Thursday, September 6, 2012

On-Line Adventure


Creating an on-line class is much like creating a class for a traditional classroom. What you have to teach is important, but more importantly, you have to consider your audience. What kinds of learning styles do they come with? How do they learn best?

That’s what I was asking myself as I read through the R2D2 article. How do I learn best? What kind of a learner am I? I couldn’t pinpoint my learning style to just one. I realized that I learn best when there is a variety of learning activities that tap into my variety of learning styles. I conclude also that as I mature as a learner, I adapt and learn to deal with what is presented to me and how it is presented.

The two online classes that I am presently taking are prime examples of classes that engage me as a learner. My instructors use a variety of tools and they assign a variety of activities. They provide rubrics for these activities allowing me to know what is expected. Like anything new, some of it takes a while to learn (Learning Pains). However, that is engagement for me. I enjoy challenges…where I am acquiring knowledge, reflecting on that knowledge, visualizing what I need to do, then doing it and going on from there.

My adventure continues...I will use my experiences in how am learning in my on-line classes to create a unit that engages and challenges my audience.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Annette,
    Like you, I have tried in the past to "nail down" which learning style best fits myself as well...I came to the same conclusion you did, I don't just have one dominant learning style. I am fairly certain the same can be said for most learners. The challenge for online courses is to try to engage learners on all different learning platforms. Creativity and experience is needed on the instructors part to best determine how to create a universal course design to best meet all students needs. I enjoyed reading your post!

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  2. Hey Annette,
    I always enjoy your thoughts. It is extremely helpful for us to become adaptive to our learning environments huh, especially if doing this online learning bid for the first time. I think it really helps if we also assert ourselves to knowing whats out there- man there is so much out there but thankfully I really only focus on what I can do and what helps me the most.

    I like how you mentioned "learning pains"... no pain no gain huh! It is a good way to look at it like that because we know the end result will far outweigh what we go through on a day to day basis. I really liked the article because I was able to see what type of learning I am and where I want to be when the program is over or hope to accomplish.

    Good Job and keep up the awesome work!!

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  3. Ugh, I just had a nice long well thought out comment for you then when I went to post it, I was told I wasn't logged in and lost the content. How frustrating. I will try to remember what I said because I was pretty happy with it. I had a similar experience to the reading as you. I was also thinking about my own personal learning style as I reviewed it. It seems to me that I have multiple preferred styles and have also learned to work with the others. Having taken classes for so many years I'm losing track, I have inevitably taken a class or two presented in a style which is not engaging to me. I'm sure that we all have. For me, recognizing my strengths has helped me to work on my challenges. Our experience shape our future actions. It sounds like you're taking away some good conceptions. Thanks for sharing your reflection.

    Mahalo,

    Sean

    Ps, Check out my blog, I'd really appreciate more of your feedback!

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