Student Perspective: Participating in Online U.S. History

The following is a guest blog post from a former online U.S. History student who attends Metea Valley High School. In this post, Annamarie shares her thoughts about participating in a virtual course. Annamarie is also a member of the National Honor Society, her favorite show is The Twilight Zone, and she enjoys listening to the band Operation Ivy.

---

Q & A with a Talented Online Learner

Why did you decide to enroll in an online class?

I took online video game design last year, and I really enjoyed how flexible it was. When I learned that U.S. History was offered, I decided to enroll.

What aspects of the online learning environment did you appreciate and why?

I felt that some days I could push assignments off or complete extra ones. I knew I could also spend however long I wanted on an assignment, whether I completed it in 2 hours or 15 minutes. Online is less distracting than a traditional classroom since there are no other students in the room with you.

In what ways did you interact with your teacher and classmates? Did you ever feel like you were isolated and disconnected from the course? Why or why not?

Our teacher always messaged us or called us when we had questions or to discuss a big project. In some ways we got more individual help from the teacher than in many of my on-campus classes. With the other students, we would have discussion boards where we could talk about the assignment and what choices they made in it. Although there was a lot less conversation time in class, I think I learned more than in a traditional class because it was my responsibility to pay attention and learn the material.

What were the biggest differences between an online and brick and mortar course?

Since there are particular due dates and expectations for our homework, I couldn’t just quickly do something without learning the material. It also is a lot less time consuming, since the class and homework only take 15 minutes to an hour every day versus having and hour of class time and 20 minutes of homework. I could get my questions answered more efficiently because I could always message my teacher and she would answer whenever she could.

What strategies did you use to keep yourself motivated and organized during the course?

FreeImages.com/NadiaMeslem

I set myself reminders for every due date we had so I could remember when to complete my work. As for staying motivated, I was able to see exactly how much my grade would drop if I didn’t do any given assignment. It is a lot easier to stay organized in an online class, though, because all of my work was kept on my computer instead of loose papers flying around.

What advice may you offer for other students new to online learning?

To work on each assignment and take advantage of the messaging system. It is easy to communicate with the teacher.

Would you consider participating in another online course, whether in high school or at college, and why?

Yes, I definitely would. I really enjoyed being able to work on my classwork whenever it worked for me. It also helped me stay very focused on just getting my work done.

What was your favorite assignment in the online course and why?

I really liked when our teacher posted video lectures and Crash Course videos. They were easy to follow, and it was similar to a traditional classroom. The only difference was I could rewind if I didn’t understand something!

Student Perspective: Experiencing an Online Course

The following is a guest blog post from a former online health student who attends Neuqua Valley High School. In this post, Abbey shares her thoughts about participating in a virtual course. When Abbey is not working so hard on her academics, she enjoys playing golf and watching her favorite TV program, "That 70's Show". She is also a member of the Literary Magazine and Best Buddies clubs.

---

Q & A with an Exceptional Learner

Why did you decide to enroll in an online class?

I decided to enroll in an online class because I wanted to try something new. Also, I knew the experience of an online course would help me work on important skills such as time management.

What aspects of the online learning environment did you appreciate and why?

I appreciated how much the teacher pays attention to you. Whenever I had a question, I would shoot my teacher a quick email, and within hours I would have a response.

I like that you have the opportunity to work at your own pace and minimal busy work exists. If I finish my health work early for the week, I have a free period during school I may use to complete tasks for other classes. I I am having a crazy week and don’t have an opportunity to get to my health homework until 10:00pm, I still have time to thoroughly complete the tasks. All of the directions and everything I need is present right there in front of me on my computer screen!

In what ways did you interact with your teacher and classmates? Did you ever feel like you were isolated and disconnected from the course? Why or why not?

I never felt I was isolated from my classmates or teachers. I interacted with my classmates by doing online discussions, and posting comments on those discussions. Some of our assignments were to read through the discussion and create conversations regarding what our fellow peers had written. I interacted with my teacher through the Canvas Learning Management System, email, but also, Mrs. Jordan left comments on our work just like any on-campus teacher would. That really made me feel included as a student and as though my work counted for something rather than just completion points.

What were the biggest differences between an online and brick and mortar course?

The biggest difference was not having a physical classroom environment. That being said, I found the online experience less distracting and more focused on the content being taught.

What strategies did you use to keep yourself motivated and organized during the course?

FreeImages.com/NadiaMeslem

I made sure that at whatever time or place I was working, my single focus was on the online course. I stayed organized by entering all the due dates in my phone. I received the schedule at the beginning of the year, and would get notified if I had something to do.

What advice may you offer for other students new to online learning?

Make sure to stay on top of your work and thoroughly read the information your teacher provides

Would you consider participating in another online course, whether in high school or at college, and why?

Yes. I really enjoyed the course because I felt as though it was concise and to the point. Minimal busy work existed and we didn't waste time. In some on-campus classes, there is a lot of sitting around and listening to the teacher talk. With online courses, however, you are both the teacher and the student in a sense....You choose what you want to learn, how you want to learn it, and how you want to apply it.

What was your favorite assignment in the online course and why?

My favorite assignments in the course were the opinionated debates/conversations. I loved being able to read the thoughts of my peers such as about mental health and society. It was very interesting and interactive.

First Time Online Educator

The following is a guest blog post by Keagan Castro. One of the courses Keagan teaches is online Psychology. In this post, Keagan shares a few thoughts about her first online teaching experience. You may follow Keagan on Twitter, @KeaganCastro.

---

Hi, and welcome to my first blog post.  Although I have taught for a few years, this is the first time I am teaching an online high school course. I am teaching a one-semester Psychology class to juniors and seniors from three neighboring school districts. I was a bit skeptical at first, but after taking 18 online graduate courses through a variety of institutions, I began to see the increasing significance of learning online. To provide you with some insight, I will give you a brief summary of my experience developing and teaching this course.

Thankfully, I was lucky enough to be the educator assigned to create the curriculum for our consortium’s first Psychology course. Building the curriculum was time-consuming, but easy to navigate and organize. My experience taking online graduate courses helped me to recognize a few important things about teaching my first online course.

1. The learner must be self-motivated and time-oriented.
2. The learner must take on the responsibility of learning the content on their own. For example, the learner may need to read from a textbook, listen to a lecture, or research a topic to identify and learn the required content.
3. There should be a routine for each module that is slightly modified based on the content.
4. If the student struggles with the original lesson, the educator must provide the learner with detailed feedback and supplemental materials such as slideshows, videos, and further readings.
5. The course had to give opportunities for students to discuss the content in an organized setting with a topic. These should vary to decrease repetition and boredom. Students may respond to an article or video, create a story, share an experience, etc.
6. The educator must check for understanding using formative assessments as the learner moves through the module to catch any misinformation before the summative assessment.
7. The summative assessments should not be multiple choice tests. They must be project-based assessments where students provide significant evidence of their learning.

After completing the curriculum development, it was time to play school. I only have 12 students in the course, and I’m grateful for that so I can test the waters. I’ve made numerous revisions to the content and provided two survey opportunities for students to offer me feedback on the routine and expectations of coursework. Stay tuned for my next post, when I sort through the challenges of the semester and revisions that were necessary to improve the course.