Web Based Courses

This week in class we had a presentation by Sophia and Donald on Web Based Courses. They had a lot of positive things to say about LMS (learning management systems) and I agree with them. It is a great place to create an online learning environment for students. It is not only used for distance learning, but can be implemented in creating blended classrooms. Students want to be using the internet so teachers should give them a productive place to be on there. These courses are designed to be interactive because it is more than just a place to look at content it is a place to form discussion. Students can have a voice about what they are learning. Those students that don’t feel comfortable speaking out in class can lead a discussion on a message board as an alternative.  

One really good point that Sophia and Don made was that in rural areas if there is not enough students in one spot for a class the teacher can invite students from other areas to join the class. The important factor in making a class like that work is communication. The teacher and student need to be in constant contact with each other about content and assignments. Sophia also pointed out that teachers should set short time spans for the students to complete tasks so they won’t get forgotten. Another good point they both made was that these programs are not replacing teachers. Teachers are still needed to facilitate the courses and offer assistance for students.

I'm a little familiar with this type of learning because I took many courses through Distance Education at University of Manitoba. Some of the courses I really liked and some I didn't. The ones I really liked were biology and psychology because it was easy to read the text book/notes, watch/listen to the lectures, and teach myself the material. Later that week I would go online and take a quiz. It was pretty simple. The other courses I took were history and English. Those courses were a bit harder because they involve a lot of discussion usually and being online I missed that f2f aspect. There were chat rooms to use but it still isn't the same as being in a class room and having a conversation with my peers.

One thing I really found annoying and frustrating about LMS overall is when the server crashed or was down for a lengthy period of time. I experienced this quite a bit at U of M and it annoyed me because I would schedule time to sit and listen to an online lecture but the server would be down for 24 hours. Although I must say that overall I really did like the courses because I could access them wherever I wanted and work on them whenever I wanted. It made going to university and completing courses a lot easier for me.

I think that this type of learning would be great to implement in high schools. Many students now want to work and some need to work. By having courses offered online students are able to work during the day and do school work at night. They can set up meeting times with their teachers to check in and get progress reports. When I was in high school there was a paper program called Self-Directed Learning where students would pick up packages of units and do them at their own pace. It was still a schedule time slot on the day though so students had to attend a class with a teacher present.