End-of-Course Reflection

Through this course, I have learned a great deal about instructional technology as well about effective course design. I especially liked having the textbook to use as the source for discussion material. The information was interesting and relevant and provided a common resource for which our class could engage in meaningful discussion. I enjoyed working on the issue paper as it gave me the freedom to explore an issue with which I have an interest. On the final project, I liked the idea of a group presentation but I have discovered that group presentations in a distance class are extremely problematic due to the varying levels of motivation and work ethic. At best the presentations are just a division of the topic, presented sequentially. I never really got the feeling of true collaboration. I do not think that this is a limitation of the course design but simple a limitation of time and geographical space. Students still need some face-to-face time in order to establish leadership and synergy.
Additionally, I feel that there is too much reading of PowerPoint slides and calling that a presentation. Such presentations are boring in person and insufferable online. I think that is an area of instruction technology use I would like to explore further.

Final Presentation

I just put the finishing touches on the group collaborative project wiki. Our topic is Internet Safety and I took the portion dealing with online, sexual predators. As a father of two daughters and grandfather of five, I find my research very disturbing. It wasn't just what I learned about online predators, but what I learned about sexual predators in general that bothered me so much. While the online problem is horrific, it is only the tip of the iceberg. Most children are sexually abused, not by a stranger lurking on the Internet, but by the very people that are supposed to love and protect them. Sick bastards! If there is any justice in the world, those animals will burn in Hell.
Anyway, the project was very informative.