Kristina Lattanzio’s Blog….

I feel confident that my course is done…..at least all the major work is complete as I’m sure I’ll continue to find little things that need to be added.  This has been a very challenging process – developing an online version of my course.  Every time I think I’m done, I find something else that needs to be added or altered.  I think it will be much more difficult to teach music theory online than in an actual classroom. 

I have tried to create the sense of social, teaching and cognitive presences as discussed in Garrison’s article.  I think the creation of “open stage” is a strong way to create a social presence where students can learn about one another and share interests.  I am surprised when I think back on all of the development, that the most difficult thing for me was the discussion forums.  I originally thought that creating activities where students could notate music would be the challenge.  I find now that the discussions were the real challenge – finding engaging discussions where students could think about music, analyze works and apply their personal interests while relating it to each module’s content was difficult. 

In general, I think the various parts of my course follow the aspects of social cognitive and teacher presence discussed in the article.  Social interaction is encouraged by using the informal “open stage” area, peer review of creative assignments is used during the final module and many discussions ask students to consider how they would apply elements of music into their music creations.  Each module’s reflective journal allows students to think and reflect on lectures, notes, assignments and discussions.  Reflecting on what was learned and what could be explored more offers the opportunity to self- assesses.  Teaching presence is evident now through the use of detailed materials, expectations and demonstration videos.  Overall I think the activities are structured in a way that will build inquiry throughout the course.

I am very much looking forward to the peer reviews and into getting some feedback into my theory course. (3)

The course review for my online course has shown me how much more I have to complete.  I have been focused on creating the documents, assignments and interaction activities for each of my modules and lessons that I have kind of neglected to address some other things that should go into course design.  In addition to putting the last pieces of information together to complete my course, I need to refine some of the directions and requirements. 

After completing the module walk through, I realized that many aspects needed clarification – particularly the directions for assignments and due dates.  One thing I have learned from building this course is the need to be very clear in directions, expectations and requirements.  Our discussions, readings and assignments have all revealed the importance to keep materials clear, and not to assume that students will always know what they should do or how to get started.  Especially in an online course these aspects need to be just as thoroughly planned out as the materials and assignments.

I think one of the biggest things I need to do to complete my course is to create a sense of community my students feel right from the beginning.  I have added the “open stage” forum to the course – the space for students to communicate informally.  I also learned that adding encouraging words as mentioned in the checklist will give students an additional feeling of success and completion during important milestones in the course. (2)