EDLD 5368 Instructional Design Week 5 Reflection

I believe there are several benefits to an educator knowing how to design and implement online learning. Online learning has significantly blossomed within the last 10 years. According to studies reported by THE Journal, 38% of students had not taken an online class but were interested. Most students wanted to do so to so that they are able to work at their own pace (Nagel, 2010). With this said, there is a world of opportunity for us as educators. With online courses, we would be able to reach more students no matter their location, allow flexibility when it comes to scheduling classes and assignments, and you would have the opportunity for students to focus solely on the coursework, not everything else that goes along with school. Also, according to The New York Times, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face to face instruction (Lohr, 2009). It seems like a win-win for all parties involved. With the course that I designed, I do not think I’ll be using it for classroom use in the near future. I teach at a Title 1 school and believe that the majority of my students do not have access to the internet outside of the school setting. However, I do see this changing as more people become technology savvy and the 21st century learners influence their digital immigrant parents. Also, I teach computer classes with only one business class. It is hard for me to see how a site like schoology.com can be integrated into a computer class. The one business class I the course I used to design on schoology.com. It is with this class that I could see some potential in it being a great tool. Often I lecture on the topic at hand for 45 minutes or so, using PowerPoint and my Smartboard. I could post the lectures online so students could reread the information for a better understanding. As a teacher, I hope to integrate more online learning opportunities, but as I said earlier, only if some variables change. On the other hand, I would like to incorporate some online learning opportunities for staff development. Currently, no online learning for staff development is offered within my district. If a plan using a site like schoology.com was in place, I think teachers would be very receptive to the concept of doing staff development on their own terms. Having the feature of a discussion board gives indisputable records of class participation and opens the lines for teachers of various backgrounds to share with one another (Coleman, n.d.). I believe this would be much more beneficial to a teacher than sitting in a lecture hall listening to a speaker for staff development purposes. I do still have a few questions about the concept of online learning. 1. How do you find ways to incorporate the various types of learning styles? Through my online courses I’ve taken, it has been mostly reading and doing the assignment. Yet this does allow for more hands on experiences, which is found to be more engaging and useful to students (Lohr, 2009). 2. Whenever people ask me about online courses, I tell them you have to discipline yourself in allowing time to complete the work, which I know is a great advantage of this learning avenue. But I am wondering about students who cannot manage their time wisely. I teach students in 9-12 grades and not all are good at spending their time on the computer constructively. Are there statistics on online courses and special education students or are online courses just left to higher level students and courses? With this new learning of online courses, I hope to share this with my district’s Instructional Technology Coordinator who I work with in getting classes together for teachers to earn their technology credits and professional development hours each year. We could possibly get an online class together as an alternative in getting hours accomplished. Our district requires teachers to complete 12 hours of ‘comp time’ each year during the summer. An online class would help those who have small children and allow a flexible schedule during the teacher’s off months. Coleman, S. (n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2010, from World Wide Learn: http://www.worldwidelearn.com/education-articles/benefits-of-teaching-online.htm Lohr, S. (2009, August 19). Bits. Retrieved May 10, 2010, from The New York Times: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/study-finds-that-online-education-beats-the-classroom/ Nagel, D. (2010, March 17). Snapshot: Students Want Online Learning. Retrieved May 10, 10, from THE Journal: http://thejournal.com/articles/2010/03/17/snapshot-students-want-online-learning.aspx