Yeah (?), first day of class for my English Teaching Methods class, now required by the State of California to get an English credential.  This would also be my first online class experience.

I initially found the website disorienting – things were not always intuitive.  Still, after an hour or so, I was able to navigate just fine.  One thing that struck me immediately was that the direct teacher instruction was completely missing.  The teacher in an online class is part facilitator and part administrator and the students basically teach each other as they read through the week’s lessons and assignments.  My particular Phoenix online class has nine students, including me, and I’m the only male in the group.  Of the four who showed up on the first day of class, like me, three of us are either well into our career, or transitioning from one career to another – in other words, around 45-55 years old.  Only one had ever taken an online class before so most of us were lost.

I started to plow through the week’s activities and I believe I finished around 60% after 10 hours online.  I think I was probably supposed to spend less time online, as I am required to be online four days out of seven.  Oh well, I’m new at this.  I also found out that the teacher/facilitator monitors this website by day, but then goes and teaches a class at night, so this really isn’t a night class, at least not if you want immediate feedback.