Reflections, 2nd half of class

The second half of the course was truly a learning experience. I studied the 7 Principles of Good Practice and thought about how I would put it into practice.

I had to stop and really think about how I would:

Encourage Contact: would it be by chat rooms? email? text messaging? What would I use and why?
Develop Reciprocity and cooperation among students: would I encourage group projects? encourage discussion where questions can be freely asked and answered?
Encourage Active learning: hands on assignments? ask for input?

These are just a few of things I had to consider and I discovered that there is no one sure answer. It will take a combination of things, a willingness to learn, and the ability to admit when something is not working.

I also had to consider if I was Teacher centered or Student Centered. I believe that I am Student Centered. I want the students to not just learn but to have fun while they learn. I don't want to create courses that students take just because they have to. I want them to look forward to their classes. But it is going to take an effort on my part. I can't just sit back, I will have to take an active role to accomplish this goal.

That wasn't all, there was still more to learn. I learned that creating a Learning Unit is not easy. It will take research and thought. Do I want to include multimedia? Do I want to include podcasting? Am I including things just for the sake of says that my course is cutting edge. Anybody can add all the bells and whistles, but you have to ask yourself why. Am I doing it for the right reason? If I can answer yes then I am on target, if I can't then I need to reconsider. I need to make sure that I have substance to my course before I think about adding the "fun" or "cool" stuff.

And let's not forget group projects, wiki's and using resources already available on the web. Group projects are not easy, they require an effort on every member of the group. So when planning group projects, I will need to consider the students themselves. Are they the first ones to post or the last? How will the students interact? It is not as easy as going down an alphabetical list and just breaking them up every 4 or 5. Not if I want the groups to work.

To sum it up, there is no magic format for creating an online course. There are many things to consider, learn about myself, and finally put together as best as I can. This is the beginning of a journey of discovery for me, hopefully in the end I will be able wisely put to use everything that I learn.