What drew me to this graduate diploma was my nine years of experience in distributed learning, more recently known as online learning. When I first began teaching in DL I was only able to draw on my experience as a teacher in a face-to face classroom. Working together with our administrator and my fellow teachers we developed our program from the ground up, as a team. We went out in to the field and sought out ways that we could meet the needs of our students. This involved investigating the different resources and learning management systems that were available. We also met with experts in the field by having them come to speak to us or by attending professional development that related directly to distributed learning, as we found that other pro-d opportunities relating to a regular classroom did not meet our needs. If not all could attend then others would share what they had learned, so we drew on each other’s knowledge. We would also participate in online webinars. Our administrator would share with us what she had learned at meetings and conferences held for the DL principals in the province. As we moved to improving and refining our online courses teachers would find new resources and tools and again would share these finding with each of us.
As I continue on my journey I will not only use the strategies that have been of value as outlined above but will also draw on the expertise and knowledge of my colleagues, instructors and specialists in the field that I am working with and directed to throughout this graduate diploma. I will also draw on the knowledge I gain
through the OLTD course work including related readings, my own research and the hands on opportunities to explore and create with different online tools and technologies. I will continue to take what I learn, reflect on it and look to how best apply it to my own teaching so that I become an inspiring online educator.
Close with a question you have at this point of "the journey..."
There are a number of professional development opportunities offered each year for online educators. We can apply for pro-d funds, from our local teaching association, once a year to attend one conference or workshop but we are not always guaranteed funding each year.
My questions are: Is there a central place where professional development opportunities for online educators are listed? Besides our own teaching association does there happen to be somewhere else we can apply for professional development funding?
As I continue on my journey I will not only use the strategies that have been of value as outlined above but will also draw on the expertise and knowledge of my colleagues, instructors and specialists in the field that I am working with and directed to throughout this graduate diploma. I will also draw on the knowledge I gain
through the OLTD course work including related readings, my own research and the hands on opportunities to explore and create with different online tools and technologies. I will continue to take what I learn, reflect on it and look to how best apply it to my own teaching so that I become an inspiring online educator.
Close with a question you have at this point of "the journey..."
There are a number of professional development opportunities offered each year for online educators. We can apply for pro-d funds, from our local teaching association, once a year to attend one conference or workshop but we are not always guaranteed funding each year.
My questions are: Is there a central place where professional development opportunities for online educators are listed? Besides our own teaching association does there happen to be somewhere else we can apply for professional development funding?