Reflecting on this week’s readings, I thought about what elements I found particularly interesting. In short, I found the overall study on building the online classroom especially intriguing. Essentially, I found the thought of introducing smaller sample units of a course to assist an instructor in developing the skills necessary for implementing an entire course extremely helpful. Additionally, the idea of utilizing specific activities to meet stated learning objectives were well in line with the traditional classroom theories I am accustomed too. Nevertheless, the number and variety of examples provided were invaluable to me, and I can definitely see myself incorporating a majority of this information in future classes.
Overall, my reactions to what I read were that of hunger and excitement. In short, although I have thought about many of the same scenarios of online learning before, I rarely have actually examined concrete examples of how an online classroom is constructed form the ground up. In other words, I have never thought about how the foundation of an online classroom was actually constructed. Thus, I found myself wanting to consume as much information as possible about the subject. In a sense, it got me excited thinking about the future of my classroom and the future of education as well.
Specifically, I was very excited about examining the variety of Web 2.0 tools this week. Through the readings and our classroom discussion, I found myself with a variety of questions on how these tools could best be utilized for the classroom. They were: How could I know for certain that a particular Web 2.0 tool was suitable for my class, and how effective are these tools in helping students learn? Fortunately, after reading Dr. Hsu and Dr. Ching’s article on Twitter, I saw firsthand the effectiveness of these tools in the classroom. In fact, Hsu and Ching (2012) state that tools like Twitter have great effectiveness because of their ability to present information in a meaningful way in which students identify. Additionally, Hsu and Ching also addressed my concern for the suitableness of particular web tools by providing field learning experiences.
In short, the examples and experiences provided by my readings and my classmates gave me confidence to try more of the tools in my teaching. Essentially, I believe that more Web 2.0 tools should be utilized in today’s educational settings. Ultimately, one of the biggest parallels I drew to other things I have learned was to the ability and understanding of Web 2.0 tools by modern-day students. In other words, most students in today’s educational settings have some experience with many Web 2.0 tools. Thus, as an instructor, I need to be willing to take a leap of faith and believe that the majority of my students will have a relatively easy time mastering a particular tool.
Finally, I found that I would best be prepared for modern-day courseware by combining an understanding of Web 2.0 tools, software tools, digital materials, and resources as well as the theory on how an online course should be constructed (Ko & Rossen, 2010, p. 247). In the end, this practice will provide me with the knowledge on the best way to deliver course materials in an online setting (Ko & Rossen, 2010, p. 247). Thus, I thankful for getting a chance to study this great material this week, and I look forward to being able to implement it in the future.
Susan, K., & Rossen, S. (2010). Teaching Online A Practicle Guide. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hsu, Y.-C., & Ching, Y.-H. (October 01, 2012). Mobile Microblogging: Using Twitter and Mobile Devices in an Online Course to Promote Learning in Authentic Contexts. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 13, 4, 211-227.