otl301 post 5 Reflection

  • Did you engage in each of the phases of the critical inquiry process?

Yes, oddly enough (I feel suprised in retrospect although I don’t know why:) I did pass through each of the phases of the critical inquiry process.

  • Were you able to resolve any problems or dilemmas?

Because I haven’t taught fully on-line before and hadn’t used wordpress, I learned some of the wordpress basics which was useful. Also reading the course material really helped clarify the issues and how they could be resolved. I also found other useful links.

  • What might you do differently in a future course?

I will make sure to get students as socially engaged as possible by being human myself, using bios, working in pairs, and using the suggested facilitation skills.

  • How might you engage with your students to ensure that they are working through the entire inquiry process?

Checking in with them to see how it’s going, making sure they post to discussions, monitoring what they’re discussing to see if they’re on track or floundering, noting common misconceptions on assignments or reading material, having a balance of facilitating, direct instruction and letting people engage with the material even though they might be initially confused.

  • Do you think that working through this course in an open platform like WordPress helps to encourage reflective learning?

I’m not sure if the platform encourages it as much as the structured activities do. Knowing that others can read one’s posts is useful to keep you accountable and also to see what it’s like for learners in on-line courses.