Hi. My name is Karen Sorensen. I'm a Masters of Education (PACE program) student, and I currently work as a Web Developer at Portland Community College.

I love the power of technology to enable students to learn something from potentially the best source of that information, though they live at a distance from that source.

I wanted to take this class to learn more about how to motivate and really engage students online. For example, what replaces the classroom discussion of ideas? A bulletin board just doesn't do it for my Active Engagement learning style (Kolb's Learning Styles). I like to hear and see the instructor and my classmates. How do you replace that online? With virtual communities like Second Life? Video conferencing? I don't know. And maybe it is an area that will continue to lack in the online environment, but maybe there are other ways to engage different learning styles online and collaborate with one another. I want that for myself as a student, and I want to be part of creating that experience for my learners.

Thanks for "listening".