Now that you have done some reading and reflecting on philosophies for teaching in face-to-face and online environments, it’s time to start developing your own philosophy—a philosophy that you think will work for you and help your students be successful learners.
1. Create a concept map or other visualization of your philosophy for online learning and publish the document in a posting on your blog. Remember that your philosophy is shaped by your attitudes and beliefs about effective learning environments. You might want to think about the attributes of both face-to-face-philosophies and online philosophies you like, and see how they mesh or overlap (if at all).
Here are some starting points for online tools to create a concept map or mind-map. Freemind would be a great tool to explore (see screenshots that show what you can build). bubbl.us is fairly straightforward to use, lets you create linkages, move them, and then share with others. There are other choices for tools to build concept or mind-maps. A bit of research will yield some interesting sites.
2. While completing your Week 2 readings, use your personal learning journal to make notes of key points, or ideas, that spark your interest. Write a rationale (approximately 250 words), supported by the readings, to support your concept map and when you are ready, post it to your blog. This rationale will complement your concept map activity, offer deeper insight into your philosophy, and will be a great place to start for Assignment 1. Please remember to reference the resources that you use. Make sure that you comment on at least two other posts.
