The Pros and Cons of Online Education Courses 

Prior to the first endorsement class, I have had a few experiences with online teaching and many experiences with e-learning.   I teach a technology course, "Power to Teach" which is a required technology course for teachers.  In addition to 40 hours of face-to-face learning, participants are required to participate in 10 hours of online learning.  I use the Discussion Board in Blackboard to do this because my school system has set that up.  It is simply a synchronous/asynchronous forum in which participants are required to discuss ten topics relating to technology.  It is my opinion that the Discussion Board is not an effective tool for learning as it is set up (e.g. the questions are mandated, and I am not allowed to change them.)  In another professional learning course, I use a wiki (www.searcy.pbworks.com)  I find that a wiki is good for current instruction as well as future reference.  With my own students, I have blogs, wikis, and webpages.  (Examples: www.1and2tag.blogspot.com, www.searcy.weebly.com, http://2ndgradetag.pbworks.com )

I have completed my final semester of an online Ed.S. program in Instructional Technology.   I have learned a great deal about online teaching and learning throughout this experience,  Each instructor is different as far as the way they set up the class, the requirements of the participants, the feedback they provide, their grading system, etc.  I already have my preferred professor!  Here's a shout-out to Dr. Jane Zahner ("Dr. Z")  She is one that I will try to emulate when I am an online course designer and instructor.  I have participated in virtual conferences and webinars, in addition to the formal coursework I have taken.  The one thing that I have really latched onto in CIED 7601 with Dr. Vanderbilt is the importance of instructor communications with the students - privately and in public threads.  I appreciate the timeliness, the sense of humor, and the personalized feedback she provided.  In an online community where you never actually meet each other, there is an art to personalized, meaningful communication from the instructor to the students.

Developing the first PDLM module was an interesting experience.  As I prepared for the presentation, I realized that an online teaching experience will be so different from a face-to-face.  Not being able to see the participants and determine if they are engaged through facial gestures would be interesting.  I prepared several formative assessments to make sure everyone was on track with me.   The presentation itself went very smoothly.  The only glitch was that I could not locate my headpiece/microphone and instead used one that did provide the best sound.  As I participated in other presentations, though, no one had a clear delivery of sound.  I did a good job on this presentation and consider it valuable practice on the road I'm taking to become an online instructor. 

I was amazed at the options I had never considered using in my presentation.  As I watched other presenters, I became aware of the power of writing "text" on the e-board during the presentation.  I also never thought of using a web cam.  I was excited to learn about how to "push out" a website to the class.  These new discoveries are options I will try to use in my next online instruction opportunity.  I was excited to be invited to share my presentation with students in the next round of the CIED 7601 online class. 

I have really enjoyed designed the two modules for use by my gifted students.  The feedback from the students and their parents has been overwhelmingly positive. S 

P-12 Learning Module Design Document for fourth grade - Westward Expansion

P-12 Learning Module Design Document for fifth grade - Economics

Digital Citizenship Syllabus

Professional Learning Module Plan - Ergonomics

Pre-Assessment for PDLM Presentation - Ergonomics

PowerPoint Presentation used in PDLM Presentation: Ergonomics

Self-Assessment

Experience:  seasoned participant; continuing to develop as an instructor

Skills - strong writing ability, organized, enthusiastic, works well independently, resourceful, computer nerd

Resources to help me develop online teaching skills:

Why do students like online learning?  15 compelling arguments to support online learning as a choice

Distance Learning Survival Guide - University of Phoenix provides information as to the best way to prepare for and succeed in a distance learning course.

Pedagogy and Techniques of Teaching Online Courses - This is a collaboration by faculty using technology to teach. The focus of the series of 12 articles is teaching using technology and how it can aid in methods for educators and facilitate learning for their students. Real life experiences using current technology are included.  

Preparing K-12 Teachers to Teach Online - Practical considerations relative to the teacher and the course.

Essential Principles on Online Teaching - Found this one of the Georgia Virtual School website.  It is actually guidelines for evaluation online teaching.

Sample Student Communication