OLLIE Iowa

Assessment is an important piece of teaching and learning no matter what the avenue of delivery. There are many tools available to teachers to use to help is assessing students understanding in an online setting. Many were sited in the Cool Tools website. I particularly like the polling and quiz options and the discussion forums that we have been doing within this course.

It is very important that I am comfortable with the technology, before I can hope my students will be.

Remembering the feeling of being overwhelmed and confused with the use of technology in the online environment is critical to being able to respond effectively when our participants are having difficulties.

So often students are never asked for their feedback about a course at the end. What a lost opportunity for an instructor to gain knowledge about what worked and what did not.

Having clear learning outcomes and expectations is necessary to guide course design as well as so learners understand the focus and purpose of the course.

Having clear learning outcomes and expectations is necessary to guide course design as well as so learners understand the focus and purpose of the course.

Having clear learning outcomes and expectations is necessary to guide course design as well as so learners understand the focus and purpose of the course.

True; it's also critical to planning for assessment. Instructors need to have clear in their minds exactly what it means for students to master the knowledge and skills described in the course outcomes.

An extension of this is to think about the difference between a face-to-face course, an online course and an independent study course. For my first online course, I thought it was going to be an independent study course. I soon found out my assumption was incorrect and interaction with other learners was/is critical during online courses.

It takes time and is sometimes a challenge to keep up the all the current technology, but it is so important to be able to help keep our students current as well. They will need all kinds of technology skills to keep up at their future place of work.

trying to comment Ollie

This struck me because I think that it is essential for us to network with each other to enhance instruction. With the tools and resources that are available to us, it is very easy to collaborate for professional growth.

I can see this as being a challenge, because of how easy it is to be misunderstood online. It is essential to make sure that you are approachable and positive, but making sure you come through that way can be tough.

Because of the lack of face-to-face interaction, an online teacher would have to get used to constantly answering questions and troubleshooting through email and forums. This could be difficult at first.

it is important for the instructor to be competant in the technology used in the course in case the students have questions.

I think this is what keeps teachers from using the technology. They are afraid the student will know more than they do. Which at times may be the case, but that only shows that we never stop learning. With that said, I do agree that instructors need to be competant in order to have a positive teaching experience.

Today's students are very adept at searching for and obtaining volumes of information. What separates a good course from the wealth of online content IS a teacher that knows how to teach students. Without knowledgeable and qualified teachers behind the online course, it probably won't be worth the effort, money or time of the student.

I think that designing on-line learning is so much more difficult than live teaching. I know what I am doing in the classroom and I scaffold and plan, but on-line seems to require planning. Sometimes I am simply too abstract-random for this to work for me.

I agree, Beth--it seems more difficult to embrace the "teachable moment"--might not be in the lesson plan, yet could be a valuable lesson nonetheless.

I don't know how anyone could try and teach on-line if they hadn't experienced it themselves. I have learned so much about providing information on-line to students simply by being in classes. In fact, I took the moodle class because the last class I took used it and it was so much easier than a web-site.

I agree, it is so important to experience the online learning from the perspective of a student. I have found that many online tools may be easy to implement but can have a bit of a learning curve when it comes to using it as a student. Its good to get some of the "kinks" worked out or at least be prepared for possible problems to eliminate the frustration if something doesn't go quite right.

Even more important to keep the course objectives clear and concise in the online relationship.

I think an instructor of a course that was completely online could find him/herself overwhelmed with the amount of communication taking place. It takes time to navigate around, read everyone's posts on each topic, and comment, all while working to be both professional and approachable. In a face-to-face class, you can visually monitor how long it's going to take the instructor to respond to you. (How many other hands are in the air? How many people are lined up?) The instructor can also view facial expressions and body language to determine if his/her students are "getting it" and buying in. It seems like this element, in an online course, would have to be done entirely by computer interactions. I'd be completely overwhelmed if I had to teach a course completely online!

It is challenging at times. I've had a few of you call me, if you have a Moodle problem. I also agree that you need to be very clear when you communicate online because you don't see those facial expressions and body language. You also have to be careful about joking with people online, because again you don't see facial expressions, body language and hear tone of voice.

This is where I think online learning can really be utilized to the benefit of every student. Online learning can be personalized for each student's need.

I think that Moodle is great for providing that immediate feedback. It lets students know if they are on the right track!

I think collaboration and group work is great for students in preparing them for life after high school if done correctly. Too often I see groupwork done where one or two students do the majority of the work while other students do little or nothing. Online classes can can either help or hurt group projects depending on how they are set up and the work required by each individual student.

I think more teachers would add an online component to their classes if they felt more comfortable. I was hoping my school district would choose one online platform (Moodle for example) and then train all of our staff to create pages. Some teachers have created their own websites but it would be much easier for the students if all teachers had the same online set up for their classes.

I completely agree with having all teachers use the same website. It seems easiest, most cost-efficient, and just smart, best practice for a district to do that. Good call!

I too agree--and my district is trying to move forward on the decision making path. BUT deciding which of the CMS to go with is challenging/daunting.

I believe this is an important element of online learning. There are so many tools that can be used to get the same point across, and if it engages the students they will be more likely to want to learn it.

Brings up a good point. Most districts have the right to keep students off the internet if they have abused it in the past. What happens when it is required for a class?

That is a good question Bethany! What does happen??

I think policies need to be developed by schools and school districts to address such issues.

This seems to be a particularly relevant standard for this field in particular, perhaps more so than in any other area. Not only do "new" technologies enter the educational setting, but familiar ones are updated/upgraded. There is also such a broad range of technology available, as well as slightly different "products" to do similar tasks.

I agree Erin this is so important and so challenging as an educator to stay on top of the new learning that is needed to teach native tech students in todays world.

Great point - critics of rubrics mistake the design of specific rubrics with the concept of rubrics.

Prescriptive rather than descriptive...design becomes ever more important.