Introduction - Tanya Komandt

Introduction

Hello, and thanks for visiting my blog. My name is Tanya Komandt, and I’m originally from the Washington, DC area. I’ve called Denver, Colorado home for the past decade and have spent those ten years teaching at a K-12 Catholic independent school (translation: private but not parochial nor governed by the arch diocese) just south of Denver in Englewood, Colorado. I was a 4/5 grade reading teacher for three years, then a science teacher for three years. I’ve spent the past four years as a high school math teacher at St. Mary’s all-girls high school. Prior to Colorado living, I spent a year teaching at an international school in Israel (I’ve always been fascinated by the middle east) and eight years with Borders Books & Music, ultimately as a manager in their store planning department (certainly a better time to be at Borders then now, when they are considering the closing of over 100 stores in the next year). There was a time when Borders was considered one of the big-box bookstore bullies. Now, its demise just makes me sad. I suppose their parallels might one day lend lessons to the rise of an online presence and the consequences for bricks-and-mortar establishments….such as schooling…which might just ultimately follow to…

Why am I taking this course?

I’m currently part of the Computing in Education masters program. I started the program last summer in the intensive program and felt fortunate to connect with students who, like me, were neophytes but also to connect with those continuing or finishing up the program. To be quite honest, I’m taking this class because one of the people I met last summer said it was the best class he had taken at the school. Sometimes, I think the experience of a class is less about the content and more about how it’s delivered. I’m willing to take any class if it’s broadly considered to be both exceptional and relevant. Having said all that, I do have a personal interest, in that I have recently taken on a technology coordinator position at my school. I not only want but also need to be acquainted with trends in both technology education and education using technology.

My experience with online learning

My experience with online learning began this past fall, when I took two classes with the program. I’m not sure I would actually categorize the experience as either positive OR negative, as a whole. I appreciated the flexibility and liked the pacing, overall. In addition, I thought the feedback was largely helpful and timely. I felt, however, that the courses were more self-taught than classroom-based classes I have taken, and while I learned a lot about myself through the process, I must admit that I missed the face-to-face dialogue and collaboration. Like all experiences, though, I find it challenging to judge online learning, as a concept, on my two experiences in the same way it would be unfair to judge a school on the basis of two classroom experiences. I’ll look forward to more honestly reflecting on the effectiveness of online learning after I’ve finished the program, and even then, it might not be a fair assessment! It’s so hard to know!

I look forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts as we progress through the class!