Nancy Tosh

I learned about putting netiquette rules in the rubrics and I think that's an excellent idea! I work at a school where the majority of assignments are due Sunday at 11:59 pm and I concur with the idea that this is not a really convenient due date and time for instructors. Over the years I haven't had a great deal of trouble with student conduct regarding netiquette. It was far more common in the early days of online learning. Other than plagiarism, I cannot really think of any recent examples.

Most of what I learned here was review of what I already know. I was reminded of several technologies that I have not used for a while, such a Skype. I did like the advice to check with students throughout the course about how well technologies work, although it has been my experience that students quickly contact you if something doesn't work ;)

Nancy Tosh

It has been a long time since I designed an online course completely on my own. Most online schools have master courses and then instructors or committees change and update them (that I have done a great deal of over the years). I had forgotten how exciting it was to design a whole course on my own and this unit has included elements that were not available to me back in the early 2000s when online teaching was relatively new and we were all on our own. 

I'd like to see some elements -- like blogs -- in action so… >>>

I love discussion boards -- class discussions are my favorite part of teaching. This unit had some helpful tips for facilitating community and conversation; but, I think one of the most valuable aspects of the unit was the idea that courses are constantly being evaluated and improved upon. I think that's key to an effective course and every time I teach a course, what happens in the discussions and other assignments reveal the strengths and weaknesses of that assignment. I can use this new knowledge to build upon the information I give to students to help them succeed. I can… >>>

I learned that I definitely prefer asynchronous learning. One thing that puzzled me was the mention that synchronous learning lead to the illusion that the teacher was available 24/7. The first page of the unit states:

Therefore, the synchronous environment leads to the development of an instructor who seems to be available 24-7. Rules and regulations must be developed to avoid the personification of a 24-7 instructor so that adequate teaching and learning can take place.

It seems to me that this is a downside of asynchronous learning -- not synchronous learning. Setting boundaries -- while still getting back to… >>>

Hi! I just began the course today. One thing I learned from the first section is that there are different teaching styles and none of them are "wrong" and teachers primarily blend these styles. I worked for a school full time for over a decade and instructors were known as facilitators and all our pedagogy training focused on that one style of teaching. I am more of a blend, but discovered when I took the initial test here that this exclusive focus led to most of my incorrect answers.

I was familiar with most of this technology, but I found… >>>