As Ko and Rossen (2010) mention, preparation stage “involves a bit of trial and error”.  As in regular classrooms, or face-to-face classes, there is always room for improvement and modification.  Every semester I find new activities or resources to integrate into the classroom.  Sometimes activities don’t go as expected and flexibility to modify these activities and sometimes re-invent them is important.

So far, I have found unit-organization (I guess combined with week/topic organization)as the most efficient organization for the material and class layout.  An important aspect mentioned in Teaching Online: A Practical Guide (3rd ed.) is the “click time” or streaming of media.  Since I’ve never taught an online course before these are factors to consider when creating an activity and developing the class layout.  However, I’m glad it mentions to not be afraid to go back and readjust the syllabus. On the other hand, I had not thought about online communication as a whole.  As it is we already communicate with students through email, and it seems with online classes communication tools multiply.  There are several forms of communication which definitely facilitates student-instructor interaction.  Going back to the second week, online communication can integrate different features such as an emoticon which can go a long way 🙂

I have somewhat experimented with cloud sound with music, but I can definitely work with this tool to integrate to online class so students can produce language and also listen to themselves and others.  Another interesting tool I have heard about are these “virtual worlds”.  I have heard from other colleagues about creating avatars.  These virtual characters seem like a fun and personal representation of students for certain activities in the online class.  I really want to experiment with these tools to help create an online community.

Creating a community can be challenging, but given the right tools and attitude it can most definitely be done.  As Pilar mentions in her video creating an online class community from Day 1 is important and it gives students a sense of collectiveness as a class.  I loved the idea of creating an activity and message with images to engage students from “Day 0”.  Adding short/informal videos during the middle of the semester, as done by Pilar, can definitely give students that extra “pull” or motivation to continue through the semester.   It’s always nice to know you’re still on track 🙂