I am just beginning to get a grasp on how AI works. I haven't used it enough to know if I can responsibly direct it to perform an action. 

I agree Holly. I am acutely aware that not all of my students are interested in the specialty area taught in my course, but they are required to complete the course as part of their program. I have tried to find ways to make it more relevant to their interests, but I think it might be helpful to learn a little more about these students to help make it more relevant to them.

This is also what I have learned from this course. I have an innate desire to know a little about my students and have tried to use this. I think after this course I will be able to expand upon that to know all of the students instead of just the ones that are more vocal and readily engage.

I learned the types of businesses and professions that offer VIs and how to avoid scam VIs. I don't think it is directly applicable to the type of internships our program needs, but I think a portion of our internships might be able to use a virtual component along with in person responsibilities.

When transitioning a course from F2F to online it is important to organize the information well and select what is most important "need to know" to provide short lectures that emphasize this content. It is also important to be consistent in how materials are organized so students become familiar with where to find what they need. Presenting yourself as an instructor, both at the beginning and throughout the course, in a way that helps students connect with you helps the student feel welcomed and more present in the course.

Being the "Guide on the Side" and facilitating discussions and interactions with the course content is an important role of the instructor in the online environment. Making expectations for interactions clear is not only important at the start course but on an ongoing basis. It is important for the course instructor to keep tabs on the direction that discussions are taking and gently guide them back on track when they are going off topic.

Active learning activities can be used to enhance critical thinking skills in both the online and F2F environment. Active learning activities can also occur in both sychronous and asynchronous formats. When listening to lectures and taking notes students don't typically learn as much about application of the information. Collaborative learning techniques are one type of active learning and can develop skills that the students will be able to use in real life situation such as learning to better communicate with others in their work environments. 

It is important to gather data from multiple sources when evaluating your course. Using both quantitative and qualitative measures is the ideal way to get the best overall picture of how effective your course is. Different types of data fit best with the different stakeholders in the course outcomes.

Students should be made aware up front at the beginning of the course that it will involve active engagement in the learning process on their part. It is important that the instructor explain the "why" of active learning and what the students will get out of it in a way that students can relate it to thier own lives. Keeping the students motivated to complete the active learning activities is part of this and the instructor needs to take time to research the available tools that students could use to complete projects and assignments and decide which ones might line… >>>

I think I started as an instructor in an academic program thinking that all students would have already developed some level of critical thinking skills by the time that they reach college. Being reminded that recent models of K-12 education have focused more on "teaching to the tests" as a way to meet the requirements that all students be able to demonstrate certain basic knowledge in order to graduate from high school. The idea that this focus in education has limited the development of critical thinking skills and led students to expect that this will be the same with advanced… >>>