Professional Development is an opportunity to enhance an online instructor's strengths and improve upon their weaknesses. It enables instructors to develop the knowledge and skills needed to manage their workload, improve instruction, and enhance the learning process.
I like the idea of creating a course history to store effective teaching strategies, assignments, evaluations, etc. this gives the instructor a database of tools to refer back to when teaching the course again.
Repositories are usually stored in the LMS
One important aspect to an online course is student feedback. Feedback can be both formative and summative. Formative feedback would allow an instructor to change a dynamic object such as making changes to a syllabus. It is also important to use the formative and summative feedback to make course changes to help make the course better.
It is important to continuously update and revise the course as necessary. As formative feedback is given those changes should be made in a timely manner so they do not get fogotten about, or the changes that need to be made take a long time after the summative, which is not a time management strategy.
Making sure that the best practices are being delivered is very important. Why waste your time if your students are not understanding the course or how to work the system. I feel that this is an important part of teaching in general to create and then test it, revise it, and retest. Reflection is also a big part of this equation as well.
I will keep all of my 'future' course shells (syllabus/resources) and modify them (if necessary) using a repository. This will enable immediate access to current/former resources.
Never thought much about a course history, but it does make a lot of sense to keep chunks of information that don't fit in now stored away for another time. One chunk, learning object, can be unplugged and stored into the repository. Another that is in the repository can be unplugged from there and pluggted into the current content. Great time saver.
In the Workload Management Strategies (WLMS) for teaching online course, module four titled, WLMS for Course Revisions, I learned that professional development for the instructor is important so that the instructor can keep abreast of the latest learning practices that are being used. The modifications performed to enhance a course needs to be documented and a revision history must be maintained. Lastly, the use of formative assessments throughout the course and summative assessments at the end of the course are important so that course revisions are made in a timely manner
Online course content should be revised on an add needed basis. Professional development helps an online instructor learn new and better ways of delivering online content.
I will need to devote a great deal of time to creating and managing a successful online course. It is important to understand that adapatability is required and revisions are ongoing. I need to understand my strengths and weaknesses and consistently utilize professional development opportunities.
The key to balancing my workload is preparation, communication, staying organized and following a schedule as well as delegating assistance. Emphasizing the importance of each student's responsibility for learning in the course will enhance their learning experience. Understanding my student's strengths and weaknesses is also vital to their success and in turn, my success in the course.
That the course revision process is an ongoing process. Also important to keep track of the things being changed and what will not change.
How Instructors should do course revisions after formative and summative cours evaluations.
Teachers should always be evaluating and analyzing their course, gathering formative assessments, and making revisions in order to best support their learners. Professional development can help teachers keep their knowledge fresh and up to date, which can help with time management and overall a better instructor of the course.
I really appreciate the idea of having all links connected to the syllabus, for the students' sake and the instructor's.
Professional development helps teachers in evaluating the class and themselves. It also provides insight to another way of learning for instrutor and students
I found the professional development suggestions helpful- I am enrolled in 2 online classed this summer and will be evalauting them based on my study of these modules (and keeping note of what worked particulalry to hinder or enhance my experience). I liked the emphasis on formative evaluation of the course and the reminder to keep a chart of when this occuts (every 3-5 weeks); just as in the F2F classroom, this informs instuction. Ditto for the recommendation to keep a log or history of revisions and to later reflect on whether the revision did waht was intended. The notes about carefully evaluating the online resources that may be linked in a dynamic syllabus are timely and lead back to the initial premise of study, that everything in the course must support the learning goal.
Professional development and embracing the ongoing need for change will promote success in the online program.
I like the Stop, Start, Continue plan. Teachers need to be flexible with the online course. Feedback is so important. Professional development is important also. Teachers should always be looking for ways to improve and be lifelong learners.
With a course repository and reusing specific components, it provides an opportunity for the online instructor to chunk the course into modules and later pick and choose which modules or parts of a module may be appropriate to use in a variety of other courses. This archive assists in the content development process and migration from one semester to another.
