Throw me to the wolves......

Finally, the last class is coming to a close! Where has the semester gone? I can hardly believe that it has been a complete year since I have started this journey. For my final blog post I would like to reflect on not only my journey as the completion of my online course comes to a close, but also the previous courses that have led the way.  But first, let's reflect on the progression of building my first online course.

As a final assigment, I had to create three lessons and build them out to completion.  My course includes lectures, quizzes, discussion boards, group acitivities, extra credit, syllabus, and orientation. I feel that the design of my first online course has reflected well of the standards presented in the Blackboard Best Practices rubric.  The course I have built utilizes Blackboard's exemplary rubric because each of my online lessons consists of learning objectives. These learning objectives can be easily located at the beginng of each learning module. My online course lessons are based on a textbook. My lecturettes for each lesson are short. The lecturettes are designed to keep the students on task to completing the reading assignments and to point out any information that may be important.  Supplemental exercises were provided throughout the course for the students to use as practice and to apply what they have read.  I tried to refrain from exercies that encouraged regurgitation of information. Weekly discussion topics and an ongoing group project were developed to create a best practice for solid student to student interactions. Instructor to student interactions are ongoing which can either take place in my virtual office hours, course messages,email, and weekly annoucements. Both interactions offers opportunites for synchronous and asynchronous interactive learning tools to provide course updates, reminders, or special annoucements. My syllabus and orientation was designed to be clear, concise, and helpful to a first time online learner. I made sure that items were easy to find and were located in multiple areas for the student to locate. Assessments were developed to test the student's knowledge and as a clear way to provide immediate feedback to the student to see if they are meeting the learning objectives in each lesson. Extra credit assigments were designed to help the student study in a group, to apply what they have learned, and to keep them encouraged if they are not doing well on the quizzes.

As I designed my online course, my memory drifted to the vast technologies and education practices that I have learned throughout this program.  I would have liked to use all of the technologies that I was exposed to in a meaningful way throughout the online course that I built for my final project, but unfornately there was not enough time to incorporate it all.  As I continue to grow as an online educator, I may use these technologies of learning, organizing, and studying in subsequent classes or lessons as I see fit.

For my final thoughts, in the beginngin of the course, I felt that I had been "thrown to the wolves" as I tried to navigate a new learning managment system for the first time.  But at the end of the course I felt that I have come back " as the leader of the pack" as the semester comes to a close. My final thoughts on completing this online certification course is this: I hope I land a job!

Producing Digital Content: The Pleasure Principle...

Welcome to fall semester!  This is the final semester to my online journey.  I am excited and ready to be finished. I am also a little apprehensive.  This semester, I am expected to use the learning management system, Blackboard, to produce digital content-an online course. Let's reflect on my experience leading up to this moment.

Prior to entering this online teaching journey, I have some experience in producing digital content for other projects.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, but remember very well about the pains and joys of learning new things. One of the greatest challenges I faced in my last project and during this program was producing adequate course sound. Both times it was challenging and quite frustrating. Although producing quality sound was a challenge, I overcame my technical issues and produced successful projects. Defeating challenges and completing projects are one of my ultimate pleasure principles. Who doesn’t like feeling accomplished?

Another example of producing digital content has been creating my e-portfolio. Throughout the certificate program the student is required to develop and update an e-portfolio displaying their resume, course descriptions, individual projects, and group projects. I have really liked creating, producing, and updating my e-portfolio throughout the online program.  It exposed me to a not only a new technology but a very useful one that I can employ again and again.

In closing, I look forward to facing new challenges. This includes adding the skill of understanding the inner workings of Blackboard to my resume, the finale of producing my very first online course, and receiving my official Online teaching certificate. But before I can receive all of the accolades, it’s time to get back to work….ciao!

Designing a new language....

Now comes the fun!! The design process is well underway! This semseter is all about designing and creating! The design course is where I decided what online class I would be creating, the audience that I would be targeting, whether the course will be administered fully online or a hybrid, course goal and objective development, assessment development, and establishing my learning units. I decided to create a 100% online anatomy and physiology course.  I wanted to formulate a course that I was familiar with and had taken before in a traditional classroom. This course will be a rigorous six week course that will be open to a general audience that is interested in continuing their education in nursing, graduate school, medical school, or teaching. So let me guide you into the educational language that I have been designing over the last few weeks.

At the beginning of week two, I began to engross myself in becoming an online instructor. I wanted to produce a class that always keeps the essential ingredients for learning in a social community in mind.  These ingredients include inclusivity, organization, self-management, and participation. I believe it is imperative to have different representations of learning methods.  These unique learning methods will be invaluable material that can be incorporated into online lessons and assist in helping the many unique online learners that enroll in your class.   I took all of this into account and it lead me to week three.

In week three, I had to consider the design considerations for non-learner and learner design considerations in the online community. The first non-learner design consideration would be time constraints.  I plan to teach an Anatomy and Physiology course which requires the instructor to teach a large amount of information in a relatively short period of time.  This course can be offered during the summer utilizing a six to seven week time frame or offered in the fall utilizing a twelve or sixteen week time frame.  Either time period would propose a great challenge for the instructor and the student learning the material. For the instructor, the challenge lies on keeping time on task.  For the students the non-learner design consideration would be making sure that all materials that are required for success on exams, quizzes, or projects are covered. For the student, the biggest learner consideration challenge lies in learning the material to ensure a successful outcome in the class.  While every class has its challenges, I think as an instructor it is imperative that you meet these challenges with solid solutions and be open to peer and student feedback. I feel you should always be willing to go back to the drawing board.

During week four, I examined the two types of assessments.  Formative assessments provide feedback and information during the instructional process, while the learning is occurring.  Formative assessment measures the student’s progress but it can also assess the instructor’s progress.  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. In my class there will be various types of formative assessments, such as quizzes, discussion posts, homework, and group projects.  The summative assessment will be the midterm and final exam.

As the design course progressed I moved from thinking about the class as a whole, but instead thinking about the class as individual lessons.  It was in week five that I was required to begin designing my first three lessons using a design worksheet. This included forging learning objectives and identifying any content resources that may be included in your lesson. I was able to utilize several free websites in addition to the textbook.  These resources will hopefully assist the student in learning the information, but also presenting the same information in a variety of ways.

In week six and seven, I got the chance to focus on the three most common and distinct learning interactions and how this will be demonstrated within an Anatomy and Physiology online course. The interactions that I decided to focus on were the student-content interaction, the student-student interaction, and the student-instructor interaction.  For student-content interaction, I plan to incorporate on the oldest and traditional forms of student-content interaction by assigning textbook readings throughout the course, encouraging the student to engage the material through the completion of review questions, and completing student-content interactive activities to reinforce what has been learned. For the student-instructor interaction, I plan to engage my students through introductory icebreakers, discussion post responses, assignment feedback, announcements, syllabus, and virtual office hours. Finally, for the student-student interaction, I plan to have an ongoing group project that will encourage weekly student-student interaction, regurgitation of information, generate new material, and encourage group and individual study.

This course will be rigorous but hopefully rewarding to the instructor and the student. I plan to have virtual office hours and to check the course progression multiple times a day to answer questions and concerns. I am looking forward to producing this digital content in the next semester to see how it turns out and to get some real life experience in not only designing my course but also building it!! Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Designing the Super Power

Another semester is here!! I am really looking forward to the learning in this semester's class! This semester I will be learning all about the design of an online course.  I expect that this will be the beginning of the "meat" of the program with learning how to design your online course this semester and then producing digital content next semester.

As I dig deeper into learning about producing digital content and what it takes to have a successful online course, I can't help but think of the similarities and the differences of the traditional verses the online learning environments.  Both learning environments aim to identify specific and clearly stated learning goals or objectives, both rely on student participation and instructor encouragement, and both environments prepare the student for a series of class evaluations such as class discussions, exams, and quizzes. The difference between these two environments relies more heavily on the online environment than in the traditional classroom.  Teaching online can be rewarding because of the flexibility and the variety of learning styles that can be presented to assist the student in online learning. Personally, I don't think an instructor's educational requirements for online teaching versus the traditional classroom are any different. I expect this class to help design my super power of teaching into being more effective in an online environment. 

Throughout this certificate program I have learned the importance of how the student learns, receives feedback, and participates in classroom discussions. I have participated in discussions about common problems in the online learning environment such as lackluster student participation, late arrivals, and cheating within the course.  All of these discussions and solutions posted by myself and my classmates have been very helpful in adjusting my thought processes on how I would like to conduct my online class. I, myself, have participated in two online courses as a student, and have thoroughly enjoyed both classes. Since I do not have a lot of traditional classroom instruction both online classes have helped me to visualize on what types of materials I should include in my own online course.

Finally, after all the learning is completed and the certificate has been achieved, I will have to apply what I learned in the online classroom to my real life online course. In recent years, I have become a firm believer of having new experiences daily, not knowing if these unique experiences will pay off in the future.  Designing my super power as an online instructor will be an invaluable experience that I look forward to rejuvenating my teaching career and the addition of creating another unique experience of learning.

Eyes that Commit......

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.

Facilitating Ahead

A couple of weeks ago, I completed my first live Blackboard classroom facilitation. This is where you present your class lecture live to your class full of students. I completed this assignment with another classmate, which was nice since I was a little nervous of how my voice would sound to others. Facilitating consists of the synchronous lecture and the asynchronous discussion posts.

To prepare for the synchronous section of the facilitation the first thing I suggested we do was complete a sound check.  This turned out to be most challenging and frustrating step of all!! On my end, my computer passed the Blackboard sound and mic check, but unfortunately my partner could not only not hear anything I said, but when she did hear something it was garbled. We spent many hours and frustrating moments trying to solve our sound problem, but it remained an issue. I notified my instructor of the issue and she suggested since we did have sound in the sandbox, we could conduct our live session from there.  My partner and I agreed thinking our sound issue was finally solved and that she would use the conference line to complete her part of the lecture.  The night of our facilitation, I began my part of the lecture. Everything was going smoothly, until my partner discovered that the phone conference line was down-so she couldn't complete her lecture! When we discovered that the conference line was not working correctly, we paused the class in order to troubleshoot, but nothing was working. I didn't want to lose the interest of my classmates so I decided to complete the rest of the lecture. My partner handled the chat room, and after a rough beginning my first facilitation ended smoothly!

For the asynchronous section, our week had two discussion posts, My partner took one discussion and I the other.  I enjoyed reading and reacting to everyone's posts.  I quickly noticed how discussions can get quite lengthy very quickly.  So, in the future I would like to respond earlier to my student's posts to generate a meaningful conversation and to encourage consistent participation.

In closing, overall the facilitation went well. I enjoyed presenting to my class and receiving feedback on my performance.  I really liked the flexibility of responding during the asynchronous section of the course.  I started out nervous about the entire facilitation, but in the end it suits my personality and schedule. I look forward to more facilitation experience in the coming months, in the mean time I will be "facilitating ahead.".

The Superlative Psyche

Welcome Back!

My facilitating online course is moving along gloriously. I have recently reached the end of part two of this course. I think the second half of the course has given me a deeper understanding to the psychological role that both the instructor and student engage in while participating and preparing to engage in online learning and instructing.

During week four, I learned ten principles to incorporate for an effective online teaching environment. The three I took away that were most important for me were the following, plan for the unplanned, show up and teach, and establish patterns of course activities (Ragan, n.d.).   I would use all of these principles as a guide for designing my teaching principles to structure my online course.  These principles can help to create a cohesive teachable and well organized online class or an entire online program. These principles would not only help to guide my expectations but also my students’ expectations. 

In week five, I was assigned to design ice breakers for my potential online class. Icebreakers are always fun to do in a traditional classroom. I think using an icebreaker with an online class will be equally fun and interesting.   My icebreaker would be the following question. If you won the lottery, what would you do, where would you go? Would you keep your job or call off? If you had student loans, would you pay them off or would you go off the grid until they found you ;-). Another icebreaker would be-what is the one food you never want to taste again?  Where were you when you tasted this particular food? Would you visit the place again and try something different? Ice Breakers are an excellent way to establish a foundation of community among your students and break the ice between student and instructor.  I definitely plan to incorporate this in my syllabus.

During week six, we had to discuss what course I would use to convert to an online class and establish five key points that would make this class a success. The course I decided upon was Nursing Physical Assessment Part 1. The five key points that I would incorporate into this course would be the following; welcome page, syllabus, resources, course materials, and calendar. I will briefly explain how I would use these five key points within my online class.  I would use the welcome page as a navigational tool for the student. The welcome page will list what the student can expect for the week. This can include the assignments that are due and if there are any class sessions that week. To keep student's spirits high and to make the class interesting, I would use inspirational quotes, images, or cartoons included on my welcome page. My syllabus would include what the student should expect from me as the instructor- such as office hours, and timely feedback, course objectives, grading criteria, participation expectations, significant projects such as group or individual projects, what to expect in the clinical session of the class, and collaborate sessions. The syllabus would also include any institutional and classroom policies. I believe the syllabus is a guide to create a cohesive mission statement that should be presented before the class begins.  The syllabus would be not only my guide but the student's guide detailing the expectations, learning objectives, and grading criteria throughout the course.   Nursing Physical Assessment will be a hybrid course, where the class portion would be a 100% online, but students would be required to do clinical hours twice a week. As an online instructor the entire online course would promote active learning and critical thinking among students.  As an instructor, I aim to spark provocative and interesting discussions among the students, and emphasize the why. Additional online resources will be suggested to enhance what the student is learning. I believe all students are visual first, and what greater advantage in taking an online course than viewing real life case scenarios through audio and video at the student's leisure.   It is very easy to lose track of time when learning online.  As an instructor, at the beginning of the course, I would emphasize the learning agreement and the calendar, the mission or the goals of the course, and the subsequent learning objectives that we as a class plan to achieve.  I would make sure the course schedule is available and reference it during the daily announcements which would be located on my welcome page.  I would also encourage students to update their calendars on their smart phones to reflect when assignments are due.  I think when learning online, patterns of when assignments are due could also be very helpful.  For example, discussion posts could be due every Friday, while journals could be due every Sunday.

For week seven, our instructor provided us with a "day in the life of an online instructor".  I really enjoyed this particular assignment because it gave an hour by hour breakdown of how an instructor incorporates facilitating an online class into their daily lives and I think it really painted a picture of how busy facilitating an online course could be.  I mean those discussion posts can really get out of hand very quickly-lol!  I also had to post my thoughts on how long an instructor should take to respond to course questions and emails. I think 24 to 48 hours. Grading papers and examinations would take longer, so I would think a week for papers and and 3-4 days on examinations depending on the class size. I think this information should be included in the syllabus and should be communicated throughout the course. This way students know at the beginning of the course what to expect in feedback and the instructor has it in writing. I thought this was a very insightful read.   I enjoyed the hour by hour breakdown, it really gave the reader a visual breakdown on how your day can roll along. I was pleasantly surprised on how many times the Instructor checked in and how quickly the posts can get into the hundreds! That is a lot of reading and a lot of opinions :-). But I do like the flexibility of the online world. I noticed that a lot of time is spent on the discussion posts, answering course questions, and improving course materials.  

As a new instructor I will be busy designing, facilitating, and advising my students.  Many students take online courses for the flexibility and the ability to work ahead and around life's bumps. As I delve further into the psychological aspects of the teacher-student interaction I will develop or learn my own unique techniques that will help the online student get the best experience in the virtual classroom.

Source: Ragan, L.C. (n.d.) Ten Principles of Effective Online Teaching: Best Practices in Distance Education. Faculty Focus, 1-26. Retrieved from https://www.mnsu.edu/cetl/teachingwithtechnology/tech_resources_pdf/Ten%20Principles%20of%20Effective%20Online%20Teaching.pdf

Collaborating with a Genius

I have now come to end of part one of the second semester. I am well on my way to becoming an online instructor! In lesson one, I had to identify and discuss the difference between teaching online and teaching face to face.  For me teaching face to face has its challenges. First, I think it can be more intimidating speaking in front of a large audience verses speaking to the same audience from the comfort of your home office. I believe that in face to face teaching the instructor has to perform on the spot whereas in online education the instructor may be able to look up answers to student questions, can proceed more carefully when answering questions, and may provide more detailed answers. The most important and widely accepted role of the online instructor is the role of the guide.  The online instructor takes on a more “guide on the side” role than in a traditional classroom course, where the instructor may represent the most expert person in the class.  Many times the instructor may define the problem, but it is up to the online learner to take the necessary steps to analyze the problem, or dig deeper in a subject to acquire the knowledge that they seek. In other words, the online student takes more responsibility in one’s outcome of learning, and may look at the online instructor as an adviser. 

As I engross myself in becoming an experienced online instructor, I feel that I must always keep the essential ingredients for learning in a social community in mind.  These ingredients are inclusive, organization, self-management, and participation.  These are the essential ingredients for learning success in a social community, such as an online course. I believe it is imperative to have different representations of learning methods.  These unique learning methods will be invaluable material that can be incorporated into online lessons and assist in helping the many unique online learners that enroll in your class.

            As I progressed in lesson two, I learned some valuable tips when trying to establish a vibrant online community of learning through the use of the discussion board. These strategies included providing prompt feedback to the student, encouraging the student to post their questions about the course in the discussion board instead of emailing the question, creating a frequently asked questions section within the discussion board, and providing criteria for the student responses.   One of the most important lessons in this section was the importance of providing the student with prompt effective feedback that stimulates the student to dig deeper and to ask questions. I think the valuable part of online learning is the active discussion boards.  It is within the discussion boards, the student is reading and interacting with their peer's thoughts and opinions on subjects.  Many times during the discussion threads students include helpful websites or new technology for the class to explore or assist them in completing their assignments more efficiently.

            In lesson three, I got to focus more on what challenges an instructor will face as they move from the traditional classroom to the virtual classroom. Online learning has been a huge adjustment for me. I have years of experience of the traditional classroom.  I have adapted my learning habits, thought process, expectations based on my classroom experiences. It has been an interesting educational journey for me. This new experience of online learning has been a fascinating and unique journey, where I have continued to evolve my thought processes, teaching habits, and organization skills that will be more suitable to the online learning environment. As I continue to progress through this course, I will be gathering priceless pieces of technology, knowledge, and teaching strategies that will broaden my scope of practice and keep my students at the edge of their seats J. 

The Art of Facililtation

Welcome back! After a much needed winter break, I have come back refreshed and ready to work! This semester we will be learning how to successfully facilitate an online course using the learning management system, Blackboard. 

Last semester, we learned about the seven principles of teaching to assist in gaining knowledge of the various instructional concepts. These principles included, encouraging contact between student and faculty, encouraging active learning, developing student reciprocity, giving prompt feedback, emphasizing tasks completed on time, communicating your expectations, and respecting the talent and contributions of others.   After familiarizing myself with the seven principles, I plan to use these principles as a guide to structure my online course facilitation.  I could also use these principles as a guide to create a cohesive mission statement to be presented at the beginning of class as a leaning agreement contract.  These principles would not only help to guide my expectations but also my students’ expectations during my time as the facilitator. 

There are multitudes of learning styles. 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 I know it will be difficult to decide what will be the best course of action. On Tuesday, the class will be required to participate in our first live Blackboard Collaborate session to talk about the expectations when it is time to facilitate your class session. I am looking forward to the suggestions of my colleagues and instructor on what it takes to instruct a successful facilitation. I look forward to creating a lesson plan that will be visually appealing and informative. I plan to let my creative juices guide me through to successful first time facilitation. Finally, it will be interesting to use the Blackboard learning management system as an instructor instead of just a student.  

Let's get started!  

Final Thoughts during a Blizzard!

Greetings! I hope everyone is having a fantastic holiday season.  But now that the holiday season is upon us, that means that my first semester in obtaining an online certificate in online teaching and learning is coming to a closeJ!  With that in mind, I wanted to share with you some course reflections and final thoughts as you enjoy our first snow of the season. 

As I entered week six, I was required to submit a discussion post about digital portfolios as a potential learning tool.  My thoughts on the use of digital portfolios as potential learning tools in the online teaching environment would be an excellent choice.  The digital portfolio is not only a great teaching tool but a skill that can be used beyond the classroom when investigating job perspectives. The digital portfolio will be invaluable to the online student because of its dynamic ability to show case the student’s individual and group work, course reflections, and creativity.  My instructor suggested several sites for the class to use to create our own personal digital portfolio.  I selected the Wix site, for its user-friendly visual instructions.  In this portfolio, I plan to link my personal blog site, individual discussion posts, and my learning style group project.  As I continue the online certificate program, I will be required to continue to add group projects and individual work as I complete the program.  I am looking forward to that and becoming a savvy Wix user.  

In week seven, I discussed learning theories and the design of online courses. The learning theories that were discussed were constructivist, cognitivist, and behaviorism.  Constructivist theory relies on real life experiences. This can be very useful in explaining complex topics to the online student, who may be preparing for class or researching a topic of interest.  Cognitivist theory depends on what the student already knows, and uses the retention and recall method to help the students gain more confidence in learning new material. The behaviorist theory encourages use of environmental stimuli that utilizes negative or positive reinforcement to shape behavior.  All three learning theories can be applied to assist the instructor in helping the student retain information.  I also think that these theories, when executed in an online educational environment, are malleable enough for the instructor to combine these learning strategies to benefit the student. During this week, I was also required to complete an assignment that applied these learning theories to three mini cases.  In the mini cases, I defined the learning theories that I would use in a particular case then supported the chosen learning theory with a series of learning activities to assist in solidifying why I chose a particular theory.  

In week eight, we discussed the seven principles of effective education and the online environment. I really enjoyed this particular learning activity.  I enjoyed this activity because I was able to use the seven principles as a guide for designing my teaching style and define the structure of my online course. I am a firm believer that every online class should have a general mission statement or general guidelines on how the class will be conducted and its expectations.  The seven principles included encouraging contact between student and faculty, developing reciprocity and cooperation among students and faculty, encouraging active learning, giving prompt feedback, emphasizing time on task, communicating high expectations, and respecting diverse talents and ways of learning.  As I have previously stated, these seven principles would not only guide my expectations but also my students’ expectations (Chickering, 1987). Through the discovery of the seven principles, I had to develop learning activities in how I would carry out each principle.  I will give you a few examples.  When encouraging contact between students and a faculty, as instructor, I felt two activities should be mandatory. The first activity would consist of me scheduling virtual office hours and as needed availability. The second activity would require students and myself to have a weekly discussion on a topic either using a discussion board or Blackboard Collaborate.  In my opinion, one of the most important principles was respecting diverse talents and ways of learning. The learning activities I developed for this principle was making sure that my students were not only learning the necessary material that will assist in their success in the course, but that I was offering or creating alternative learning strategies to promote absorption of knowledge.  

Another skill I developed during week eight was identifying instructional strategies to use for online learning. For this assignment I chose collaborative learning as one of the best instructional strategies to facilitate distance education.  Collaborative learning uses small groups to facilitate learning.  I thought that the best course of action to achieve the most effective small group would be the following: gather information from my online students which included what their learning strengths and weaknesses were in a particular subject, their learning style, and their opinion about working in a small group. After establishing this information, I would develop groups of three students where each student would represent a specific learning style, such as kinesthetic, aural, and visual.  After the group is established, I thought the best way to promote collaborative learning would be to have weekly assignments that would represent each learning style.  I feel that this would not only encourage learning the information, but expose the student to multiple learning styles.

In week nine, we discussed the different web technologies that can be used in web-based instruction. In this section of the course I was overwhelmed with the amount of technology that is available for school, work, and social interactions.  I found several technological strategies but narrowed my favorites to the use of data channels and push technologies.  I preferred this type of technology because it would give students a way to pull educational topics and enhance discussion topics through the use of channels and push technologies. I believe that student's access to current information through the use of data channels or push technologies will keep the student interested and inspire them to dig deeper on a particular subject.  During week nine, I was encouraged by my instructor to think about how these web technologies can influence student to student or student to instructor interaction. Student to student interaction can always be a challenge in the online environment, so I will always stand by the idea of group projects facilitating or promoting student to student or student to instructor interaction. Especially, if the group project requires the student to learn a web technology they are unfamiliar with.  

As we continued through week nine, I got the chance to reach out to my fellow peers to complete our second project. This group project consisted of identifying multimedia and static web resources that can be incorporated into an online class as a part of the lesson plan. The group identified our web resources that we could use in our discipline of interest. Once we collected our web resources of interest we as a group, created an annotated bibliography through the use of Wiki pages. I was able to find a few interesting websites that could be used in my discipline of interest, which is nursing.  The first web resource I discovered was a series of physical assessment videos that would be very helpful to the new nursing student who is unfamiliar with what to ask a patient during a full body assessment. I thought that this type of reference would be very useful for a aural, kinesthetic, or visual learner, since it combined doing, visual, and listening, which are strong characteristics of these particular learning styles.   The technology of the Wiki was something that I was unfamiliar with. I thought this project to be very useful in teaching me how to create, modify, and link wiki pages. This group project required an exhaustive research of useful technological resources that can be incorporated into your online class.  I discovered that some web resources were better for education than others, and verifying the validity of a website can be challenging. My final thoughts on this group project are that any web resource chosen requires the student to be actively engaged in seeking out information, collaborating with their peers, and performing their tasks in a timely manner.

In closing, this semester has been full of unique technological surprises and new knowledge.  I look forward to building my technological expertise in the next class. I think as we become more savvy online instructors we will discover that learning can not only be fun, but educational, profound, and resourceful.

Reference:

Chickering, A. W. & Gamson, Z. (1987). Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. Racine, WI:The Johnson Foundation. 

Let the games begin...

Greetings! Remember me? Class has started! Work has been completed! It is now time to reflect on what I have learned in part one of my first completely online course! I have discovered many things.  I will be sharing them with you as I resonate about the beginning of my journey to completing an online teaching certificate.

In the first week, I learned the basic course tools to assist me in getting oriented to the flow of the overall course.  I accomplished a Blackboard tutorial orientation that took me through the functionality and operation of how to use this learning management system.  Within the Blackboard tutorial, I achieved the following: assignment submission, making a URL active, creating a discussion board post, sending emails within blackboard, and checking my grades. I have participated in a live synchronous learning event through the use of video and discussion through Blackboard Collaborate. That was interesting, it was like using face-time for the computer! Oh my goodness-I am so behind in the times :-).  

I have found that you receive a lot of feedback throughout the online course, from your graded assignments, to your discussion posts, to your group projects.  Feedback within the online world is a must!  I have recognized that I enjoy receiving the feedback and look forward to reviewing it every week. Netiquette is defined as proper socially acceptable online communication with my peers and instructor.  An online student must always have great netiquette, our words represent our personality!

To finish this course successfully I will need to remain organized with daily check-ins with course progression, carefully review the rubric for each assignment, and fully participate in discussion posts. It has been a full time commitment but I am in it for the long haul :-).

          

As I journeyed through week one, my overall understanding of online teaching is constantly evolving and growing. I am now fully aware that online teaching takes involvement with the student to another level.  Online instructors must create a sense of community. In order to achieve this community, online students must participate in weekly discussion posts, icebreaker activities, group projects, and synchronous learning in order to get the full realm of course benefits.  Online instructors must be creative, available, and reflect daily professional netiquette at all times. I think through online teaching you, as the instructor, get to know the students who may not have necessarily participated in the traditional classroom discussion.  Through weekly discussion posts, I have gained the sense that the internet makes everyone more reflective, more honest, and more transparent in some ways. As I continue my journey through my pursuit of a certificate in online teaching, I expect that this road will continue to challenge me.  I believe that I will be more technologically savvy by the end of this course.

As I journeyed into week two, I became versed in differentiating between web-enhanced, hybrid, and fully online courses through reading a series of articles. One of our first discussion posts was to suggest how we can web enhance a classroom course that was already in existence.  I chose Nursing Assessment 101. Nursing Assessment 101 is a traditional classroom course with a clinical simulation lab accompaniment. In my discussion post, I advised that the nursing instructor could use Blackboard to upload pre and post quizzes, case studies, and have weekly discussion posts. Although my instructor wasn’t too confident about her health workers being fully educated online, I thought it was a great idea because it created more flexibility for the working student. After week two’s lessons, I came to the realization that universities and colleges all over the country are offering more and more four year degrees completely online. So it was interesting to discover that some of the classes could be web-enhanced, blended, or fully online courses. Most of week two’s readings stated that students achieved the same learning outcomes as compared to a traditional classroom course, which was very informative and exciting since I, too, have decided to travel through the online education realm. During week two, I learned some of the advantages of online learning are the reduction of cost, increase in class attendance, and positive student outcomes in tougher subjects. I think one consistent challenge in online teaching is getting the student who is unfamiliar with how an online course works and soothing their concerns about instructor availability, tutorial resources, and the need for face to face contact in some subject areas.  

As I entered into week three, we begin to discuss the different learning environments.  Different learning environments were introduced to us in our required reading, in an article titled, “Campfires in Cyberspace” by David Thornburg. In his article the learning environments were the campfire, the watering hole, and the cave. Our assignment was to identify what we thought Thornburg’s environments represented to us within the online learning work space.  In my opinion, it didn’t matter which learning environment the student chose to learn the information in.  I concluded that once the learning is done, the measure of success is how the student applies his or her learning to life, which may be the reason online environments are now so heavily ingrained in college education. As I continued through week three, our instructor assigned us to think about the differences between student centered learning verses a traditional classroom. I have been an active participate of the traditional classroom throughout my educational process. But I do believe student centered learning has its advantages. One major conclusion that I drew from this assignment is that the online environment is very student centered.  It places the learning and participation as the responsibility of the student. This type of reflective thinking led us to our journal entry for that week to discuss the differences between active and passive learning. Most individuals, including myself, like to actively participate while learning a new topic, this is a very simple definition of active learning. While passive learning is listening and note taking.

In week four, I discovered the various learning styles. This included visual, kinesthetic, aural, and reading. During this week, our instructor required us to complete a VARK survey which was a series of questions that helped to determine our learning style. I discovered that I was a kinesthetic learner, which means that I learn by doing. After giving that some thought, I felt that it was an accurate assessment, and since that time I am more aware of how I have retained information that I am learning. Once, I figured out my learning style, it was time for our first group project. For the first group project the instructor wanted us to create a lesson plan for each learning style using web based sources. Each lesson plan included activities, quizzes, and a grading scale on a subject selected by the group. My group decided on the Great Depression.  The ladies that I worked with during the group project were absolutely fantastic.  We constructed a Code of Conduct that assisted us in strategizing our communication throughout the project, how to handle incomplete assignments, or if an individual had an emergency. Our group decided to use the discussion board to communicate the details of our project and to exchange our work.  Accessibility is one of the biggest challenges in online learning, everyone in my group was well aware of that. With these thoughts in mind, every member in the group participated and checked in daily for updates.  I think that was a huge contributor of why our project went very smoothly.

In week five, I expanded my knowledge into learning about the variety of teaching styles.  The teaching styles I learned this week were expert, personal model, and facilitator. To discover my preferred teaching style, I was required to take a teaching style inventory survey that would tell me my preferred teaching style.  My preferred teaching style was personal model. According to the required readings for that week, personal model style teaching uses real life scenarios to link the information that you are teaching. One disadvantage of this type of teaching style that left me intrigued was that your audience may feel inadequate if they are not performing in the way that the instructor has taught. After learning about the various learning and teaching styles I have come to the solid conclusion that there are many ways to instruct and learn the material, it really comes down to the person who is learning to discover what works for them.  I, as the instructor have the responsibility to be informed about these different learning and teaching styles, and to have material representative of each, available to the student.

Finally, one of the last activities that I participated in was to interview an active online instructor. I found this particular assignment very helpful in giving me real life perspective of what to expect once I enter into the online learning environment as an instructor. I entered this program with an open mind, I still feel that one of the biggest challenges faced is creating an online community of learning within your course.  As I stated before, I frequently use the personal model teaching style, where I rely heavily on my storytelling skills to teach my information. Another challenge would be familiarizing myself with a new learning management system. But with great challenges, comes great rewards, and I am looking forward to completing this course in December :-).

My Leap into Online Teaching: The Beginning...

September 11, 2016 

Greetings! 

Welcome to my personal online adventure detailing my pursuit of an online teaching certification. Currently, I have four degrees, I have two bachelor degrees and two master degrees.  So you may be wondering, “Why would she want to spend more time in school?”   

Sharing knowledge with others has always been profoundly fulfilling for me.  I love sharing my experiences with others.  It doesn’t matter if those experiences were mistakes or successes.  I guess that is a trait that helps keep me sane as a Registered Nurse.  Nurses are always learning.  So when I was offered a Clinical Educator position for a pharmaceutical company a few years ago, I didn’t hesitate to accept the new position! I mean “learning” is my thing!   

For the last six years I have enjoyed being a Clinical Educator. I have learned a lot of things about myself as a Clinical Educator and as a person without any prior experience in classroom instruction.  I have become extremely flexible in my teaching style. I have mastered the ability to gauge my students’ comprehension of the material being taught by their body language, facial expression, and verbal cues.  I’ve studied the best ways to teach adult learners and how to keep control of the classroom on a warm summer day!  Finally (and most importantly), I have acquired the critical skill of accepting constructive criticism from others whether it was deserved or not :-). Through this journey from the bedside to Clinical Educator, I discovered that I enjoyed teaching and wanted an additional skill set that could expand my horizon as a classroom teacher but also reward me with future opportunities to take my skills beyond the traditional classroom setting.    

After reading about the future of online teaching in higher education, my perception of this growing field molded into something positive, constructive, and a necessary additional skill I feel that will make me a more well-rounded Clinical Educator. I feel that this certification will give me the flexibility I enjoy as a Clinical Educator, diversify my skills as a classroom educator, and help me to gain access to future opportunities.  

This online teaching certification is my first experience with a fully online program.  Classes have only begun one week ago, and I have already noticed differences from the traditional classroom setting.  First, my overall impression is that my current online class is more organized and task oriented. I have been pleasantly surprised of my feeling of "community" when responding to posts or participating in various online activities.  I enjoy that my professor provides checklists for upcoming assignments, quizzes, and projects for the entire sixteen weeks. I also like that the material is presented as mini lectures or “small chunks” that aren’t overwhelming. Finally, the convenience of learning 24/7 is right up my alley!  I am looking forward to becoming more technologically savvy, gaining the necessary knowledge to assist me in meeting the challenges of pursuing this certification, and experiencing the reward of teaching others from all over the world!