Kathy Wonsowski

Feedback is just as important as the content. Immediate feedback and instructor comments need to be specific. Whether this is constructive criticism, suggestions to further learning, opportunities for re-teaching, or all of them together will help make the student an active participant in the course verses a student who goes through the motions. Genuine feedback can easily be shown in the information written back to the student. Generic feedback will turn students away. Just because we are not f2f doesn't mean you aren't part of a class, we need to make that happen--feedback is that avenue. 

Having a detailed syllabus with specific information on expectations for assignments, discussions, assessments, group work, etc. will benefit the students more than one would do for a f2f course. Having students "actively" participate in the course through discussions makes them feel part of a community. As an instructor replying to student comments/feedback within the discussions can also help stimulate others to participate. 

The main concept I am taking away from this section is consistency. Having someone other than the designers "test" the course for consistency and functionality that benefits learning. Without consistency more time is spent navigating or figuring out what is needed versus what should be learned. 

Using online learning in a high school environment can create a variety of challenges. Maintaining a strong expectation policy along with keeping a record of all communication (communication logs) provides an easy way to keep track of the steps that have or haven't been taken so that every attempt has been made through communication, to address issues, be consistent, and for any future issue that could arise regarding instructor communication to the student. 

The best way to keep students engaged and involved is to have frequent discussions and feedback from both students and teacher. 

This section reinforces the importance of creating a relationship with students through sharing my credentials, experience with online learning, and hobbies and interests that I have along with office hours and contact information. Making yourself "human" in the virtual world is extremely important. Having students provide specific information about themselves, responding to classmates, and me responding individually to each student creates the "I'm involved and here" environment from the start. 

Outside of strong communication, two main concepts I took away from this is to first have a CMS that has a student orientation portion so students become more familiar prior to starting the course. The second concept is that the instructor needs to know only know the "ins and outs" of the CMS but also be able to communicate with students effectively. Communication in an online environment is vital. Remembering when responding electronically to any assignment, email, or question the instructor should avoid using "you" which can be interpreted negatively. The message being sent needs to address the situation not… >>>