Week+5

Reflection:   Educators who know how to design and implement an online course can accomplish so much more with their students than a traditional classroom setting. First of all, it is much more convenient for students to be given a time frame and then to work around their own schedules within that time frame. Everyone has busy lives, including students with extracurricular activities. Having a course they can log into whenever they want is ideal for everyone involved. Teachers and students can have discussions, dialogue about given assignments, questions, or even further instructions or announcements. Teachers can even get online at a certain time to hold “office hours” or even participate in a discussion or chat (coming soon to Schoology). Students are able to not only discuss questions or issues with the teacher, but with each other. For students to be able to share ideas, give each other feedback, and make clarifications will only make the teacher’s job easier. Teachers can post videos, make announcements, and give a calendar of upcoming events for students. They can also send out emails to the entire class to remind students of deadlines. Teachers who can design and manage an online learning environment will be essential to the learning of the future.   I can think of many ways I can use the online course that I have designed through Schoology. I have already used my course for extra credit for students who have participated and completed the activities. They participated in online discussions, posted assignments through the drop box, and blogged about a given topic. I can use the course to post assignments, communicate with students outside the normal hours of the school day, and even extend lessons that were done in class. I could post videos or podcasts of the lesson or lecture done in class, which would be extremely helpful to absent students. I could set up assessments for learning to make sure students are preparing for an upcoming quiz or test. I could also give surveys and solicit feedback about what students thought of certain topics or lessons. This type of environment would definitely create a tighter bond both between the students and teacher and among the students. Students would learn to rely on and help each other instead of relying on the teacher all the time, and ultimately free up class time for other activities instead of things liked answering question over the homework. I look forward to implementing an online Schoology course as an integral part of my teaching agenda.    In addition to integrating online learning as a teacher, helping and assisting other teachers to become well-versed in designing and implementing their own online courses is essential to keep up with the growing technological needs of the 21st Century Learner. Training teachers will help open teachers’ eyes to the endless possibilities of the online classroom. Teachers can make their lives and jobs easier, develop stronger bonds with their students, and promote a sense of collaboration and cohesion among students. Encouraging teachers and helping them to form support groups, work together, and help teach each other will further encourage the idea and use of creating online work environments. I would show teachers what I have created in the Schoology course, recruit other teachers to create classes to share with the faculty, and hopefully show how easy it is to do. Fellow educators will hopefully think of creating and implementing on online course as a tool instead something that will create more work for them to do in the long run.   Online learning has distinct advantages, but there are still some things in question. First of all, I would like to know why the Schoology courseware does not allow for teachers to upload documents from their “My Documents” repository into the courseware. After talking to the helpdesk at Schoology, they responded that they were “working on that”. I would think that this would be an essential part to the online courseware. Being able to upload personal files into the courseware is a great feature, but why can’t it be uploaded when posting an assignment? I also still have questions about creating assessments. I would like to spend a lot more time exploring all of the different assessment that can be made using on online environment. The creation of rubrics seems the most time-consuming portion of grading and online assessment that is a performance task or authentic assessment. Is there and easier or more time-productive alternative to creating a rubric to grade assessments or is this the only way? Hopefully, I will be able to answer most of my own questions by exploring the courseware more thoroughly.    With the new skills I have acquired by designing and implementing an online course, I plan to use it in my class to enhance the learning that it already taking place in my classroom. I also intend to help show other teachers how easy it is to use and the advantages it provides. Effective staff development is essential to making sure that teachers move forward in meeting the needs of today’s technologically advanced students. Moving more towards online environments is inevitable in education. The barriers and walls of the traditional classroom are crumbling and educators must embrace this change and learn the skills needed to facilitate the transition. Online learning is more accessible to both students and teachers and meets the needs of those with uber-busy schedules. I plan to be a leader in the technological advancement of my colleagues and help prepare our students for their role in today’s global and “wired” society.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">What benefits do you see in educators knowing how to design and implement online learning?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">How will you professionally use your course that you designed?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Will you integrate online learning in your role as a teacher/staff developer?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">What questions do you still have about online learning?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">What will you do with this new learning?