Week 1 Reflection

Ugh! Somehow in my attention to everything else I missed the rather important detail that we were responsible to post a reflection on week 1. I think that may be my one frustration with this -- my inbox gets inundated with various threads of conversation and the subsequent comments for each. In paying attention to so many details I have found that it is all too easy to miss something important, as I managed to do this week. Without the use of much audio as in a traditional classroom, one must rely on their eyes almost entirely to pick up everything necessary to be successful in the course. I imagine that auditory learners might find this format more frustrating than visual learners. In Michelle Davis' article from Education Week I appreciated the list of Dos and Don'ts and can see the importance of using multiple points of entry for materials -- text, video, and audio as well as wikis, blogs, message boards and chat rooms and not sticking to large amounts of text for students to read on their own.

I am actually enjoying the readings immensely. Since I decided to create an online course for my graduate project, I am taking notes with two purposes in mind -- completing assignments and doing research for my project. In response to question #1 - The thing I found most surprising: I had no idea there were so many online school programs out there, and that they have been around for so long (since 1997 for the Florida Virtual School). I find it encouraging that there is a wealth of information and sources for best practices.

It has been interesting to read the blogs created by my classmates and to glean ideas and information from the experience of others. There is so much to be gained from the experience others have had in their use of online courses in the schools where they work. I look forward to tapping this gold mine!

And question #2 -The biggest question I am left with by the end of week 1: with so many options of ways to do online courses, how does one decide what is the most effective format and tools to teach their subject matter to the targeted group of students who will be taking the course? More personally, how am I going to narrow things down to come up with the best format for the course I am seeking to create?