Online Learning Final Thoughts

I think the most important thing that I learned during this course work is that being an online teacher is just as difficult (if not more so) as being an online learner.  I remember the first online course I took I felt so out of place and lost and now it is like second nature to me.  I am hoping that it will be the same for me if I ever get the wonderful opportunity to be an online teacher.  The other thing that I learned is that my strengths as a classroom teacher (being organized, detail oriented, flexible, thorough, well prepared, and open to new technology) are all things that would make me a great online teacher.  More I learned the more I realized that this is not only something that I can see myself doing, but something that I see myself really enjoying.  If all else fails and I don't land an online gig right away I know that things that I have learned could most definitely apply to the brick and mortar classroom and make me a better teacher in general.   

I love the idea of using blogs or some sort of class discussion forums.  I truly believe that the blog will not only engage my math students in a different way, but also allow me to hear all the "voices" of my students.  In this way I am able to make a better connection with my "middle" students--the ones that so often get ignored.  I have already had the idea of doing my math journals as a blog post, but I have now put much consideration in how I am actually going to "manage" those blogs and what I am going to expect from my students.  This is huge for me because I feel having a plan and clear expectations will make it easier to implement (and easier for my students to adjust to it).  I know that I want to have some flexibility with when the blog can be completed, but like this course I liked the idea of having an original post deadline and then have a comment deadline.  This way it allows all people to have the posts up before students start commenting (and then they have to do the management of it by filling in the Google survey-genius!).  I will tweek it a little though--first I will try to make sure students read/comment on everyone's in the class at least once.  I also am brainstorming ways in which I can make sure students are reading the comments (and possibly respond back to the comments) that people put on their posts.  Otherwise, I am afraid that those comments may never get looked at and are just a waste of time.  The great thing about this is that students will start "talking" about what they are learning and I will also be promoting reading and writing which is a huge thing in our district.    

Other tools that I have fallen in love with would have to be Dropbox, Google Chrome, and Blackboard.  I can't believe how much simpler things are for me now that I have Chrome and Dropbox.  The question is how did I ever live without it?  I love that it doesn't matter whether I am at home on my laptop or at work on my desktop I have all that I need effortlessly!  Blackboard is another thing that I have fallen in love with and is what truly has "bridged" the gap for me between the virtual classroom and the face-to-face classroom.  This allows students to have that "real" time interaction with other students and the teacher and allows for those important tangents and questions and interactions--ones that you miss out on in the purely written discussions.  

The last thing that I have also learned is that it is super important to keep things simple.  It is very easy to be tempted to use all that is offered out there on the web.  There are really amazing tools out there but each one needs to be considered for its purpose and nicely matched with the outcomes/objectives I have in mind.  I think this is why I keep going back to using Google because it is the one thing out there that allows us to use a variety of great collaborative and communication tools all wrapped up in one amazing package.  (With the extra bonus that it is free and I only have to remember one username and password).   

Synchronous Versus Asynchronous Learning

Each of these types of tools has its benefits and its drawbacks.  Once again care needs to be taken that each tool is considered based on its intended purpose.  I love asynchronous tools because it allows for much more flexibility and allows students to think "at their own pace".  I do believe that deadlines for the asynchronous tools is key to keep students "united" and on track.  On the other hand, I like the idea (as a math teacher) to have a time when we are all together discussing and thinking about things at the same exact time.  It is those "real-time" questions, comments, and mistakes that really allow students to grasp some of the concepts I am teaching. 

As a full-time classroom teacher my favorite synchronous technology tool is by far the Smart Notebook software that comes with Smartboards.  There are so many amazing features and tools within that software that help me present material to my students, stay organized, allow students to interact with the concepts, and make incorporating multi-media a breeze.  (It also has a recording function which is great because students can access the recorded lessons if they were absent or need reteaching!) The downside to this software is that it is meant more for classroom based learning so its interactive features would not be best utilized in an online class. I would have to say that the Blackboard Collaborative tool would be my favorite if I were an online teacher.  I love that it has many of the functions as Smart Notebook, but has the added bonus of allowing students to participate (through audio, video, or drawing tools) with the lesson.  I love the polling features and raise your hand features also.   As for having students work together I LOVE Google Drive.  Students are able to work on the document at the exact same time at different computers.  (In fact, that is how Amber and I would type our group papers—we would set up a time and would work on the document together—typing notes to each other in different colored font!)   The only down side to all these is that student must have access to a computer with fairly fast internet connection speeds.  The unfortunate thing about my district is that I could not use something like this with them because many students do not have access to high speed internet (and many no access to computers at all) at home.  The only time that I could guarantee students could have access to this at the same exact time would be during my actual class period (which then defeats the purpose of using those tools). 

As for my favorite asynchronous tools--it would be have to be Google Sites (with Blogger coming in at a close second).  I actually prefer Google Sites over Moodle from a programming/management aspect.  I just find it to be much more user friendly for me and much more user friendly for students.  I love that I can organize my class into "tabs" and then students have an easy time getting from place to place.  Google Sites also tends to be more "pleasant" visually speaking.  The things Google Sites lacks that Moodle has is a place to hold a discussion forum (which I know I have mentioned in my other blogs).  This is why I would have to say Blogger would have to be the other asynchronous tool that I would utilize as a sort of virtual math journal where students can post an entry and then other students could post comments (like we do) but I think I would add the extra requirement of making students go back read the comments that were made (with maybe a simple thanks for commenting as a reply) just so that the making comments isn't for nothing.  I would also have my students subscribe (using Google Reader) to each of their classmates blogs so that they can easily access all the posts (and read short summaries for each post).  I could also imbed Google Forms for assessment purposes.  I just really like the idea of having as much as I can in one place so that students don't get lost in the virtual world!