As someone who lives about an hour and a half from Oswego, on-line classes were purely a matter of convenience (not to mention gas money) for me. When I first began taking on-line classes I wasn’t sure I would like them but I’ve found that for a self-motivated and independent student, on-line classes can provide a thoughtful and challenging learning environment while fitting into even the busiest schedule.
As I’ve mentioned, the asynchronous learning was a great benefit for me, after a long day of subbing the last thing I want to do is get in my car and drive all the way to Oswego. This class allowed me to complete coursework in small chunks whenever I had time and Internet access. It was wonderful to be able log on and accomplish so much during a planning period while subbing. The only thing I missed about driving to Oswego was the camaraderie that can develop between classmates. While Professor Yang did set up a “bulletin board” for introductions and off topic conversations, I found that after the initial batch of introductions, that area of the course was mostly ignored. In that way, on-line classes are definitely lacking. The sense of belonging just isn’t there. So while I learned a lot through responding and interacting with my classmates during this course I don’t really feel like I know anyone personally or that they know me.
The student-centered focus of this course is a definite bonus. Rather than reading through endless pages of lecture-type notes, students are required to construct their own learning through discussion and research. This type of learning allowed us to go at our own pace and take the projects in the direction that would be most beneficial for us. The ability to choose our own topics for the Webliography and WebQuest gave the projects meaning and made them worthwhile to me because I was producing them for actual use.
The learning content for this course was appropriate and effective. The Webliography, WebQuest, and Weblog all required students to understand and execute a different web-based project. I had thought at first that these projects were too simple but was surprised to find how many of my classmates weren’t at all familiar with PowerPoint or blogs. This variance in skill levels allowed me to feel like I had something helpful to contribute during discussions. Then, because all projects could be individual efforts (mercifully! I’ve had some horrible collaborations through on-line classes) I was able to produce work at my own level. It was a good balance. The only thing I would say about the course work is that there could easily be another module with another project. There was so much time (dare I say, too much time?) to complete each project that the modules could definitely have been redistributed and another project could have been added to the syllabus.
Overall, this was a good course. I love what technology can do for education so I appreciate any chance I get to share and discuss it. So while the social aspects and the schedule of the course could be improved upon, the logistics and spirit of the course were right on.
It was a fun semester! Thanks for everything!
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