Quotes from Activities and Readings:"It is not the medium that facilitates learning but the instructional strategies employed that result in satisfactory online experiences and student outcomes." (Rice, 2015, p. 19)
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Thoughts, Learning, and Questions:Week 3 Reflections:
This week we were to create an Interview Tool to use as we get to know our online families. Luckily, I already work in an online environment and was able to use my Interview Tool with around fifteen new students before school began in August. My favorite question, "Tell me about ______'s strengths," is often the platform to discuss strengths, weaknesses, accommodations, hobbies, interests, siblings, familial, needs, etc. I like using that question because it also focuses on the positives of the student's personality. It helps me paint a picture in my own mind about the student, and I'm pleasantly surprised to find that my picture and the actual student are very close to the same. I am able to take notes on the student's curricular strengths and struggles as well as the their personality strengths and struggles. It helps me make informed decisions about curriculum choices and necessary modifications for the student to start the year successfully. Having a template also helps to keep me on track with the parents. When I've gotten and shared the information I need, I can easily make informed professional decisions about my students. In the past, I have just asked the questions and taken notes in Evernote, but chose to create a GoogleForm that I will be able to download to my phone and use with new students that enroll for next trimester. I created a response with Jane Doe to make sure it was functioning properly. I can add to or take away questions that I find are missing or redundant. I have found that having a list of questions to answer helps me to stay on track; oftentimes, a question may lead to a side conversation, but I will have to go back and be able to answer all my questions before submitting my Form, which will help me to reiterate answers and my understanding of the 'big picture' of my new students with their parent/guardian. Week 4 Reflection:
Potential issues that need to be addressed when promoting online communities are: 1. Parents that are unwilling to let students participate in online forums. In my own experience, I have a large number of parents that are participating in online school to keep their kids away from outside influences. The bubble they are creating is difficult to break through. However, I have good rapport with those same parents and have found that a frank conversation has helped them to see that I am a ‘safe place’ for their student to learn to utilize social media. 2. Cyber bullying. When in my online classroom, I am able to monitor and rectify any situations that might arise in this area. 3. Pirating/Plagiarism. I have a lot of plagiarism in my online program. Most of my students are old enough to know better, but because they haven’t had a lot of experience with getting papers graded by a certified teacher, they haven’t had a lot of feedback by experienced graders. Their first feedback regarding plagiarism is a difficult time to have the conversation about the negative effects of piracy and plagiarism. Here is a link to my Online Community building strategies and their justifications. Week 6/7 Reflection:
I spent some time this last week creating my Netiquette Presentation in PowToon. After some frustrating technical issues with BSU, and back-door maneuvering, I had a good experience recreating my PowToon about How To BE Online. It is definitely something that was out of my comfort zone, but I was also able to feel much more comfortable with the features of the program. It was extremely user-friendly and intuitive, but if I'm going to do anything more with it, I'll definitely pay for some of the extra options. |
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