Midterm Reflection

I am amazed at how much I have learned in the past couple months. I have learned a lot about education, teaching an online course, and about myself regarding my views and thoughts on instructional teaching. Overall, my practicum experience is going well, and I am enjoying getting my feet wet in the educational realm of nursing.

I have learned that teaching an online class takes patience. The instructor must have patience with the students and patience with technology. The students must also learn patience. At times technology is not our friend and slows us down or makes us frustrated when it does not work properly. We must also be understanding of one another because often time postings, responses, and feedback are not immediate. I have received a number of emails from students and do my best to respond to them within 24 to 48 hours. I think this is only fair being that I am helping to teach the class and facilitate their learning. The sooner I can respond to my students, the sooner they can get back to work, the less worry they may have, and frustrations may be reduced. I have noticed that students are not as responsive. There have been times when I get responses from students after-the-fact or I may not receive a response from certain students at all. This caught my attention and caused me to do a little reflection, looking into my own responses as an instructor, as a graduate student, and as an undergrad student. I know now that my feedback and response time as an instructor to the students is a vital part of their education. If I do not give them proper feedback or respond to their questions, concerns, and needs in an appropriate time frame, it could potentially hinder their learning and understanding. As a grad student, I respond when I see necessary and when I feel that the feedback I have to give is pertinent and may benefit others. Looking back, as an undergrad nursing student, I probably did not respond unless asked to do so. If I received an email from a classmate or instructor, or if I was called upon in class, I would respond. I did not go out of my way to offer feedback to others. As an instructor, especially of an online course, I have the responsibility of making sure my students are engaged in their learning and comprehending as much as possible. My feedback to them is essential in this learning. One of my personal objectives is to “utilize a variety of methods of communicating online in order to effectively communicate with my preceptor and students.” I think that I have done this and am continuing to do so. I have learned to communicate through emails, discussion board, blogs, and Blackboard.

As an online learner for the past few semesters, I feel like I have become familiar with technology and the use of Blackboard. Teaching an online course takes this to a new level. As a student, I have had experience using different types of technology and programs through education, not fully understanding them, but being able to make use of them. As an instructor of an online course, I have needed to do more than just be able to use online programs occasionally; I need to have a good understanding of how to use technology, why certain programs are beneficial to learning, etc. I have had to take time out of my own coursework or online instruction, just to refresh my knowledge on technology or to really learn a program. The program we use the most in this RN to BSN online course is Blackboard. I am still learning and becoming more familiar with this program, but it is amazing how much more Blackboard can do when the instructor is able to modify and make changes. The “Help” feature has really become my friend as I learn more and more about the behind-the-scenes controls of an instructor using Blackboard. On Blackboard, I have been able to post announcements, create module or unit for the students to view and submit lessons, modify the discussion board, and post grades. I would imagine that most of us who plan to teach at the university level will get to have experience with Blackboard. It really is user friendly, but takes some time to get accustomed to and learn how to properly make use of it. Throughout this practicum experience, one of my goals is to “learn how to successfully conduct an online class through observing my preceptor, actively participating in activities and lessons, and taking initiative in communication and learning opportunities.” I think this pretty much sums up what I have been trying to do from day one. I have learned a lot and continue to learn though observation, communication, experiences, and interactions.

The first objectives of NURS 3623 states that the student should be able to “appropriately utilize various technologies incorporated in the online educational experience.” I feel that this objective not only pertains to the students in this course, but also to those of us teaching this course. I think that we have incorporated and utilized various technology resources. I need to add this objective to my list of personal objectives. Looking over my other personal objectives, there are some that I feel like I have met, some that I am in the process of obtaining, and those that may need to be modified to better suite my goals and achievements as an online instructor. My first objective listed is “throughout my practicum experience, I aim to practice narrative discovery by guiding student blogs.” I made this my first objective because this is what I feel like I have spent the majority of my time doing thus far. I have read countless blogs. This is a time-consuming process, but I feel that it is very important and beneficial to the learning and reflection of the students’ experience. I think that the students need to be able to reflect upon what they are learning, experiencing, or share ideas, emotions, or situations with others.

Looking over our objectives for this course NURS 5293, I feel that there are some objectives that I have done a good job of trying to obtain and others that I need to focus more time on in order to achieve. I feel that I have been able to “demonstrate appropriate us of various evaluation techniques to assess student progress in the learning process.” Thus far, this has been done through discussion board questions, blogs and blog prompts, and assignments. Each assignment takes different consideration when grading. Online coursework requires that students put in time and show the instructors that they comprehend the information and are able to demonstrate that understanding through various assignments. From the instructors, not only does it take time, but it also takes much teaching, communication, and feedback to encourage student learning and engage the students in comprehension and application of their learning.

For my teaching project, I am going to teach and direct an entire unit or module. I previously thought that I would be in charge of one assignment, but I have been encouraged to tackle the entire unit. I have chosen to cover the topic of ‘culture in nursing.’ I will encourage the students to blog about cultural experiences and discuss diversity in healthcare and how to be culturally sensitive to people of different cultures or populations. There will be a written paper covering culture, global health promotion, and patient advocacy. I am really looking forward to teaching this unit and I hope that the students will gain a lot from the information and ideas presented.

This practicum experience has been wonderful. I am learning a lot about myself, education, and online instruction and learning. I look forward to the remaining months of learning and interaction.