Mae Dorado

Managers don't always make good leaders.  Something I take to heart over the past 20 years of teaching, mentoring and managing in my various positions.  You need to practice what you preach, earn the respect from your peers and subordinates to be a good leader and they will consider you a good manager.

I appreciate the tips for online communication strategies.  I prefer to use response sequencing which is a technique for attending to students’ needs in a personalized manner. The more personal attention I provide to a student, the more I see they trust me and respect me as a mentor.

I think it is important for fostering relationships to help students feel confident in my courses and program.

Although my preference is for face-to-face interation with students...I must learn to adapt.  Technology trends are becoming popular methods of delivering instruction in the form of activities that will engage the learner.  If I can communicate on their level they may be able to understand the concepts and adapt to the learning environment better.

The online learner are no longer just traditional students.  As instructors it would behoove us to get to learn about our students and find out what motivates them to accomplish their goals for their future.

Learning about learning style preferences and level of comfort with distance technology/learning is important to set a foundation for the student experience.

There is a balance that is necessary...feed students too much and you enable them.  Help them to think on their own by letting them fail and we are not being supportive enough.  This balance is necessary to find the right kind of support to guide them to being independant, confident individuals.

I really appreciate the recommendations for effective strategies for:

• Keeping course records.
• Communicating with students.
• Counseling students.
• Dealing with undesirable behavior.
• Resolving student conflicts.
• Minimizing student attrition.

What really resonated with me was learning about behavioral traits inherent to a student's personality profiles and how to manage that type of learner.  I have found that in the traditional classroom, you can observe and immediately modify or correct undesirable behaviors.  Online learning environments could create a challenge for managing such behaviors.  I plan to use this in my online communication classes.

In this module we learned best practices for fostering participation in asynchronous and synchronous discussions and best practices for providing feedback to students. 

Personally, I favored the traditional classroom setting, because in an online learning environment I cannot see the non-verbal learning ques or feedback in the form of body language such as smiles, nods, confused looks, frowns, etc. but with COVID...I've learned to adapt.

I agree that it is important to:

• Provide feedback on a timely basis.
• Word your feedback messages in such a way that they build confidence within learners and encourage them to continue to pursue the
… >>>

I have learned it is important to project and maintain your presence and authority from a distance, sometimes students can feel overwhelmed and have a hard time responding when the instructor is hovering.  As instructors we must establishing a trusting relationship with each learner, the students will respect and trust us which fosters a good learning environment. 

I plan to use these theories in my online courses that also teach best communication practices when working with patients in a healthcare setting.

Course Delivery is like the first impression.  An instructor must have knowledge and confidence by organizing the course structure in a way to make it easy to follow the course.  Next, the delivery platform or LMS and learning management software must have capabilities that enhance the instructors teaching methods with tools and resources.  And, lastly a dedicated instructor or person that fully comprehends their roles and responsibilities as an online Instructor can make managing a course easier and efficient and help the course be a success.

Over the years of teaching and through this training...I have learned that motivational engagement is important for the learning experience. If learners are enjoying the process, they're engaged...enjoying the material, enjoying the presentation, and are motivated to learn and soak up all that they can learn (like sponges).

Also, it is important to be efficient and effective in your feedback to allow students to promptly understand where they stand in the course. When students know and are aware, they're able to make adjustments if they need and will be successful in the course.