Reflections

It has been an exciting semester and hard to believe it is over. When I first heard that we were going to facilitate a week of classes I was a bit nervous. I was afraid that I would screw up or that I couldn’t run the page. After all, technology is changing so who knew if I kept up? Needless to say, I figured it out quickly.

However, before I facilitated my week I learned several new things. First, I learned the differences between online and face to face. I learned that online has become more student centered than in the past. For example, teachers are more of consultants now than they are teachers. They are allowed self direction, so students can explore on their own. I also learned that part of being an online instructor means seeking out sources for students to learn, including articles and videos. The instructor has to offer several ways to learn new ideas. I should also mention that one of the tools a new instructor needs to understand would be asynchronous versus synchronous discussion. Synchronous is explained as happening at that moment, and an example was when we had to create an online presentation to host. We all hosted a synchronous event at 7:30 pm most of the weeks where the person presenting would be live. In addition, we all moderated asynchronous discussions where people could post any time and we could respond once they posted. Asynchronous can occur at any time and there is no set time. I liked that we had a sandbox so to speak where we could learn the tools for our week.

While discussing the roles of an instructor it is essential to explain the four main parts of being an online instructor: the pedagogical, social, managerial and technical roles. The pedagogical role is more along the lines of the art role of this. The instructor becomes more experienced once they start exploring what works and what doesn’t. To me, this part really falls into making sure the class is student centered. The next role, the social role, deals with the “community” aspect. For example, the great example of this is social media and how it plays a part. I searched several Facebook and YouTube pages of instructors using those platforms to help students and not only does it teach, but it makes it more exciting. The third role is the managerial and this means to make sure the class is ready for the students. An instructor will need to make sure the web links are working, and the class is student friendly because nothing is more frustrating than dead sources. The fourth role is the technical part. This can be explained as making sure the instructor has some technical background such as HTML and that they know how the site runs. The teacher needs to learn the various tools for the class and able to explain them to the students if needed.

We didn’t just learn the roles the instructor plays but how it affects their life. We learned to write a diary to keep the class organized and this is a great skill for a busy instructor. Discussing assessments was important and I liked how there are differences between formative, which happens during class discussions, midterms etc.), summative, which is after (a final test for instance), and authentic which often involves the student demonstrating what they learned versus just writing about it. Diversity and ethics was also taught, and this is important in any field but especially teaching since there are many types of people and we need to make sure we are fair and take in consideration a student’s background. Finally, we discussed the problems that may occur in teaching, such as students not coming to class or participating. As instructors we need to know all of this. Before the class I knew about diversity and ethics, but this was a good refresher.

To read my reflections part 3: Assessments, Diversity, Ethics, and Common Problems Assessments

I enjoyed all of it but especially the weeks on technical and social roles because this fits with my background. I had done assessments before, but I saw a different angle to it. I hadn’t thought of how teaching could have an artistic background but after reading about it I see that a successful teacher needs to love what they are doing and explore ways to keep learning. All of this is important as I pursue an online teaching certificate and become more experienced in the role of an online instructor.

My reflection of facilitating an online discussion

6201 Individual Work

6201 Group Work

6201 The Role Of The Instructor Home Page