It's over as of today. In some ways I'm happy about the end, to let the stress of deadlines and homework subside until my next course and in other ways I'm sad. I really enjoy the academic environment and online learning definitely helps me have that intellectual need met without affecting my routine too much.
The course was a great reminder what it is like to be a student in an online learning environment. It has been almost 4 years since I've been a student learning online. Now with this fresh in my mind I can concentrate on improving my own online courses by modeling some of the techniques I've learned here.
This week we discussed our reflections on blogging/journaling and it was interesting to see the feedback and discussion that came from that. It might be a good idea for the students to share their blogs and have students comment on them. I've tried to add a blogging component to my courses but it seems like my students get confused on blogging versus discussion boards and I'm thinking that some courses are going to utilizing the blog in place of the discussion board. I would be interested in seeing a successful implementation. Perhaps I'll spend some time researching it!
Anyways, I hate to end this. Our instructor has been great. Her feedback has been helpful and supportive. The final project was very good for my upcoming course development plan and has given me a good foundation in which to start from.
Oh, and exciting news this week. I was chosen to be part of our Distance Learning task force on campus and will be helping 4 others put together a 5 year plan for our Distance Learning program. I'm very excited about being a part of that and look forward to sharing my knowledge with them.
Thank you!
Friday, February 8, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
That was fast!
Okay, so just finished up week four of my first course. Wow, did that go by fast!
I like the idea of these short courses, you start to get into the course and then they end before you really want them to. That seems better than those courses that seem to drag on and you lose motivation to do your final project midway through the semester.
This week we focused on assessment. The topic really brought up my instructional design courses that I took back at FSU. I feel that I lack experience on assessment since I don't have a background in education. As an online instructor I often wonder how I can improve the useful feedback to students when grading their work. Do I respond to their discussion board posts, do I need to evaluate them? With their short answer exercises do I need to provide thoughtful responses. I find myself giving feedback that isn't very helpful. I worry about how to phrase feedback for students who are obviously not putting in the effort required without making it sound judgmental.
Therefore the idea of using rubrics seems like a great solution to these concerns of mine. I will grade more consistently and students will understand what the expectations are. The thought of creating rubrics for my assignments are a bit daunting. Do I need to make separate ones for similar assignments or can I just use the same one for the weekly assignments that are similar and than another one for the large project at the end of the course? Something to think about.
Now I have all of these ideas that I'd like to implement in my upcoming course - but that starts in a month, and I fear I won't be able to get enough availability to make some major changes. Perhaps I can focus on improving one area each semester until I get the course where I want it to be.
I like the idea of these short courses, you start to get into the course and then they end before you really want them to. That seems better than those courses that seem to drag on and you lose motivation to do your final project midway through the semester.
This week we focused on assessment. The topic really brought up my instructional design courses that I took back at FSU. I feel that I lack experience on assessment since I don't have a background in education. As an online instructor I often wonder how I can improve the useful feedback to students when grading their work. Do I respond to their discussion board posts, do I need to evaluate them? With their short answer exercises do I need to provide thoughtful responses. I find myself giving feedback that isn't very helpful. I worry about how to phrase feedback for students who are obviously not putting in the effort required without making it sound judgmental.
Therefore the idea of using rubrics seems like a great solution to these concerns of mine. I will grade more consistently and students will understand what the expectations are. The thought of creating rubrics for my assignments are a bit daunting. Do I need to make separate ones for similar assignments or can I just use the same one for the weekly assignments that are similar and than another one for the large project at the end of the course? Something to think about.
Now I have all of these ideas that I'd like to implement in my upcoming course - but that starts in a month, and I fear I won't be able to get enough availability to make some major changes. Perhaps I can focus on improving one area each semester until I get the course where I want it to be.
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