This is the final blog posting and it seems like the time has moved quickly. At this point I am thankful that we were required to create a blog and to develop summary sections on it. It is going to give me something to reflect back on as often as I need to. It really is a nice way to keep an electronic notebook on the first class. I cannot imagine it being designed for that purpose however it is something that could be done. I must admit that sometimes it seemed like I was not able to post enough information on mine however every little bit counts for something. And as time moves on I plan to post more on this blog. I plan to share it with others often as well. I really believe that this class is very necessary for many if not all teachers. Because this is my final posting for this class I plan to summarize the final weeks of the course, starting with unit six.
Unit 6: Synchronous Conferencing and Digital Portfolios
This unit focus was to get the class ready for an online Wimba session and to review some different kinds of portfolios online. I reviewed two portfolios both of which were very interesting. One was an e-portfolio that told stories in a digital format. This digital story format would be great for individuals because it can give students an expanded online experience. Expanded in the sense that the portfolio add data clips along with a personal voice and fascinating music. The second portfolio was created on a website using livetext and it was more on a standard format. Standard format meaning there were different links to click to view certain portion of it. There were no videos or audios on this portfolio. However my reasoning behind adding this portfolio to my posting was because it was a document that was very easy to navigate through.
Unit 7: Learning Theories
In this unit there was information given out concerning seven principles along with numerous strategies identified for addressing the principles. In this unit I had to think about how people learn in different ways. Not something new but applying this to the online environment for different kinds of learners is something different. Something I never thought about until I received this assignment. There were two exercises in this unit. The first exercise was to describe how I would go about deciding on which learning theory would work for a specific teaching or learning situation and the second one was to develop a mini case.
For the first exercise I felt that designing a course would encompass a global outlook of a subject. It would take more details and more research than creating a lesson plan. One reason would be because lesson plans create activities to teach certain key concepts within a syllabus. However, when designing a course a title would be the driving force from the beginning. Lesson plans are generally develop from objectives. “The design of the course determines the effectiveness of the learning” In designing a course you would need to determine things like what type of book or research will be need to support the course. One important thing brought out in our reading about learners is…”Learners should be motivated to learn”.
The second exercise had specific instructions on using three mini cases. The assignment was to choose a theory that we felt would be good to use in developing an online training manual for it. The three theories we had to choose from were behaviorism, constructivism and cognitivism. Each theory was associated with a different principle. For example behaviorism theory was associated with non complex design principle, the constructivisim principle is built on personal interpretations of the world on experiences and interactions, and the cognitivism theory principle states that it is complex and entails internal coding and structure. After completing this exercise I learned that some of the principles describe above can be inter changed with different scenarios or different cases. It just depends on what the subject, what the age group is and how you set up the instructions.
Part 2 of unit 7-Learning Theories
This unit was so detailed about the seven principles and the instructional strategies. There was a host of examples for different strategies to associate with each principle given in the unit. One thing for sure is that a lot of the information was very good for me to use immediately as an adjunct and some ideas will certainly be used at a later date. One assignment for this unit was to identify two best strategies for each of the principles to teach a unit. Another assignment was to give input on student centered learning verses teacher centered instructions.
Completing the two assignments for this unit was very time consuming for me. While going through each of the seven principles and choosing two strategies I found myself thinking about my current class. How could I incorporate some of these suggestions into the class? Here is one example of what I came up with for now. To develop reciprocity and cooperation among students for an online class I would have various group lessons within activities. In my current class I only had one group activity so I changed it to make it three group activities. The assignment gave me many ideas that I could use in the future.
The second assignment for this unit on student learning verses teacher centered instructions. This was another part of the course that gave out some great resourceful information to be used now and later. I believe that teachers and students share the responsibility to create an effective learning-centered environment. I believe that on one hand students should be made responsible being active in class and participating as much as possible. On the other hand teachers or instructors should be held accountable for developing activities that are effective for the learning objectives as well as all individual learning styles.
Unit 8: Instructional Strategies
This unit referred ten principles that were effective in the online environment. It was a different viewpoint than the seven principles described above. The required exercises for this unit were very helpful to me. Most of the ten principles were familiar to me however one of them that was most interest was, the self-directed learning strategy. It was an interesting one because it gives individuals the opportunity to learn independently and it directs the learner to initiate his or her pace in learning.
Unit 9: Online Technologies and Content Resources
This unit had three weeks of work compiled into one unit. It seems like a lot of work but not really. Because all of the assignments were spread out well and I did not really feel any pressure until the final week which is now. One thing I must state is that being organized for online courses is the only way to make it through. When you think you have a lot of time to complete assignments and if you do not plan or organize the work; it can cause you to fall behind on things. This is especially true if you are not an organized person from the beginning.
The one thing about this unit that was the most fun was creating the portfolio online. It is a lot of work but it is work that I enjoyed doing. Starting the portfolio required a lot of research however in the long run I believe it will be worth it. There are still three more classes for me to take however I am very glad one is almost completed. I am ready to move full speed ahead to finish what I have started concerning obtaining the online teaching certificate. I have three classes left to finish.
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