OLLIE Iowa

Communication is key in online classes. I know I have been lost a time or two. I like checklists of requirements for the course.

Information literacy becomes even more important as more resources are available for our students. They need the tools to be able to filter through all the information out there and search out what is best. Middle school kids seem very willing to believe it if they saw it on the internet.

I'm 57 years old. My dad, who had an eighth grade education and would be in his 90s were he still alive used to tell us, "Don't believe everything you hear." He would also say, "Don't believe everything you read." My dad was wise. We need to be skeptics. Everyone needs to ask the questions, Who is sharing this information? Why should I believe them? What is their purpose? How old is this information? Can I understand the context in which it's offered? I'm a teacher librarian. I've been working on this for 16 years and love that information literacy is in these standards.

Communication is the hardest thing I do as a wife, mother, teacher, and friend. When I think I am communicating well, it's obvious that others are not!!!! HA! The hardest job I will every do is communicating.

It's important to encourage students to feel comfortable to ask questions especially when they are lost. Quick, easy, multiple ways to contact the instructor are important.

I would agree so many students are too afraid to ask questions in front of a class. They are just satisfied with not knowing rather than risking embarassment.

I am involved in a grant program that is about blending the online teaching with face-to-face teaching, which will make the instructor-student interaction easier.

Obviously this is important, but also challenging when you see as many as 150 students per day. It makes things like clickers and online communicaiton that much more important.

Technology has made instructor-student interaction easier, while also making it difficult for students to not become involved. Students quickly see that they are accountable and instructors can track their participation.

Students and instructors both need feedback in order to achieve.  Progress can only be achieved with an ongoing, positive conversation

This is something I would like to know more about in the on-line world. I'm not sure on certain issues relating to this and would like to be more clear on my understanding.

I would also like information, especially about fair use!

This is one of the greatest concerns I have in planning an online course. I did find a section in the orientation materials for this course that addressed it. It is called "Copyright BriefNotes" and is available from the AEA. I can't tell you exactly where I found it; explored way too many links to be able to retrace my steps and the printout doesn't have a web address. It was a pdf file on a link.

It is critical that we model appropriate citing, observance of copyright, and fair use for our students. My middle schoolers have difficulty grasping both the significance and the proper methods of these concepts.

This is one of the most important details! Yes, middle school students struggle with citing. It is only going to be more important as more and more online resources are available.

I'm pretty clear on rights for print materials, but less sure when the item in question is a graphic, picture, etc. Does it make a difference that our course is only available to students in our classroom and not going out to the world wide web?

Do all courses would need to be set up week by week? Could a course be completed as you go with a deadline at the end.

Courses could be completely independent except for the forum collaboration. The students would have to be on the same schedule in order to discuss.

This is a good standard and makes sure that we test students in a variety of different ways to make sure they are progressing. Frequent assessment will allow us to see if the student is ready for the next lesson.

I agree that we need a variety of ways to assess them. I also like giving students rubrics ahead of time so they know exactly how they will be assessed.

Certainly, if there was as much attention given to education as there is to sporting events, we would be in a better position globally.

I don't think we really want to revert to the teaching methods and expectations of this time. I think we need to examine how to use time more efficiently. Home schoolers often cover the same amount of material in less time because we don't have to pass between classes, take attendance, read announcements, plan floats for the home coming parade, etc. How can we tighten up the educational system without losing the benefits of the social activities that students also need?

Here I couldn't agree more. How do we implement a process like this in a classroom full of children at different levels and paces? This is one of the greatest benefits of home schooling, allowing children to progress at the pace best suited for them. However, state requirements try to force even home schoolers to adopt a "one-size-fits-all" education by documenting a "year's" progress in a year's time even though that is most definitely a variable from student to student. Even asking that parents turn in a year's worth of lesson plans is counterproductive because it limits the freedom to make adjustments where needed or desireable.

It is more than just disseminating content. It is knowing how to deliver that content in ways that promote understanding, conceptual understanding. Your instruction needs to focus on connections, structure (models, schema), performance (application & transfer-think and act flexibly with what you know), sense making (can use it to make sense of the world), and reflection. This is an area I need a lot of practice tools and strategies for creating online learning environments that promote the Characteristics of Effective Instruction.

I have a feeling many of us need a lot of practice, tools,and strategies in this area, Jeff.

I think the Characteristics of Effective Instruction have gotten lost in the sea of Essential Skills and Concepts. It is easier to think about teaching new content, then to think about teaching differently.

It is critical in any learning situation to have the goals and success criteria identified but to also communicate them to the participants in ways that they can understand and in ways that they and the instructor can check progress.

When designing an online course based off of a course that has previously been delivered face to face, is it best to design it completely online and then go back and look at those pieces that might best be delivered face to face?

We should look at Iowa Core and the Characteristic of Effective Instruction. Shouldn't these hold true for and online course as well?

I agree with you, Cindy. If it doesn't algn, we would have a problem.