Reflection - Lesson Seven

Of the four roles in my coaching plan, I recognize that the area of greatest need is program manager. It seems that the program manager must know the ins and outs of the learning management system (LMS), know how to embed and organize tools, effectively communicate, as well as grade and organize student learning. Though I use my LMS currently for assignments, written explanations, communication, readings, and gathering/grading student work, there is still so much that has not been explored. For example, I do not know how to take Web 2.0 tools and embed them in the LMS (I read about how to embed VoiceThread but have not tried it) and I am unsure how to set up discussions and use the grading tools as effectively as possible. I believe this is a time consuming portion of planning for online instruction and will require dedication to learn. Thankfully, our college provides support in this area.

The area of next greatest need is technical assistant. To troubleshoot for students and know what the technical problems may be, I need to become more familiar with the Web 2.0 tools that I will be using as well as the potential issues with the LMS. These are things that can only be learned by exploration and time spent learning hands-on. Of course, there is also on-the-spot learning that comes from experience.

Moving into easier territory are both the social director and instructor roles. I feel that maintaining online community, though potentially a challenge, is not as worrisome as the other technical aspects of the coaching role. I am intuitive when it comes to people and enjoy creating opportunities for discussion. Directing activities and engaging people in interactions is not a threatening task. Also, I have experience intervening many times in face-to-face settings to redirect unwanted student behavior, so this will be a skill I can transfer to online settings. The instructor role is one I feel most confident about and I can use my current skills in planning instruction to organize learning in new and exciting ways using the many of the new tools in which I have become familiar.

Needless to say, there is much to learn in order to be an effective coach, though I believe that in my coaching plan I have identified ways that I can meet the needs and gain the knowledge. I am looking forward to the opportunity to prepare for teaching a blended or online course.