Facilitating Online Learning - Week 1

This is the first week of a new class. It has been hectic with no break to finalize assignments from the last class before starting this one. So far, though, the class has been helpful and will help enhance my online teaching skills.

I can relate the examples of online learning to my daily experiences at work. We are trying to get some teachers to do a blended class and there is some resistance. This comes mainly from a lack of understanding of how to relate to the students in an online environment. Some of the resources that I gather in this will hopefully help them through the process.

So far, I have had no problems using the management system or using the discussion boards. Once we got past the initial login problem last week it has been pretty straightforward. I do like how it is organized and how easy it is to find our assignments.

I will be using Elluminate on a regular basis soon. We are testing some new software from Pearson called Fronter. This is a new LMS environment that is very popular in Europe. In this program Elluminate is a built-in module. We will be using this software for blended classes, for professional development, and for holding administrative meetings. This will be playing a big part in our future communications.

I tried something new in these modules. I actually took one of the quizzes on the gallery tour. This is not usually something that I do but I wanted to test my knowledge on a topic that I was not really familiar with. This gave me an idea to possibly use this method with our staff. After a professional development session we could use a tool like this to see if they understood the material.

Looking forward to next week's class.