John Silva Blog

What have I learned about managing e-learning programs? Quite honestly nothing new.

Much of what was covered in this course has been addressed effectively in previous courses. If I learned anything it was about the Illinois Virtual High School through my research. It reinforced what I suspected that for high school students, a hybrid program for online learning is more effective that a pure online course.

It is very difficult for me to write this since I know I will be graded on it but this course has been a huge disappointment. I have been hoping against hope that successive courses in this program would become more challenging. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. With this course, there was so very little that was new. I am starting to feel that much of what is researched and written about e-learning is repetitive on a small range of subjects.

I think my other issue is that at a fundamental level, e-teaching is no different that classroom teaching. Yes the methods of communication and delivery of course materials are different, but its still teaching and learning. I’m by no means a master teacher, but I have studied and practiced these issues for over 8 years. I have taught in low-performing neighborhood schools and selective enrollment, college prep classrooms. I have mentored student teachers, participated in course and program evaluation teams, designed new courses and curriculum, and implemented an incredible array of assessments for my students.

I guess I don’t really know what I was expecting out of this course. The program as a whole has shown me that I’m probably a nightmare of a student since I do have such high expectations and the belief that I could probably do it better. Part of that is my urban teacher arrogance I know but it’s there and I recognize it.

I guess if someone had managed my expectations earlier, some of this could have been avoided.