I think the most important factor that is needed for a great digital learning community is organization. For students to be interested in participating in a DLC, they want it to be easy to use and easy to navigate. So, the site must be organized and concise for all users. Also, it must be modern and appealing. If the sites bookmarked isn’t interesting, it doesn’t peak the students’ interests and they will not be excited to use the site. If a DLC isn’t attractive but needed for the classroom, a teacher can create opportunities to use the sites in a different manner—maybe within another site or activity. Also, connecting the DLC with other websites can give the students the opportunity to be flexible and exposed to different venues and lead to differentiation. For a teacher to create this type of DLC, they must be willing to do much research. They have to be constantly aware of new trends in technology and online; and they must be consistent in updating the DLC on a regular basis. If a teacher already has a DLC that is not welcoming to students, they can take an anonymous survey from the students to see what would interest them. That can give you more insight on the students and what they need.
When thinking about which web based tools I should use, I thought about what would beneficial for my students in a math classroom. I googled virtual versions of the tools I currently use in the classroom and that helped mold the decision about what three tools I would bookmark in my social bookmarking website. The three tools that I bookmarked in my social bookmarking website were virtual algebra tiles, a math dictionary, and a scientific calculator. I chose these tools because math has been very paper based for centuries and many thinks that it’s difficult to be successful in math virtually, but it is possible with the proper tools. An orientation at the beginning of the course would be the perfect way to teach students how to find important tools like these and how to ensure that the tools are beneficial and also safe for the classroom. Important policies that should be used in deciding which tools are safe and helpful would be that is the site isn’t on the ap...
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