text. Although you may not need to read every page
of the LInC materials you will need to read most of them.
If you have a question about engaged learning, best use
of technology, technical problems, Web design issues, or
assignments, this is the first place to look.
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- What is an electronic bulletin board
and what is it used for?
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- This is a communication tool that is designed for
participants to post messages for others to read at a
time that is convenient to them. The messages are
arranged by topic and subtopic so that you can follow the
flow of conversations and find things when you need them
later. In many cases this tool will also have a search
feature. There are topics for conversations which contain
a series of postings and responses from participants to
each other.
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- Where can we share URLs and
ideas?
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- Sharing ideas, URLs, and questions is the perfect
type of material to place in the asynchronous discussion
tool. Look over the index of topics and conversations to
see if there is an appropriate place for you to post your
comment. If there is no appropriate place, go ahead and
create your own area. If you are not sure where to place
your comment, you might e-mail your facilitator for
advice.
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- Can we use the bulletin board,
chat or listserv used within this course for other
things?
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- These tools have been provided to help you be
successful in this course. In most cases if you wish to
use these tools for related work on projects, engaged
learning, or staff development planning, it would be
appropriate. It is a good idea to clear it with your
facilitator beforehand.
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- Why do I feel so
frustrated?
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- Feelings of frustration are very normal and probably
to be expected. The course is asking a lot of you both
intellectually and emotionally. If you do not feel
challenged in the course, you either already know the
material or you are not opening yourself to the
opportunity for change. We all know very well that change
is difficult and emotionally exhausting. In the
LInC project you are being asked to change your style of
instruction. Add to this the challenge of creating an
original project, and you have a first-rate recipe for
frustration. The good news is that none of the
participants have died or been harmed from the
course. On the contrary, participants have been
extremely positive about their participation in the
course and feel they have learned a great deal from
creating their project. Remember, if the pressure
becomes too much, just take a break and e-mail your
facilitator in the morning. Your facilitator is there to
help you through the process.
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- How do I look at my
pages?
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- Once you have transferred your files to
the server, you can view them using your browser. In
fact, this is a good idea because it will help you find
any mistakes you may have made in writing links and
images. It is possible that your pages will look perfect
on your computer, but show broken links or images on the
Web server. To view your pages you need to type in the
absolute URL. In other words, type in the server name,
any folders, and the file names. If your URL is correct,
the page should load into your Web browser. Follow the
file naming
guidelines provided when creating your pages to avoid
trouble when viewing your pages.
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