Different Ideas that Impact Online Course Design

Tony Bates does an excellent job of describing various MOOCs. What do you see as the value of a MOOC as a learner or as a course developer?

I LOVE the idea of MOOCs. I recently started listening to podcasts. The ones I love are educational in nature about leadership and coaching. I can kind of see those as a type of MOOC. I think it's just a human thing to do. In the description in the book (Bates, 2015), talk about how people in remote places could learn from the best professors in the world if we can just get them the technology. We could change the lives and trajectories for so many people in rural areas of the world by giving them nothing more than the opportunity to learn as long as they have internet and a computer. I think another great point that was brought up in the book was that these lectures could also be used to just enhance the learning as another source for students and not be the sole form of learning.

Do you find the distinction between media and technology helpful? Explain.

I somewhat find the distinction between media and technology helpful. It's nice to know, but I don't think it will affect how I proceed with the construction of my course. I had never thought of the word media and how we use our senses to interpret it.

Will your course be synchronous, asynchronous, or a combination? Describe.

My course will a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous. Each module will have an asynchronous short lecture. It will also include reading, videos and assignments that will be asynchronous. Each week, we will meet synchronously to problem solve any issues they are having as they work with teachers through the Impact Cycle, and they will be put into breakout rooms with experiences coaches depending on what module they are working on. This will be a self- paced course with loose deadlines because it is for instructional coaches that are all at campuses. With the pandemic going on, there are things that are out of their control that could impact their ability to do the work. Also, sometimes it takes coaches a little longer to do their first Impact Cycle as they are figuring it out.

Describe the broadcast and/or communicative media you will use in your course.

Broadcast- Video webinars with coaching consultants, asynchronous video lecture, Google Slides to get information, Blogs, articles, book, simulation of coaching.

Communicative- Discussion, giving and getting feedback from peers after posting videos, breakout rooms in Zoom, Synchronous Zoom meetings.

After reading about media richness, will you be able to enhance the media you plan to use?

I have a variety of of rich and simple media. I will look for more ways to enhance the media I am using.