OMDE 610 - Reflective Journal
Week Eight - October 30th - November 5th
The Best Practices and Standards produce "The Best"
The goal in the online learning environment is to produce a learning environment that is just as effective, if not even more effective than the face-to-face environment. The physical presence of the instructor and the students must occur through the effective uses of the technologies that are available in the online learning environment. The students and the instructors must be present, although they are not really present. The students and the instructors do not have to be separated just because they are separated through distance and time. An instructor that uses the best practices achieve the standards in the online environment by closing the gap of distance and time that exists among the students and the instructors. I believe to accomplish this; the instructor has to be just as active in the online environment as the students. If the instructor requires regular and extensive participation, then they should participate regularly and extensively.
If the instructor fails to be present, then it is possible that the students will not be motivated to learn, and they may fail to be present also. The instructor should model the type of participation in the online environment that they are expecting their students to demonstrate. I believe that instructors must be creative as they manage the technology that is available to them in the online classroom. The effective use of the technology creates a more pleasurable and motivating learning experience. Additionally, one of the benefits of online learning, when compared to f2f learning, is that students gain valuable technology skills through using the various technologies that are introduced to them in distance education.
Prior to beginning my online courses with UMUC, I wasn’t as technically proficient as I am now. In fact, I was afraid to use certain functions on the computer. My success as undergraduate online student at UMUC led to my success as a graduate student in a Master’s Degree program that requires the heavy use of technology. The Master’s Degree program concentrated on the effective use of technology in the instructional environment. As I was going through the program, at times, I thought that it was the most difficult thing in the world because I had to learn how to do things that require “attention-to-detail” as I created websites from scratch, and learned about other technology programs that I had never heard of prior to being in this program. Although technology is ever-changing, I‘ve learned valuable skills through the use of technologies that may not have been available to me to the same extent as it was in the online program at UMUC. Further, the instructors enhanced their environments through using the technologies appropriately.
Another thing that I absolutely love about UMUC’s learning structure is that it provides a conference that is used for informal conversation. I believe that it is important for students to take a break away from the formal stuff to engage in conversations that are unrelated to their learning. As an online instructor, I would encourage the students to use the informal online community as a path to establishing friendships outside of the classroom. Social connections are very important to the overall well-being of an individual, and I believe that if students take a break from formal learning to engage in informal discussions, then their performance in the online classroom would be more effective, just as when students socialize in informal groups at f2f institutions, they are healthier, happier, and more effective students. The goal is to provide students with a fulfilling learning experience in the online environment without making them feel as though they are missing out on the social advantages that are available at a f2f institution.
Lewis, C. C. & Abdul-Hamid, H. (2006, May). Implementing effective online teaching practices: Voices of exemplary faculty. Innovative Higher Education, 31(2), 83-98
