Reflections on Part 2 of Intro to Online Learning

During the second part of the course, there are certain objectives that all students are expected to meet. These objectives measure our progression throughout the course. How have I met these objectives? Well that is a question that takes examining the objectives on a weekly basis then explaining how I’ve met the objectives per their respective weeks:


Week 7
1. Discuss the potential uses of digital portfolios.
2. Evaluate digital portfolio products.
3. Select a personal portfolio product.
4. Create a work plan that reflects the activities needed to learn to use the selected portfolio program and meet course requirements for initial portfolio elements.


This was our first look at e-Portfolios. At first, the cost associated with it almost made me drop the course. But, with working with it and posting my work, I have become very attached to it. There are a variety of uses for online portfolios. Mainly, it is a conduit in to our professional and academic careers. I believe that this will soon replace paper resumes and professionals will count on them to get a more detailed look at a prospective employees. I have met the objectives by completing most of my e-portfolio during this week.


Week 8-9
1. Discuss learning theories and the impact that the selection of theory has on the design of online courses.
2. Evaluate models of instruction in terms of their potential effectiveness in the online environment.
3. Discuss the factors involved in achieving the Seven Principles of Effective [Undergraduate] education in the online environment.


During these weeks, we were to look at our teaching styles again. I found that as a result of taking this course, my style of teaching changed. I learned that I am still a ‘hands off’ type instructor, however I am more of a delegator and expert and less of a personal model. I expressed less of a formal authority as well. This made me feel comfortable with designing a student-centered course. We were also introduced to the 7 Principles of a good undergraduate classroom. This revolutionized the way we learned to design a course. These principles address seven key areas that make a difference in the success of learning of a student.


Week 10
1. Identify strategies for addressing the 7 Principles in the online environment.
2. Select technology-based strategies for implementing the seven principles in an online course.
3. Discuss instructional strategies that are effective for distance education.


We got more into the design of our discipline based on the 7 principles. We were assigned to make a suggestion on how we would implement each principle in our chosen discipline. The assignment was rather lengthy. But it was worth it. I found that some principles were not easy to implement and often thought they were unnecessary. With careful thought, I found a way to include that respective principle. During the second part of week 10’s assignment, we learned about different modules we could use in our instruction. I chose to use a combination of group project and case study. This hybrid will not only give a collaborative effort for different students, but it also will give those students real world application of the course lessons. This week was landmark in transitioning to the next course.


Week 11-Week 12
1. Identify the major technologies used in web-based instruction today.
2. Locate information sources on the Internet
3. Select technology strategies for design of instructional modules.


I had fun with this week. I consider myself technologically inclined, therefore I had alot to say about what technologies would work online and what wasn’t feasible to implement. I am a PowerPoint advocate. I believe it is much user friendly on the composition side to use PowerPoint as opposed to Flash. Flash can be easier for the user but is much hard to construct for the instructor. The facilitator of the course and I were back and forth about using Flash as opposed to PowerPoint. She argues that Flash’s functionality is much more superior to PowerPoint. I agreed but the build of a Flash presentation can take hours in comparison to PowerPoint. Since PowerPoint has increased its compatibility with the Internet, I think PowerPoint is the perfect medium between the student and the instructor.


Week 13
1. Identify a variety of resources on the Internet for locating existing content to incorporate into online courses.
2. Locate content that is provided by publishers to supplement text books.
3. Find useful content related to your teaching discipline.


This is the easiest week of the course. It opened my eyes to new websites that I couldn’t have found on my own. The MERLOT website was phenomenal. In the group project, we were asked to find some resources in our discipline and give an annotated bibliography about them in the previous week. I looked at these websites and was floored because they were exactly what we were looking for in the group project. I also completed my e-Portfolio. Use this Visitor’s Pass to view it: 2354FF66.


Part 2 of this course was not as tough as part 1 but the work load was still heavy. This part was truly the downhill portion of the course. I had fun doing the coursework in this part and I am glad I stayed. The tipping point was the unanticipated $89 purchase of an e-portfolio. Living a life on a fixed income made this an inconvenience. I’m still glad that I remained in the course. Part 2 made me realize that the more engaging a course is a student won’t mind doing extra coursework. The learning experience was great for me this time around. Although I am glad that this course has come to an end, I will take this course with me as I progress further into my education. Part 2 of the course was well organized. As a result of a rough Part 1, I was able to adjust to the facilitator’s grading style. The comments she left were very helpful. Part 2 made the course exciting.