Jayson Angell

I have worked with several co-workers that were very limited in their understanding of technology, and their fears kept them from utilyzing many programs that would have been beneficial to them.  As teachers it is helpful to the students to allow them to practice using technology since it is very useful in everything we do, and it will allow them to be more productive.

I struggle with making the time to reinforce these necessary skills in my classrooms.  I get so focused on trying to cover the course content, that I do not make time to help the students to think critically about good problems.  Another struggle is being able to find those good problems that are at an appropriate level of difficulty that the students can achieve without getting frustrated, or that take so long that we spend the entire class period focusing on just the one problem.  There is no question that this is a crucial topic that needs to be addressed.

Communication is always key to any successful teaching.  The students need to know that you are available to help answer questions, and the first week of the course is the most crucial to establish the accessibility for the students to be able to communicate with the instructor as well as eachother.

I really enjoyed the distinction between asynchronous, and synchronous discussions.  This also applies to in person learning, a lot of teachers while teaching employ a synchronous discussion with the entire class, which isn't the most effective method.  The same disadvatages shared with the synchronous discusison such as the students that are slower will not be able to keep up, and will also apply with in an inperson lecture.

I greatly underestimated the importance of having a biography posted for the students to get to know me at the beginning of a course.  In the online courses that I have taken previously, I have just glanced through the teachers' biography, and never really payed attention to it.  In the courses that I currently teach, I feel that it is important to make this initial connection with the studnets.

There is no question that in an online course students need to know that their questions will be answered.  There is nothing more frustrating than being stuck in an online course, and being unable to reach the instructor to get clarification.  As an instructor, it is vital that our students know that we will be there for them to help answer their questions in a timely manner.