NPTNC1628: Week 1 Perspectives on Learning Paper
NPTNC1628: Week 1 Perspectives on Learning Paper
As we have moved to online learning I have started to actively use Applied Behavior Analysis more within my classes. As I work asynchronously with my students I have started to log and take note of how all of my students have interacted with me both via handing in work as well as via online video conferencing. In particular I have been in contact with many students via email cueing each day letting them know that I am available to chat at any point during my office hours. I have also spent a lot of time reinforcing the work my students are doing in their various online workspaces for 3D modeling or documentation. What I have found interesting is how useful praise is in getting students to engage in work in this difficult time. I fully understand that my students have a lot on their plate, so I have extended a project that we were well into prior to going into self-isolation and online learning. However, I have noticed that by emailing daily to all my students, commenting on individual students documents, and finally emailing students directly has resulted in specific interventions and treatment plans for my students. Some students even begin to get comfortable with just hanging out during my office hours. All I am trying to do is modify my students behavior so they understand that I am sending them a small amount of work to do over the course of the week. They can receive this work via many different methods, hand in the work in different ways, or at least reach out to me if they need help or need to inform me that they cannot complete the work. What I will say is that I’m currently monitoring my treatment (Ormrod, 98) for my students as we have just passed our second big hand-in where the work was delivered to them via email, learning management system, and via video chat. While I cannot prescribe anything in person, I can begin to understand what’s happening with my students via support networks within my school as well as from their family. My hope is that after this week, where I have been forced by my district to input 0’s for late work to elicit some response from my students who haven’t communicated with me, I will be able to see if I can begin to phase out certain treatments that require a lot of energy from myself. Moving forward I also will be re-evaluating what I put on my LMS as well as in my gradebook, placing emphasis on check-points and “collecting” work, rather than grading each assignment. At the end of the day, I plan on giving my students a fair amount of outlined structure and frequent success experiences in order to keep them focused in these times of high anxiety. I also intend on sticking with tools of production that allow us to communicate quickly and easily as well. Finally, I also don’t intend on trying to get my students to learn any new content so that we may work towards mastery in the digital tools we have access too when applied to various projects or contexts. This will allow for regular success and positive reinforcement on my end moving forward, and allow for a simplified learning plan.