INSTRUCTIONAL+DESIGN

__**​COURSE EDLD 5368 REFLECTION**__ Online learning offers many benefits and potential opportunities for instruction. One of the primary benefits of online learning is accessibility. Online learning courses can reach students from a variety of circumstances that would otherwise have a difficult time receiving quality instruction. Some examples are students that are homebound due to illness or disability, students in remote areas, or students who work and/or parent full-time making it difficult to schedule traditional classes. Providing an online course allows students to access instructional material from their own home and allows them flexibility in scheduling and completing assignments/readings.
 * QUESTION 1: What benefits do you see in educators knowing how to design and implement online learning?**

Of course, there are other benefits to designing and implementing online learning courses. Online learning can save time and money when offering training to other school professionals. Not all training needs to be in a face to face setting. Offering some training sessions through online learning can reduce the number of days or afternoons set aside for professional development and teachers can complete self-paced courses. In addition to saving time and offering more flexibility, the district will save on heating/cooling costs, staff payroll, etc. that they would have to spend for an on campus training session.

Online learning is becoming more and more popular. These courses offer the above mentioned benefits as well as many others. Online learning can be used for extension or enrichment activities, as a way to include parents in instructional activities or even to design courses geared towards teaching parents various strategies for helping their children at home. With the ease of developing an online course and the accessibility to not only students but also potential instructors, online learning has the potential to offer a much wider variety of topics than one might be able to find on a traditional campus. Above all, online learning offers flexibility and accessibility.

While online learning offers greater flexibility and accessibility, use of online learning on a regular basis or as a requirement on school campuses may not be realistic at this point. Not all students have Internet access at home, which limits the potential benefits of online learning. However, I still see some use for online learning as part of my class. The first online learning course I developed was about ecosystems, which is a topic that is covered in every grade level. This online learning course could be used as an extension of in class instruction or could be offered as an enrichment course. The course would also be a great addition to a project based unit on ecosystems. The course covers the same material that would be presented in class, but it can be accessed from the classroom, home or the computer lab. It also offers a resource of information for other teachers. In addition to allowing parents access to the plans and activities presented to their children, the online course offers a forum for comments and discussion.
 * Question 2: How will you professional use your course that you designed?**

As mentioned in the previous two reflections, online learning offers many benefits. I found designing the course to be easier than I first expected, but implementation may be the biggest challenge. Implementation of technology is a new idea to many teachers, a new way of teaching. Most of us, of course, are digital immigrants and are not familiar with integrating technology within instruction. We were not taught that way, nor were we initially trained to teach that way. Integrating online course, as well as any new technology, is a big change and will take some trial and error. However, I see it as a goal that is very attainable and the benefits to my students and their parents is worth taking the challenge.
 * Question 3: Will you integrate online learning in your role as teacher?**

I found desiging the online learning course to be much easier to do than I thought it would be. I would, however, like to learn how to make my course much more interactive than it presently is. Right now, parents, students and other teachers can interact by posting comments and having discussion about the course, but I would like to create videos, games and online assessments that I can attach to the course. What would be really great would be some type of webinar or virutal class, but I have no idea how to do this...yet! These are areas that I would like to study further. I want to learn how to make the most of my online learning designs.
 * Question 4: What questions do you still have about online learning?**

As mentioned in the above reflections, I plan to use online learning to provide enrichment activities, parent connections, as a discussion forum and as a resource for other teachers. I plan to use my new learning to create additional courses and to teach other teachers how to create course. Ideally, I would like to collaborate with my team to create well rounded, project based courses to be used throughout the year as an ongoing, dynamic course and assessment. To take full advantage of online learning, I would like to explore designing and implementing online learning courses a bit more. As I previously stated, I would like to learn how to make the course much more interactive and engaging. However, even at my current stage of understanding of design and implementation, I can use online learning in an effective, engaging way to provide a broader learning experience for my students.
 * Question 5: What will you do with this new learning?**