Final Reflection

Week 14 Reflection

Just when we are getting to enjoy the course, it has to come to the end. Wow! The last two weeks had been a hell of a week for all of us; for me, I was pressured from all sides and all angles in particular by the FALE newsletter where less than two weeks time frame was given to us to work within, that made me think, oh, my god, how will I ever accomplish all these crucial tasks!  I thought I would be able to make, but incredibly, I did, and so did the rest of us.

In the group activity assigned by our facilitator, it allowed us not only to experience the pressure under which we worked in, in order to achieve our target, but more importantly it made us realize the vitality of being a team player. The commitment that each one of us put in to accomplishing the major task was a crucial characteristic that students need to possess in team or group work. With our course, we are fortunate that majority of us are mature learners thus we know of the obligation we have towards the group task. This is something that we, facilitators, need to be aware of and must always encourage our students to motivate them to participate effectively in group or team work. Roby (2005) provided some tips into how we can successfully include peer collaboration in an online course, which can be accessed from this link http://www.magnapubs.com/newsletter/online-classroom/story/2415/

The task also reminded us of the important role the facilitator plays during the presentation to ensure that we participate fully and effectively. This was made possible when she gave us full control of the presentation and to make decisions particularly spontaneous ones when she was referred to. For example when asked by one of the groups for something, she said, that she the group had to decide and go by it. This made me realize that this is what facilitators need to do to allow learners to feel responsible and value the worth of the group work.

Overall, I have enjoyed the course very much. I have learnt great many things that are pertinent to the success running of an online programme, which I will, for sure, use in my online programme.

To all ED403 students, I thank you for being active participants of the class through your postings, comments, and contributions making the virtual class lively and a place to visit now and again.

To our facilitator, I commend you very much for giving us so much with online learning ideas, concepts, skills and practices enabling us to be better and effective online learning teachers. I thoroughly enjoyed the course.

All the best to your future endeavours!