Friday, April 13, 2012

2.2 Reflection: Methodologies of the Online Instructor

This reflection is a little difficult for me to do as I am no longer teaching in a face to face or online course. However, I have taught in both environments and I am happy that this class has a large focus on the communication. This is the key to teaching online and is a big skill shift from the face-to-face to online classroom as it requires a new set of skills.

Teachers now have many more tools to use for communication than they did when I taught online and are more accessible. It is key for a teacher to provide constant communication throughout the class. The students need to feel like there is someone on the other end of the computer that is there to help them. If the teacher is unresponsive, it will be difficult for the student to feel motivated to complete the course.

Just as a side note, on page 5 of the content, it says that "The technology in a LMS is not difficult to use when coupled with training." I would stay away from saying it is not difficult to use as I have seen several people who have found LMS' difficult to use. While they probably won't be the most successful online teacher, this may scare away some teachers from wanting to be involved in teaching online. I think this is a great example of communication. It is important to be very clear and unassuming in all text, video, etc. in an online class as the student can't always see your expressions or hear the tone of your voice when you are explaining something.

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