ELRC 7502 Principles in Distance Education

Modules 5 & 6: Certificate Learning

During Weeks 5–6, we choose a free certificate program that aligned with your professional interests and goals. We weren't limited to a single platform or topic. Options included MOOCs, teacher professional development resources, and learning opportunities offered by major education and technology organizations. 

The purpose of these two weeks was to give us space to explore a learning pathway meaningful to us while gaining firsthand experience with self-paced online learning and professional upskilling. We may have completed one or more certificates in other courses, but for this course, we made sure to select and complete a new one.

1. Which certificate course did you choose, and why?
I chose the Sportsmanship course on NFHS, a website that has been immensely helpful in my teaching career and has even trickled into my coaching career. In undergrad we had to get certificates from NFHS in a lot of important areas like The Female and Male Athlete triad, Implicit Bias, Concussion in Sports, Sudden Cardiac Arrest, Engaging Effectively with Parents, Fundamentals of Coaching, and the New Jersey State Component to name a few. There's always valuable tools to add to the toolbox with NFHS.

2. How does this course connect to your work, interests, or career goals?
Like I stated earlier, there are always valuable tools to add to the toolbox with NFHS, and the Sportsmanship aspect in PE can be understated. I have learners that struggle greatly in this aspect, and it's reared its ugly head in the past two sports we've done, pickleball and hockey. Arming myself with some alternate or new ways to handle this could be extremely valuable.

3. What have you noticed so far about the course design and learning experience?
From a course design perspective, this course aligns with QM principles by presenting clear objectives, structured modules, and scenario-based assessments that reinforce expected behaviors. From a learning experience standpoint, it reflects the CoI framework by promoting cognitive presence through real life situations and decision making, while also supporting teaching presence through guided instruction.

4. What is one early takeaway, insight, or surprise from your learning so far?
I had no idea Sportsmanship was an area that could be delved into so deeply!

1. What certificate course did you complete?
I completed the Sportsmanship course on NFHS. The certificate is posted above.

2. What are your key takeaways from the course?
The course had some major takeaways, as it gave you the perspective of multiple different people and how & why Sportsmanship was important. I learned that when it comes to sporting events, it's important to remember that you're a teacher first, and how you model your behavior is how all of your athletes will model theirs. Sportsmanship trickles into every aspect of the school as well. Most of the learners in your PE class are going to make up the fans of the sporting events, and it's crazy that that was brought up because we experienced some of the most poor sportsmanship situations I've ever seen at Hackensack High School as a spectator. The kids were yelling disturbing obscenities, and when the game was over, they threw bottles at the players from the opposing team in frustration. It all starts with the teaching or lack thereof of sportsmanship in PE.

3. How is this learning useful to your work or career goals?
As a PE teacher and a basketball coach at my school, this learning was invaluable in my work/career goals. I was taught the importance of sportsmanship and how to view it from the perspective of not only a teacher & coach, but as a learner, as a fan, a parent, and a spectator.

4. What did you notice about the design of the learning experience?
From a course design perspective, this course aligned well with QM principles by presenting clear objectives, structured modules, and scenario based assessments that reinforce expected behaviors. From a learning experience standpoint, it reflected the CoI framework by promoting cognitive presence through real life situations and decision making, while also supporting teaching presence through guided instruction.

5. Would you recommend this certificate course to others in our class? Why or why not?

I would definitely recommend this certificate course to anyone in our class that has anything to do with PE or sports in their school. It's immensely important to understand sportsmanship deeper than the surface level; it can change how things go at your school and how the learners are when they're adults, spectating their kids, when they're in college being fans.