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toc =Assignments= [|Week 2 Assignment_OnlineCourseTemplate.doc]

Week 5
**__What benefits do you see in educators knowing how to design and implement online learning?__** There are many benefits to educators knowing how to design and implement online learning. First, educators will become more skilled at learning how to design curriculum. The "backward design" model will allow teachers to focus on the end result which is understanding what they want their students to learn. The course design process also teachers educators to direct attention to areas of weakness and the importance of making data-driven decisions. Second, with online learning, teachers will be showing students how to use 21st Century skills. Skills that are necessary for the students of today to acquire. The students learn to communicate more effectively by posting comments to discussion boards and interacting with each other online. There is also more opportunity for students to create online products, such as video stories or podcasts. Finally, having instructors who can create and implement online courses will benefit students in alternative settings. Students who are home schooled or in disciplinary settings will be able to still be a part of the classroom and they will have the ability to participate in class discussions and projects.

**__How will you professionally use your course that you designed?__** After creating my course and implementing it into a few classes, I have many plans for its future use. Going forward, I plan to design a more extensive course that includes multiple topics and integrates with other content areas. I was able to use many of the tools and technology in my course that I used as part of my regular curriculum this year. This will allow me to quickly find those same resources more readily next year. I also plan to use my online course as a tool to enrich my gifted students by showing them how to help me create online courses for my regular math classes. The online course is something I will try to incorporate with my students who are removed from my classroom due to disciplinary actions. This will help them still be part of the classroom and not miss out on critical class discussions. I plan to meet with my campus principal, who is also my site mentor, and discuss plans to present this information to the campus staff during a future staff development and help teach them how to create and implement their online course. One of my future goals is to instruct courses of this nature.

**__Will you integrate online learning in your role as a teacher/staff developer?__** As mentioned previously, becoming an online course instructor or staff development presenter is a goal I would like to establish going forward. Learning the "backward design" model of curriculum and the [|Schoology] site is moving me in that direction. I, myself, have taken online courses that use other programs. I hope to educate myself in other applications that provide the ability to create and implement online courses. In doing so, i hope to determine which sites are the most user friendly and accessible for teachers who are not as familiar with technology as myself. The easier a system is for those teachers with a low level of technological skills, the more likely that are to "stick" with what you have taught them. I have already gained interest in online courses through discussions with fellow colleagues.

**__What questions do you still have about online learning?__** My understanding of online learning has improved greatly with this course. I have never designed an online course until now. After using the system, I have learned some glitches and how to correct those in the Schoology program. for example, the site would not allow my students to gain access utilizing the Safari browser and worked best using the Firefox browser. As far as online learning, I do not have many questions at this time. I would like to know other open source programs that allow me to create and implement online courses. I have yet to research this topic and plan to do so in the future. I am aware that my school district has uses [|Moodle] for its online courses. Any questions that I do have have more to do with availability of computers for my students to use the courses that I design.

**__What will you do with this new learning?__** ** I will use my new learning to help teach students as well as other teachers in the area of open source community based tools. This new technology will guide me in better serving the needs of my students by focusing on their weaknesses and the end objective, which is what I want them to learn. This new technology will move me closer to being more advanced in own personal technological skills and allowing me to become a better 21st Century instructor. I **

=**Reflections**= After reading __Understanding by Design__ by McTighe and Wiggins, I realize the importance of designing curriculum with the end result in mind. I am not so sure that the online course site Schoology follows the backward design model, but I am eager to test out the courseware on my students. I have learned a new tool that I will be integrating into my curriculum next year. It gives me a place to organize material and my students enjoy using the computers. The information is the same that I present in class, but students will be able to work at their own place. I also like the idea of using Schoology as a place for students to post information that they research and find about a topic on the internet, such as videos or games they like. My ideas of becoming a facilitator to my students learning is right around the corner. As far as staff development, I plan to speak with my principal and discuss taking some time to show this technology to the teachers on my campus