All Online Learning All the Time

It has been suggested that in the not too distant future the lines between "school" and "work" and "personal" activities will become indistinguishable; that our increasingly connected, digital world will allow/require people to move seamlessly between what were once highly segmented aspects of their lives. I see this happening already with the start of this class on Facilitating Online Learning, since virtual learning is something I deal with all day at iQ Academy.

This is a challenge for me as sometimes I feel like the last thing I want to do when I get home from work is log on to the computer. When I get home, I usually want to unplug, not plug in - especially when the subject matter is the same as what I have been thinking about all day. On the other hand, studying online learning from the curriculum development and teaching point of view does provide an opportunity for me, a non-teacher, to examine my professional life from a slightly different and very enlightening perspective.


The discussion of The Virtual Classroom highlighted for me that there are many misconceptions out there surrounding virtual education, even among well-intentioned classroom teachers. Examining the strengths and weaknesses of online learning from the student, teacher and parent perspectives provides insights that virtual schools can use in formulating mission and vision statements and marketing campaigns. 


What I really found valuable was looking at examples of online class lessons because for all of my work at a virtual school, I have not spent much time really looking at the curriculum. Taking this class online has helped me relate to some of the challenges and experiences my students deal with, and looking at specific online lessons has helped me appreciate some of the options that are available to online course designers in terms of lesson elements.