For me, this module seems to have been the hump, after which one passes over it, the vision of what needs to come ahead is a little clearer. Up until this point in the course, it has been a challenge to keep up with all of the necessary learning components to prepare oneself for online teaching: readings, observations, posts, responses, blogging, citing, learning, connecting and assimilating. Alex, in her Breeze presentation, asked us to reflect on the key question, “Are you ready?”, and I would have overwhelmingly said yes at the inception of this course. After initiating the modules, my answer would have been “definitely not”. But now, I have come to have better vision of what I would like to do with this online course and how I would like to transfer some of the f2f classroom components online, and add others as well. For example, in the standard classroom setting, I strive to create engaging language activities that help students practice their skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Often I incorporate quite a lot of web 2.0 technology in order to do this. I have carried this over into my online AP Spanish Language course because I think it fits in nicely with the learning format. However, classroom discussion has not been a strong component in my f2f classroom. In an online environment it is fundamental. Discussions generate questions, and questions promote critical thinking. I now firmly believe, and understand, that in order to promote a higher level of language usage, I need to help my students learn how to think critically through questioning. This is best accomplished through a dialogue format, where all students are expected to contribute in a relaxed and supportive learning environment.
I think one thing that has been difficult for me, simply because of my own resistance, is learning how to use moodle. Although I feel the explanations that Alex provides are explicitly clear, I still find it intimidating to begin construction, and consequently, I deal with my own resistance. Once started, I am fine. But it is the initial first step that is difficult. Perhaps I am still too unfamiliar in how to use moodle, but constructing the learning activities within each module, which were all identical in my case, proved to be pretty tedious by the third module or so. I am wondering if there is a way to copy a module set-up, and then simply customize the web pages within each module. Also, both Alex and Rob Piorkowski, whose course I am following closely because it deals with language, have suggested to keep our course construction simple. Yet, when I look at my course after having spent hours in its construction, I can’t help but feel disappointed at it’s appearance. Perhaps students do not pay attention to all the bells and whistles that are possible to incorporate into a course design, but I think the reverse may be true too – a plain presentation may not generate much stimulated interest either. So, I would like to learn more about color, design and presentation, along with how to construct solid content. (4)
