Kristina Lattanzio’s Blog….

Two interesting topics have come up in discussions so far this week:

-How to establish teacher presence?

-What it means to be a passionate teacher.

Establishing teacher presence in an online course is a difficult task.  I understand the importance of being available to students and how the interaction between instructor and student is important in determining the success of a course for both.  During the presentation for module 3, I became more aware of what students are looking for as far as interaction with instructors and what instructors need to do in order to create a greater sense of teacher presence.  The presentation discussed both quantity and quality of interactions.  Adding those elements that show students that we are mentioned in the presentation such as links to talk with professor and culminating activities are thinks I would like to add to my course to contribute to its success.  I think establishing a presence was not something I really thought about in as great a detail as I am now.  I sometimes forget how differently I have to think when creating an online course as oppose to the f2f class where it may be easier to establish that presence and availability to students. 

Discussions in this module so far have caused me to reflect more on what it means to be a passionate teacher.  Is teaching with a passion for the subject something that is a natural gift of the teacher.  Is it something that is gained throughout the process of teaching as the teacher becomes more comfortable with what they are doing?  My discussions and personal feeling reveals that passion already within you.  It is something that shows more and more throughout instruction and as you become more comfortable as an instructor.  I was happy to come across an article that discusses preparing k-12 teachers to teach online.  The characteristics that describe effectiveness in online teaching are those that set the best and most effective classroom teachers…..these characters are a bit more difficult to achieve in the online environment.  I imagine trying to accomplish this through a frequent, known presence and meaningful feedback.  Overall the way you present yourself and your materials is what is going to spark the interest of students and show them that their success if most important to you.  (4)

I’m having some troubles thinking of ways to incorporate audio into my course.  Dictation is going to be such an important part of my course and it’s necessary that I include, but am a little stuck on how to go about this.  On another note, the noteflight website I came across will be a very useful tool to have a student complete creative assignments and assignments where they are required to notate music in some way.  This site allows the user to compose music, play back, edit and share compositions with other users. 

This second module has helped me learn more about the students I will teach.  In particular the article “Do Online Students Dream of Electric Teachers” helps us get to know our students before we actually “meet” them.  While developing my course materials, I refer back to some thoughts in this article to make sure I am keeping in mind, the thoughts and obstacles my potential students may bring with them.  I still am quite a bit concerned in offering an online music theory course…..especially to high school students. 

The most important for me in developing all parts of my course is making sure students know what is expected of them at all times.  Repetition of expectations is necessary for student success and clearly explaining directions and processes for my activities in each module/week/lesson is needed to ensure students will be staying on task.  I have always known that I must not expect that people will know what I expect and not to assume they know how something will work but this module has reminded me of how important it is to put every direction and everything I would normally say in a face to face classroom into a document of some kind in the online version.

The moodle course development area is sometimes challenging for me to use…..however I think this is just a matter of getting use to.  The most difficult part is figuring out how to use and set up the various activities. (3)

In developing my course information documents, I realize that there is much more to think about besides the format, how the course is set up-information about lectures, assignments, tests, aural training-my expectations and the the schedule.  This module’s readings have helped me think about the potential students in my course.  Their thoughts/concerns, limitations with technology they may have and questions they bring with them.  Scorza’s article has given me some important things to consider as I move in the direction of creating a class community.  The tone of the classroom, the way I present material and the atmosphere I create through my course development activities and my individual lessons and activities are all important to the success.  The discussions this week so far bring up many interesting thoughts, ideas and questions about online teaching and learning including which activities will provide the greatest learning experience, to creating the correct balance between on and offline activities, to how to create multimedia presentations into online learning.  I have browsed several examples of online courses and can see how successful courses are outlined, planned out and have gotten many examples of different types of activities to include.  In addition to adding material related to aural training skills in music theory, I also would like to develop some kind of online theory workbook where students can complete drill and practice assignments…….(4)

I have learned quite a bit over these first two weeks.  In completing my course profile, I am better able to what questions/concerns my students may have upon taking a course in music theory.  I liked how I was to answer each question as if I were talking directly to a student as it allows me to think more about student needs and my expectations of them.  The course information assignment has also provided insight as to what additional experiences I may need to develop an online course and what students may need to know about technology in order to take it.

I am on the lookout for some sites that offer music theory drill and practice exercises.  I’m thinking that perhaps this could be something I use as a supplement to my online course. 

This module’s discussions have been interesting and brought back some important ideas and theories regarding teaching and learning and psychology related to each.  I feel I was somewhat intimidated by the start of the discussion and spent too much time dwelling on what was expected that in some ways it kept me from participating at my fullest.  In regards to discussions, I can improve my own learning by posting more frequently and perhaps focusing on a specific issue related to the module’s activities, my subject area and specific concerns I may have. 

The computer skills self assessment revealed that I am pretty knowledgeable of most basic functions related to using a computer, internet, word processing tools, and email.  I need to “brush up on at least one skill” but there shouldn’t be any problems with that.  The manual has been a good tool to assist in what is needed to teach an online course and how to get started. (3)

Well…….This first week has been a hectic one.  I’ve been introduced to so many new forms of technology that could be used for teaching and learning.  I’ve been a bit overwhelmed but I think I’m getting the hang of it.  I think the diigo book marking site is a great tool to use when doing research.  I like how I can highlight and comment on certain sections of an article or webpage and refer back to it later.  So far for me, the most challenging part of this first week has been the discussion….I have been thinking and worrying so much about whether I am teaching something or posing a challenging question in my discussion posts and responses that I didn’t even know where to begin!  So far the first discussion has brought back some familiar thoughts and areas of education such as constructivist teaching, mastery learning and emotional intelligence – all important to consider when teaching music (and all other subjects) and developing course content.

Designing an online version of one of my courses is going to be quite an exciting challenge.  There have been many topics that have come up in our first week of discussion that I will consider when designing my own course.  When I think of how to go about designing an online music theory course, my mind keeps coming back to the area of aural skills in music.  I think integrating music listening and dictation will be the most challenging aspect of my course design – trying to design material that is challenging to students of many different ability levels.  (3)