post 5 – Online Teaching and Learning

Did you engage in each of the phases of the critical inquiry process?

I did engage in each of the phases, although resolution was the least used. I don’t think that is because I didn’t come to any resolutions, simply that I didn’t post about them.

Were you able to resolve any problems or dilemmas?
What might you do differently in a future course?

I did resolve some problems, and found some things that I would like to change. As I mentioned, I was not involved in the course creation or structure, so I would like to go through and change some things that I think will work better to increase critical thinking and integration for my students.

How might you engage with your students to ensure that they are working through the entire inquiry process?

As mentioned, I have created an introduction video for my students so that they get a sense of who their online instructor is. I will be changing some things about an online group discussion to ensure that students spend the time in discussion, rather than on doing research.

Do you think that working through this course in an open platform like WordPress helps to encourage reflective learning?

I think that the format could be better. TBH, I didn’t understand the blog process at all and actually feel as though it may have detracted from my learning as I was spending time trying to figure out how to make the blog work.

Integration

What are the 2-3 most important concepts that have impacted your thoughts on student engagement and retention during this course?

Social presence is the concept that has impacted me most. I have always understood engagement to be important, especially in an online course, but I have realized there are more ways for me to enhance this in my course. The other concept is recognizing that the way in which a student gets to a learning outcome can be flexible. Obviously there are assignments and quizzes that must be submitted, but the way in which they are submitted can be of their choosing.

Discuss your rationale for implementing 1 or 2 course facilitation strategies to increase student retention and engagement.

I will be doing a video introduction of myself going forward. Text in a forum is so impersonal–I realized that my students didn’t know what I looked like until 3/4 the way through the semester. Presenting my authentic self through a video will give my students permission to do the same, not just in their intro, but in their coursework.

Identify 2-3 specific goals that you would like to achieve in light of what you have learned about social presence and creating effective educational media

As mentioned, a video introduction. But I also want to encourage more interaction between students within the course/forums. I will be introducing an article or some other current event relevant to the course each week, not for credit, just to be able to relate some course concepts to the real world.

I will also be creating a “forum post guidelines” to ensure that all students feel safe in stating their ideas and opinions, but don’t worry that they (as opposed to their ideas) will be criticized.

Think about some questions you still have with respect to student engagement and retention. Post these questions and also a strategy for finding the answers.

How do I ensure that students are getting what they need to be successful? It can be difficult to get students to feel comfortable asking questions when they don’t understand. I will do some research to see if there are effective strategies for this. Do I have to assume that students will take responsibility for their own learning?