I love cartoons. If you took a peak at my online course this week you may have noticed, as I incorporated some into the course. I came across this cartoon recently, and I found it entertaining. Of course, it's not correct. We don't simply download information into our brains in the same way as we install updates into our phones. Rather, our brains have to put the information to use somehow, whether we discuss, memorize, practice, or work to build on the information. Online learning isn't as simple as downloading information.
I found week two very practical and helpful. I thought I knew a lot about Moodle and what you could do with the tools. However, I learned that there is so much more that can be done to help students think through, understand, and absorb information. It has also been very beneficial for me to see others' Moodle courses and how they are set up. I found Christy's to be structured in a comforting predictable format. Cini's is full of resources that I hadn't even thought of providing. I attempted a quiz in Kyle's course, and I browsed through the concept mapping information in Jessica's course. In all courses, I gleaned ideas for formatting and use of tools in Moodle.
From a personal perspective, it has been a challenge to prioritize time to work on this course this week. We celebrated friends welcoming twin babies into the world, graduations, birthdays and spent time reconnecting and catching up with family members. I did most of my work while in the vehicle. This has me thinking again about the enormous time commitment teaching an online course would require.
Kendra, great point about learning from the others who are also putting courses together. I hope you keep taking advantage of this opportunity since it probably won't last. I think this is one area where I would like to expand OL 101 to have a repertoire of open courses where instructors could simply glean ideas. Of course that would mean having willing course developers who would not mind having their course copied and shared. Hint, hint.
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