Reflection #2

Part I
I do plan on implementing the e-learning initiative that I developed for this course. Currently at my institution we are working on developing several elective courses that students could complete as they complete degrees in either educational technology or curriculum and instruction. This course would be intended as an elective for students who have a special interest in educational innovation, school reform, and/or professional development for teachers. Some specific challenges that would be involved in actually implementing this course would be to ensure that the course content is consistent with the broader program in which students are enrolled. We would want concepts to overlap among courses and within the overall program so as to make sure that the course goals fit into the larger program goals. I think that type of alignment is possible but we would need to take a careful look at overall program goals (especially if there are students from different programs who enroll in this course).
I also think that, as is the case with any new initiative, successful implementation would require the collaboration of several colleagues, both academic faculty and technology specialists. Since the course is designed as a partially online experience it would be important to involve support personnel to make sure that faculty who are new to online teaching would have access to the technical support and resources that would be required.

Part II
I did find the templates helpful in this course. One of the reasons they were helpful is that when planning online initiatives they serve as a reminder to be very explicit, detailed, and sequential in the design of all activities. Having a template serves as a reminder and a prompt to include all of the different steps and components that are necessary to ensure optimal student learning.
One recommendation that I have is to continue to incorporate the notion of “enduring understandings” throughout the course. There was focus on this notion in the first template that was completed; however the notion of enduring understandings wasn't as prominent as the course developed and we completed our broad plan and session directions. I think it would be helpful to focus heavily on that concept (enduring understandings, big ideas) throughout the course and to make sure that all the templates include specific reference to these. In that way I think students would be made even more aware of the importance of having a coherent design based on a set of understandings around which there's been careful reflection and revision throughout the course.