Anne Davidson

"Communication" is often the buzz word for a successful relationship, but it is not as simple as it sounds.  Communiccation is not just speaking to one another or expressing feelings and expecting understanding.  It is already a challenge to communicate verbally.  It is especially challenging to communicate via text with online learners.  This lesson made me realized more that choice of words and context make a tremendous difference in diffusing an unpleasant situation with students.  Often, written communication is written with emotion, therefore, certain "negative" term is used instead of a more "positive" tone.  I would strive to learn more… >>>

There is no denying that technology is a strong driving force for modern learners.  We, as educators, have no choice but to embrace it.  I was not surpirsed to learn that students considered technology is just as important as food, water, and shelter. It is their connection to everything around them.  However, with all the most advance gadgets of technology, there is no substitute for F2F interaction.  It is in the best interest of the institution to provide options to enhance online students learning which should include video accessibility so the students could have F2F experience even without being in… >>>

It's an ongoing misconcenption that online learning is inferior to face-to-face learning because people think online learning is easier.  To learn that online and face-to-face leanring are equivalent in delivering education, but also employers are not differentiating the qualifications for employment based on method of acquiring a degree.  

As we move more into the world of technology, institutions much embrace and structure their class offering via online in order to be more competitive.  Not only should an institution offers a variety of classes, but it also have to focus on retention of leaners by making online classes user friendly… >>>

Retention in any industry mandates "good services" and attentiveness to the patrons, in this case, the students.  This chapter emphasized the importance of human interactions and relationship.  By continuous efforts to address students' needs, the retention rate will increase due to the fact that any challenges and issues were addressed.  This allows the students to feel that their education matters and that their concerns are met.

Critical is a great way to empower students to promote responsibility of learning.  Discussion boards and group work is great but still lack the human interaction factor.  I like the idea of group work but some how the online group discussion is lost on me.  I feel that participation is not as productive as F2F.  However, there are pros & cons to online discussion.  By dictating specific parameters, online learners could have more freedom to complete  the assignments assuming that time management is successful.  Often time, online learners lack time management due to the fact the assumption of "too much"… >>>

Online learning is not as simple as it sounds.  Every thinks it's an easy "A".  There's much to consider with the "Active Learning" methodology including learners' situations, educators' attitudes, and modern technology.  The idea of a rubric provides clear communication of expections vs performance to the learners.  Students should be able to understand what the educator is looking for and perform accordingly, clarifications are needed if there's additional questions.

There are many misconceptions as well as expectations about online classes.  I have heard exactly what the lesson mentioned that online classes are easy A's, which is not true.  Just like traditional classes, learners must do the work to earn the grades.  Per lesson, many learners expect the lessons to be "spoon fed", then they just have to do some simple tasks and the lesson is done.  

As an educator, there are many aspects to consider when creating lesson plans for learners.  As in this class, I appreciate the consistency and format of the class as well as the… >>>

The activve learning is a "win-win" learning method that the learners could engage in to make learning more interesting.  Be placing the responsibility of learning on the students, they feel more invested in the process and are more motivated to learn.  The educator's main purpose is to facilitate and guide the students in the process will encourage the students to be more active in the learning process.  I find this is a better and more way teaching method to conduct a class.

There are so much information and resources available to assist educators in desigining lessons for their learners.  I find that it's already a challenge authoring course work for non-disabled learners.  With the added challenges of disabled learners, educators are more than ever relying special education just to learn to include all the nuances needed to accommodate these students.  Being an educator today is not just about teaching subject matter, but it also include how to design and deliver your course work to ALL students.