Having taught in an online learning environment for 5 years, I see multiple benefits to implementing online learning for my students. I know students who would not be offered the same opportunities if they could not have access to an online learning environment based on extenuating circumstances within their family such as transportation and lodging costs. Our college can find more qualified faculty to teach classes by having access to talent outside of a certain geographical boundary. My students can access coursework 24/7, so having left a paper or book in another location will not affect their ability to get assignments done.
I believe that it is equally important for elementary and secondary teachers to implement online learning along with their traditional classroom settings; students that have the skills already in place to participate in an online environment have more options when they get to the post-secondary level in which classes they can take and distance learning options are growing at a rapid pace to meet the demands of the students’ needs.
I will take the course content that I developed from this course and utilize it for the first unit of a new class in our curriculum. I found the backwards-design model very helpful in the development of course content as well as creating more "open-ended" assessments to create a higher level of thinking. Utilizing this model made me give more thought to engaging several types of delivery to meet the needs of more differentiated learning styles. The process of creating the content took more time, but in the end I felt that it gave me a better picture of the student’s level of knowledge/understanding based on the assessments I created.
The content I created will be integrated into the current Blackboard/Vista online environment that my college supports. I did not find Schoology as organized or functional as Vista, but it is free and gives other teachers and students the opportunity to implement online learning at their schools.
Online learning will always be a part of my curriculum at the collegiate level. I use an online classroom in all of my courses whether they are required attendance in a traditional classroom setting or all distance learning. This quote resonated with me:
"The first universities to offer accredited online degrees began appearing back in the 1990s. More often than not, these groundbreaking schools were looked down upon by the "academic elite," and considered to be somehow "shady" or disreputable. But a lot has certainly changed since then, and these days even the most prestigious Ivy League universities are offering online classes, and sometimes, a complete online curriculum for distance learning”(Thornburrow, 2007).
My hope is that the use of online learning is integrated into the elementary and secondary educational levels. Students who have more exposure to curriculum deployed in an online environment at an earlier juncture do better in distance education classes in college which affords them more opportunities for success.
I am always seeking ways to make sure my students feel "connected" to their learning environment and create a sense of community. The question that will always present itself is "How can I create content that will continue to engage students in learning?". The backwards design approach that employs a student's sense of thinking "beyond the limitations of the curriculum" is a great start in getting students excited about the possibilites in the future and what they can do with the knowledge obtained from one class. I want to constantly challenge students to reach beyond what they think their boundary is and I am excited about aquiring new skills that will help me in that endeavor.
The main struggle I face is keeping students accountable in a true distance learning course; no face-to-face time is required. Students have a tendency to think they can create their own schedule so the need to multiple levels of accountability seems to be necessary. I need to find more methods of communication; one that I plan on employing is the use of online meetings or webinars.
My first impression at the beginnning of this course was that I had already designed my outcomes based on the principles of UBD. I know now that I learned valuable skills I can apply to my curriculum. Using the outcomes as a starting point and developing the curriculum from that point to the beginning takes more effort and time, but it is clear to me that I am more comfortable with the lessons and my students have a much better perspective on where they are headed. When looking at the assessments I developed, there is a clear pattern of knowledge being translated to understanding; from formative to summative.
I am going to work through other courses I teach over the summer and create assignments/assessments based on the backwards-design approach. While the five week course delivery has some benefits, I will definitely take more time to re-read the UBD book (which I bought) to make sure I apply all of the principles before designing more course materials.
References:
Thornburrow, C. (2007, October). The Benefits of Online Education. Retrieved May 13, 2010, from Ezine Articles: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Benefits-Of-Online-Education&id=797135
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