Designing+an+Online+Course+Reflection

In working with UbD and an online course management system during this course, I learned a few things about lesson design and utilizing online course systems. I found the Backward Design very interesting, but I don't see how I can make the time to implement it. I am already overwhelmed with all my other duties as a teacher. It doesn't seem to be something that can be integrated in small amounts over a period of time, but an all or nothing proposition. I will try to keep some of the concepts in mind.

I don't feel I learned much with Schoology. I felt that the process was extremely rushed. Doing Steps 3 and 4 and then creating activities and inputting them in a single week seemed counter-productive to the entire point of the class. I'm sure Schoology is a very useful online class management system, but I won't be using it due to the fact that our district is using Moodle as their online Course management system. I plan on utilizing some of the lesson ideas that I came up with for Schoology, and incorporate them into my classes next year in Moodle. It is helpful to have the experience of online education from both the teacher and student perspectives. Over the last 18 months I have seen it from the student perspective, during this course I've had the opportunity to see it from the teacher's point of view. I think this is very beneficial to myself and my students.

I think that designing online learning will become a critical skill in just a few years; in fact, I think it will begin to be implemented as part of teacher education very shortly. Having the skill to create online lessons gives teachers yet another way to approach learning, and once set up, can make meeting a variety of learning needs much easier as it allows students to self-select their learning approach. Online learning provides opportunities that are not available in a regular classroom, such as virtual science experiments. Sites like explorelearning.com, to which I had a trial membership, provides students with the chance to manipulate data in a way that is not possible in a classroom or science lab. I found it very interesting, even if I do not teach science or math.

I have already started utilizing online learning in my classroom in a small degree, by incorporating YouTube videos into lessons. I have also created a classroom Facebook page, this was done later in the year, so it has not yet realized its full potential. I am hoping with it being fully implemented from the beginning of the year next year, it will become a vital tool in communicating with students and parents. Parents and students that already have Facebook pages will be more likely to check that then yet another web site. Next year I will utilize Moodle, it is a district expectation, as well as something I'm very excited about. I know teachers in classrooms with laptops are using Moodle to create tests this year. I'm sure my experiences over the course of this class, and the entirety of the master's program will help me utilize the potential of online learning to a much fuller extent.