Intro to Online Teaching - Final Post

This is the final blog entry for my Intro to Online Teaching course.  This entry 

will cover the material I learned in the second half of the course as well as my

personal reflections on the course overall.  The second half of the course began

with the introduction of the five learning theories.  

The first learning theory I'll discuss is behaviorism.  According to Learning-

Theories.com, behaviorism assumes the learner is passive. Behavior is then

shaped by negative or positive experiences or interactions.  Pavlov's dogs are

an example of behaviorism.  The second learning theory is cognitivism.  It

replaced behaviorism in the 1960's.  This theory explains people are rationale

thinkers and require active participation to learn.  The third learning theory is

constructivism.  This theory believes that learners use past experiences and

knowledge to process information.  

The second section of this course taught me about the 7 principles.  The post I

wrote on the seven principles on October 28, 2011 follows: 

The unit I selected is media buying.  It is the process of purchasing advertising

by using formulas, negotiation skills and market data.  In this unit, students

will be reminded of the various mediums in which advertising can be bought:

tv, radio, outdoor, viral, and non-traditional.  I will explain the rating agencies

(Neilsen, Arbitron, etc.) and present formulas on how to use a rating point to

determine the value of an ad.  We will conduct drills that require e-role playing

where students will play the role of the salesperson and media buyer.  Each

party will have a number provided by me, that they cannot negotiate below.  It

is the responsibility of the team to work together. The media buyer must

purchase an effective and innovative amount of advertising within their

budget.  The sales person must meet their quota and be pleasant enough that

the media buyer will call them when they are interested in purchasing more

ads.  By the end of the unit, students should be able to:

• Identify each rating agency and the medium(s) they are responsible for rating.

• Create an effective and innovative media purchase schedule (think outside the box)

• Understand add-ons and how to negotiate them into a media buy

• Place media while staying within budget

• Negotiate rates without over promising or over compromising             

    List the 7 Principles and for each Principle, identify the two 'best' strategies

for effectively addressing that principle in your teaching unit.  Briefly discuss

why you feel the two strategies you selected are the 'best' for your purposes.

1. Good practice encourages student faculty contact

 Ask student how they are doing from time to time/Seek out students who

seem to be having problems with the course or miss class frequently.  This

will allow me to gauge how my students are doing in the class beyond the

grades I post.  It shows that I am genuinely interested in their success and am

available if they need assistance.  The unit I selected is heavy in math and

undergrad advertising students may not realize how much math is involved in

advertising in addition to creativity.

Chat time online with faculty (at various times, scheduled weekly).  Hosting

chats at varying times weekly will allow students to interact with me and each

other in a real time environment.  For this unit, they can do mock negotiations

with me during chat to prepare for the assignment.

2.  Good practice encourages cooperation among students
 

Rotate students when working in pairs or small groups. This will allow

students the opportunity to work with different people in class on different

projects.

Under the guidance of the instructor, allow students to formulate potential

exam questions and answers or discussion posts.  Students cooperate more

when they feel like they are included in the learning process.  By asking

students to submit questions for the class to answer, it causes them to review

the material and validates their participation in the class.

3. Good practice encourages active learning

 

 *Encourage students to challenge your ideas, the ideas of other students,

or those presented in readings or other materials. By encouraging my

students to challenge the ideas presented to them in my class, I show them

that they have a voice in the class.  I can also learn from them challenging me

and teach them by finding additional resources to support the information

presented.

Give students concrete, real life situations to analyze.  The role playing and

information provided regarding media buying will mimic real world scenarios

that go beyond textbook examples.

4.Good practice gives prompt feedback 
 

Ask students to schedule conferences with you to discuss their progress.

For those who need it, offering conferences with my students allows them to

get a one on one experience where we can discuss their progress.

Give students written comments on their strengths and weaknesses

throughout the course.  No student should have to wonder what their grade

is at the end of the course.  Consistent grading will allow students to gauge

their progress and correct any mistakes before it's too late.

5. Good practice emphasizes time on task 
 

Clearly communicate to your students the minimum amount of time they

should spend preparing for classes.  Although this is usually done at the

beginning of the semester, I think it is helpful to reemphasize throughout the

course.  Some projects will take longer than others and I'd place an estimated

time on each "special" project for the course.

Distribute a handout on time management.  Often time is mismanaged due

to inexperience.  Giving resources to my students on time management 

through a handout, video link, or website may increase their ability to stay on

task.

6. Good practice communicates high expectations 
 

Provide "stellar" examples (of past student project, for example) for 

students to refer to.  Showing past projects sets a bar for students to reach

towards.  After looking at another "stellar" project, it is difficult for a student

to say there weren't aware of what was expected.

Try to make the assignments interesting to create interest.  If I create 

interesting assignments, I believe my students will be excited to complete 

them and will learn more.

7. good practice respects diverse talents and ways of learning 
  

Try to find out your students' learning styles, interests, or backgrounds at 

the beginning of each course. Now that I've learned numerous ways students

learn, it would be beneficial to asses my class in the beginning to ensure the

material and projects will be beneficial to them.

 

Use different activities for class- videos, discussion, groups, pairs etc. 

There are so many ways to advertise, I can illustrate each method online 

without relying on text only.  We can listen to radio ads, watch tv and internet

ads, read text message campaigns and outdoor billboards.  Watching movies

with product placement is also an effective way to engage students on the 

subject.

We were allowed to take an online teaching competencies test to gauge 

wether we had the skillset to facilitate an online class.  We read and viewed 

information that showed the most effective way to teach online.  The top ten 

is listed below.

1. The instructor shows respect to students in his/her communications with them.
2. The instructor provides students with clear grading criteria.
3. The instructor clearly communicates course goals.
4. The instructor clearly communicates course content.
5. The instructor shows enthusiasm when interacting with students.
6. The instructor provides clear, detailed feedback on assignments and exams that enhances the learning experience.
7. The instructor communicates with students about course changes, reminders of due assignments, relevant additional resources through announcements/emails.
8. The instructor can effectively manage the course communications by providing a good model of expected behavior for all course communication.
9. The instructor provides prompt, helpful feedback on assignments and exams that enhances learning.
10. The instructor clearly communicates expected student behaviors.

 I was introduced to Wetpaint and Wiki in the second section of the course.  

Wetpaint was very helpful for my last group project where we found exemplary

websites highlighting both text and video concurrently.  The project required 

we create a rubric to judge if the sites were exemplary or not.  Wetpaint 

worked great because each group member could edit the page at their lesiure

and all edits were documented.  The site also offered a discussion area where

we could exchange ideas with each other.  Although I did not use Wetpaint for 

my final portfolio, I enjoyed using the site and will use it again in the future.  

Personally, I found the workload to be a bit overwhelming. I learned a lot and

have a new appreciation for online instructors.  I'd like to be able to access the

course lessons after the class has concluded because the links were interesting

an will be useful in the future.  The group I worked with was respectful and we

worked together to complete our work on time.  Overall, I am glad I started

this journey and I look forward to seeing how it ends.