Ron Rojas

In reflecting upon the four phases of ISD, it seems to me the most difficult of the phases is development. In performing the analysis phase it should be relatively easy to establish what can be transferred as is into the online course, what needs to be modified and what needs to be created. Also quite easy is the course design specification were a blueprint for what needs to be accomplished in terms of instructional content, media, and presentations strategies. Also the evaluation phase or the fourth phase of ISD seems intuitively easy as well. However I suspect that development is… >>>

As part of my online lectures I always like to take the opportunity to provide a brief overview of the assignments each week. The intention of this presentation is not necessarily to provide responses to the questions so the students can use them in the assignments. The objective of this discussion is to present the expectations and discuss the relevance of the assignments to the material being presented. It's also an opportunity for the students to ask questions about the assignment and an opportunity to share with them some supplemental resources that may be used any assignments. The assignments themselves… >>>

With all the possible techniques available for online instruction such as lectures, discussions, readings, videos, audio, guest speakers, as well as all the possible assessment tools, the observation here is related to the ability to finding an optimal mix by module, lesson, and topic. The majority of online courses I've seen tend to repeat a certain pattern. More specifically there seems to be a considerable amount of lectures using text or videos, followed by discussion board assignments and reflective papers as individual projects. Occasionally there is a group project a guest speaker. Yet with all other sorts of techniques available,… >>>

Of all the attributes of effective online courses, the one that struck me the most was the attribute of intellectual interaction. As a designer of online courses for business management, leadership, and spiritual development, this for me is perhaps the most difficult to achieve. Anyone can create online content and have students access that content just by clicking, but transforming that material into a structural integrity format that is also learner centered and elicits intellectual interaction is a very difficult combination. Achieving some level of intellectual interaction with the material is not all that hard, especially if own the content… >>>

I've been working within the online environment for various universities as an adjunct for 10 years. A lot has happened ever since, especially with the professional development of online instructors. It is very refreshing to see the depth of content and the well composed continuing education courses by CEE. Its obvious CEE practices what they preach. I find myself coaching and consulting with other universities on how to convert classroom content to online courses based on my experience but ED104 has not only helped me better structure my approach but it has also helped me provide more depth in my own dealings… >>>

The facilitator roles characterized by the shoes (Instructor, Social director, Program manager and Technical advisor) offer a vivid image of how fluid we should be in the online environment. The idea of looking at my feet while dealing with an online student and noticing that my shoes don’t match (left shoe different than the right shoe) makes me smile and not feel uncomfortable at all. Being able to multi-role is one of the most challenging aspects— I think— of the online environment and the hallmark of a proficient facilitator. In fact, there are other roles that seem to emerge, such… >>>

I’m wondering if the lines defining synchronous and asynchronous learning are becoming more blurred —at least in practice. There are synchronous activities (e.g., video, text chats, teleconferences) that are recorded and made available to those unable to attend so they can view and benefit from in asynchronous mode. On the other had there are asynchronous activities that are moving closer to the synchronous ways, like virtual libraries that have a live chat or video available if librarians are needed, or the social networking topic that became viral and has everyone’s attention resulting in an unplanned live chat. I had an… >>>