Sunday, April 15, 2012

Reflecting on Asynchronous Discussions


It has been a rather interesting week in the online program in which I have been participating as a student. Actually, every week is interesting, but in different ways. With our current class discussions pertaining to students participating in collaborative work such as group projects and online discussion forums, along with considerations in assessing collaborative work, it seems two factors are at the forefront when it comes to maximizing a learning opportunity. Those factors are timeliness and levels or degrees of participation.

It is really challenging to not associate this week’s concepts with the primary job I have held over the past ?? years. Let’s just say it has been many … no but really “many” is the word! Coaching an intercollegiate basketball team requires, no … demands collaboration, if maximum learning, execution, and achievement are to be reached. Although I believe I have been able to consider the various concepts as they apply to an online learning environment, I am less confident in my ability to respond to my anticipated future online learners in this regard. I cannot utilize the same strategies with my student-athletes in the same manner as my future online learners. It is significantly more challenging to get to know the individual learner in an online format. The reasons they do or do not respond and/or reply in a timely an in-depth manner will vary greatly. I will continue to learn.

For quite some time, as a student in this program, I feel as though I have been switching my learner cap with that of my future online instructor cap. Transition is a good thing!

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