Week5 Blog reflection

Q1. Did the results of your TPI fit your image of yourself as a teacher?

My scores are generally fall in the 30-35s. Transmission and developmental perspectives are the highest (34), and social reform is the lowest (27). My profile is almost flat except social reform perspective.
My dominant perspectives are transmission and developmental and back-up perspectives are nurturing and apprenticeship, social reform perspective is actually below the line "Recessive."
In terms of the internal consistency, my belief, intention, and action of apprenticeship corroborate each other, and my sub-scores of transmission is not quite similar but more differ from each other.

I think the results of my TPI generally fit my images of myself as a teacher. I always think that the effective teaching usually related to the how to teach the contents well, so teacher’s main role is to teach content efficiently including giving clear objectives, good questions, and proper feedback so that students learn the contents and have confidence with it. Also, the effective teaching is to understand how students think, as well. The good teacher adapts their knowledge to learners’ levels of understanding and ways of thinking. However, when I taught students, I usually didn’t think about the education as a tool of social reform.


Q2. Do you think the TPI results are different for the same person teaching online and face-to-face?

I think it depends on the school, teacher, and subject, but for me, if I teach students online; I might more focus on the first two perspectives, transmission and apprenticeship. Teacher and students do not meet face-to-face setting, it means that teacher don’t know much about the students. Although, they communicate by tons of e-mail or phone calls, there is a limitation if people don’t meet face-to-face. Thus, the teacher will focus more on the contents rather than students’ development or nurturing. It may lead the improvement of the contents’ quality, because the teacher can concentrate more on the quality of the course. Also, the structure of the course might be developed, so it is possible that teacher organize contents from simple to complex one more effectively (apprenticeship perspective).

Week5 TPI results

1. graphical results

2. Summary of Five Perspectives on 'Good Teaching'

Week4 Blog reflection

What did you learn about the design of online courses this week that will affect how you think about this form of instruction in the future?

This week’s assignment that comparing instructional design models from the different provides was a great chance to think about instructional design of virtual learning. By comparing and assessing the sample courses, I noticed that the two big advantages of the virtual learning are individualized learning from one another and proper use of technology.

First of all, students study module by their pace, and take individualized test and quiz. When they take multiple choice or short answer questions, they get feedback immediately, and if they get wrong, they can go back and check their weakness. It allows students reflect their learning.
Also, I like the concept of virtual lab in science class. Although it is not a real lab, student can do experimental work individually in the virtual lab. In the traditional classroom, group of students experiment together due to the limitation of resources and time, so some of the students do not get a chance to do experiment their own and just watch what others do. However, in the virtual lab, each person can do experiment by their own, so it is useful to grasp the concept of the science.

The proper use of technology can be a powerful advantage of the virtual learning. For example, when the instructor explains something, he/she can present it with picture, animation, or interactive multimedia. It is useful when the instructor uses it properly, and virtual learning environment is appropriate for do that. Also, other new technologies which can promote learning (such as mobile phone technology or virtual lab interface) allow students to understand deeply and learn better. However, the instructor should have in mind that using too many technologies can make students distracted from learning core concepts.

Week3 Blog reflection

As a student, I would like to choose the course which has plenty interaction with the teacher, adequate multimedia for contents, homepage easy to navigate.

Week2 Blog reflection

Q. Write a tweet-length paper (140 characters) that describes what you would be thinking if you were a parent choosing a school for your child, or if you were a student looking for an online school.

If I were a parent choosing a school for my child, I would consider the quality of the program, frequency of interaction between teacher and students, and the design/ interface of the virtual school homepage.
First, the quality of the program is most important thing when we choose a school, and it would be same when we choose a virtual school. Second, since virtual school has a risk that students fall behind the schedule of the course, the interaction with teacher is also crucial. A teacher has to encourage students to take course successfully, and advise them regularly. Also, sometimes, students learn a lot from their colleagues, so I would check how the interaction (Between students and students) occurs during the course. Finally, design/ interface of the school might not be thinking as important as two others. It is also important to motivate students. Simple but easy to use interface would be preferred.

Week 1 Blog reflection

Q1. What did you learn this week that surprised you?

I could roughly grasp the meaning of online schools and online schooling. Though, it’s a little bit confusing until now. Also, the interesting thing that surprised me from this week was the theory from “disrupting class” that learning market also has been following a “disruptive pattern.” According to the author’s assertion, computer-based learning is in its “incubation period,” and when we analyze the pattern, within a few years, the world is likely to begin flipping rapidly to student-centric online technology. The author is expecting that those flipping period is from 2012, approximately.

Q2. What was the biggest question you were left with at the end of this first week?

Although we discussed about the pros and cons of the online schooling, I still doubt that social interaction can be possible through online learning. Interaction between teacher-students or students-students is one of the most important factors of the learning, but I always feel like the interaction through the online class is somewhat lacking. So my first question is how to enhance interaction in the online course. Also, I want to research more about the successful examples of the online schooling.

Week 1 Blog post

Hi, my name is Yaeji. This is my second semester as a M.A. student majoring in Instructional technology. I grew up in Korea, and I was an elementary school teacher for 4 years in Korea before I came to TC. I'm interested in Technology in school, such as how can technology change school environment and teaching.

Q1. What made you interested in this course?

Online schools and online schooling is one of the notable changes in the school settings, recently. Every school and education company tries to provide online courses to meet customers (students and parents) need- anytime, anywhere learning. However, sometimes they just provide courses without deep understanding about what virtual schooling is. It makes students fail to learn something from the course. So I decided to take this course to understand the online schooling, especially, how to design courses to motivate students, what kinds of instructional theories can be adapted to the virtual learning, and how to maximize the interaction between students in the online course. I hope I could research those more throughout the course. :)

Q2. What experience do you have with online learning? Was it positive or negative and why?

I have several experiences with online learning. However, most of them ended in failure. My first experience was taking the course “virtual communication” when I was in college. At first, I was interested in the course because I could pace myself with learning. I could only take the module which I decided to do. It felt like I took an active part in learning which was different from other traditional courses that I just sit in the classroom and learned what the teacher taught, passively. However, as time passed, I failed to manage myself, and finally fell behind the course. After that, I had tried several times to take online courses-at school, at work- due to its convenience, but most of them were ended negatively like this experience.
I decided to take this course in spite of those failures, and I hope I can finish the course successfully. :)