Final Thoughts

I thought of titling my final blog for the last course in the online teaching certificate "Journey's End." But, since the title is used for books and summer homes, I thought the better of it. In reality, the journey for learning is never really at an end. Those of us who believe in life-long learning will continue to pursue it. Likewise, most teachers want to improve their teaching, so they are always looking for ways to do so. The certificate program certainly provided the means toward that goal.

The Beginning and The Middle

I wasn't exactly a neophyte in the world of online teaching. I had worked with knowledgeable course designers and digital producers to implement my online courses. Therefore, I knew that my courses were quality. But, I was missing something that the other faculty in my department had when creating online courses. I could not produce them. I wanted to hurry up and learn to do this right away. However, I had to take the first several courses in the certificate, before being allowed to do so. At first, I was frustrated, then the light dawned. Philosophy of education and design strategies are important. Guess what, I had a lot to learn! At the same time, I was studying for my certification examination in nursing education. The certificate courses added to my knowledge and I passed the exam. Thank you Jan and Bonnie. The first three courses in the program improved my skills as a teacher.

The End

At last, here I am at the end of the program. This has been an incredible journey. I began it being intimidated about technology. I remember the first Chat session I attended. I somehow misunderstood the instructions and had my headphones at the ready. Soon everyone started typing their conversations. Boy, was I embarrassed. Techno terror struck again when my groupmate and I tried to do video streaming on the Wimba Whiteboard. We practiced several times for the session, and the video link was successful each time. When it came time for Wimba Live, guess what happened? It didn't work, no matter what we and the instructor did. I learned to be cautious with videos from that experience.

I was so enthused to get to the last class. At last I would learn all of the technology needed to produce a quality class. I did. This class was a great learning experience. I learned not only how to use technology as a beginner, but I also learned the pitfalls involved with their use. This was most valuable to me. I learned that the instructor must consider not only what is accessible to every student, but to consider what is available to students given their software.

Being able to view other students' works was also helpful. The back and forth of the discussions with the students and the instructor helped me achieve my assignments. I loved looking at the other students' courses on the student shells.

Goals Achieved

I achieved the course goals of (a synopsis here) of being able to produce text content, use an html editor, incorporate images, and integrate sound components into my course. I was also able to attain the beginning use of presentation software, deliver a synchronous learning activity, and integrate content from online and other digital sources. I also achieved my personal goal of improving my design capabilites and becoming more comfortable with a variety of technologies used for online teaching. Thank you all for helping me on my journey-fellow students and especially my instructors.

My Online Course

Course Description

I am going to construct the graduate nursing research course for online delivery. The course presents material on the research process. Each element of the research process (problem statement, purpose, literature review, etc.) is discussed in detail. For the current course in production that I am currently taking, I will be learning how to implement the first three lessons in the course. There will be an introduction to nursing research, a module on problem statement and purpose and a module on literature review.

Assignments.

The assignments or summative evaluations are an evidence-based practice paper, a research critique, and a research proposal outline. Although they are not due during the first three modules, they students will need to start working on them by the end of the third module. Therefore, I am thinking of creating a podcast or podcasts that address the assignments. Podcasts will enable the student to download instructions and play them over and over on an Mp3 player or they can just repeat the course podcast to clarify confusing items.

Rationale for Online Delivery

A graduate research course is not the easiest course to deliver online. For some students, the material is difficult to grasp. However, I did a survey (along with our advisor) two years ago of our alumni (ten years back) to determine what time was best for a face to face course. We were not surprised that the survey results showed that no time was appropriate for all students. Therefore, we decided to do online delivery for our BSN students, since a majority of those courses were already delivered online. The faculty of the nursing department requested online delivery to be an official option for our BSN degree students. We were approved. Our advanced degree programs were also approved for online deivery. Thus, the decision to start with the graduate research course as the first course in the master's nursing program was made.

Benefits to Students

The online course provides flexibility for students who have other responsibilities that interfere with attending on site classes. Nursing students working in various settings often are required to do overtime or adjust their schedules due to personnel needs. The schedule readjustment or overtime may prevent students from attending class , if a conflict occurs. The job obligations are foremost in the students' life. They need to be, in order for the students' to pay their tuition. An online course in which the students participate on their own time would solve this problem.

Problems

Potential problems for me are lack of experience with technical tools needed to successfully produce a course. I am not terribly familiar with technial aspects, online lingo, etc. I am also a bit timid in trying new things.

The students may find the course modules uninteresting. Currently, they tend not to read the textbook assignments because they are difficult to understand, and therefore "unintersesting". I intend to use the text for the course, so it is doubly important to try to motivate the students to read and take part in the discussions. An attractive looking course will help, but it is the material that is central in making the course appealing to students.

Conclusion

While I am excited about learning production, I am also intimidated. I have already confused CMS with the HTML editor. I am wondering how successful I am going to be in this course. Time will tell.

Technothoughts

Technology Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

In doing the assignments for the "design" class, I started thinking about design and technology. My thoughts occurred because there is a fair amount of technology involved in the class. Having grown up in the post WWII era, I am comfortable with reading, but not comfortable with technological innovations.

Yesterday-My First Techno Experience

My first experience with technology, post radio, was the television. In the early 50's, my family was fortunate enough to have a Halicrafters (brand name) television, which looked like a heart monitor with a small screen. We laughed ourselves sick watching "Uncle Miltie" (the late Milton Berle, comedian) on the tube. Other programs were Kukla Fran and Ollie and Howdy Doody. Color tv did not make its entrance in our house until the 1980's.

Oh, and when I wanted to telephone someone to talk about Uncle Miltie, I had to put a nickle in the space on the telephone base. We even had a special telephone table and chair used for sitting down to make our phone calls. In the late 1980's, my husband and I bought the latest telephone technology-a bag phone. The phone was portable, and in a bag on the floor. This was quite an advance and reassuring, if there was an accident with the car. Now telephone technology has moved from the wall, to the bag, to the ear, with the advent of cellular phones.

Computers

My first experience with computers, was in the 60's. My husband was going to graduate school and he was taking ITRAN and FORTRAN, computer languages, the forerunners of Cobal and Pascal. He would punch cards and put them into the computer to get output.

A decade or two later Radio Shack created a home computer and we bought it. It was much more reasonable than the MAC which my cousin bought. I felt the family needed the computer for the kids to be competitive in high school. Soon, thanks to donations by MAC grammar and high schools had computers for computer classes. Needless to say, the kids' knowledge and skills in this area soon outstripped mom and dad. My skills progressed as I had to work with computer for my dissertation. The inscrutable DOS came into my life. After many sessions of hair pulling and tears, I did finish it with the help of my friends. I fondly remember the green lined paper and the tapes of the mainframe. Ah, memories! Now I am immersed in techno world.

Ed Tech

Educational technology that I have worked with runs the gamut from the primitive (penciled in in overheads, print overheads), to the fairly modern (power point slides). In 2003, I attended a large university's technology camp for faculty. The hot topic was how to prepare and use power point slides! My first efforts were replete with animation and sounds. I quite drove my students crazy with the cacophony.

Today

Sweeping advancements in technology are now a common occurrence. We now not only have cell phones, but phones that provide games, music, and other apps. Our tvs are on the wall and flat and the computers we use are the size of a small notebook, and I use them every day and sometimes evenings for social and educational activities. I am even learning to marry design with technology.

Design and Technology

Although I am a little more comfortable with computers I am a beginning online instructional designer. I have designed face to face classes previously, but now I look at design with online issues in mind. As Nichols writes in the E-Primer series, the goal of instructional design is to "help the teaching and learning process by ensuring that education experiences are optimised for particular learning goals" The key word is "optimised". My challenge is to optimise instruction in a meaningful way for online delivery. Since technology is a concern for me, I need to optimise my teaching by becoming more comfortable with good design technology. I remember the sage advice given by Rita Marie Conrad in her article "Save Yourself from Drowning in Online Classes": harness technology, provide feedback, and promote student-student interaction.

As I keep doing online classes, I will be more comfortable technology. As this happens, I do not want to lose sight of good design principles. I will keep close at hand, the article "Seven Principles of Effective Teaching: A Practical Lens for Evaluating Online Courses", by Graham, Cagiltay, Ro-Lim, Craner, and Duffy. This will be my "guiding light for keeping my techno fears at bay and maintaining good design principles. Their best practice is to:

1. Encourage student-faculty dontact
2. Encourage cooperaiton among students
3. Encourage active learning
4. Encourage prompt feedback
5. Emphasize time on task
6. Communicate high expectations
7. Respect diverse talents and ways of learning.

These principles are a good foundation for my future as a designer of online courses. They keep one focused on educational quality.

Tomorrow

I tremble in wonder to think what tomorrow will bring! Tele-pictures? Oh wait. We have that already with Skype. I bet virtual reality will expand so that teachers won't have to hold class, our Avatars will. Maybe we will tele-transport to class or meetings. I will snap fingers and my design and digital production activies are done for me. The possibilities are endless.

Self-Selected Blog 1

Engagement Versus Entertainment

For the last week, I have been watching the Olympic games on television. I marvel at the talented athletes and have enjoyed their feats along with the spectacle of the beautiful Vancouver scenery. Viewing the venue has brought to mind something that I have been pondering over these past few weeks regarding engaging students versus entertaining them. I thought that this activitiy mirrored the olympics. The olympics entertain, but also engage the viewer in the finer points of athleticism, as the announcer sporting expert explains the mechanics of the various sports. Several weeks ago, I viewed a video regarding student engagement and was surprised at the reaction of the students in the video that apparently was made by them.

The Video Tale

The video was featured on a commonly used social network video site. The student/actors in the videos apparently were not satisfied with the level of interaction that was currently present in their class. Several held up signs that stated their discontent with textbooks, lectures, etc. One student even protested lack of money for some cause-what was that?

Who's Responsible for Learning?

What concerns me about these students' video message is that there was no accountability for their own learning. The communication was that unless the teaching materials (mainly the textbook) were entertaining, students would not read them. While I support interactive activities that encourage student engagement and critical thinking, I am concerned that students feel that the teacher has the sole responsibility for providing entertaining materials that they will enjoy reading. Who ever promised entertainment? My question is this: Do students today take any responsibility for their own learning? The students in the video didn't even consider learning their responsibility.

Where Do We Go From Here?

So what is the answer? How do we as teachers engage students, but also motivate them to take responsibility for their own learning? I invite your thoughts and comments.

End of Part One Blog/ONTL652

Reflections

Whew! After many readings, podcasts, discussions and one Wimba session, part one of the course is finally over. In one way, it took me forever to get to the end. In another way, it seemed like I just turned around and this part of the course was over.

What I Learned

One of the most important items that I learned was to review the syllabus periodically. In the past, I have tended to read it once (excitedly) at the beginning of the course and then forget about it. I found that this is not a good idea since there are many assignments in the syllabus that one needs to keep up on-like when the blog postings are due. Resolution: try to be more diligent in reviewing the syllabus for assignments.

Fun Assignments

I really enjoyed the ice-breaker discussion. It was enjoyable to read what animals the other students thought they were like. It was especially fun to see if I got it right and to see the animal pictures. This was a good way to initially build community. I felt my fellow students' personalities came through in their discussion posts.

Design

There was a great deal of time spent on learning about designing online courses, as one might expect. Especially enjoyable were the podcasts, as contact with the instructor was provided. Podcasts are also a technique that familiarizes the student with the instructor. The contact makes the student feel more comfortable in approaching the instructor.

Learner Issues

Two videos on learner issues were available for viewing. On one hand, it was good to hear the viewpoints of students on instruction. On the other hand, the students in "A Vision of Students Today", seemed more interested in blaming instructors for their unhappiness with the way courses were delivered, than taking responsiblity for their own learning. While I am a champion of efforts to engage students to learn, I think that we have gotten away from expecting students to take ownership of their learning. A stark example of this is the student who held up the sign that stated "I don't read textbooks" or something similar. While as I stated previously, I do want to engage, but don't feel that I need to entertain.

Constraints and Considerations

Readings on designer constraints and considerations emphasized the reality of my world in creating online classes. In particular, budget constraints are the one barrier that leads to all other barriers in designing and implementing an online course. While it is necessary for the course designer to be well versed not only in design, but in technical aspects of course construction, designers are not all experts. Designers need professional instructional designers and experts in course construction for consultation and trouble shooting.

The Paper

I liked the instructors strategy of having students do the paper in sections. That way the paper gets done and the student avoid waiting until the last minute to turn in the assignment. The use of the design team was effective in three ways:

1. Provided feedback to improve the paper before grading
2. Provided an opportunigy for group interaction and community building
3. Stimulated critical thinking

Next Up

It is with some anxiety that I approach the next section. I am fairly confident of evaluation mechanisms. I do have a fear of rubrics. Mine always seem so rudimentary. I am curious aoubt how well the online rubric mechanisms will work. Stay tuned.

Blog Entry 1: Initial Reflections ONTL652

Initial Thoughts

I am looking forward to participating in the course. While I have designed onsite and online courses previously, I feel the need to increase my experience and learn new methods of design. I am hoping to be more creative in designing my courses.

My experience with taking the previous certificate courses and teaching online classes is that design and appearance go together. An attractive course with interesting icons helps to stimulate student interest. It also sends a message that the course has been carefuly planned and implemented.

I have had the opportunity to work with design experts who have aided me greatly in creating and implementing my online classes, and the classes look attractive. However, I have not yet been able to be confident in independently doing this. One of my goals is to learn to become more independent in designing and implementing online courses. The other goal is (as stated above) to be more creative.

One of the activities that I am getting better at by taking the previous courses is providing interactive activities for students. I am hoping to improve in this area also.

Previous Experience

My previous experience in desgn consists of preparing lesson plans for onsite classes. I have prepared learning modules, discussions, and assignments for online classes. The lesson plan helps organize according to objectives. The lesson plan also helps create study questions that lead to interactive activities.

Goal Statements

My goals:

1. Demonstrate increasing independence in designing and implementing attractive, interactive online classes.

2. Identify methods that can be utilized for more creativity in designing online classes.

3. Design appropriate interactive activities for students in online classes.

Conclusion

It will be interesting to look back on the blog and goal statements and see if I was able to accomplish them. It should be good material to reflect upon also.

Reflections On Facilitation

Preparing for Facilitating

Since I have facilitated in online classes previously, I thought that there would not be any problems in doing the assignment. Another faculty and I decided that it would be a good idea to partner for the assignment, since it would save time. We could organize it so that one faculty could do one aspect of facilitation and the other could do a different aspect. We were able to plan well and thought we had covered all of the issues regarding facilitation. We had a script to avoid the gaps in conversation and the ums, and ers that I had had in the voice introduction in the class. I particularly thought this was such a clever idea.

My group partner and I also decided that we would illustrate our topic "pedagogy" by utilizing the Constructivist point of view. The Constructivist educational philosophy emphasizes active learning which also encompasses principles of adult learning. Toward that end, we had planned to use a video clip and slides (for audio-visual learners) and a game on the whiteboard which would reach kinesthetic learners. Since we had both studied for a nursing educators exam that involved lots of material on pedagogy, we thought we would not have trouble with the content. Since we practiced using the clip, slides and game, we anticipated no problems in the sychronous portion of our assignment.

We both had facilitated asychronous discussion, so we didn't anticipate any problems in this area either. We did want to make sure that our inital posts were timely and interactive. Trying to come up with questions that were probative and stimulated ongoing discussion was not so simple. We were used to being on courses daily, so not a problem. We decided to divide the two discssions between the two of us.

The Actual Experience

The session started out well. Our script provided us with a clearly flowing narrative. When it came time to present the video, it wouldn't work. This despite that fact that I had practiced access the clip over and over again. Unfortunately, this made me very nervous. I went on to the slide show which was intended as a review on pedagogy. My mistake was thinking that I should ask questions instead of narrating the points on the slide. This didn't work well, since few people seemed to know about other educational pedagogies or philosophes. They were not really part of the course. Few answered my questions. Now I was desperate, I had a script, but the technical difficulties precluded me from using all of it.

Fortuantely, the game of tic tac toe was well received. People were able to add their x's and o's. There still seemed to be technical problems with people answering. Some had headsets that dind't work, others had computer problems. My fellow facilitator and I couldn't tell if there really was no response or no response due to technical difficulties.

The asynchronous sessions worked better. Dividing the discussions was an efficient way of doing things in that it helped us respond quickly to the disussion participants. From our peer review evaluations, our fellow students seemed to agree with us.

Major Learning Experience

This learning activity was a major one for me. I learned that even if one has worked out technical problems, other unanticipated ones can occur. I would put a video in class resources for students to view before discussing it in a synchronous Wimba session. I also learned that even if there are two people tryng to keep track of who is next to respond, it is difficult. I kept losing track of who was next after the raised hand symbol appeared on the screen.

I thought that having used slides for many years that I would not have a problem with stimulating discussion. I should have explained the unfamiliar educational philosophies on the slide instead of asking questions related to unfamiliar material.

Conclusion

I really did enjoy doing the facilitation. Even though I was not successful in using the video clip, I did attempt to use it and had some success. I just was not successful when the crunch came. I was satisfied that I had tried something new and was not afraid to confront unknown technological competencies. It was a sobering and useful experience.