Practicum Reflection
The E-Learning practicum has been very rewarding. I possessed the technical abilities to teach online but wanted to learn more about the pedagogy. Through Professor Dennis O'Connor's structuring of the weekly annotations, scenarios, and reflections, my confidence level has increased. I now feel confident to teach online.
I was surprised by how much time is required to teach an online course. I better understand the ebb and flow of work and the feeling of trying to stay one step ahead of the learners. Professor Datta Kaur Khalsa modeled how to choose key points in a blog or discussion threads for feedback, shared her grading tips, and emphasized the course outcomes as the “why” of what we were doing. I realize that having the students create and maintain a Blog - complete with weekly reflections - speaks to higher levels of learning and constructing knowledge.
I witnessed students come full circle from the initial frustration and uncertainty about the constructivist learning environment to wanting to continue on with the certificate program. It was amazing how many have already used some of the assessment tools in the courses they are teaching. The best thing was reading their reflections about interactions in the class and what their peers meant to them. They really seem to have created a community of learners in just 8 short weeks.
