Week Two – Getting Started
Saturday, September 15th, 2012:-8
Well, I must tell you… that is how I feel!
I had a terrible week in the personal aspect; but I managed to survive fine. I had the head back yesterday and I used the entire day to read, do the questionnaire and watch all the videos.
Did you say 4 hours a week? Uhmm… I must be very slow!
Anyway; I would like to start with the book. It was interesting, although it felt a little repetitive and obvious some times. We know that when we teach online we can teach from anywhere! However, I loved the part where it says that to teach online you have to be a people person. That is something I always thought; you can actually have more one on one contact with a student via online than in a class with 35 students. Looking at the screencast videos of the instructors I saw how some of them have a chat window open in their CMS. I loved that idea, and I agree, if you are not a people person, you would not like to chat or answer questions one on one.
As I said before, I do not teach online yet; but I would love to do it one day. I use many resources I learn from this type of courses as much as I can on my class Blackboard. My questionnaire result number was 10; I truly believe that students should construct their own knowledge and that instructors should be open and pay attention to the students needs and learning styles. It is difficult; I am not saying I do it; but certainly, at least I try.
As for the Getting Started Chart; I think it is an excellent starting point. Thank you POT team, this week material and the questionnaire are truly an excellent starting point for our future online classes. Can’t wait to start planing one!
Have a great weekend and see you next week,
Laura