EDTECH 521: Teaching Online in the K-12 Environment - Reflective Journal

WEEK	Quotes from Readings and Class Tasks and Activities	Thoughts/Learning/Questions
Week 2: The Big Picture	“online learning leverages Internet technologies to create rich, interactive, and personalized learning experiences using a vast array of technology tools” (Rice, 2012, p.2)	This definition of online learning really encompasses what I think are the ideal descriptors to describe this type of learning. Rich, interactive, and personalized. Upon further reading of the text details emerge to enhance and support this definition. So far I am enjoying the text and look forward to more reading.
	Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning	I really like the Keeping Pace site for their graphical analysis of the current landscape of online learning. They do a great job of breaking down each state and the types of programs offered. The graphs provided allow for quality visual to support collected data.
	Edutopia	Edutopia is not new site for me and I have visited it many times. In my busy daily life I often don’t make time to visit sites that provide short and sweet articles in areas of education that interest me. Having this listed in the resource section of the week has reminded me to make more time for this activity.
	“Do you have what it takes to teach online?” (Rice, 2012, p. 41)	I really like this question that was posed and presented at the end of chapter 2. It is a great question for reflective thought and analysis of oneself. After reading this section it was nice to gain some reaffirment of my interest and pursuit in this field.
Week 3: Getting to Know Your Students and Families	Active Listening	State a definition of active listening (in your own words) Active Listening is the ability to focus on what an individual is saying why providing nonverbal feedback It is listening with a purpose of understanding. list at least two benefits of active listening To encourage and promote the speaker further. Shows value to the speaker. Build Relationships. and identify three or more components of active listening. Look, Inquire, Summarize, Take Notes, Encourage, Neutralize
Option 1:	-Did the interview questions help the parent or responsible adult open up to the conversation?	I felt that it did. I think it allowed for the parent to be more open and hopefully engage in conversation with their student. I wanted the parent and student to work collaboratively to help form their own expectations in addition to mine.
	-Were the things you learned about the student and family important information for you to consider while working with them this year?	Definitely. It gave me a sense of the different experiences backgrounds and perceptions that each student brings to the course. It will help me in providing the appropriate support where needed.
	-Do you feel this was a valuable exercise to complete before starting the school year? Why or why not?	It definitely is. It allows for student and parent reflection before the course begins and provides information for to the instructor. This information can help in meeting the learning needs of each individual student.
Week 4: Community Building	Reflect on the following prompts: What community you joined or created and why?	I joined the a Google+ community called Google Apps in Education. I decided to take part in this community because of my current obsession of using it as my primary technology tool in my current face to face classroom.
	A URL that references your online community.	Google Apps in Education URL: https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/111138038754004333717
	A brief summary of your experience as a participant in the online community.	I have only been actively part of this community for a short period of time in this last week and don't feel that I have experienced it completely. My first initial impression was that it is a great place to find new ideas for implementing Google Apps. People post cool success stories as well as not so successful stories of their experiences using different apps. It is also a great place to ask questions, solve problems, and give advice on what works and what doesn't.
	A your reflections on how online communities can be used to effectively support student engagement in learning.	Online communities connect people with similar interests, allowing the entire community to participate, engage and take ownership of their role as a member of this community. This community creates shared knowledge and experiences that can not be gained from an individual source or connection. Students joining a community can experience these characteristics which all can help to support and enhance engagement and learning.
Week 5/6/7: Real Time Chat Experience	Reflection of a real time chat experience.	My experience for a real time chat took place  for an online class Q & A session using google Hangout. My initial thoughts with the use of this application are first focused on technical issues and user experience. When first starting the chat there always seem to be the initial technical difficulties of getting everyone signed in and having both their audio and video working. I think this is related directly to user experience. It seems that some users are not familiar with the audio/video equipment or its limitations and capabilities. Having a understanding of how your hardware interacts with the software you are using can help in alleviating these issues and this may be an unfair expectation given the user group. Once technical issues are resolved it is important for the facilitator to keep the discussion moving forward. The facilitator has the responsibility of making sure that everyone has a voice in the discussion and that some people voices do not dominate the discussion. This was established in this chat with the facilitator setting up chat guidelines at the beginning of the chat. This in combination with good facilitation kept the conversation moving and on task. I think that these chat opportunities can be a valuable experience during an online class to provide students and instructors to connect in a more personal and meaningful way.
Week 8: iNACOL Standards	Do you think they are all that different from good teaching standards in any environment?	I would agree that the majority if not all of the standards are just best practices for teaching and learning. These are very similar to the same criteria that are used to evaluate an effective face to face instructor.
	Which standards stand out as most important?	I think that they are all very important. They seem to hit the major components of quality teaching and learning. The creation of learning experiences, use of technology to support learning and engagement, effective active learning strategies, feedback, creating a safe learning environment, meeting the needs of all students, authentic assessment, use of data to analyze and promote learning, and professionalism in the workplace are all essential criteria for effective instruction.
	Which standards would not apply in a traditional brick and mortar classroom?	Standard A is the only one that is specific to online teaching and would not be included in other teaching standards.
Authentic Learning Experiences	Have you identified any authentic activities that you might like to try with your students?	I initially came up with the idea to have students create a concept map collaboratively with peers in the class that demonstrates their understanding of the topic. As I was looking through the class resources I did not find anything that matched my topic. So, I was asking myself does creating a concept map qualify as an authentic assessment? I think it focuses on students' ability to integrate what they learn through creativity, and the ability to work collaboratively.  It values the learning process as much as the finished product. I have found a number of great web tools that students will be able to chose from to create this concept map and am looking forward to developing my lesson.
Week 9: Learning Styles: Online Technologies and Learning Strategies	Visual	I found a great resource for learning style strategies and technology suggestions: http://www.ilsa-learning-styles.com/Learning+Styles/Multi-Sensory+Approaches+to+Learning/Visual+Learning+Strategies.html From ILSA I found the following Strategies: Learn by viewing images, graphics, demonstrations and performances. Watch introductory presentations and instructional videos. Follow illustrated sets of instructions. Visualise or see the required finished product – its shapes, colours and features. Draw or sketch ideas and concepts when planning. Use visual tools for organising information and ideas: layouts/formats, Thinking Maps, pro forma examples, colour-coding, different font styles and sizes, bold text, underlining, symbols, bullet-points. Annotate their notes with simple illustrations (purposeful doodling). Use visual methods and techniques when demonstrating their understanding to an assessor. Receive visual feedback about their work, highlighting, circling, symbols etc. Some suggested technology tools for meeting these strategies include; bubbl.us, lucidchart, google apps, popplet, glogster, powerpoint, slideshare, youtube, ebooks, etc...
	Auditory	I found a great resource for learning style strategies and technology suggestions: http://www.ilsa-learning-styles.com/Learning+Styles/Multi-Sensory+Approaches+to+Learning/Auditory+Learning+Strategies.html From ILSA I found the following Strategies: Learn by listening to others. Receive instructions aurally from speakers and recordings. Repeat the information aloud and/or repeat it in their heads. Talk about/Discuss/Record texts when mastering or reinforcing new or difficult information and ideas. Question the teacher or presenter and listen to explanations. Explain their ideas and understandings in person to an assessor. Listen to feedback about their work.     Some suggested technology tools for meeting these strategies include; Podcasts, audiobooks, lectures w/ audio, audio conferences, screencasts, etc...
Week 11: Self Evaluation of Asynchronous Lesson	Use the Asynchronous Lesson Rubric and the Common Core Instructional Practice Guides associated with your grade level and discipline to assist you in evaluating your lesson and its alignment with the goals of the project as well as with the instructional strategies recommended by the Common Core Standards.	I made a screencast for this week reflection. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0glUT8ki_IM