My view of online teaching has changed
For these last course reflections, we were asked to talk about what we have learned and how we know we have learned it. For me, the coolest thing I learned was how through the use of Web 2.0 tools like edublogs, we have been able to create and manage content that will remain ours long after this course has ended. We will also have access to Alex’s instructional material because she used so many communication methods that are independent from the course (like seesmic, YouTube and twitter).
At SUNY Delhi’s #2-3-98 conference on open source technology, Alex’s presentation started off with a YouTube video demonstrating passion and joy….the things she feels for learning. She is an inspiration to educators hoping to find the best of both the world of emerging technological advances on the web and the world of student learning outcomes. She also showed me (for the first time) how many tools are available for us to use: A Map of the World 2.0 has 1001 clickable icons that are all web 2.0 tools. I have had so much fun clicking around to see what is available and if I can use it in my course to ulitmately benefit my students’ learning experiences.
I know that I have learned more about what students want and how they learn in an online environment because I no longer think about how cool these tools would be in my personal/social networking life…instead I think about how these cool tools can enhance my students’ experiences in their online classes and how I can use them to reach my students on so many levels.
In the course this module, we are spending time reviewing our peers’ courses, this activity in itself has been another form of learning for me. I have seen so many cool things in my classmates’ courses that I now can improve mine because of what I have seen them do. Like Jen’s use of seesmic in her Interviewing course, both as an introduction mechanism and as a student interaction assignment. Anne also did a great job enouraging students to contribute to the teaching presence by designing an activity that requires them to create their own rubric for assessing one another.
These are both great ideas and show how student-centered teaching can be achieved.
Jess (3)
