Sunday, January 30, 2011

Week 2 Reflection

If I was choosing a school for my child, my main concerns would be what kind of help and support will my child receive and how can he/she succeed in an online course. The school should ensure that the students will understand that online learning is a very different educational medium, and assist the students to acquire the set of attributes that are needed to succeed in an online environment (ie. self-motivation, time-management, self discipline). Although students have more leeway to complete lessons at their own pace, the school should assist the students to budget their time to better understand and enjoy the course content. At the same time, the instructor should monitor student’s comprehension of the material, as well ll as his/her focus to learn and progress. Good communication between teacher and student is essential ingredient in the achievement of realist goals. Also, I would want to know how many students are in each course and how much attention can a teacher give to an individual student. The instructor is the focal point in the communication chain so it is important as a parent to be able to easily track student progress.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Week 1 Reflection

What I find most surprising this week was how data suggests that a significant 50 percent of high school courses will be delivered online by 2019 (Christensen, 2008). It is already evident that many schools, universities, education organizations are rushing to adopt the new student-centric online technology, but I had never imagined how rapidly technological innovations are evolving, and within a few more years that the world is likely to flip to a new education paradigm! Another interesting analogy from Virtual High Schools and Innovation in Pubic Education, is “Virtual schooling is driving the same sorts of transforming changes in public education as Apple’s iTunes have been producing in the way people collect and listen to music (Christensen, 2008).” The popularity of online schooling is without a question continue to increase, but it will take a lot of effort, patience, time and money from the learners, educators, and government, to fully maximize the ever-changing educational demands.

As we discussed the pros and cons of virtual schooling, my biggest question now remains to how learners and educators can fully maximize online discussions. As I mentioned in my rebuttal post to the advantages of asynchronous discussion, it is problematic that students can have the sense of being mentally disconnected from the group from a online environment. A student that does not feel connected with the class or instructor may lose motivation, interest and ultimately find that learning and retaining the material is nearly impossible. It is a hugely important question to address now, and I hope to get more promising solutions to answer my question in this semester!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

About Me

Hi! My name is Tiffany Wang. This is my second semester in the Computing in Education program. After graduating from UCLA’s design and media arts program in 2002, I went to work in a variety of design roles in the educational toy/video game industry in California.

Here at TC, my goal is to learn how creative technologies can be applied to support learning and solve learning problems, as well as to gain a deeper understanding of how design influences the online experience, and extend my aesthetic senses. I also want to complement my academic interests in the learning and education fields with my practical desire to work on something which would have an impact on the world.

In addition, I am very much interested in online learning as a means of increasing equity between educational communities. Everyone uses social media, so educational tools and media should be similarly accessible and user friendly. I took one online class prior to signing up for this class and the experience, to my surprise was overall positive. The discussions were engaging and allowed the students to learn collaboratively.

Looking forward to discuss issues with everyone!