Module+7

=﻿Module Seven: Online Teaching and Learning= ====﻿//**Reflection Prompt:**// Reflect on how you perceive yourself as an online learner? Are you well-prepared to be an online learner? Tell us about what you need to improve in order to be a successful online learner.====

====**Description:** For this module we were required to read several articles related to online learning and chapters one, two, and ten from //The Student Guide to Successful Online Learning: A Handbook of Tips, Strategies, and Techniques.// ====

====**Impact:** These readings confirmed my beliefs of what it takes to be a successful online learner. This year as an Instructional Technology master’s student at the University of Akron, I encountered my first experiences with online learning. I must confess that I was very nervous to begin online learning but, these classes have turned out to be wonderful learning experiences. For me, organization was the key to being a successful online learner. For each of my online classes I had to understand the way my professor setup our learning community and what his/her expectations were for our class and our assignments. Printing off the class syllabus and marking down the due dates of important papers and assignments onto a calendar helped me keep myself organized and on top of my class work. I also realized that I could not shy away from class discussions like I could in traditional face-to-face classes. Being an active participant in class discussion forums is necessary to be a successful online learner. I learned that I had to be open minded and be willing to utilize my experiences. The life, work, and educational experiences that my classmates and I have shared are what have made my online classes so meaningful to me! In being new to the world of online learning I believe that at times online classes can be more time consuming than traditional classes. I truly believe that online classes require more of a commitment from individuals because they are responsible for managing their own time and being able to clearly communicate their ideas through written expression. For me, I had to learn how to think my ideas through before responding to discussion prompts or my classmates’ postings. I had to carefully think about what I wanted to say, how I wanted to communicate my ideas to my peers, and if my ideas were clear and made sense to others. After all, my peers where just reading my typed words and could not see my facial expressions or hear my tone of voice. I believe that online courses can provide a very high quality of learning but, they do require a lot of commitment from the students and teachers. ====

====**Intent:** Even though I already feel like a successful online learner, I know there are always things I can improve on. One thing I would like to work on is balancing my teaching work, personal life, and grad school work. For this entire school year my weekends have been dedicated to my online grad school work. Although I am thankful for the opportunity that we have to complete our assignment throughout the weekend, I would like to begin scheduling at least two days during the week to work on my online class work. Hopefully this will help me in not feeling so overwhelmed all the time. A second thing that I would like to work on is asking questions when I am confused. I have already become better with speaking up when I have a question this semester but, I still contemplate for a few days if I should ask the question. Most of the online professors I have had this school year have been incredibly supportive and willing to make clarifications when needed. Their availability and willingness to help out has been very beneficial to me. I must except that it is alright to ask for help and it is better than becoming frustrated! ====