Diana Carolina Romero Dinas

I learned about Career Management Skills (CMS) which are essential for managing one's career and regularly reviewing performance throughout their professional life. 

These skills include:

1. Self-awareness: enabling students to make informed career choices.

2. Career development planning and exploration: allowing students to envision their future careers.

3. Lifelong learning: adapting to ongoing innovations and updating knowledge and skills.

4. Networking: building personal and professional relationships crucial for career growth.

As instructors, we can help students develop and reinforce these skills by:

- Providing exploration spaces and feedback.

- Conducting career interviews to inform students about their desired careers.… >>>

Professionalism and work ethic are characteristics that aim to succeed in professional life. Some key characteristics of a good work ethic include reliability, dedication, discipline, integrity, responsibility, cooperation, and productivity.

Instructors can model professionalism for students by demonstrating good work ethics, such as being prepared for class, engaging in discussions, and providing prompt feedback. Professionalism is also demonstrated through effective communication and respectful treatment of students. 

Understanding professionalism is crucial for students, as it is required in all workplaces, and its lack can cost them their job or a promotion. Factors like communication, attire, attendance, peer interaction, customer interaction, and respect… >>>

I learned that career readiness includes three major skills: core academics, employability skills, and technical job-specific skills.

Also, as instructors, we can encourage our students to stay in contact with employers when they have opportunities, such as internships, which can lead to potential employment opportunities. Additionally, we must encourage leadership in our students, fostering curiosity, inquiry, effective listening, respect, and empathy.

On the other hand, students need multifaceted skill sets to achieve success in their personal, academic, and professional lives. Therefore, they need to learn to communicate effectively, be empathetic, think critically, and become successful leaders.

We can also help… >>>

Information technology applications are essential skills that boost productivity in organizations. As instructors, we should incorporate technology into our classrooms to teach students valuable technical skills. This will help them to understand how to use technology effectively, preparing them for future careers.

Teamwork is a vital skill essential for success in personal, academic, and professional life. It offers diverse perspectives and opportunities for growth, enhancing overall performance.

Also, the teamwork process involves five distinct stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Developing teamwork skills fosters rapport, acceptance, and trust among members.

As instructors, it is crucial to create environments that promote collaboration, effective communication, and equal participation among our students. Additionally, we should reinforce core team values such as integrity, respect, responsibility, and leadership. By doing so, we empower students to excel in teamwork settings and cultivate essential life skills

Critical thinking involves employing reason to transcend personal biases and emotions, enabling informed decision-making through logical evaluation and thoughtful consideration of arguments.

As a vital skill for academic success, instructors play a vital role in fostering its development in students.

Fortunately, various online resources and pedagogical tools are available to facilitate this process. Some effective strategies include silent poster conversations, written dialogues, and other engaging activities that can be seamlessly integrated into classroom instruction. By using these tools, educators can cultivate critical thinking skills in their students, promoting intellectual rigor, analytical depth, and effective problem-solving.

Identifying the type of online students we are facing is crucial to help us manage conflicts and attrition. Also, we need to be familiar with the institutional guidelines and codes.

Students may exit our courses due to different situations related to how they feel, their workload, and their life responsibilities, but as instructors,  we should help them find options and encourage them to finish their classes. 

Teaching is challenging, but teaching online courses is even more difficult, in my opinion. One of the obstacles to connecting with the students is to get them involved in discussions. 

Asynchronous and synchronous discussions are different. In this module, I learned about synchronous discussions which are the ones that are done in real time. 

Since not all our students dominate technology or are fast typing we need to help them by identifying them and creating opportunities for them to participate and encourage them.

I  learned in this module that there are similarities in the establishment of our relationship with the students within the traditional academic setting and in e-learning. As instructors is vital to try our best to connect with the students to be able to deliver our message in the best way possible. 

Although I consider myself proficient in different CMS, the support of the technical support team is always crucial for me. Also, I am learning that familiarity with the institution's strategies and methodology is vital.