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.
Julie, I agree with your three points, especially your last one. Learning (and teaching) online is complicated enough. Adding the newest online "bling" may not only be a distraction, but may not work on every student's computer. A simple, proven delivery system within a routine seems like a great plan! :-)
ReplyDeleteI love that you mentioned effective written communication. Sometimes, that may be the only communication we have with students, so if it is vague, diluted, complicated, or just plain unintelligible, our students will not learn and our teaching will fail.
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