Week 1 - First Impression

Okay so finally i am enrolled after all the running around in ED403. I had spoken to my mates from ED459 who had done this course and they all had high praise for it but cautioned me that i had to be punctual with all the submissions because the course convener is quite strict about this. Little did i know about all the work that was coming my way. Anyways I logged immediately after i was enrolled to check out the course content and of course like any 'focused' student I also clicked on the assessments....I nearly fell off my chair when i say all the things we will be doing over the next few months!!! The orientation bit was pretty straight forward so it was smooth sailing and exciting with creating all the online accounts and introductions. Unlike most of my friends who are Facebook and twitter addicts, I was very proud (well sort of!!) that i had steered clear from such addictions and can disappear without a trace (if i had to!). I am not sure why, but i thought that i could do ED403 without being too much online...:)

 

Key Points

One needs to be student first to become a teacher....you must 'play' with all the online tools to become familiar and become savvy using them. Unless you do this first how can you engage your students using these tools

Be 'online' after hours otherwise it is hard to keep up and catch up with the all the happenings in the course. Although you may be online at work......there is more than enough work to be done inside and outside the office that you will keep busy so forget about blogging or doing any ED403 work during office hours!!

Organise a system to read through all the comments and feedback by fellow classmates...perhaps a separate folder for Kerwin:)...just joking!! Also an allocated time during the week and weekend to do the required reading and activities....no 'ad hoc' business!!

Last but the most important point....be brave and soldier on....take a deep breath before diving into week 2:)

Resources

There is no greater resource than your course convener.  We are lucky to have a very experienced and accomplished lecturer who will guide us through turbulent waters of ED403 and towards the shoreline. I firmly believe that the biggest resource a student can have is not "Google" like some of my students may say (hopefully not) but having a teacher who can make you understand a very complex issue in much simpler terms. Like someone said "you don't need to know everything...you just need the number of  a person who does"

Reflection

It was an interesting week and I feel very excited and very productive that now i have a twitter account: @joshdrugs, i have a gmail account: joshila.lal@gmail.com, a skype account: joshila.lal. One thing is very clear, i know very little about online teaching and learning:) This actually came as a revelation because i have delivered courses online and have been a student with some online courses as well. This course is not what i expected at all but its a pleasant surprise because now i have get out of my comfort zone and learn something very new and innovative. As you know, getting out of the comfort zone is not 'very comforting' at all!! So its 2 weeks now (almost 3 weeks) and here i am writing about first week. Better late than never i guess. All in all, its been a struggle, letting go of my own perceptions about online learning and opening my mind to new possibilities...i had no idea that i had no idea about what i was getting myself into but having a lot of ideas about it anyway. Anyways I am ready now...bring it on!!