Part I - Developing and Implementing
e-Learning Initiatives- Do you plan to
implement the e-learning initiative you developed? Be honest. If yes, what are
some specific challenges that you foresee in implementing the initiative? How
do you plan to overcome them? If you do not plan on implementing your
initiative, why not?
Yes, I am going to teach this e-learning
initiative this summer. I foresee having an unmanageable number of
questions. I also think that the questions may be off-base. I'm
worried that students will assume I will help their kids write their statements
of purpose, and ask me to read over their resumes. To cut this off at the
pass, I am planning to set up very clear expectations at the beginning of the
course.
I also worry that the students will be new
to online learning and assume this is a webinar-based course. I hope to
put together an 'introduction to online learning' video as an introduction.
What other thoughts and ideas do you
have for developing future adult e-learning initiatives in the context of your
teaching and learning environment and/or work setting?
I would like to continue using the
Understanding by Design learning-centered teaching. I would like to put
together a different course that may cover the topics I listed above. In this
class, I would give suggestions for applying to graduate school.
Part II-
Use of Templates for Assignments- This part of
your reflection is for me personally. Each time I offer a course, I take
notes throughout the experience about what works, what doesn't, and then I make
revisions accordingly. I would be curious to know specifically your
thoughts about the use of templates to complete main assignments. In our
Week 4 Assessments discussion, we talked about offering choices for different
formats of assessments, and the use of templates doesn't foster that.
Consider the main assignments in this
course, and the use of the templates. Were they helpful, relevant,
apppropriate? Would you have preferred more freedom and
flexibility? Feel free to be as candid as you want! I am open
to opinions and suggestions!
I thought that the templates were very
helpful. They laid out clearly what was expected of us. Thank you
for all of the work you put into these templates.
Briggs,
ReplyDeleteAs I've mentioned on several occasions, I truly love your initiative (I can't wait to read your session directions!). I'm knew that you had intended to offer it this summer through Odyssey and wish you the best of luck. Admittedly I had to chuckle at your challenges, because that hadn't even occurred to me but I think you might be right. Your approach of establishing very clear expectations up front is a good one, and one that might actually be effective if you have the chance to go over that in a synchronous session. I mention this because I support two different faculty who teach the same course and one has a synch session right away, and one doesn't. Inevitably, the one who doesn't have it gets so many more questions related to the content of the course. I think it depends on the content if a synch session is necessary but perhaps in your case, it might be helpful.
Either way, best of luck to you. I'm sure you'll do great. And maybe you'll be so successful you'll see me in your course in about 5 years when I'll start to be thinking about admissions for my own daughter. She's only 9 now, but you managed to pique my interest enough that I have borrowed the Gatekeepers from my local library.
Take care Briggs, and thanks for your good thinking and contributions to our group.
Donna