Mary JoAnn LeClaire

What I learned in this module is being able to get to know my students and have them get to know me.  By establishing a relationship with students will allow an open relationship that will engage students to learn.  On the first day of class, as an instructor I can establish a relationship with the students by providing a biography of my academic credentials and professional experience.  I can also ask the students to write a biography as well. 

I learned that as an online instructor, one needs to make sure that the students know when you are available, what the expectations are of the course, how they can get support if they need technical assistance, how they can reach to the instructors.  As an instructor, I need to know how to access the student's roster, grade book, chat, Discussion post, know my way around CMS.  

I learned that you need to be able to know what type of delivery content with different types of method to use that will be effective for different types of learners.

What I learned from this module is you need to prepare ahead of time and make sure you have thoroughly thought of everything that you will need for the class/lab that day.  How I will do this is have a check list of all the things that I will need.

Being a professional means to me is how I dress, communicate, behave and being respectful to others (students, fellow colleagues, patients, staff and others).  

Critical thinking skills is a difficult skill to obtain which requires higher order thinking skills.  As an instructor, it is what we strive for the students.  Employers are always looking for employees who possess these skills.  Group activities such as collaborative activities such as role playing, case studies, group projects can help broaden the student's critical thinking skills.  This is what I would use to help students with critical thinking skills.  

I learned that active learning is essential for the students to be involved and engaged in.  I plan on applying active learning to my students by having them participate, reflect, listen and write.

Incorporating active learning activities into an online classroom can give the students the opportunity to build upon what they know.  As an instructor, I will try and incorporate active learning to support what they have learned online.  In addition, as an instructor, I must reiterate to the students the importance of being responsible and accountable for their own learning.

An active learner needs to be able to write, discuss, read and reflect to engaged in problem solving.  An active learner also needs to be able to be responsible and accountable in their own learning.  As instructors, we need to be able to make more of an effect to make it more "fun" for the students so that they can be an active learner.

Online courses for both instructor and student can face many challenges.  By identifying the types of student you have can help accommodate students steer them to be a successful learner and avoid attrition.  In addition, following through with the institution's policy can help instructor with students who are disruptive.