MY ONLINE MICRO TEACHING REFLECTION

Likes and Dislikes about online teaching:

Likes

I enjoy the efficiency of being able to display various tools such as PDF presentations, videos, stories and more. It does not take that aspect away from the learners which is an advantage because they enjoy that part of the teaching and learning. The other positive aspect of online teaching is the accessibility. The learners are able to access an online class from any location. Online teaching can also be recored and saved for those who cannot gain access at that very moment, so it prevents any learner from missing out on a lesson, which also increases student attendance. The aspect I enjoyed the most is that is is suited to most learning styles which is a huge advantage for both the teacher and her learners.

Dislikes

I do not like the fact that it is easy to loose focus while on an online session. There could be various distractions around causing an inability to focus. Another aspect that I dislike is the likelihood of experiencing technological issues such as learners loosing connection, power outages, and speed of devices due to some lacking updates and so forth. Another aspect I do not agree with is the fact that learners are not fully engaged and having hands-on experiences which is a major contributing factor to learning. The learners are more isolated on an online session compared to being in the classroom.

New skills gained:

There are various skills I have gained through this online teaching that include:

- The ability to make necessary arrangements with load-shedding and connection issues. I have learnt that it is important to ensure that those aspects to not pose as an issue and prior arrangements could be made to ensure the lesson is not interrupted

- Patience for learners who struggle to navigate the online platform. I understand that not all learners were brought up in a technological savvy home and I need to be patient while waiting for them to respond

Things I would do differently:

To be honest I am positive my lesson went smoothly and as planned, it was successful in my eyes, however, I would've perhaps used my camera to illustrate to the learners a hand gesture I wanted them to learn, but the story was simple enough for the learners to understand, and I did provide an illustration for them to use as an example.

I would perhaps try to figure out how to include some sort of calming music in the background as I am a teacher that loves to include music in her lessons as it is a very successful calming technique for the learners.

Appropriateness of tools used:

In my opinion, I did choose appropriate tools in my lesson. I chose to use a story in the form of a presentation that was displayed in PDF form. This ensured that the lesson flowed smoothly and did not experience any sort of technical issues. A PDF is also appropriate as it does not cause the format to change on my students screens which could cause them to become confused.

Development for school:

This experience has developed me in the sense of becoming more aware of how to use technology in the classroom. This is very important as the world is becoming more technologically advanced and it is our duty to familiarise ourselves with technology and not fall behind on it.