Week 11 Reflection

While I know it was not based on the most rigorous research model, I found Haavind's exploration of methods that promote collaboration and discussion among online students to be extremely useful. It seems to me that most teachers are dipping their toes into the online learning pool by using web tools like blogs and wikis to continue communication beyond the school day. Research like this gives teachers valuable pointers and strategies to make the most of online communications whether in a fully online or hybrid classroom. Although all of the techniques Haavind observed may not work, it certainly gives teachers an idea of where to start and what to try. I think this is the real value of researching online education--what it can do for teachers where the rubber meets the road.

This week's readings did not change my views of online ed much. Rather, they reinforced much of what I observed last week about the challenges of researching education. Tough though it is, I believe even more so that this is research worth pursuing.

Week 10 Reflection

As a result of this week's work, I have learned much about how online schools stack up vis-a-vis their brick and mortar counterparts.  I was impressed by the significant evidence that refutes the common perception of online schooling as less rigorous and effective than f2f schooling.  Thinking back on my own perceptions of online education at the start of this course, I see how much I underestimated online ed.  I, like many others, assumed that there was little online ed could offer that would come close to matching the value of f2f teacher-student and student-student interactions.  After 10 weeks of looking at the range of online ed available, I now realize the lack of imagination I'd brought to the topic!

One final thing that I found particularly important in this week's research is the value of online ed as a means of testing and implementing on a vast scale the best educational practices out there.  While wholesale change of pedagogy in a school could take years before it yields results for students, change in an online setting could occur so much more quickly.  As a results, so many more students could reap the benefits of these best practices.