21/03/2008
ALISON Launches Individual Course Forums Social forums, often called ‘Virtual Cafés’ or ‘Common Rooms’ can now be set up for all ALISON courses. These online 'spaces' provide a common area for ‘ALISONIANS’ to come together and discuss both course material and instructor-posted topics. With the rise of social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo and MySpace, students have developed new expectations for communication and forums can be an important additional feature to supplement the e-learning experience.
At ALISON, we encourage teachers and instructors to consider the use of the forum as a teaching aide. Effective learning requires access to both social and academic networks for study materials and emotional support. Establishing an online community as part of your course can help students to grow in their understanding of course materials through learning from each other and through being encouraged to make their own individual contribution to the knowledge construction process.
To begin with we have created forums for our ECDL Office 2003 Syllabus 4.0 and the UK-only ECDL Syllabus 4.5 (Office 2003) courses for ALISON Manager group accounts within Egypt and the United Kingdom. Students can post a message, reply to messages and respond to posts from their instructor. If you would like to establish a forum as part of your ALISON Manager group account, please do not hesitate to contact us.
