Although my goals for an online classroom were clear, I needed some strategies, tools and techniques that reflect my intent to online learners. I have been looking at various programs that could provide me a comprehensive toolkit to be able to implement what I intend to design. I was particularly looking for video creation skills and techniques to build student rapport with a variety of learners to the same extent that I am able to do in a face to face setting. I wanted to acquire at least some researched and time-tested skills rather than experimenting every bit. I had the skills to organize the content for a smooth flow but needed tools to increase humanized student participation and interaction.
Participating in the Humanizing Online Academy has greatly enhanced my knowledge pertaining to effective online course instruction. I have acquired skillset on online instruction tools, developed new strategies to engage students with the online content and to implement a humanized approach in my outreach and feedback delivery to students.I have already started providing audio and video feedback to students in my classes. With these, I hope my online courses are more accessible, equitable and engaging for all students.
This program has not only given me the skills but allowed me to experience them as a learner, as the program has been modeled after the practices being taught. I got to experience, learn and practice all these techniques. I feel fairly confident with the skills that I have acquired to be able to go look at my course redesign through a much improved lens. In addition, I have realized that these skills are very interesting to me and I want to look for avenues to further them as much as possible to make my classes a rich experience to students.