Bruce Maki

I really enjoyed this topic! I learned about the importance of understanding that the online course is an experience. Students should be provided with a dynamic range of activities and resources that will properly benefit their learning. By the same token, it's important not to overwhelm the students. Therefore, students need to also be able to depend on consistency, ease of use, and reliability. 

Online instruction involves so much more in terms of facilitation than would be expected in a face to facee course. Specifically, a lot of practices that might come across naturally in a classroom environment (i.e. promoting collegiality and being a "coach") must be done clearly and through its own mechanisms. 

I think it's crucial to always consider the pros and cons of synchronous and asynchronous content delivery, and how that will be experienced by a cohort of students. Personally, I am most familiar with asynchronous learning, however it's important to be aware of limitations (i.e. decreased engagement) and benefits (i.e. no need for instructor presence) of asynchronous learning and how that might be handled to maintained consistency with synchronous formats. 

I learned that it is important for there to be intentionality behind the use of technology tools. If a tool doesn't match with course outcomes, then one can't use it. Also, if there is no practicality to a tool (i.e. student's won't be able to use it effectively or it can't be assessed), then it might not be the best tool to use.