As I have spent the past two years as a student in an online classroom, my eyes have been opened wide to a new kind of learning. This classroom design offers more than I ever would have imagined. Prior to starting this program, University of Illinois Curriculum, Technology, and Education Reform, I thought that an online program would be lacking in interaction – boy was I wrong. I truly feel that I interact with my classmates and instructors more often and on a more complex level than I ever have in a face to face environment. I think that our conversations are more carefully planned and thought provoking than face to face conversations. Take a moment to think about all of the times that you have left a conversation and thought “oh I should have said this” or “I wish I would have worded this more clearly, I should have said…”. In an online environment, you have time to construct those complex thoughts and you can always, easily, go back and review the conversations and revisit the conversation, and add to it.
Tonight, I was given the opportunity to lead an online discussion. Although the thought terrified me at first, I got through it easily (actually the time limit expired long before I was ready for it to – the teacher in me could have continued on). Every week I sit, so to speak, in the Elluminate classroom and listen to the instructor and follow the chat in the chat box and absorb all of the information. This week was different. For 10 minutes, I got to be the “instructor”. As I shared my information, I felt overwhelmed by all of the interaction going on. I have always considered myself a great multitasker, but tonight I felt overwhelmed by the need to continue to talk fluently and yet read the chat box at the same time. I finished my ten minutes and felt the need to defeat the multitasking beast – the need to practice and continue to learn how to create a discussion online in which I can speak and read and facilitate. Although I do not see a need for elluminate or online discussion in my classroom (in my high school of 200 kids), I do see the need to teach students to use the tools of the future. Every student will likely encounter an online classroom, an online discussion or meeting, at some time in their future. As teachers, we need to prepare them for THEIR WORLD, the world that they live in now and more importantly, the world that they will be living in during their adult lives.
5 comments
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November 23, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Dave
Great entry, Rita… I picked this one to be my blog response so I posted it here: http://withaq.net/node/81
November 30, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Online Grad School « Rfruin’s Weblog
[…] agreed. I want more people to understand the benefits of online learning. Rita mentioned in her blog that the conversations online in Elluminate generate much discussion and thought. I agree that I […]
December 4, 2008 at 1:39 am
An Excellent Experence - “Student & Teacher in Online Classrooms” « FutureED
[…] the case for many of the students who are in my cohort and came across Rita’s blog posting, “Student & Teacher in Online Classroom”. Her post provides a frank and honest view of her experiences learning and teaching in an […]
December 4, 2008 at 1:57 am
mglund
Rita,
I really enjoyed reading your experience and totally agreed with you feelings and assessment of online learning. My eyes too have been opened wide to the possibilities! I posted a blog response to your posting here,
http://mglund.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/an-excellent-experence-student-teacher-in-online-classrooms/ on my blog. I am not a teacher so to speak, as I don’t “teach” in a classroom. But I deal with professors all the time and see how they really do not use the technology that is provided to them. Yes, most of them don’t have the enlightened experience that we have had, but I still wonder even more now, how can they not be using technology to its fullest potential for learning? We have probed and tried to answer this questions in so many ways and maybe it just boils down to experiencing it as we have done. How do you really know you love cake unless you have really experienced eating it….
Great posting!
January 28, 2009 at 6:57 pm
vario205
Rita,
I like that as a teacher you see the need to teach students about the future of classrooms and that it is important. I am to one day become a teacher and being in my second year of college it is impossible to go a day without my email, blackboard site and communication tools. I am also taking my first online class to and I felt a little overwhelmed but after following along it is easier and I feel a little more involved in that class than the one i attend everyday. I went to a high school that did not really use technology as much as I wished they would’ve, and that was not the right thing to do, noticing my lack of knowledge in that area. I totally agree with incorporating technology as much as a teacher and administrator can, it will be very beneficial to the students in their future. I feel that students in todays world would rather take an online class if they knew what it would be like but it might scare most away and I would recommend it to anyone.
Nice Thoughts