In a traditional classroom setting, a teacher may use a variety of learning strategies including emphasis on interactivity and giving the student control over his learning through “popcorn reading”, that is reading aloud and then tagging another student to pick up reading aloud where he stops. This works well in a traditional classroom, however, in order to transfer it to an online setting it would perhaps be “popcorn blogging”, where a student would post thoughts and then tag another classmate to pick up where they left off. This would promote interactivity among the virtual classroom.

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Additionally, collaborative learning in a traditional classroom may be where a teacher places students in a group. This type of strategy also works well in the online classroom. Another preferred teaching strategy I promote that would work well in both traditional settings and online, is the flipped classroom, or having the student teach parts of the lesson. It is said, “One learns best when he teaches!” and I believe it to be true.

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In contrast, a traditional teaching method in the brick and mortar school is the Listening and Observing method, or lecture style. This strategy is very teacher-centered and I don’t believe it is well suited for on-line students. The teacher may offer context clues or animation in a lecture that would not transfer over through text. It might be possible to create a lecture-style video, however, it may not be very engaging for the online learner.

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Lastly, a traditional strategy that is good for many learning styles is Hands-On Learning, or Learning Labs. This method can transfer to online learning by projects such as building a portfolio or creating a website. It would require the online learning do an activity, hands-on and then perhaps offer a reflection of what worked and what obstacles had to be overcome.

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Let's explore some factors that impact Online Learning Strategies.

• Microlearning

• Learning Styles

• Bloom's Taxonomy

• Instructor Support

• Supporting Material