Cheryl Rogers

I learned that self-paced online learning can be a benefit for a student with good self-mastery and time management skills, as it allows them to work ahead and possibly finish their program in a shorter timeframe. But simultaneously, self-paced learning can also be a challenge for a student without these skills, as they can fall into the pitfall of procrastination, leading to poorer quality work and needed revision time.

What I learned is that students may say they are familiar/comfortable using technology but not realize that the technology they use is very different from technology that will be utilized in the course. So an instructor will need to provide helps and guides for the technology s/he uses in the course.

I was reminded that written communication is even more important in an online course, because there is no face-to-face opportunity to make announcements or have discussion. Communication must be clear, complete, and concise.

I have learned that students need to be prepared prior to starting the online course. They need to have technology and familiarity with operating it. They need to dedicate a block of time for study and treat it as an appointment that cannot be cancelled. And I have learned that teachers can increase their online presence by recording regular videos for announcements.

While I am already familiar with a variety of active learning techniques for the face-to-face environment, this module gave me more ideas for active learning techniques for the online environment. It also described ways that students' smartphones can be utilized for activities.

I was surprised to learn that it helps to motivate students if the first few assessments of the term are non-graded. I will definitely experiment with this in my classroom!

From this module I learned that I should anticipate potential resistance from my institution and the students as I evolve into using more active learning methods, but that perseverance will bring rewards in greater student achievement and satisfaction.

I have been using active learning techniques through the past year and found them very effective. This module has given me an understanding of the "why" behind what I am already doing.

I had the concept reinforced to me that adults have an attention span of only 15 minutes, so I need to prepare my class into 15-minute blocks of mini-lectures or other learning activities.

I learned that on the first day of a new class I need not to focus on my own comfort but on helping the students feel at ease. This is accomplished by learning their names, letting them learn something about other students, and setting expectations for what will be learned.