Luz Castro

Communication and feedback are extremtely important  factors that keep us in contack to the students so we can avoid the total disconnection.

The overview of workload management strategies for an online environment; provided in module 1 will allow me to focus more on organizing, delivering the content and also have more time for grading and feedback the students.

Based on the objectives of this module it is necessary to know and implement the importance of good online citizenship, reading and writing skills, participation, engagement, Community of Practice and effective communication. Following all the recommendations in this module, will let us to have an optimum online learning environment that promotes the success of our students.

In order to help the students on creating a successful learning environment and to develop their online persona, I as a online instructor must take the following facts in to consideration:

• Perform a student and instructor self-analysis.(following the guidelines)
• Examine the role of motivation in the online classroom.
• Help the students to understand and develop skills on time management in the online classroom.
• We are going to find students with special needs. In these cases we need to follow the principles of the Universal design

Knowing and understanding the differences among generations will help me to plan my courses using differentiated instruction. If I, as online instructor know the characteristics of each group, these will help me when planning and communicating with my students.

Following the various protocols for communication in an online environment will help me and my student to stablish good communication. To have a transparent framework to deal with communication will facilitate our jobs in the online environment giving the students and the teacher the respect that we all deserve.

I think assessing the technology tools for effective communication is very important. When doing this I have to have in mind first, to find the proper tool and its function and second to evaluate the pros and cons of each tool. 

We as a online instructor have the responsibility to use the best learning methods and strategies when we deliver instruction. As we guide our students we need to evaluate and modify the course content if necessary based on the outcomes.  

After knowing the methods to deliver the online course I would be focusing on the students’ engagement as well as providing them an appropriate and pronto feedback.

Understanding and following the guidelines when developing a framework for teaching online, will help me to stablish myself and students’ expectations. Synchronous or asynchronous methods are both appropriate and I would use them according to the content and to the student’s needs. The students need to be informed about all the guidelines for learning online. Communication must be present and effective all the times.