Authentic Tasks Design

After reviewing the authentic tasks web www.authentictasks.uow.edu.au/ I realized that I had been using two types of authentic tasks to challenge my online learners. First I have used a multimedia program called ethnoquest. http://www.amazon.com/EthnoQuest-Interactive-Multimedia-Simulation-Anthropology/dp/013185013X
and this program allows students to role play in a computer simulated culture. This activity may not be applicable to their real lives, but it is an excellent way to prepare students for fieldwork via role play. In the game the students learn to listen to the members of the village, collect data on their kinship structure, take fieldnotes, and learn the language. This simulation mirrors the practical skills needed to complete a real ethnography. The second task that I have used involves asking students to document their lives via photo essays that relate to the topics covered in class. The student uses the photo to express how they have experienced the particular topic and then they explain this to me in a short paragraph on the back of the photo. I found that students were better able to understand some of the key concepts in Sociology when they were forced to apply them to their real life experiences. I am glad that these types of strategies have been deemed as good practice for online teaching and learning.