Throughout the course the most common pattern of response I used was Reflective Guide. An example of this is: "I agree will everyone's assessment regarding social interaction not being relegated to the water cooler. As Mary said, at times it may be appropriate to re-direct the conversation if it is going in a strictly social direction. However, community building is an on-going process. It begins with social dialogue and evolves as thoughtful discussions take place (Brown, 2001). To remove social conversation that is interwoven in the threaded discussion has the potential to harm the community building process."
I seem to be most comfortable with restating an idea with a slightly different emphasis.
On occasion I also used the voices of Personal Muse and Generative Guide. I feel these three voices represented my voice as a student. I like to think that as the instructor I will also use the voice of Conceptual Facilitator and Mediator. I feel least comfortable with Conceptual Facilitator due to my limited experience with this role but I am confident that with experience I will become more comfortable with it. I think this discomfort stems from my lack of experience in teaching in general.
The tones I use most commonly in conversations are neutral, nurturing, curious, and devil's advocate. I likely will utilize neutral and curious tones most often as a facilitator as they are second nature to me.
Familiarizing myself with the different voices and tones is extremely helpful in heightening awareness of my interactions. At this point I think it will take great reflection and thought to match the tone and voice with a critical thinking strategy to make an appropriate intervention, but the more I exercise the different combinations, I hope the more natural it will become.
I am looking forward to the experience in Module 6!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Blog #2... Come on ride the online education train!
I am on the online education train! I think online courses can be amazing, excellent learning experiences. I talked with my friend the other day who is in a different PhD program. She was saying that online classes are not for her. She loves the face to face classroom setting. I told her the first online course I took, I was yearning for at least some "voice-overed" PowerPoints. By the second course, I did not miss the voice at all. My instinct was to try to convince her how wonderful online courses are but I stopped. I thought, "to each his own". I am aware online courses are not for everyone. I tend to think, you don't know until you try it... There is an obvious adaptive process that takes places for a student trying an online course for the first or second time. All I know is I am excited about it and maybe I'm biased but it seems as though demand for online courses will continue to increase as long as we can maintain educational quality.
Last semester I did a review of the literature for my nursing education course. The literature I reviewed was focused on strategies for online nursing education/courses. It was a fantastic learning experience. Many of the studies used Chickering & Gamson's Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education as the framework. It was the first time I had been introduced to the principles. They really made sense in both the classroom and online environment. This class adds another useful layer of knowledge to the picture. Knowing good practice as identified by Chickering & Gamson in order to self-evaluate online courses is essential but the facilitator/moderator role is also essential to maintain quality education and to increase transfer of knowledge. I was surprised most of the literature I reviewed did not talk about the role of the facilitator.
Another intriguing thing I was introduced to last semester is Second Life, a virtual world where classes can meet synchronously. If you haven't seen it, check it out! http://secondlife.com/ It's pretty amazing! It might be a nice addition to an online course however then there is the synchronous element as well as the technology element to contend with.
Thanks to everyone is this class who have made this a wonderful learning experience so far. Thank you Heidi for leading the way!
Last semester I did a review of the literature for my nursing education course. The literature I reviewed was focused on strategies for online nursing education/courses. It was a fantastic learning experience. Many of the studies used Chickering & Gamson's Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education as the framework. It was the first time I had been introduced to the principles. They really made sense in both the classroom and online environment. This class adds another useful layer of knowledge to the picture. Knowing good practice as identified by Chickering & Gamson in order to self-evaluate online courses is essential but the facilitator/moderator role is also essential to maintain quality education and to increase transfer of knowledge. I was surprised most of the literature I reviewed did not talk about the role of the facilitator.
Another intriguing thing I was introduced to last semester is Second Life, a virtual world where classes can meet synchronously. If you haven't seen it, check it out! http://secondlife.com/ It's pretty amazing! It might be a nice addition to an online course however then there is the synchronous element as well as the technology element to contend with.
Thanks to everyone is this class who have made this a wonderful learning experience so far. Thank you Heidi for leading the way!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Blog #1
One positive aspect of all activities is the time to reflect. I greatly appreciate online courses because I always participate. In f2f classes, I tend to be a listener and not as vocal. I am usually one of the more quiet ones in class. Given that my background is not in education, I value the time to reflect, learn from others who have a lot of teaching experience, and add to the discussion to clarify my thoughts.
I enjoyed the research article assignment because we were able to make it more personal by searching within our area of interest, i.e. nursing. Last semester I did a review of the literature of strategies used in online nursing courses. The article I found for this class, although I had not read it before, echoed the literature I reviewed, particularly that an online instructor must give clear and concise directions and timely feedback. If I were to do the assignment again, I would search for the use of teaching through inquiry in online nursing courses or engagement theory. In retrospect, the assignment helped me to reflect more on what I would like to gain from this class which is a deeper understanding and ease with educational theories and online methods of teaching beyond what the research article conveyed. Although the research findings are essential to online teaching, clarity of directions and instructor availability alone do not lead to great transfer of learning, which is my ultimate goal.
Overall, a negative aspect is that because I lack the experience in instruction, I feel I do not have as much to add to the discussions at times. I am in awe of the teaching experience of the class as a whole and am grateful to be able to learn from everyone. Thank you!
As I stated above, if I were to do the research assignment again, I would focus my search on inquiry. As Mary U. so eloquently stated in her blog, I too would appreciate a deeper understanding of teaching through inquiry.
To improve the research article assignment I would, like the summarizer assignment, have students sign up for different modules. This might lead to different searches based on what we have learned so far in the course. It would also disperse the reading to several modules, instead of one, allowing for more time to thoroughly read everyone’s assignments.
I enjoyed the research article assignment because we were able to make it more personal by searching within our area of interest, i.e. nursing. Last semester I did a review of the literature of strategies used in online nursing courses. The article I found for this class, although I had not read it before, echoed the literature I reviewed, particularly that an online instructor must give clear and concise directions and timely feedback. If I were to do the assignment again, I would search for the use of teaching through inquiry in online nursing courses or engagement theory. In retrospect, the assignment helped me to reflect more on what I would like to gain from this class which is a deeper understanding and ease with educational theories and online methods of teaching beyond what the research article conveyed. Although the research findings are essential to online teaching, clarity of directions and instructor availability alone do not lead to great transfer of learning, which is my ultimate goal.
Overall, a negative aspect is that because I lack the experience in instruction, I feel I do not have as much to add to the discussions at times. I am in awe of the teaching experience of the class as a whole and am grateful to be able to learn from everyone. Thank you!
As I stated above, if I were to do the research assignment again, I would focus my search on inquiry. As Mary U. so eloquently stated in her blog, I too would appreciate a deeper understanding of teaching through inquiry.
To improve the research article assignment I would, like the summarizer assignment, have students sign up for different modules. This might lead to different searches based on what we have learned so far in the course. It would also disperse the reading to several modules, instead of one, allowing for more time to thoroughly read everyone’s assignments.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
1st blog that people are reading
Hello All!
This is my first blog that people will actually be reading. I blogged a few times before but the only people who "read" it were spammers. :) In the past I've blogged about natural family planning and health related issues.
I call myself the early bird because I am usually up by 5am, and as a result I go to bed early as well. I've been that way since I was a small child.
I hope you are all enjoying the weekend! Tomorrow should be beautiful in Milwaukee!
Dana
This is my first blog that people will actually be reading. I blogged a few times before but the only people who "read" it were spammers. :) In the past I've blogged about natural family planning and health related issues.
I call myself the early bird because I am usually up by 5am, and as a result I go to bed early as well. I've been that way since I was a small child.
I hope you are all enjoying the weekend! Tomorrow should be beautiful in Milwaukee!
Dana
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