Lisa Hershey

We have to use a variety of teaching styles and personality styles to be successful an instructor.  We cannot always do what is comfortable to us.  And we must be willing to try new things and accept failure as a way to do it better next time.

I agree with Jude who states that we, as instructors, may lean towards activities / teaching strategies that would meet our own personality needs.  But we must go outside our comfort zone to teach in a variety of methods to meet everyone's strengths.  That way, there is at least one activity in a course that meets each person's strengths.  I also believe this understanding of personality traits can be useful in setting up groups for group projects.

I took the Myers Briggs many years ago and it was helpful to know more about my own personality.  I think giving students the opportunity to take a personality test early on in their post-secondary education would be beneficial to them and the instructor.  If this is not an option, at least making students aware of the different personality types may be helpful.

While critical thinking may not come naturally to all students, it is a necessary skill to build.  I can definitely see the PBL method working well in teaching Health Information Technology courses and using current healthcare issues / trends as a foundation.

I already use rubrics but will need to learn to develop rubrics that work for active learning assignments.  Feedback is very important and must be continual throughout the course.

I learned the importance of laying the groundwork with students early on in the course. Help them understand the amount of work and the active learning model. I believe this will create a successful environment.

While I have used many active learning strategies in the F2F setting, I now need to figure out how to adapt those methods and try new methods in the online environment.  I think this is where the ongoing course evaluation comes in. Try an active learning strategy and get feedback from the students on how it was received / was it effective?  

I plan to utilize the Stop, Start, Continue evaluation in my courses.  I agree that making small changes throughout the course is better than waiting until the end.

I will strive to get to know my students as that will help me to know how to best communicate with them.  Some students soar at written communication while others require a different communication mode which is possible with today's technology.

While time management is not a new concept, this course focused on how to manage time and workload in the online environment.  It was a good reminder of the importance of organization and discipline in managing workload.