Reflection on a video related to online learning

I'm currently enrolled in ETEC 551 at Cal State Long Beach, a course about online teaching and learning.  Writing this blog post is my first homework assignment.

I have embedded below a video I selected from among four different links of video sites Prof. Rezaei provided to us.  The video I chose is “Be Sensitive to Online Students”  from Penn State’s World Campus YouTube channel.  This YouTube channel contains many videos related to online education; from a cursory scan through a number of them, it appears that their focus is primarily that of online teaching rather than online learning.

In the video, Regina Williams, an online teacher from North Carolina A&T, states that online teachers should consider students’ schedules when setting due dates and times for assignments. She recommends having them due at midnight so as not to conflict with students’ other responsibilities of work, school, family, etc.  She also urges online faculty to have due dates for assignments—at least the major ones—known before the course begins, so  that students can plan their work on these assignments ahead of time.  The idea is to plan the course so that students can be successful in it.

Although the video focuses on recommendations for the online teacher, the not-so-underlying goal (since it is actually expressed) is for the teacher to do everything possible—when designing and facilitating an online class—to consider and implement guidelines and practices that will eliminate any extraneous, non-content-related barriers to the online student's success in the course.

When I initially selected this video in our group in class, I did so because (1) it relates directly to our course material, (2) it is very short (1:16), and (3) it has closed-captioning.  After viewing it and understanding the point that Williams was making, I liked it even more.  

In the various face-to-face, hybrid, and online course experiences I've had, I didn't recall noticing whether the logistics were created with student convenience (or at least minimizing student logistical barriers) in mind.  After watching this brief video, I see in retrospect how having a midnight deadline in prior CSULB courses was more advantageous than the 11:00 p.m. deadline for this assignment I'm completing right now, because it gave me more flexibility, especially if I was out during the evening. Also, there are many resources that focus on the technical aspects of offering an online course, but the logistical aspects tend to be ones that may end up being overlooked.  That's unfortunate, because these factors and policies that are not content-related or content-driven can become barriers or bridges to students, depending on how they are handled by the online teacher.

Over the weekend, I ordered the optional books for this course and am awaiting their arrival in the coming week.  Because of the "Look Inside" feature on Amazon.com,  I was able to access some of the content in these books, and I was happy to see that the Vai and Sosulski book Essentials of Online Course Design: A Standards-Based Guide (2016)—I bought the 2nd edition rather than the 1st edition that was mentioned in the syllabus—also emphasizes the importance of how online course design affects the learner's ability to succeed in an online class.  There is also a companion website http://essentialsofonlinecoursedesign.com .

Time Flies!

It's been too long!  I'll try to write more frequently and regularly.
I do post at least a few times per week on Twitter @MathAppeal.

Vacation? What vacation?

We have six days off of work, March 25-April 1.  I'm home without a car (it's in the shop getting major surgery--head gasket), but it's just as well.  I've been spending the time grading exams and trying to catch up on various work-related and non-work activities.  Anyone who thinks that a teacher's job ends at the close of the school day, or even at the close of the school year, doesn't know much about what teaching really involves.  I used to be a litigation attorney, and teaching is a lot more difficult than that!

"Why do I need math?"

Students are always asking why they need math.  Here is a resource with a lot of answers, thanks to the State of Michigan:



Why do I need Math? poster


https://docs.google.com/open?id=1WOUqgxRFwsGR_Kshs_7UXCqSqi2-SIW29XlLPSx5HFW7FC2iURv9YzZiGhIU


Sorry--I tried to embed it but was unable to do so.  It is a PDF file that is saved in Google Docs.

The new school year schedule & matrix

Our school finally published its tentative bell schedule and tentative class matrix last night.  We have a 7-period day (with one period not meeting on our weekly short day), beginning at 8 and ending at about 3:40.  Long day, but we get paid for that extra time.  I would rather have started earlier in the morning than put all of the extra half-hour at the end of the day, because it's going to hurt the athletes etc. who leave school early for their games or other activities, but nobody asked me.

And that, my readers, is a whole other bone of contention!  We have a decisionmaking body that is in charge of things such as bell schedules, but that committee was not even contacted regarding the start or end time, the number of periods, etc. 

I'm disappointed that we are on a type of block schedule where I will not have a conference period each day, but I'm mostly happy with the courses I've been assigned thus far:  Algebra 2, Trigonometry/Math Analysis, and one section of Algebra 1 for juniors & seniors who still need to pass it.

First Entry

Here it is, my brand-new Blogger account!

Just finished emptying my classroom on Friday.  This past school year was incredibly difficult, with student behavior (I was teaching 9th graders) having gotten worse each year.  I've been promised upperclassmen for next school year, probably 11th graders.  We should be notified next week.

There's a shorter vacation time this summer, since the district is starting all of us on August 13th (14th for students) so that we can be done with first semester in time for winter break.  This makes a lot more sense than the previous way of doing things, with fall semester ending and spring semester starting a month after we returned from the winter holidays.  I experienced that schedule only for one year, because our school had been on a three-track year-round calendar prior to that.  I liked working through the summer and having time off when not everyone else did!  Well, at least we'll have most of June off next year.

I'm going to try to post regularly and make this into a "real" blog, rather than something I use very infrequently.  Now, let me go to my Twitter account (@mathappeal) to input this blog address!