A little over two years ago, I began toying with the idea of returning to school and pursuing a post graduate degree. At the time, I was well aware that taking on-campus classes would be impossible to accommodate. I also knew that an online program would only be an option for me if the university offering the courses was a reputable one. During my planning period one day, I performed a Google search for online EdS and EdD programs and came across UF’s distance learning site. I immediately knew that if I was going to go “back to school”, that was where I wanted to do it. Within a week of finding the site, I submitted all of the required application documents for the Educational Technology online program and registered for my first class.
Looking back at the program, I have been very pleased with my overall experiences. In terms of time, the flexibility inherent in the online courses has worked well for me, as I complete most of my work at nights (after my children go to sleep) and on the weekends. The material covered in the courses has been comprehensive and valuable, and I have already applied much of what I have learned in my classroom teaching. As for the instructors, they have been wonderful. Their passion for the subject matter is evident, and they have shown a genuine interest in my success as a student.
Interestingly, the one thing I have realized about myself through these courses is really how much of a “digital immigrant” I am. I still prefer hardcopies of articles to reading them online so I generally print the articles out so that I can read, highlight, and write notes on them. I also prefer for information to be presented in a linear fashion, as I, unlike today’s “digital natives”, am more of a linear thinker. This is an area I struggled with last year in one of the most work-intensive courses I took. Where I would have preferred for assignment instructions, requirements, and due dates to be organized in an easy-to-follow format that was chronological and intuitive, I often felt overwhelmed and frustrated as I jumped back and forth in the modules trying to make sense of what I should be doing. This isolated case, one course out of ten, would be the one “needs improvement” I found.
Through this program, I have learned a lot about myself as an online learner, and the areas upon which I need to improve. First, I need to work on staying focused. I am embarrassed to say that I often catch myself navigating away from a paper or school-related site to check out Yahoo News or Facebook. Second, I need to continue to make a concerted effort to start on my work ahead of time instead of waiting for “crunch time”. I’m happy to say, though, that I am much better at these than I was two years ago when I started the program.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment