As I have been preparing for
the possibility of teaching some online courses I have had to take a hard look
at my practices as both a teacher in a traditional brick and mortar school as
well as my habits as an online student. I can see that there are many area I need to
work on improving. In fact, for many
reasons, I would say that I am not prepared to be a virtual instructor at this
time.I felt this question is a good place for me to begin my reflection.
"Consider the areas you struggle with in the
traditional classroom. How can you better prepare yourself so you will struggle
less with this in the online environment?"
When reflecting on my
classroom practice, I would say that the area I struggle with the most is in
planning the appropriate amount of content. I suffer from the affliction of
wanting to do it all and wanting students to experience it all. So, instead of
choosing one or two significant activities or lessons per topic, I over-plan
and over prepare, Frequently we do not have enough time to finish an activity
before it is either time to clean up for the day, or move on to the next topic.
This leaves me feeling frustrated. At times it has even led to short changing
different subject areas because our lesson will run over into another subject
period and, not wanting to abandon our project it will take up that period as
well.
In an online course, if I was
to over-plan, it could cause extreme frustration in students who will most
definitely struggle to complete the course. It could lead to students dropping
from the course or receiving an incomplete grade. Students may leave the course disillusioned
about online education and reluctant to take another online course even when it
is in their best interest to do so.
I think the best way to
prepare myself for this would be to decide up front how much time per week I
expect my students to devote to coursework. Then I need to set realistic
expectations for the number of assignments that can be completed in that time.
Because online courses utilize the internet, it would be wise for me to
exaggerate the amount of time needed, even if just slightly. The reason is
because as students are working online, attention can be drawn off topic as one
explores all the resources available. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Allowing
students more time to explore internet content may allow them the time needed
to put a topic into a personal context that makes it more understandable. I will
also need to closely monitor student’s completion rates and make adjustments when
necessary.
However, all of my
professional habits are not negative and in fact some are very relevant to the experience
of online work. In the article "WhatMakes a Successful Online Facilitator" there are seven criteria of successful
online instruction listed. The one that resonates the most with my teaching
style is:
#5. The person
should be able to subscribe to the value of introducing critical thinking into
the learning process.
For me, the internet is a wonderful laboratory of
learning tools that encompass every learning style. Information is constantly
updated and it seems new web tools are being developed every day. Students can
dig deeper into a subject than easier than they ever have before using
libraries with magazine articles and books.
I find this to be terribly exciting. With a few
clicks of a mouse, students can access information in textual, auditory or
visual formats on just about every topic imaginable. Just about every learning style can be accomodated.
Then with a few more
clicks, students can experience wonderful real life applications of this knowledge
in a way that can bring about more meaning and understanding than any lecture
could ever. Students can launch new ideas in a public forum and get immediate
and varied feedback from countless sources. In fact, students are free from limitations.
How wonderful to
be a student in the 21st Century!
