I had a geat experience with all of the interactive technologies for my group work and this class. The tools were user-friendly and worked very well for me. These tools are great for an online class and especially for me as a student that needs flexibility. I especially enjoyed the Wiki Tool and I liked using the Discussions tool reviewing our readings, sharing experiences, and interacting with my fellow classmates. I felt that these tools were designed to give valuable feedback and constructive criticism from the classmates or the instructor, which is designed to allow students to improve their thought process, as well as writing and communication skills in order to move forward in the class, as well as future classes.
The one tool that I would have liked to have used was a Virtual Blackboard, where we could have a live chat on a particular topic of discussion and could interact live with everyone in the class. When I was working on my undergraduate degree, I had a couple of classes online that required a live chat classroom and it was a lot of fun and a great learning experience to be able to interact "live" with the other students in the class, as well as the instructor. You could share files live and give and receive immediate responses.
These online classes work very well for me and I wouldn't do it any other way. Part of the success of these tools is that they are easy to use and work very well for electronic group interactions. I also learned a lot about the value of social networking and even enjoyed creating this wonderful blog which now belongs to me, and I will be able to keep going with it whenever I want. Technology is a beautiful thing!
By for now-
Laurie
