To begin EDLD 5368 Instructional Design, I took an inventory analysis over the different types of learning theories. The one taken before all the readings and videos of the week came out that my focus as a teacher was making the student fully responsible for their educational experience. I would agree with this analysis because of the structure of my classroom. I teach technology and therefore I model what needs to be done and then students work at the computer on their own and complete what they need to. After digging more deeply into the learning theories, I could see that I needed to play a larger role in the learning process. As for my teaching style, the analysis I took says I focus on practical applications. As a business teacher and technology, I am constantly looking for ways to integrate the lesson to a real world application. If a student can apply previous knowledge to new knowledge then they may be more likely to recall it easier.
In week 2, we were to begin designing on online course. I wrote my lessons over using and reconciling a bank account. We were asked to look at the end result first and work our way backwards designing the lesson. This was nothing new to me. I have a habit of looking at the end result and finding what ways work best to get to that result.
We worked with Schoology in week 3 where we set up an account with the website. In doing so, I could see such a need for this type of site. "Students are finding opportunity, flexibility, and convenience through online learning. Teachers are discovering a new way to reach students, many of whom were not successful in traditional schools and courses. Administrators are exploring ways to offer a wider range of courses to students and professional devleopment opportunities to teachers" (Watson, 2007, p. 8). I am able to achieve a masters degree while working full time with a husband and a three year old son. This would not have possible to me without online courses. As our district is having budget constraints, I recommended summer school via online courses to our superintendent. This would save on utilities for the building and you could pay the instructor a slight difference because they can work from the convenience of their home. Hopefully it will be an item considered in the coming year. In regards to professional development, there is little, if no, opportunity to do courses online through our district. I think teachers would be very receptive to the concept of fulfulling their professional development hours on their own terms. One feature of the online classes that seems to be successful is the discussion board. "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., para. 3).
In week 4 of Instructional Design we were to go more in depth with our online course lesson and provide activities and lessons to thoroughly engage the students. For me, this included videos, examples, and hands on activities.
Overall, this class gave me some interesting insight into online education. "On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction" (Lohr, 2009, para. 1). Why not embrace this fact and offer what you can to students who are looking to succeed? I would like to look further into online education for the high school level. I think it would be a great way to offer students credit recovery or summer school. In fact, I shared this information learned from this course as a way of saving money while still offering summer school with my superintendant. The Schoology site was down when I shared this, but she was able to gather a picture of what such a program might look like.
Coleman, S. (n.d.). Benefits of Online Teaching. Retrieved from http://www.worldwidelearn.com/education-articles/benefits-of-teaching-online.htm
Lohr, S. (2009, August 19). Study Finds That Online Education Beats the Classroom. Retrieved from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/study-finds-that-online-education-beats-the-classroom/
Watson, J. (April 2009). A National Primer on K-12 Online Learning. Retrieved from http://www.inacol.org/research/docs/national_report.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment