Observations on my first of week of online classes:

Online classes take so much time!! Perhaps part of it might be just the beginner's learning curve, but I am amazed by how much time I devoted to reading even one article, classroom assignments, and navigating my way around the Blackboard and various discussion threads.

One reason it took so long was that even one sentence would prompt me to stop and want to explore it more. For example, in the first paragraph of one article, they mentioned "Indira Gandhi National Open University and Hong Kong Open University, which made me want to Google both schools, because I have a dream of helping to build something similar in Vietnam.

Also, it's hard to resist sending a quick e-mail or my friends' blogs, while i'm in front of the screen, and before I realize it, 4 hours has flown by! In blurring the lines between "classroom time" and "home life" I feel like I'm constantly in class.

It also takes a tremendous amount of mental energy and time trying to really understand what each student is posting. It's easy to post something quickly, but if my ideas are not clearly expressed, it can take a lot more energy and effort for someone else, who does not share my same body of assumptions, to truly comprehend my ideas.

I actually like the rule of limiting people's number of responses to posts, just like in a real classroom, where there is a limited amount of time, that has to be shared somewhat equitably among all students.

Sometimes people who talk (or write) a lot may need to learn how to really reflect and be concise so that others who are more reflective before jumping in, can also participate.

I do like the online format in that it allows those quieter, more reflective classmates a space to talk without having to compete with those who raise their hand (or don't) quicker.

When I am an online teacher, I wonder how I would encourage participation that is thoughtful...not just graded by the number of times people post, but by the quality of their posts. It's so subjective about what makes a 'thoughtful' post.

I like studying with students from all different backgrounds, with some life and work experience. In many ways, I feel like I've been able to learn more about my classmates in a week, than I would have in a more traditional classroom, where we physically would have only spent 3 hours together, with most of that spent listening to the teacher. It definitely makes the us much more active participants in learning.