I conducted my interview with a full-time faculty of an
online college. I am wanting to go into
the field of distance education so I found her to be the perfect
candidate. One of the most important
trends in distance education right now that I found to be interesting is the
use of social media in the educational setting as well as asynchronous technologies. My interviewee has been encouraged to use
Twitter and Facebook to connect with her distance education students and has
also presented at conferences through the use of asynchronous technologies like
Voicethread.
To be quite honest it did not come as a shock to me to hear
about her use of technology, especially since I am a distance education student
myself and communicate with professors through similar technologies. I have also used similar technologies in my
classroom as well. This year I have been
working with Edmodo (a website for educational network and social learning) and
incorporating it into my fifth grade classroom.
It has been great for my student because they are engaged in their
learning in a brand new way. I use it
primarily for novel discussions and book groups. My students have gone above and beyond my
expectations.
When I graduate I hope to secure a position teaching
online. I am willing to go with any
level so that I can get my foot in the door.
I have a baby boy that I want to make sure is raised in a safe, Godly
environment and I feel the only way to do that is to be home with him. Unfortunately, in the economy I have to
work. In addition, my husband is a pilot
and sometimes we will have to move in the event that he is relocated. If my job is portable it enables us to be
more flexible with his job placement.
And more over, I have a passion for education and technology as well so
I feel that I can really excel in the online environment.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI think that social networking as a use in distance education is a very common idea. The professional that I interviewed also mentioned how social networking, on a personal and professional level, can lead to many advancements in the field of distance education. I agree with this because in ones personal life, people are usually already familiar with a social network of some sort. Therefore to integrate that into the field of education would be an easy transition for those students that are familiar with its programs and uses.
I too hope to eventually teach and online course. As an immediate result of this degree program I hope to be able to integrate more forms of technology into my kindergarten classroom. Likewise I also have a passion to teach an online course; similiar to the reasons I am an online student, the flexibility. Thank you for your post and I most certainly agree that our young babay boys (mines is almost 9 months) must be raised in a God-fearing home and a Christian environment, and we as parents must do all that we can to ensure that! Be blessed!