How to write a good Essay

Anyone can be a good essay writer with practice and learning the techniques of it. All you need is -a good introduction, organized body in form of paragraphs and a strong conclusion. There are eight basic steps involved in essay writing process. These steps are discussed briefly under the following heading:

Step 1: Choose a topic or focus on the assigned topic

Find your topic, if you have a choice. Take up a topic you already know about. It will help you in spending less time in understanding and researching . In case you are given a subject to write on, you might want to narrow it down. The central point is that you should be clear about what is your topic before you begin to write.

Step 2: Developing ideas

This step is very important in the sense that you should have answers to following questions before you move further with the essay-

·         Who are you and who are the target audience?

·         What ideas do you wish to convey to the audience?

Finding answers to these questions will help you write concisely and generate the specific ideas

Step 3: Making an outline

Before jotting down the ideas, you should be clear of how will the essay be organized. Choose the headings. For example, for a reflective essay you can have the headings like background, what I learnt, what do I wish to change and summary.

Step 4: Write a tentative thesis

Before writing anything you should be very clear of the central idea of the essay. The essay will be woven around this main idea or what we call as thesis. Writing the thesis will help you to think and be around the focal point of the essay rather than diverging from the main point. The tentative thesis means that you can also change or modify the it if you really have to.

Step 5: Researching on the essay

Once you decide the tentative thesis,  research on the topic. When you research, you may find that your topic is too broad. You might want to narrow it down. If you choose a broader topic, you might not be able to do justice with the essay, especially, if you have a word limit.

The research can be done over internet, in the library or at home. While reading, you will be taking notes, jotting down the name of the author/book or website. you may take as many as notes those fit around the central idea of the thesis.  The notes can be editing and rearranged later. The outline you made in the beginning of the essay writing will help you at this point. You will find the information keeping in mind the headings the essay is divided in.

Step 6: Create the first draft

The first draft is a rough essay, which you have written to communicate what you want to say through the essay. There might be many grammatical or spelling mistakes. Don’t worry about them, Just organize and write the notes and your  thoughts. Once you have organized the rough draft focus on the beginning, middle and end of the essay.

Step 7: Revise

Now it is time to see, if everything is in the place. Look for any kind of grammatical or spelling mistakes. Make changes, edit and then proof read. If you find a third eye to read your essay, get it. You may also read it aloud so that you can make sense of what you have written.

Step 8: Finalize

Once everything looks  good, read it and then submit. Don’t push yourself into reading over and over again driven by the thought of making it the  best   ever. Just think that you did the best you could! Keep a copy for yourself and submit the final essay.

Future of e-learning

I read something really interesting on- http://www.deltainitiative.com/index.php/phils-blog/70-new-mentality-enters-lms-market
Here are few Quoted paragraphs-

There was a time when prospectors from around the world converged on San Francisco with picks and shovels to extract gold from the rolling hills. Today, a similar migration is taking place, though the tools have changed slightly, as servers have taken the place of shovels and a sharp resume will get you deeper into data than blasting caps through solid rock. Education startups will be the new gold rush, and Silicon Valley is sure to be at its heart. Already the epicenter of tech innovation and venture capital investment, San Francisco is poised to become heart of a new industry that will be powered by the Internet. And unlike me-too food apps and daily deals websites, education is more than a hot fad. American taxpayers invested more than $536 billion on K-12 education between 2005 and 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Education, with an additional $373 billion in taxes going to fund higher education nationwide. The educational pie is enormous, and anyone who can get his or her hands on even a small slice can expect to reap huge returns. Computers have become essential learning tool, with Internet access being discussed as a fundamental human right in some quarters.
Instructure and LoudCloud designed their systems based on market analysis and feedback, rather than by taking a single-institution project and attempting leverage into the market. Instructure was started by two graduate students who thought they could design a better LMS as a class project. Their instructor, Josh Coates (now CEO) who started and came from a successful internet startup (Mozy), encouraged the students to take their user design and shop it around to get feedback. The students did so, "Instead of starting to write code, which both of us loved doing, we took all our ideas and built them into a mocked-up version of the product in PowerPoint. Then we started calling schools. We would cold-call the CTO, CIO or the head of Instructional Design and tell them we were a new company who wanted to show our thoughts on the future of the LMS and get their feedback as well."


Both systems are built as cloud-based models leveraging third-party web services - enabling the smaller companies to compete with larger companies. In this case, the cloud approach is allowing startups such as Instructure and LoudCloud to rapidly develop their product lines and directly compete with large established competitors such as Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Pearson, and even established open source providers such as Moodle and Sakai. Both Instructure and LoudCloud sit on top of Amazon Web Services, providing scaling and reliability, while enabling both companies to focus their attention on the learning design itself.
Reference:http://www.deltainitiative.com/index.php/phils-blog/70-new-mentality-enters-lms-market

Final reflecctions

The first half of the final week of the course was a little tough. Final paper submission, review of a classmates’ paper and the rubrics. But, things were relatively calmer after Thursday. I enjoyed doing the self-reflection assignment. It really had some good questions which pushed me into the deeper thinking. The course EDUI 6701 prepared me for the courses I’ll be taking in the next 4 quarters of the MS OTL. It enabled its participants to plan, design, and incorporates strategies to encourage active learning, interaction, participation and collaboration in the online environment. The course also helped me in understanding how to do assessment of the learning goals.

The concept of inclusive and integrated learning is also very well highlighted in the program. The instructors and course designers have to be responsive to special education and cultural differences among students in the online classroom. It is responsibility of the instructor to encourage intercultural interaction and inclusive learning in the class. I got an opportunity to demonstrate awareness of observational data (i.e., tracking data in electronic courses, web logs, email, etc.). I had to use various research and scholarly articles for writing assignments and posting responses on the discussion board.

The course provided syllabus with objectives, concepts, and ideas, and learning outcomes in a clearly written, concise format. The discussion board is an interesting place where I got to know my classmates’ perceptions and ideas. The group project further provided an opportunity to connect with people  and work collaboratively with them.

In short, I had several light bulb moments in last five weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed the each and every assignment and reading material. It was fun to work with classmates. I am thankful to my instructor Ms. Anne Guptill for her constant support, positive feedback and encouragement. I’ll  surely try to remain in contact with her in coming years.

Self-reflection helps!

We human beings  avoid self-reflection many times, because of the bad experiences or the mistakes we have made in the past. If we are living with an old feeling and we don’t self-reflect to a recently gained experience – that means we are not living in the present.

Writing self-reflection  is actually a great exercise to help  remember something. If you go deep enough you may even be able to heal a past hurt/bad experience.

 Holding on to heavy feelings only makes a more lasting impression. Writing those feelings let them go and makes you  free from excessive mental pressure and harsh feelings.

Self reflection help encourages us to do hard work and constantly trying to strive for excellence.   When I started writing the reflections in ‘My Anablog’, I set goals for myself. I promised myself I will not stop until I reach them.   Once I have reached my long term goals, I will then form more goals.   I believe everyone has purpose and we have to work hard to find it.   This affects my life and way I perceive things and other people.

My answers to 'Self reflection' assignment:

 Q1: Things I need to work on in the next class:

Time management

Communication skills

Trustworthy public relations

Teamwork

Research abilities

Which ones are most evident "in you" that may have been much weaker 5 weeks ago? Why?

I think I had problem with the time management initially, but after 5 weeks’ time I know how manage my time to take care of my daily chores and spend time in front of ‘blackboard’, finishing my assignments. I learnt time management as the days passed and I reflected on what works as a best schedule for me and my family.

I think I need to work on my communication skills and my written skills more. Sometimes it becomes a little difficult for me to understand the comments made by the classmates. Indian use English in British context, so a few things sometimes bring out some other meaning when people use ’urban dictionary words.’ For example, I haven’t yet understood the comment of one of my classmate-My two-cents before chores and bed.

Q2: Think back to your expectations at the beginning of the course, then reflect on what you learned throughout the course. What would you have liked more of? What would you add? What would you remove?

I learnt research-based elements to design an online education. I also gained an idea on how to assess student learning needs, especially disabled, organize content and what are the engaging technologically-based activities to achieve learning outcomes. I would like to read more in the course material area, which, perhaps I’ll do in other courses and gain better understanding of the concepts related to eLearning. I think, I’ll not remove anything from the course!

Q3: Ah, technology!

What was your best experience, or Aha! moment, with any of the technology used in or used to access the course?

It is so easy to learn with technology. I felt like I’m sitting in a classroom!!

I liked the links to online reading assignments embedded in the course material and opening in new window. I also found emailing all class members in one click. The grading area  secretly reports grades on assignments.

I wanted to use my online storage feature in the blackboard, to keep a record of some interesting websites I came across or the fact and figures, I wish to keep handy. But, I couldn’t know how to do that. Perhaps, I should spend some more time in exploring that area.

Q4: I know myself a bit better too!

Learning is never done alone. It usually involves all of you - the reading and writing skills, your part as a member of the team, your communication, planning and time management skills. There is so much involved in order to have a successful whole life learning experiencce.

Reflecting on the "web of learning," say what you have discovered about yourself in this learning experience.

It’s been a while that I really did ‘something’ in terms of intellectual work. I like to learn new things. This course made me feel young again. I could recall the time some 8-9 years back when I was in college. There were lectures, reading, group work and assignments. Although, I am not physically present in the class but I get the same feel of it. I thought that I won’t be able to cope up with the tight schedule of the course but I could do it. Your mind is a place where your thoughts, (both positive and negative) and judgments about yourself and your environment, combine to create your reality. Our perception about our own identity is very important. If you believe you are a person who cannot succeed, then success will evade you. You will subconsciously create failure as a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you believe you are a person who can succeed, then you will act accordingly! Again, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy! 

Q5: I want to sincerely thank you for adding a great deal of yourself, your background and your perspectives to this course. You have been an important part of the success.

Related to your classmates, what have they offered you here and for what would you like to thank them?

All of the classmates come from different background and thus bring a unique set of experience with them. I would like to thank my classmates for  being supportive, providing honest feedback and sharing their experiences.

Distance learning for women in India

The given reading Thirty-two Trends Affecting Distance Education: An Informed Foundation for Strategic Planning  by Howell et al. mentions that,’ Like growth in adult learners, the percentage of women and minority learners is increasing. More women than men now enroll in college (57% of students are women), a trend supported by the fact that more women are entering the workforce (“Lifelong,” 2002). Among minorities, the proportion of women is even higher: “60% of Hispanic and two-thirds of African-American college students are women” (Cetron, 2003, p. 10)’

This certainly holds true for Indian women and minority communities. Indian women got uplift with the introduction of distance education back in 1990s. The distance education was a ray of hope for married and single moms(widow, separated, divorced). Women those who got married early in their life and could not finish studies had an option to pursue further with their degrees. Indian families are generally joint families, supporting the daughters and daughter in laws if the wish to study further after marriage. Now a days, many women are obtaining professional degrees and diplomas. With professional degrees in hand, these highly educated women are ambitious, financially independent, aware of their rights and know how to take charge of their life. Online education addresses some of India's shortcomings: a dismal education system, limited reach, and a severe paucity of faculty. Distance education allows women to study according to their convenience . They take care of the kids and family and study as and when they like.The only thing is that they have to go to the examination Center once or twice in an year for writing the exams or for practicals.

Minority section and underprivileged sect of society also got advantage of distance learning. People living in remote areas, were blessed with the concept distance learning. With advancement, and many of them having access to internet, the online education is becoming popular among Indians.

References: Howell, S. L., Williams, P. B., & Lindsay, N. K. (2003).westga.edu. Retrieved from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall63/howell63.html

Journal writing

Journal writing should be an integrated part of our daily busy schedules. The journals are the recordings of the thought process. The journals help in resolving the problems those we might have been accumulating over the period of time without finding solutions. It also improves the reflective thinking and cognitive process. One can combat stress if he/she has a habit of writing the journal.

I learnt a lot while writing the journals because it invoked questions in my mind and I read, researched and synthesized  my thought process to find the answers.

The procedure is that there is no ’procedure’, means you can write whatever, whenever  and wherever. The flow of the words should be coming from the mind without any fear or concern. 

The journals can have some negative aspects also. The writer may tend to write longer journals which might become boring for the writer himself/herself over a period of time and finally, he/she  gives up writing it at all. I would like to fix the minimum number of journals that one has to write in a given week.

The quote I would like to share is-'The role of an instructor is to keep the learning community functional in virtual classes by designing the course to allow participation of all the students as community members and  increase the participation'.

Evaluation in online course

I was finalizing my final paper today. Suddenly, a question popped in my mind what is the purpose of testing. Before making a course, the creator/s of the online course should be clear regarding the purpose of testing, whether to record the progress or give feedback to learners. To  design a test, you must know exactly what do you need to measure. If you already know the specific learning objective for the course/lesson, it is easier to construct the test. Any activity that can be scored by a computer or human can be a test question.  For that reason, there are an unlimited number of test questions possible. Consider the type of question you need, as per the kind of information you’re are trying to gather and what are you willing to do to get this information.

Questions can be subjective or objective. Subjective test questions require human judgment to evaluate whereas objective questions have clear standards for correctness. They are sometimes called closed questions because learners must select an answer from choices provided by the designer. Multiple choice questions are objective. They are best for right –wrong kind of question in science fields where the learners are tested for new technology and skills.

Thus, I wish to include MCQs, as one of the evaluation tool  in the my lessons to test the acquisition of basic theories and principals of chemistry.

Constructivist Learning Environment

Mini Lecture from week  5 indicates that-‘If students are primarily adults, they are likely to be enrolled in the course for career reasons, and will probably be highly self-reliant and highly goal-oriented. They will probably also approach the course with a good deal of prior learning (in-school and out-of-school learning) as well as preconceived ideas.’

That  sounds true because  at a level of maturity, the learners tend to have some ideas and thoughts they truly believe in. There may be certain prejudices also. Thus, designing a course for comparatively older learners can be a challenge because the material has to be chosen very carefully and there should be strong arguments and facts supporting the reading material and the views of the instructor. Sometimes these pre-conceived ideas create some kind of hindrance in the learning process because the mind is pre-occupied with the notion one already believes in.

The other thing is ‘Effective online curriculum generally adopts and builds in a more "facilitative" model of teaching in which the function of the faculty member (or trainer) is to lead discussions that are carefully crafted in order to elicit the ideas of students with respect to key concepts in the subject matter. As an example, the facilitator might ask a question regarding how selected concepts apply to the learners' work environments, and to share this with their online colleagues from THEIR perspectives.

This concept was very beautifully taken care of by Anne in Discussion forums for week 5. For example , Forum: 5:1 Anonymous Threads - Thoughts about Groups, which  says, you have worked with different group members on various tasks through exchange of emails, synchronous communication, threads, exchange of files. Briefly and anonymously comment on this experience. You may respond to other posts. What are the "lessons learned"? What went well? What surprised you? What will you do differently next time? This forum is not graded. (I don't know who you are!)

Similarly,  threads 5.3 ask learners  following –

You have kept a journal throughout this course. In this thread, please do the following:

1) Write a couple of sentences about the journal process, including pluses, minuses, procedures and changes you would make in the future

2) Pick a quote from your journal that may be meaningful to others and/or representative of a significant part of the course learning/experience

3) Please respond to others

4) Anonymity in this post is a choice

These kind of discussions/reflections at the end of the course help learners to  find the usefulness of a particular activity/learning strategy. For me writing these two threads made a whole of sense of whatever I did in last 5 weeks.