4. LET’S HAVE AN EXAMPLE read the following extract from a journal and follow the steps provided in the previous slide DESCRIPTION REFLECTION AND PERSONAL COMMENTS CATEGORY MARCH 11th The course started in March 11 th . It started by activating an “introductory Unit” for about 5 days. The idea was to allow students to get familiar with the platform and it was also to solve students’ problems for registering in the course. Students were supposed to explore the course (assessment, methodology, objectives) and they were also supposed to complete a diagnose exam. Since the very beginning, I could sense a huge difference between I was doing with students in the face to face group and what I was doing with the students in the virtual course. As a teacher, it was easier for me to work with the face to face group, as I have been used to teach like this, however when I was starting with the virtual group, I had to pay more attention to difficulties related to the use of the platform, instead of difficulties related to language learning. Most of the questions and demands from students were about how to start or what to do in order to have progress with the course. I also perceived how the virtual course was more demanding in terms of time as the time for face to face students was clearly establish, not only with the class hours, but with the hours I dedicated to prepare class. In the virtual course, time was not limited I constantly had the course available in my computer and I usually dedicated like 1 or two hours daily to work on different issues concerning the course. I believe there is not a very good idea of the hours a virtual teacher needs to dedicate in order to work with a course like this, I have worked in this course before, but there is never a good idea of the time the teacher has to spend.
