My Online Teaching Life Now

My Online Teaching Life Now

In December I completed my Online Teaching Certificate and you can see my progress here and at my portfolio: https://sites.google.com/view/dawnportfolio/home. It has been a great two years working on this program. I started by learning ways to teach students and other things a teacher needs to learn, and it ended with me designing a class. I saw so many changes in my life in those two years. I started the program January 2018 angry at another department over the severe abuse I encountered and went in assuming I would deal with the same issues in this program. I couldn't be more wrong. I was treated with so much respect and encouragement, including teachers asking for my expertise to help my fellow classmates since I have a background in developing classes.

One of my greatest thrills was being selected to join Kappa Delta Pi, which is a prestigious honor society for education. I now speak to prospective students on how much I enjoyed this program. In 2019 I accomplished two major feats, when I earned two certificates! I finished this program and earned a certificate, but in September 2019 I passed the state exam to earn a CADC, or Certificate in Alcohol and Other Drugs Counselor. So now I have two major certificates (though have several other certificates I earned after I finished several classes), and two masters: A Master of Arts in Communications and Training and a Master of Health Science in Addictions Counseling. I will probably return to school to work on a doctorate in a year or two. If that's not enough, my next goal is to receive a certificate in Spanish!

If you had told me that online teaching would become more prevalent due to a virus, I would have said someone was watching way too many movies. However, that's the world we live in. My interviewing for a variety of jobs was going great until this pandemic and it came to a screeching pause. How long will it take? Who knows but a strange thing is occurring where people are contacting me to create classes. Not sure what will happen with all of that, but it might prove my certificate was perhaps the best career choice I made. I completed the program with a perfect 4.0 Grade Point Average. This blog is going to change a bit where instead of talking about my online teaching program, I will be discussing online teaching and many other issues. Those topics might include current events, or pop culture. Stay tuned!

Initial Feelings On Course Practicum

Initial Feelings On Course Practicum

Starting the final course in the certificate program really made me think of how I felt when I first started. I had been thinking of working on this certificate for many years but didn’t start it until January 2018 and am now in the final course. I admit I have a variety of feelings because it is the final class. I am feeling a mixture of sadness and happiness, sadness because it is the end of this amazing journey and happiness because I have come so far! However, I look at the experience as everything must come to an end, and  that I am creating several projects that shows people how hard I worked. I look forward to improving both my portfolio and my class and showing them to employers and other people with pride.  I look at all my classmates who dropped out along the way and realize I am very happy I stuck with it. I have so much pride looking at my projects when I first started and how they look now, and how it will be better once I finish. I am excited thinking of the class I am creating! 

In general, I found the program easy because of my experience.  In a previous job I was employed as an instructional designer, where I created classes for my coworkers to learn such as computer training and accounting. When I created classes, I started by doing needs analysis, looking at everything including the skills of the learners, and would go talk to the person requesting the class and why. Once I finished that step, I started designing and implementing the class. This was at a time where technology was not where it is today, though it was only eleven years ago. Back then, the company was run by older workers who did not want to change the ways of learning, so we were still using compact discs for classes. Because I had a previous job as a website designer, I knew how to upload classes on the company intranet, and they were able to access the program anywhere at work. Social media really did not exist at that time as it does now so that was not even considered. I taught myself several software programs to keep up with the technology and this helped me when I decided to go more towards freelance work. After I left my job, I learned how to upload videos on YouTube and how to use Facebook to promote my business.

Having the interest in learning new skills, and already being technological advanced made creating my portfolio and my online class simple for me. I had to learn how Google Sites works but to me it was easier than knowing HTML, which I learned back when I was a website designer. Personally, I do not see many challenges I would face, but in general the biggest challenge outside of technology is time management. One of the biggest issues an online developer occurs is that they do not realize they will need more time than they thought. For me, I like to do a little bit at a time so that I am not overwhelmed. This has helped me in jobs and in school. I am comfortable with skills and I bring to the program many years of experience which will help me. I really feel my skills, along with my willingness to learn new skills will result in me being an even more successful online developer. I know there will be times I will be overwhelmed but I also know the stress will be temporary and the light at the end of the tunnel is a class I am proud of.

Reflections of Course Design

Reflections Of Course Design

It has been a busy semester and we learned so much!  We started by discussing constructive criticism and how we feel about it. I like constructive criticism because it helps me improve and become a better instructor. We discussed the classes we are creating, including overviews, and I enjoyed chatting with my classmates about all our classes, and helping each other. There were three worksheets we completed: non-learner and learner considerations; assessments, and content. Most of the class was connected to these three worksheets.

Design consideration worksheets made us look at any issues, both learner and non-learner issues. We had to identify curriculum design considerations and constraints unique to the online environment, and I did this by looking at many non-learner issues such as technology of the class, and how the developer needs to create the class, so anyone can teach it. Designers need to create so anyone can teach with help such as notes, manuals or tutorials.  I was also able to address learning styles and other student variables when designing an online course by looking at issues such as disabilities and learning styles to create a class with all kinds of learners.  Online classes need to accommodate all types of learners to be successful.  I consider design considerations more of a backbone of a class because it asks the "what if" questions a designer needs to know.

From previous classes, I knew formative assessments measured success early in the class and summative towards the end, and we developed ones that work with our class objectives. We had discussed assessments and objectives before, but never aligned them so that was new. This is important because objectives are what the student needs to know, and assessment is about seeing what they learned and how, and both are essential to a successful class. Once I knew my objectives I selected appropriate strategies for assessing student learning in online courses, and I did this by creating several formative and summative assessments such as discussion posts, blogs, projects, and tests. In general, I think I added more formative assessments because if there is a problem, it can be taken care of before the class progresses and a student gets confused.  One of the objectives for this class, using reflective learning strategies to integrate learning into personal knowledge bases is something I built into several projects by requiring a reflective blog after they did a project. I like reflective blogs since they can show what they learned and how they felt doing so.

We worked on content considerations after assessments, by looking at content presentation, student-content presentation, student-student interaction and student-instructor instruction. I selected strategies for content delivery to support learning objectives by looking at the material I found for each lesson to make sure it fit with the objectives I created. If it did, then I kept it, but if not I either used it as supplemental material or discarded completely. Related to this, I considered designing student-content interactions that will engage students more deeply with course content. I wanted to find material they would like, such as games, videos or articles. I know as a student myself, I don’t like to spend hours reading a boring article, and neither do they. I have seen classmates drop out of programs because of this and wanted to make sure this was decreased or prevented completely.

Designing community-building strategies to improve student retention and enhance learning outcomes was a bit challenging and it was accomplished by creating an environment where the students interact with the material, the other students and the instructor. Probably the best way I created a community was to require discussion posts where each student gives feedback to another in a way that was constructive. I also assigned a group project that will require students to work together. Discussion posts to me are the best way to design student-student interactions and collaborative experiences for online courses, but not the only. I feel the group project is a good idea, along with a thread just for students to discuss anything they feel. Besides students, I needed to incorporate student-faculty interaction into online course design and decided to interact with students from the beginning. I will make announcements every week and create posts, either to respond to them or to start a post. In addition, I will make sure that they know how to get back to me. Students need the interactions to know how they are doing and what they can do to improve.

Once everything came together, I looked at best practice standards and how to apply them to the design and evaluation of online courses. This was probably the hardest because it incorporates everything we studied this semester and bringing it all together to create a class. We looked at a rubric and reviewed this class using it. However, this was a good assignment because then we can use it for any class we are creating to see if it achieves the standards we want or will be required to meet.

While all parts were challenging and informative, my favorite part of the class was the content section because I considered what material to place in my class. For example, I plan to use videos, and create original material and look forward to this. My least favorite was probably the non-learner and learner design consideration because I had to consider so many other factors besides creativity.  In this class I had to look at any questions that would arise both with students and the class itself and how to deal with them. I thought of how I could test student to see what they should learn and what they should learn. I realized that the content is important and what to include in the class and how to align with what they should learn, and how to make them interact with the material, each other and me. I then analyzed all of it to begin the process of creating a new class and what how to judge all of it. It was a lot of work, but I made it through and now onto my final class, so I can receive my certificate and put my skills to use. 

Introduction To Design

Introduction To Design

Before starting the program, I was lucky because I have taught classes but also been an instructional designer. Years later, after I had been an instructional designer I taught religious education to 1^st and 5^th graders and for those classes I developed a lesson plan and a PowerPoint presentation. Since I enjoy online learning, and love creating classes (I created accounts payable and computer training, to name two). I have enjoyed these classes for the certificate and time is flying! I remember when I started, and a bit scared my experience would be a hindrance, but instead has been helpful. I must admit I have enjoyed the previous two classes more than the first two because these are more hands on, compared to reading about teaching. I have learned so much in this program, such as learning styles and probably the most important part of design I took was last semester, when I developed a lesson for my planned class. When I was previously in graduate school for Communications and Training I learned computer graphics and website design and that helped me. These classes for online teaching have shown us how to create classes, including assessments and activities, and how to build classes using sources like Google Sites. I built a portfolio and a website for the class I hope to teach and it is amazing seeing work I created. I keep updating both as the program advances and see a big difference. 

In terms of online classes, I was a trainer/instructional designer at Metra after receiving my first master's, and we developed using the ADDIE method (analyze, design, develop, implement, evaluate), we started by doing a needs analysis, work on the basic design, develop it, then implement it (was it online, or at Metra?) and finally we did a variety of evaluations (how did people learn?). Because not everyone was computer literate we developed both an online and traditional version and with both we wrote training manuals, lesson plans, and expected outcomes. In fact, we had to be very specific due to union rules and had to clearly write for a 5^th grade level. We developed objectives stating what the employee would learn, when they were expected to learn and how. I worked there three years and by the time I left, they were using the intranet, and platforms like YouTube to upload classes so employees could learn at home.  I keep up with my skills and learn new ones to make learning even more accessible to more people. I have no doubt this will help me be an even better worker.

Of course, a question to ask is “how has my experience helped me in these classes?” It has really put me at an advantage to understand class assignments better and help me in developing my ideas. I currently have several ideas for classes I want to consider and when designing them I now consider things in more detail such as learning styles and activities they can do to learn, such as podcasts. I do think the design aspect is interesting and probably the most important part is developing classes with different learning styles in mind. We did this at Metra because people have different abilities and we would create visual or audio, but technology is now more advanced, so it makes it easier to use platforms such as mobile phones. I also consider the rubric important when designing because it is essential to know what the expected outcome is.
         I am very excited to design a class, and look forward to designing lesson plans, and everything to create a great class. I have created possible lesson plans for my project and I enjoy doing this. The project I want to develop is an online religious education class. I previously taught in the class but so many people would be unable to attend due to work or the weather and this will remove obstacles, making it easier for more to receive Confirmation. I know that it will involve more work than my religious education teaching, including tests, activities and active learning but it will be enjoyable creating lessons that will allow more types of learners. I hope that this will increase those making their Confirmation, or just learning more about the Bible. After that, my outcome is to return to instructional design, with even more skills to show, and an updated portfolio to show employers! 

Part 3 Reflections

Part 3 Reflections

I have reached the end of this class and I can see a difference in my skills. Whereas part 1 was about the roles an instructor plays, and part 2 dealt with facilitator roles, part 3 relates to assessments, diversity, ethics, and common problems in online teaching. These areas are essential to understand because they relate to teaching in a way a student learns. With assessments it was explained they are used to understand what students are learning and how. There are three types of assessments: diagnostic, formative and summative. Diagnostic are given before the beginning of class to determine what the student knows. These are usually samples such as papers or pre-tests. However, formative and summative are more common and can be confusing. Formative assessments are given to students while the students are still in the class to see what they are picking up from the subject. There are several kinds of formative assessments such as midterms, papers, observing students in class, journals and homework. These are great because if a student is struggling, the instructor can work with the student to help them understand better.

Summative assessments are given at the end of class and examples could be finals, final papers, student evaluations, and portfolios. The result is what did the student learn and what issues have arisen from the class? Evaluations are great to help the teacher know what they need to improve to help students. Another assessment to "test" students is authentic assessment. In this assessment, students must demonstrate what they know instead of just writing about it. One of the best ways for a teacher to assess a student is through rubrics. Rubrics clearly state what the student should mention in the assignment, and how they get a higher grade for the assignment, such as clear, concise writing with sources. However, it should be mentioned that to assess the student, the assessments should be fair. The teacher needs to make sure the learning outcomes are clear, that the assessments and the subject are the same, that they use different tools, that the teacher is ready to help the student, that they engage the students, the results are interpreted correctly, and to evaluate assessments

https://bb9.govst.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-1646171-dt-content-rid-14746177_1/courses/ONTL-6201-01_18SU/FairAssessmentPractices_Suskie_Lesson8_1_ONTL6201.pdf

When mentioning fair assessments, diversity and ethics plays a part. Teachers need to be aware of a student's background and how it plays into learning. For example, humor might work for some ethnic groups, but in other groups it could be considered offensive. A teacher needs to learn what is offensive and to avoid it. A teacher could learn the culture by asking the student to talk about themselves. This is a good way to learn, not only for the student but the teacher. Ethics is another part of teaching and a teacher needs to know what is wrong for the class, even if they don't think it is. A major example is plagiarism where someone takes directly without citing a source. Many times, it is a mistake that can be corrected but other times a student is just taking without using their own words. This can cause many problems, including expelled from school or the teacher being fired. One way to avoid this issue is for the teacher to change assignments often. This is just one common problem though. As an instructor, teaching a class means to understand problems will arise, such as students not participating or online fights. An instructor will learn various tactics to handle these, such as steering the conversation away from the hot topic, and helping the student understand how to participate in a way that benefits everyone. 

These lessons help me understand what a teacher does besides teach. They must look at the assessments to see where students are struggling so they can make it easier for all. They look at what is working or what isn’t, so they can make it easier for students. They could create a rubric so what is expected is listed. They need to take in consideration the student's background, so they can learn even with disadvantages. The teachers need to keep up with what is offensive and how they can deal with it. They also must watch out for plagiarism and making sure they are able to handle common problems with online teaching. All of this will result in a kind, caring instructor who makes the learning experience valuable for all the students. 

Bibliography

Suskie, L. (2000). Fair Assessment Practices: Giving Students Equitable. AAHE Bulletin, 16. https://bb9.govst.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-1646171-dt-content-rid-14746177_1/courses/ONTL-6201-01_18SU/FairAssessmentPractices_Suskie_Lesson8_1_ONTL6201.pdf

Self Reflection Online Facilitation

Self Reflection Online Facilitation

I did my first online facilitation on Lesson 7, called “The Technical Role of the Online Instructor” on June 27, 2018 at 7:30pm. I was lucky because I had seen how my classmates handled theirs and knew what to expect. However, I have worked as an instructional designer, so I already knew about the various learning management systems, or LMS, needed to be effective. Since the class (and this program) is Blackboard focused I concentrated on that program. I created a presentation for the synchronous part and for the asynchronous section I kept the discussion boards going.

I first concentrated on the synchronous part of the lesson, which dealt with the presentation. First, I read the chapter then created the slides discussing my background and what I found important. I was worried someone would say “hey not related” because my experience is dated, but I did tie it to Blackboard and other current technology. I prepared by relaxing and doing the work slowly, including research and the presentation. I also created notes in the event it wasn’t making sense. I didn’t apply a different technique as the days came closer, rather I just kept going back to edit my presentation. If I had to say I was surprised by anything it would have to be that the lesson really stressed an instructor needs to be technical savvy. I know HTML, but I didn’t think an instructor needed to know that. I was happy to be honest they need to know this because knowing technical skills will help me, not to mention help me with the students in the event of situations, such as a dead link. My biggest issue in general was that I hate public speaking and often get so nervous. However, speaking about something I knew, and then studying was a blessing. I wish I had created more exciting topics to ponder, I feel I was lacking in that but in general the presentation worked because I used my experience and the sources related to the chapter.

Once I finished the synchronous part, I worked on the asynchronous part. Since classmates were posting at different times, I found it was an ongoing thing. How I started was by reading each post. Luckily, everyone knew the topic but if they hadn’t, I would have steered the conversation towards that. Since they did, I was able to banter with them by asking questions. I hope the questions were thought provoking and I learned a lot from my classmates by what they were thinking, and resources. My fear was I wouldn’t have made sense with the questions, but everyone knew, and my expectation was that everyone would answer the questions the way I hoped, and they did. This was my only technique or this and it worked as both answered and a few times even asked me questions. I wasn’t really surprised by anything as both of my classmates are very intelligent, though was surprised at times they asked me something. If I could have improved anything, I think I would have searched additional questions to keep the post going even more.

Having done both parts of an online facilitator, I would say my biggest takeaway is that there is more to becoming an online instructor than I realized. I hadn’t thought of discussion posts, for example, because my instructor often never responded. Also, I liked the technical aspects and that is part of the job. I really like finding sources online and then creating a presentation that all types of students will understand. I also like the idea of creating social media to use in my class, such as Facebook. An online instructor is more than a teacher, they are an instructional designer, a technology expert, a creator and even a student because they must keep learning so they can help other students. What I used years ago to create classes is outdated and many years from now, current technology will be obsolete, so an online instructor must roll with the changes to be an effective facilitator.

Part 2 Reflections

Part 2 Reflections

When I wrote last time, I spoke about the four parts of online teaching, which are: the pedagogical role, the social role, the managerial role and the technical role. I discussed that the pedagogical role deals with the “art” of teaching, the social role involves using sources such as social media and the ways to use them in online teaching. The third aspect is the managerial role, otherwise known as how the teacher gets to know the students and how they can make the usage friendlier towards them. Finally, the technical part was explained, which is all about creating courses. Since I already have a background in creating classes this section was very easy towards. Now, I am going to talk about the Facilitator Roles.

When discussing the role an instructor plays, making a diary should be mentioned. Since an instructor will have many duties and the online classes will add more responsibility, they should write down how they are going to fit in the class and why. As an online student, along with everything else going on in my life I find it a good idea to write down what I am going to do for that day and even that week. That way I have space allotted for online. This is something I plan to continue as an instructor.  Once an instructor has started keeping a diary (which can be just notes), one of the things they should do is make assessments. The assessments are in place before the instructor starts and are usually included in the Learning Management System used, such as Blackboard. These can include three different types of assessments: diagnostic, formative and summative. Diagnostic are usually done before class starts, formative during class and summative are after.  For example, pre-tests to see how well the students are doing, a quiz during the class would be formative and summative examples would include a final and a survey asking what a student learned. In addition, there are authentic assessments, which often consists of real-world experience, such as having them demonstrate a chemistry experiment, or doing an internship to apply what they learned.  One of the best ways’ teachers can assess students’ progress is by creating rubrics that lay out what exactly what is expected.

There is one aspect to assessments that teachers need to be aware of and that is the ethical issues and diversity. Ethical is defined as making sure teachers are teaching in a way that is fair. For example, they must be competent in the field they are studying, they need to make the class fair to all, they must be sensitive to each student’s needs, they need to make sure they are helping the student advance in the topic, they can’t play favoritism with students, they must be careful not to share things like grades with others besides the student, they need to be fair, and respect other teachers and the school. Unfortunately, many teachers forget some of this and they make it more difficult. I am dealing with a professor now who is breaking many of these rules and the ethics are being challenge. With ethical challenges, there is also cultural diversity. A good way I like to explain diversity is to make it fair to all regardless of their nationality, race, or gender, or anything that makes them unique. This can be difficult with online since some students will be different races and nationalities and ages, so a good instructor realizes this and will incorporate activities that will be beneficial such as discussing about their background.  The instructor needs to understand their life and do things that help them, including giving them more time in the case of a spoken presentation.

While looking at these aspects, I think an instructor should do several things. First, they need to create a rubric and make sure it applies to all students. Then they could ask each student to write about their background and learn that their needs. The instructor should make sure that if they do not know a background of a student they should learn. The instructor is expected to make sure they are not discriminating against a student and they are fair towards all. They also need to make sure they use several assessments depending on the student, such as having them create a video or using collaborative programs. This reminds me of when I did both of my presentations two weeks in a role. I made sure I developed Power Points that made sense and when needed, went more in-depth. This is what a teacher needs to do, including asking the students questions and answering questions. Doing these sessions made each of us more human because we often forget that when you don’t see people in person. I was glad I had to do more research to create a presentation because it prepares me for a role of online instructor. I was a little bit afraid of doing it but am glad I did it as it will help me become more confident, which will help in my online instructor position.