Module 6

I liked being able to progress at my own pace with the online course. I also liked that there were still some deadlines to meet so that I couldn’t put things off too long. Online courses are also nice because I can work on the assignments at times that are convenient for my schedule and at whatever location I desire. The thing that I dislike about an on-line course is the lack of human interaction. I have to wait for an email response to a question or concern and that can take hours or days. I also dislike the detachment I feel from my fellow students and the teacher. I feel that I know very little about what my professor is like and what is expected beyond the syllabus. There are times when understanding a professors’ personality can help in writing papers and taking tests. It was nice however to only have to commute one day a week to class. Overall online courses are helpful, but I would not want to complete my entire education in this manner.

The topic I learned the most about was information retrieval. Part of that knowledge came from the module assignments with additional knowledge coming from completing research assignments for other classes. Understanding how to retrieve information is essential in providing evidence based practice. I spent a lot of time figuring out how to navigate databases and programs. This practice will hopefully enable me to complete future searches quickly and accurately. My favorite topic was the IBIS searches. I found it interesting that I could quickly type in a few parameters and have access to health information on brain cancer diagnosis numbers in 1973 to the number of admissions for asthma in 2006. I had used IBIS before to work on a paper but did not understand the wealth of information that was truly available to me. I am glad that I had to use the system and read the instructions about it for class; I now have a resource that will assist me throughout the rest of my graduate career and as a practitioner treating patients.

If I was the instructor I would follow the same design for assignments and due dates. I liked having the instructions clearly delineated and enjoyed the multiple formats information was presented in. The videos gave a face to the instructor, the layout of the modules was easy to follow and left little question on expectations. I may have split up the modules so that only one was due each time because cramming in two modules at once made me unable to retain as much as I would have liked. This is my own fault on timing, but having deadlines split up would mean less time to procrastinate for each one. The only other thing I would do differently is improve my communication with the students. There were questions and problems that I felt never were resolved and emails that didn’t get answered. I had two classes with the instructor so I may be blurring which class is which, but communication is vital in an online course and I feel that this was the only thing that truly needs to be done differently.