Module 3 Reflection

After completing the third and final module of this online learning course I have gained a foundational knowledge of how to construct and instruct an online course.  One of the most apparent things I learned is that how you design and set up a course is extremely impactful on what it accomplishes.  Knowing how to create various tools and elements is one thing, but it is a completely differ thing to implement them into a learning management system.

                                

There are several things you have to manage when instructing an online class and I am appreciative that this course has given me a glimpse into how to do that.  There were subjects covered this week including using a grade book, creating a checklist, using a quiz, and how to overall structure a course.  It was helpful to see how all of these different elements fit together.  Moodle is a very capable instrument to teach an online course with, but you need to know how to use the instrument.  I hope to be able to reflect and use this course as a resource when I teach my first online course. 

On a side note a challenge that arose was time commitment.  Teaching an online course is time consuming and sometimes just figuring out how to change, implement or facilitate can overwhelm a professor.  Therefore to reiterate what was talked about during our online discussion the need for boundaries and deadlines are needed even for the professor.  If a professor gets behind or swamped than the quality of the course could quickly decrease.  We need to stay on top of a course just as if it was a face to face course because our efforts show even in an online environment. 

Module 2 Blog

          When looking back on Module 2 there are several things I learned.  The concept of online learning utilizes technology, so it would only make sense in order to enhance the learning experience through additional affective use of other technology.  Throughout this module I have learned how to create screencasts, avatars, and other useful resources. 

           One of the most pertinent resources in my opinion from this week is the use of the VoiceThread.  The idea of being able to see your fellow students’ faces and hear their actual voices allows you to get to know them in a different way, while developing community.  I also think this provides a way to break up the several discussion threads with something other than just words.

            I do believe one important topic was brought up in the discussion posts this week.  The idea of time management within facilitating a course and how easy it would be to become overwhelmed.  The importance of time management combined with boundaries will allow you to be efficient while in the course and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

            Throughout my own personal online learning experience I have not seen the majority of these tools utilized.  It is important for me to continue to learn about these different tools and how other professors use them.  It is one thing to know how to construct these various objections, but it is completely different thing to understand how to include them into a course.  I understand people learn through a variety of different ways, which makes including different tools to attempt to ensure learning objectives are accomplished.

            Although this week has been content heavy, it has been foundational for me to learn how to include these tools effectively to heighten not worsen the overall learning experience.  These tools can also provide some additional fun, which can continue to keep morale up and result in deeper communal relationships. 

Reflection on Module 1

During this first module I have learned so much about online learning.  One of the major concepts, which are foundational to online learning, is the ability to build and maintain community.  Building community within an online environment proves to be more difficult and is something the facilitator and students need to be very intentional in harvesting.  It is imperative for a professor to encourage collaboration among the students and in order to do so it often times requires making collaborative projects mandatory.

Along with building community there are numerous factors to consider when building and facilitating an online course.  A few of these factors include using a variety of mediums to engage the students, set clear expectations, constant communication, and consider the possibility of students having learning disabilities.  Understanding the impact of these factors allow me to be more analytical about the structure of a course and how to remain impactful to the student audience. 

After being a participant in several online classes the use of various mediums to present the material sticks out as important.  We read about a few different programs to utilize to create audio and video files including: Jing, Screencast-o-matic, voicethread, tokbox, creately, and teambox.  I have been part of classes, which do not use these tools much if at all.  I believe the challenge for myself would be finding the balance between overusing and not using them enough.  Many of our resources reiterate the importance for videos and audio files and how much more they are valued over text.  My issue would be determining how long these files could be to continue to captivate the audience.  I guess it will be important to evaluate the multimedia a professor uses and analyze what value it brings to the class.

One concept, which was mentioned in one of our readings, is the practice of recognizing go-getters.  I personally have a love language of words of affirmation, so the idea of getting a message or encouragement from my professor would certainly affirm my effort.  I had not thought specifically about sending individual messages to those students, which I believe could be a great idea.  Being able to encourage these students continues to set a standard for other students.  Another concept along these lines is the idea of using student moderators.  I found this idea very interesting because my immediate response was this would not work, but I do like the fact this concept would require students to take ownership of the material and lead their peers.  As I continued to read about this idea it just keep making more and more sense because as different people moderate they also bring different perspectives which results in more learning.  The only concern I have is does it work?  Our reading emphasized in order for it to work there needs to be clear expectations, reminders for students about their turn to moderate, and input by the professor.

            After completing the Faculty Self-Assessment: Preparing for Online Teaching, I was able to reflect on many ways which I can further my knowledge of teaching an online course.  I have come to realize although I have the skillset needed to accomplish the tasks related to an online course and have the competency in the subject matter I lack in the experience in teaching others.  Therefore, this course will be elemental in deepening my understanding of the necessary objectives an online course will require.  It will also be important for me to glean information from other experienced online professors to help me along my journey.  It would be my hope that I would be able to build a support system, which I could turn to during a time while I was teaching a class.  I also plan to be able to look back on the several resources provided in this course as a reference during developing and facilitating an online course.

            This first module was eye opening and has reminded me of what being part of an online community and the amount of effort it will demand.  There are numerous components and technology options that can be included into a course.  The idea of leading a course seems somewhat overwhelming at this point, but look forward to learning more about the various components, how to use them, and discovering how to balance everything to create a complete and relevant learning experience.