e-Course - expectations

One of my objectives when I applied for this course was to understand how an online distance course works, and how would I respond to it. I have to admit that at first I was skeptical, not about the course, but about me. I am the kind of person that prefers face-to-face discussions, I am having a hard time in the forum. It seems I am always behind the others. Maybe it has to do with time management. I tend to post in Nicenet at the end of the week, I prefer reading what the others have said first, and then add my opinion. And then it seems that I will never have enough time to read everything and comment on everybody’s posts, and to check all the sites suggested. And finally I come to the aspect of my writing style. I have always been objective when writing, afraid of being repetitive.

Technology in teaching has entered my life suddenly. I have always loved computers, machines of all kinds. Then I took a course about iEarn, and in this course we learned how to integrate internet tools in our teaching, mainly for the collaborative perspective present in iEarn. Then, as the Pedagogical Supervisor of my school at that time, I started to improve my knowledge to share with my colleagues, but that is not as easy as we want it to be. Most of the times human beings are afraid of new things, because it can mean more work, and teachers already have enough of that. Sharing ideas with this group now will show me new perspectives and help me try again to implement the use of technology not only in my classes, but in my whole school, and who knows, contaminate even teachers in other schools. I can’t deny the empowering that this course will give to my professional life, inside my classroom with my students, and in the teachers’ room, sharing things with my colleagues, but nothing will compare with the personal growth this course will represent for me.

Marcia