Preparing to Teach Online

Since this class is coming to a close I thought I would spend some time reflecting on the things that I have learned and how I can use this knowledge to enhance my teaching.
The three biggest things I found useful from this course to prepare me for online teaching:

• Teaching online requires great planning and organizing.  One cannot quickly "throw" a class together and think it will be successful.
• Effective written communication is a huge piece of online teaching. Directions and examples must be written in a clear concise manner.
• KIS:  Keep it Simple.  Throwing too many bells and whistles at the learner will only confuse them.  Choose wisely the tools you will use and stick to those.

Effective Tools

In your experience, which synchronous tool(s) and asynchronous tool(s) are most and least effective? What facilitation skills are required for these tools to be used effectively?

I have found that the use of asynchronous tools to be the most effective in my teaching.  I find that these tools give students the ability to connect with me and each other on their own schedule.  For example, last year I had a home bound student for the first quarter of the school year. His health condition required that he not attend school in the traditional way. He was able to complete work and participate in class discussions.  He was able to access the discussions and share information day or night.  When you work with students in these situations, I find asynchronous tools to be most useful.

The skills required for facilitation are basically the same as any type of instruction.  The facilitator needs to be organized, use writing effectively, and communicate regularly about student progress.  I think the biggest thing the facilitator needs to do is to believe in the type of instruction they are delivering. 

Competencies

Reflection on the self evaluations and competencies for online instructors-
After completing the self evaluations I feel I have a pretty good grasp of the computer skills needed to teach online.  I feel I can use browers, software programs, and various pieces of web technology proficiently in order to teach an online class.


My strengths include the ability to use the computer proficiently and design courses to meet the needs of the students.  I feel I can write objectives, develop lesson plans, and design performance tasks for students to learn the material and be successful.

The biggest skill I will need to develop is writing concise directions so students are not confused about the lesson directions.  I understand that I am not physically available to be in the room with the student so I need to make sure what I am thinking matching my writing.

My Thoughts...

Hello Everyone!
I have taken some time to reflect on our session last night and these are some of the things I thinking about....
1.  How do we as teachers decide how to proceed forth into using technology on a daily basis while making worthwhile for the student?  I have used a lot of technology in my classroom the past five years.  I really need to think about if all of the uses of the technology were really beneficial.  Perhaps I need to think about if I used the technology to my best advantage and not just because the kids like to use it.

2.  What can I do as an educator to evaluate and choose various web browers?  It just seems so overwhelming for the kids when you give them so many choices. I am looking forward to going through the various browers to see what purposes they serve.  Time is so valuable that I hate to waste my instruction by showing students browers or any other software for that matter that they can't use or doesn't need.

Julie