Blog reflection: What did you learn this week that struck you as particularly important in learning about virtual schools? Has your thinking changed as the result of what you learned this week?
Once again, there are two main areas that stuck out in my mind this week. The first has to do with assessment. Only this time, it's not assessment of students but assessment of online courses. Which is really what the researchers are all trying to do - assess online learning. My thinking primarily changed because when I began this course I was constantly thinking of virtual schooling (and even courses) as an alternative to traditional f2f classrooms. This type if thinking automatically forces you into comparing the two types of environments. This week I had an A-HA moment when I realized that it's not an alternative but just a different way of accomplishing the same goal. So, to evaluate online courses you simply need to assess whether they are meeting stated objectives and learning goals in the same way that we shouldn't compare one student to another but rather one student against his/her own past performance.
The second realization focused once again on socialization. In particular, what do we mean by socialization? Is a lively discussion in a forum on a particular course-relevant topic socialization? What about a discussion in the "water cooler" forum? Do you think of socialization as only synchronous or can it be asynchronous? And, in today's new digital world, don't we all need to learn how to socialization online anyway? These are some of the questions I will continue to explore as I work on my research project, and beyond.
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