1.2 Reflection: Personal Learning Goal (Pass / No Pass)
Reflection addresses results of an online learning self-assessment and reasons for taking the LEC course. It identifies at least one priority learning goal for the course.
Considering the online learning self-assessment you took this week, and thinking about your reasons for taking this course, what is your highest priority learning goal for this course? What are some specific skills, strategies or tools you are hoping to learn more about?
The online assessment reinforce my belief that I might excel in the online environment. I can readily provide my own tech support and am an avid web denizen. I spend hours each day looking at all my favorite spots and have great locational skills. As a result I have a serious reputation as the person who can find most anything on line.
My favorite story of this is at one of our district pre-service workshops several years ago. I was sent to support the high level math guys and gals: the calculus and Statistics teachers. They had a two hour presentation that I got very little from,but they seemed pleased. At the very conclusion of the workshop, the presenter did mention something that I do know about, coffee. I love coffee and am a bit of a coffee snob. It turned out that the presente was offering a $50 Starbucks gift card for the person who could solve this intricate math problem. Everyone set to work, and I had no idea where to start solving it, so I turned to my skill set. I have great locational skills, and I was able to find the problem at a University of Hawaii site with the answer. I won the card, and to this day all the math folks say that I "cheated", I reply that they used their skills and I used mine.
As a graduate of the Madeline Hunter School at UCLA, )Michael Simkins too!), I have a background in instruction and best practices. I have always asked the question how do proven instructional practices work or don't work in a digital environment? I know what works in a classroom and as we enter a world of on line instruction, what are the best practices for success online? That is what compelled me to take this class. I don't think that I will find all the answers here, but it will be the first step in my road to understanding this complex subject I will then attempt to hone my skills with the teacher groups that I am lucky enough to work with to further my online teaching skills.
