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This past week, I spent most of my nights reading discussion forum posts from about 20+ educators exploring an Introduction to Online Learning course. The course had been adapted from PBS TeacherLine’s course, modified heavily (and revised/re-written, improved on from our perspective) to match our needs and to reflect Moodle’s structure, and has recently been modified yet again (image below).

Each of the “topics” has a textbook (book module) with all the readings and media needed, an activity of some sort, which could include a forum, questionnaire (using module by the same name) or assignment upload. To get to this revised course, 3 of us spent a lot of time reworking the course, trying to make it more organized. Eventually, we placed loose materials at the bottom rather than the top.

One of the thrilling aspects of the course was that it brought educators from around the District into closer contact with each other, essentially enabling them to discover how wonderful the other people in the courses were, regardless of location. It’s been an eye-opening experience for me, as well as the participants.

Here is some of their feedback regarding the online course:

Online learning has given me a new perspective in education. It allows me to access discussion forums, and opens up a new world of resource availability along with fellow colleagues which enhance my ability to better teach the students in my classroom. In addition, it allows me to enhance our students’ minds with online strategies, activities, and resources.

After reading the introduction, I realized that online learning gives those of us who work opportunities for continued education at our own time and pace. I agree that some online learning actually takes more time that face-to-face coursework because you must not only complete the coursework itself, you must also give yourself time to reflect and respond to other’s thinking.

I know that I am an independent learner, but I also know that I am one to respond positively through active conversation with others. I felt that the only way to do that was in a traditional classroom; now I understand that I can have that active conversation through others’ comments and postings. I now see online learning as a win-win situation. I have flexibility, opportunity, and open dialog with others (even though we are not in the same room)!

I am a verbal person but I have learned out to communicate with writings. I will challenge myself to continue to do this and continue to talk on the forums. The more I do it the more I will be able to communicate effectively. I feel like you stop learning then you need to stop teaching. I am a life long learner and will continue my education. As my husband and I begin to start a family I know that with time management I will need to use the online course.

I think this is a great idea for professional development courses. Everyone has different levels of experience, so it would make sense to let everyone work at their own pace. I hate sitting through an afternoon filled with information I’ve heard at least 2-3 times. I think online learning is the way to go. It saves time and frustration on everyone’s part.

before this course, i would have probably NEVER considered online courses. now, i think this is the perfect way for me to further my education. i always have felt a lot of pressure when it comes to time. with the online course, i can work any spare minute i have. this is perfect for professional development and other work-related purposes because i can complete tasks at my pace and when i have time to devote to the course (which is usually late at night or the weekends). i feel that i have gotten so much out of this course. i am really wondering why i have not done online learning before approve!

I can see that this course has taught me ways to navigate on line in a much easier fashion than I had been navigating. I didn’t know about the correct netiqette for discussions over the internet. Once I read about that it made sense. I want to study more about Big6 and twitter. I had never heard of these. It’s always good to learn about things that can truly be implemented in the classroom right away and with our students becoming bored so easily, we need all the help we can get.

I can’t say my view has changed my perspective as I’ve always wanted to do online versus traditional. Online allows me to multi task without being accused of not paying attention, and allows me to take a break when I lose concentration. I also have a tendency in class to get annoyed with fellow classmates who have to over analyze everything and this way allows them to analyze and me to only hear their final result.

My perspective on the online professional learning/development has changed my mind about taking online course. I use to like the traditional environment setting since reading the material I like reading the material off the computer. I know what is expected of me to manage time and schedule assignments and life accordingly. It can all be done with commitment. Taking the first part of the online course was a challenge because I did not know what to expect but now I am finished. Also I know that taking this course will enhance by professional development which can be applied in the classroom.

My initial perspective was that it was going to be easy and trivial and that I prefer a traditional class setting. Once I got online and began chatting in the forums and hearing what other people were saying, I began to change my mind. I stated that I am typically the shy one in the back of the class. Although I still had a hard time expressing my self, I was able to open up more easily and talk about the different topics being posted. I think that is the case because I wasn’t being judged like some people do in a traditional classroom. My opinion also changed when I thought about all that traffic I WOULDN’T be driving in.

This course comes at a time when time is a real issue for me. I tried an online professional development before, when time was not a major issue. Therefore, this course comes at a perfect time. It is allowing me to grow professionally in the area of technology, while accomodating my hectic schedule.

This introductory course has greatly influenced how I feel about online learning. Although I was very nervous at first it has clearly given me the self confindence to take on a course of this nature. In addition this course has given me the opportunity to reflect on my own experiences and evaluate those skills I already had. I encourage anyone who is skeptical about an online course to embrace it with open arms and reap the benefits it has to offer.

I used to scoff at the idea of online learning. For some reason, I saw it as less academically challenging, even disreputable. Now that I understand what is involved with online learning, I see that it is just as challenging and rewarding as a traditional course. If I had not taken Introduction to Online Learning, I know my opinion would still be the same.

The comment that makes me smile is this one – My opinion also changed when I thought about all that traffic I WOULDN’T be driving in. It seems like such a simple thing but when you work in a big city, dealing with traffic is certainly a pain and inconvenience.

Our next steps? We have several PBS TeacherLine courses that we’ve licensed and that have been converted to Moodle format. We’ll start rolling those out as is, but then begin chopping the 30 hour courses into smaller segments we can offer. I hope to do the same thing with the LOTI Lead Teacher 10 week course our Technology Integration Lead Teacher program participants are going through…licensing the content, bringing it in house and customizing it for our population of educators.

What to do after that? Well, I want to see us develop the following courses so that we can start training our in-house curriculum specialists:

• How to Facilitate Online Courses
• How to Develop Online Courses

The purpose of these two courses is obvious to me…we need to build capacity in our teaching staff to facilitate professional learning opportunities, as well as learn how to develop online courses.

What fun to be learning again!

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure