Kristina Lattanzio's Blog....

Still some finishing touches needed

klattanzio — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:03:50 +0000

I have gotten three very helpful evaluations on my course this week. I am glad others were able to go through, analyze my course and offer suggestions. There were some simple errors in the format and issues with consistency that I didn’t realize-even though I reviewed, re-reviewed and looked at it constantly. In filling out evaluations for others I realized that some of the items in the checklists were lacking in my own course. Although my course wouldn’t involve writing papers or extensive written assignments, I still feel it’s necessary to include a statement about academic integrity. Students should know right from the start that copying anything and using it for their own – even musical pieces is not acceptable. Another important aspect is the use of netiquette in online conversation. I believe of the three courses I reviewed, only one person included a very resourceful site on netiquette. For students, especially those who are new to online learning, it’s important to use “internet manners” so as not to offend anyone.

In looking through my course, I realize that I have not introduced myself enough. Perhaps including a post for the introductory discussion I have in my first module would help students to know a little more about me. There are a few finishing touches I need to include to my course. (3)

Finalizing My Course

klattanzio — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:47:11 +0000

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)

Reflections of course review

klattanzio — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:16:06 +0000

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)

Norms for class community

klattanzio — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:05:21 +0000

Another person’s discussion post reminded me the importance of establishing class norms. In any course, communication and how students communicate with each other are important and establishing class norms is an important step to take when creating a community of learners. Through discussion of norms, I can remember several online course I have taken where one of our assignments was to establish norms for communicating. Setting up how to speak appropriately, when to respond to one another, and when to start discussions were just a few of the important norms that I can remember coming up with. In my course, I would like to include the establishment of class norms for communicating as another ice-breaking activity. I think having students, especially those who are new to the online learning environment, set up appropriate rules/standards for communicating and interacting with one another will make them more aware of norms and what to expect. It also shows students the importance of careful verbal communication in online learning since there is no face to face contact. Establishing class norms, a page I came across, gives examples of activities online instructors can use to involve students in creating guidelines in how to conduct themselves in online learning environments. Something as simple as asking student to come up with a list for acceptable class behavior can be discussed. This is also an easy and effective way for students in the f2f class to develop class rules, and create a sense of community. (3)

Establishing teacher presence and teaching presence

klattanzio — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:09:59 +0000

Teacher presence, which is how you speak and relate to your students, must not be confused with teaching presence, which is the way a course is structured, activities are designed and feedback is given. While discussing how I create teaching presence in my f2f class, I came across some interesting resources that describe what teaching presence is and how to create effective teaching presence in the f2f classroom as well as the online classroom. I found, in my experiences as a student, that the most effective sense of teaching presence comes from the type of feedback I receive on my activities. In my f2f classroom, I have always been aware of the way I present feedback to students, trying to make sure they learn from the activities they do and what specifically they can do to improve their work. Especially in a music theory class, giving simple right or wrong answers is not enough, but there needs to be explanations to back it up so the next time a composition comes up, students know how to use the concepts we learn to analyze, compose and listen to music.

I am interested in developing ways to incorporate effective feedback – in both the course I’m developing and in my f2f music theory class. I find that the use of audio feedback in this course is very helpful and effective for me as a student. It grabs student attention more and to be able to hear positive comments would be a great sense of motivation for my online students. One of the resources I came across identified audio feedback to be associated retention of content and students associate it with the perception that the instructor cared more about them. Not only will the use of audio be helpful to learning the content, but will also serve as a way to build a positive class community. Plus, considering the way I present myself in the use of audio feedback in the online course will create a greater sense of awareness of how I deliver feedback in the f2f classroom.

I found a resource that specifically discusses feedback –oral, written, and aural – and how each can be specifically used in the music classroom. In addition to students listening to feedback from the instructor or reading written comments, sometimes it is necessary for them to perform along with the instructor to diagnose problems or to determine how to improve skills.

As I am laying out the activities for my course, I am met with different way to not only present material-such as video/audio demonstrations-but also how I could incorporate various forms of feedback into some of the activities as students complete them.(4)

Establishing a presence and passion for teaching

klattanzio — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:39:59 +0000

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)

Using Noteflight for compositional skills

klattanzio — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:11:07 +0000

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)

On Readings and Exemplar Courses

klattanzio — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:17:49 +0000

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)

Moving Towards Online Theory

klattanzio — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:00:08 +0000

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)

Assessing my first week

klattanzio — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:26:51 +0000

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)