I think the phrase what a different a few weeks makes is appropriate. There is still so much to learn in online teaching but I feel exponentially better prepared then I did a few weeks ago. I have a face to face class next week and I am already thinking about how I can use some of the technologies I have learned to enhance the class. I think many things we learned in this course can make the face time more valuable.
Many times you may have a class that is hesitant to truly share their thoughts. I think having students do online discussion would serve as a great starting point to continue those conversations at a deeper level in person. I also teach high school and have already used screen casts on the website I use. Students have already commented that it is nice to hear an explanation of an assignment because many times they become confused when they attempt to do it at home.
I am sure there is still a big learning curve when teaching an online course for the first time. However, the idea seemed so foreign to me and I really couldn't envision how to do that. Now, I feel as though I have a much stronger idea on how to successfully teach an online course. The word that keeps coming to mind is enhancement. I think the technologies we have learned do a tremendous job enhancing the content we all teach and I look forward to implementing them in the future.
I have used online discussions in my f2f courses for about 12 years. After I designed and taught my first online course, I also changed some of the ways I organize by f2f courses, moving to a module approach and including a lot more textual and video explanation of things.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you have a bit better idea of how online teaching works, and hopefully you'll get to try it out from the instructor's perspective in the near future.
Thanks for sharing some of the ways you have used technology to enhance your classes. This course has definitely supplied a wealth of new resources for the future. I know your students will benefit from what you have learned!
DeleteI echo the same sentiments Eric... this course definitely made a difference in a matter of a few weeks... I know we all still have so much more to learn but I feel much better equipped now. I also plan to incorporate as you say some of these "enhancements" in my traditional classes and maybe in my adult studies classes to mix things up a bit.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I have also incorporated some of the online tools we have learned into the f2f course I am currently teaching. I can't believe how much I learned in just 3 weeks. Sheesh!
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