I am getting ready for my Principles & Practices of Online Course Creation & Instructional Design (which I call the Online Course Creation course that begins this evening. I have been so focused on getting used to the new technology, that I have had little time for anything else (except watching Heroes last night, of course!).
A few additional minor items to add to my checklist:
- Determine if and when to use a web cam
- Have water handy by the computer (but do not spill it, of course)
- report any bugs or non-working items to technical support (I have been making lots of suggestions and identifying some non-working items)
- decide how (and if) to post slides–directly in the online course environment as slides, as a PDF, via SlideShare, GoogleDocs, etc.
- determine when (and if) there will be a break
- determine how attendance will be taken (without having a TA, that is!)
- open the slides and other files that will be used
- close programs (such as Outlook, an RSS reader, Skype, IM software, and anything else that constantly accesses the Internet) that are not needed; all the saved bandwidth will be needed
- log on to the system and get things up and running before the course begins–better be early and have time to troubleshoot, rather than late and a hectic mess . . .
With that, away I go . . .
I’m getting in a panic now, I wanted to write the equivalent of this post but just haven’t had time. Will have to combine with my first week’s impression, I think.