Facilitating Online Learning - Week 3

This week I chose Access and Equity as my discussion topic. Why? Well, I have experience in a number of different types of schools. I grew up and taught in rural schools, my wife works in an affluent, suburban school, and I now work in an urban school. All three settings provide challenges when it comes to online learning. My school is looking at implementing hybrid classes within the next 12 months. I am always looking for ideas and discussions around access and equity, especially for my urban students.

I have not yet taught an online learning course but I am currently planning some courses. My first course is a tutorial on the gradebook we use at school. I am going to offer this to our teachers who want more understanding of the gradebook functions. I am hoping to go live with this training at the end of the first semester, provided our online environment is setup and ready to go. My greatest challenge will be to make sure everyone is involved and comfortable with the online environment. My goal is to get our teachers to participate in the online format so that they will use it for their classes. It will be a long process but it should benefit everyone.

Planning for this synchronous discussion has been difficult for me. I am not comfortable speaking to groups of people (small or large) so this is taking me out of my comfort level. I do believe that this is something that I can do successfully if I can overcome my nerves. We will see how it goes.