BOLT 101-- Application and Extension

I'm so grateful for the ideas and learning that this course has evoked.  The tech tools that we've had the opportunity to explore as well as the conversations we had together both online and face-to-face have definitely challenged me to think about teaching in a new way.  Some of my favorite take-aways include the opportunity and impetus to plan in advance. By laying out the framework for EDUC 165 and dividing it into "chunks" I've been able to create a new organizational schema in my head that will help me in planning my face-to-face version of EDUC 165 as well as the online version that I'm currently developing.  We noted early on in this course that many of the concepts we're exploring pertaining to online teaching and learning are also very beneficial in the conventional teaching/learning environment.  The pre-planning aspect is definitely an asset to both.  By mapping out this course in a very visual and intentional way, I've been able to see where connections need to be made and how the whole course hangs together.  Not only do I see clearly now how to organize my online course into modules, but I'm also compelled to organize all course content, learning resources, and assessments into these 9 modules whether online or offline.  For instance, I've had a sudden epiphany as to how to better organize my course folders in My Documents and how to tag my links in my go-to social bookmarking site-- delicious.  It just makes so much more sense now how the semester will play out!

My number 2 take-away consists of all the different tech tools that we've had the chance to "play" around with.  I can't wait to use Padlet, VoiceThread, Powtoons and Screencast-o-matic in my online teaching.  Finally, I've grown from the realization of the need to make teaching personal and the same lessons for inserting a social presence into online instruction were great reminders that I need to be as intentional about doing that in a face-to-face setting as well, though it would obviously be done in different ways.  Basically, it's the same concept though-- our students need to know that we're real people and that we're learning right along side of them.