EDLD+5368+-+reflections

__ What benefits do you see in educators knowing how to design and implement online learning? __ With online courses being offered at the high school and college level, I think it is very important that teachers understand how to design and implement an online learning environment. Many teachers believe that online courses are watered down versions of the face-to-face class. If these teachers knew how much work is involved developing a quality class and then the amount of work the students must devote to the courses, I believe these teachers would see the benefits of offering courses online. While creating this course in Schoology, I had to think about the subject matter in a completely new way in order to create understanding of the material. This gives teachers an opportunity to streamline the material in terms of what is important, what must be reviewed and quickly move the point. Since the students are relying only on what you have created, you cannot reword it during class for better understanding, anticipation of difficulty must be planned for as well.

__ How will you professionally use your course that you designed? __ I created a course for high school level Algebra 1 material involving understanding the relationship between word problems, equations and their graphs. I am proud of the course I created and plan to use it in some way next school year. The activities I created could easily be used to supplement my class; however, I am not ready to teach high school level Algebra 1 using this method alone. The final product I believe is a valid and useful activity that I may use as my technology product for that unit. I also plan to share the Schoology site with my administration as well as with colleagues. I have shared the site with some people and they all feel there is a “facebook” feel to maneuvering though the course. It certainly has potential for use with students since the format is so familiar. I enjoyed using the Schoology site, although I think it would have been beneficial to have an additional week to refine our project while learning the workings and offering of the Schoology. __ Will you integrate online learning in your role as a teacher/staff developer? __ I have been asked to create and present a professional development session during our professional development days before school begins. I have been asked to present Moodle to the faculty to promote online learning and interaction between the students and teachers. I plan to show Schoology to my administration as a possible alternative to Moodle. Schoology has a “facebook” feel to it that I believe teachers may feel less intimidated by. I do not know how it compares to Moodle but I will find out.

Since I have been asked to encourage Moodle, I believe it would be best to present the material in the same manner. Many of the faculty members have not participated in personally beneficial online learning. Since many are reluctant to try technology driven material, I think providing an experience would help the teachers understand the importance of the medium. I plan to create a course that will have projects with due dates throughout the year. This gives the participants incentive to learn the functions while using them to create their own online course.

__ What questions do you still have about online learning? __ I am still very torn about teaching mathematics online. I would like to observe or even audit a college level math course that is taught this way and see how it is developed. In fact, next school year I plan to take graduate level math courses that are taught strictly online. However, my concern is not with the student that understands the material and is self motivated. My concern is the lower level student that has difficulty and struggles with mathematics.

I also wonder how to make online learning a mandatory part of the curriculum. Many of my students do not have computers and/or internet service at home. I currently tell the students they have alternative places to access the information. School library (which has been closed the last month for testing), teachers have student computers and the library does as well. My main concern is the amount of work students at our school are required to do every day in both their academics and art area. I don’t want online learning to be an additional burden but rather a supplementary endeavor to help the students better understand the material. __ What will you do with this new learning? __ I am still very torn about teaching mathematics online. I would like to observe or even audit a college level math course that is taught this way and see how it is developed. In fact, next school year I plan to take graduate level math courses that are taught strictly online. However, my concern is not with the student that understands the material and is self motivated. My concern is the lower level student that has difficulty and struggles with mathematics. Perhaps though these are the students that would most benefit from this type of instruction.

I intend to find way s to entice reluctant learners into on online environment where they can review or maybe even learn at their own pace. I want to further investigate differentiating learning for students’ various learning styles. Possibly teach an online lesson and provide alternative material to cover the same topic. I expect to use online learning will probably focus on with these lower performing students and then build from there.