Well, we are coming to the end of a very informative and
busy semester. In lesson eight, we had to differentiate between formative
and summative assessment. Formative assessment provides feedback and
information during the instructional process, while the learning is taking
place, and while learning is occurring. Formative assessment measures
student progress but it can also assess your own progress as an instructor. Summative
assessment takes place after the learning has been completed and provides
information and feedback that sums up the teaching and learning process.
Typically, no more formal learning is taking place at this stage, and the
student is demonstrating what he or she has learned throughout the class. This
is where the student’s knowledge gained is used to derive a final grade. Since
this was the week that I facilitated, I did not have to structure or develop an
authentic assessment activity or rubric, but I did have to respond to
everyone's discussion post, which was fun. I liked taking the time to see
everyone's different thoughts on a subject and to learn there perspective on
things. When using the authentic assessment, the instructor will first
define the tasks that need to be completed to demonstrate their mastery of a
subject, and then the instructor will develop a curriculum that will assist the
students in performing their tasks well. I think when structuring any
rubric or an assignment it should be clear, concise, and easy to understand so
that the student may use it effectively, complete the assignment, and learn
something in the process. Providing effective feedback is one the most
important aspects of being an online instructor. Feedback should always be
given in a timely manner and be detailed with both the positives and negatives
that the student should be aware of. Social media is a great resource to
be included in the online classroom. Blogging,
Facebook, Twitter are just the beginning of the social media empire as we know
it. Blogging can be used as an open communication forum for the
instructor to posts any class updates, start informal discussions for relevant
current events for the class, and create a inclusivity that helps thrive a
social community. I would like to use my
instructor blog as way to communicate with my students about the life and times
of a Registered Nurse. I believe it is imperative to have
different representations of learning methods such as the instructor blog. There
are various learning styles and in my opinion every online student is visual
first. We as humans take everything in
with our eyes first, and then with our hearing.
There is so much unique technology for the online student and instructor
to incorporate in their course work that there is no excuse for an online student
not to have “eyes that commit” to learning.
In
lesson nine, we discussed how cultural issues can impact the facilitation of a
course. I think one of the most
important things to do as an online instructor is to facilitate a community. I
as an online instructor would want students to share there experiences and to
embrace the diversity they bring to the course.
Some of the strategies that I would develop would be to try to provide
the lessons in a different language if permitted by the University. When
discussing the ethical concepts related to teaching I
chose the principle dealing with sensitive topics. I believe that both
the traditional and online world will have challenges dealing with this
principle. In today's digital society individuals have strong opinions about
everything. In the online environment when posting to a discussion
post, one can have time to contrive their response to a topic that supports
their thoughts and feelings about a topic of discussion, which I think is a
great thing. This type of effort makes for a more interesting discussion. Many
individuals may feel that another person's opinion is directly related to them
although that may not be necessarily true. I think although most instructors
may encourage open and honest discussion among their students, I feel there
still has to be a sense of netiqette among the students and instructors which
would effectively address to the students how to proceed with discussing
sensitive topics.I realize that addressing sensitive topics will always be a
work in progress for the instructor since it may be difficult to predict which
topics will elicit a stronger response than others, but regardless it will
always make for a more interesting class. Finally as a group project, we
were assigned to create a brief reference guide for new online instructors, our
group included items such as ensuring that the technical aspect of your class
will be running smoothly, change dates to the course materials so that it
reflects the current semester, provide timely and effective feedback, and
create unique opportunities for student participation.
In lesson ten, I learned how to apply online facilitation
practices to online class issues. This
week had interesting online class issues where I had to create a solution to
the issue. One of my best responses, was
explaining a solution of when the student does not understand the material and
they are technologically challenged. As
the saying goes, as much as things change, things stay the same.
Although you may never truly avoid the technologically challenged student
altogether, you may be able to make suggestions for the student to try before
starting the class. My first suggestion would be to ask what type of
phone the student has, if they have a pretty advanced phone, you can suggest
that the student plays a variety of computer games on their phone or home
desktop computer. Playing computer games helps an individual familiarize
themselves with the mouse, improve dexterity, and increase confidence with the
use of the computer. You can also suggest to the student to watch a YouTube
tutorial and then teach an older person what they learned. This way the
student may get an understanding of the amount of patient it takes to teach
someone else and the value of listening skills and following directions.
In closing, this semester was full of interesting
topics and a variety of situations that an online instructor may find
themselves in. I enjoyed learning these hypothetical situations because it
really gave me a true reality of what online teaching may be like. Real world examples are always of great value
to a novice. I look forward to being
exposed to more examples like these during the summer.
