Reflections+from+EDLD+5368+Instructional+Design

I believe that the benefits of educators knowing how to design and implement online learning are endless. If educators can design and implement online learning it allows their students the ability to access class anytime and anywhere and their learning materials accessible twenty four hours a day seven days a week. It enables student-centered teaching allowing each student to have their own way of learning that works best for them. Online instructors can present a practical knowledge and may be from any location across the globe, offering students knowledge and experience that they may not have access to locally. When students use the internet to attend class, research information and communication with other students teaches skills in using technologies that will be critical to workers in the 21st century business community that works with colleagues globally and across time zones.

I hope to continually update my online course as I continue to go through this Masters program adding new sections with every new theory and design strategy that I learn. I want to use it as a way to track the knowledge that I have and will learn in this program. I believe that it will allow a great stepping stone for any online class that I may teach in the future. Since I am not a teacher on record right now (or even an employee of a school district), I believe that continuous use of my course will keep my skills fresh in my mind and allow a hiring principal to possibly see what skills I may offer as a teacher for their district. Once I am in a classroom, I hope to implement the course into online learning for my students so that they are prepared and equipped with the knowledge to be successful with any online learning that they may encounter in their futures.

I will integrate online learning in my role as a teacher by continuing to use sites such as Schoology to create courses that will assist in developing my students to be independent thinkers and better problem solvers. I think that it is important and necessary for educators to add online learning into their curriculum to better prepare students for the business world. I believe that in the near future online learning will be more prominent in schools in the U.S. and it is important that we as educators ensure that our students are prepared when that happens. I believe that because I am not in a classroom yet, it will be much easier for me to implement online learning into my classes because I have not set a routine. So I will have the ability to start from scratch with online learning already apart of my lessons.

As of right now the only question that I have about online learning is how do we assess if we are being truly effective and that our students are really grasping the material that we are trying to convey? I believe that in a traditional classroom setting a teacher can observe the expressions and reactions that students give to check for understanding and in an online setting unless you are using web camera this may not be possible. I believe as I continue my journey through this Masters program I am sure that more questions will arise.

I hope that with this new learning I have the ability to teach students that I may not have other wise. I want to continue to grow in my ability to develop online courses, and as I continue to learn throughout this program develop more detailed and specific coursework. I will continue to share the knowledge that I have gained with other educators in their quest to improve their lesson plans. This is only my third course in this program so I still have a long way to go before I feel I am totally grounded in the world of online education, but i am looking forward to the journey.

Coleman, S. (2009). //Why do students like online learning?//. Retrieve May 15, 2010 from [].

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005//). Understanding by Design//. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Retrieved May 15, 2010 from [].

Lacy, Y. (2009). //The Impact of Online Education.// Retrieved May 15, 2010 from [].