Blog Reflection 2

How do you feel that you have benefited from the online community in this course?

I have benefited in several ways from taking this online class. First this course helped ensure I have the appropriate computer system and knowledge to be successful online. Next, I learned through activities, link and information what the expectations are for online students. The different assessment tests helped me understand my readiness for online courses, my study habits, procrastination level, and other important aspects of online learning. I discovered online learning can be just as effective as learning on-the-ground. I gained knowledge of my learning style and how this knowledge can help me be successful in all learning situations. I gained experience with Canvas, which is our new platform. But much of this would be impossible without the benefit of having "conversations" with each other in this course. Reading about everyone else's experience, and sharing information is one of best ways I learn. The interaction with each other as we collectively navigated this course made this a unique experience. I appreciated everyone's honest thoughts and opinions about our discussion board questions. I think we learn individually and as a group more when there are frequent opportunities to share among each other. I was thankful to have someone to "ask" when I had a question and the quick response from our instructor. I appreciated the feedback from both and will be leaving the class feeling capable of handling other online courses successfully as a result. 

Blog Reflection 1

How realistic do you think it will be for you to adhere to a schedule in order to devote the time necessary to complete the required work in your online courses?   What measures will you take to ensure that this happens?

Realistically this will be harder for me than some people. Not only do I work odd hours and unpredictable times and days (on-call), but I am never sure how I will feel day to day. I have some serious health issues that impact my daily activities. I may set aside time to complete certain tasks and find myself unable to do so. Yet, I do find, overall, that I make time by cutting out other things that I felt less necessary. I have been successful in all my online courses, but it has taken time, patience, accommodations and a restructuring of my ideas of my expectations for myself. I learned to use the strengths I have and to adapt to my situation. I have found things that worked and I listen when others have valid suggestions. In fact I am strategizing on how best to implement some of the things we learned this week. When I do have time to set aside and just work, have been trying very hard to stay focused and just keep working until I have to rest. It is really tough with the responsibilities I have both in and out of home to take online classes, not to mention several on-the-ground ones as well. I have a real desire to learn, earn good grades, and graduate. This highly motivates me. I am not a quitter. Since I really want this, I will do just about whatever it takes to succeed with all my classes. I have gone without sleep at times, or rescheduled things because school is so important to me. I try to fit certain things into certain days and make it repetitive so I get in a habit. And when I can schedule tasks - I try to break them into more manageable pieces and I make sure to schedule everything to do with my life on a "to do" sheet, and not just one portion (when I can). This helps me to see the bigger picture and to actually allow me the flexibility to give and take time when it is necessary. Most of all I have learned to be creative and to really, really focus when I am able to do something during its scheduled time (because it is so rare). I prioritize my school work, which makes setting aside time to do my homework not a chore, but an opportunity. So, I put myself on a limited schedule but I improvise a lot and it seems to work, most of the time. I am working towards trying to set aside a regular time every day...so we will see how that goes in the future.