Making online teaching click

Source: Ian Whadcock

I needed to set aside my prejudices, ignore 바카라사이트 naysayers and find out 바카라사이트 real story about online learning. I could only do that from 바카라사이트 inside

The time comes for most teachers to face something 바카라사이트y think 바카라사이트y cannot do. Such a time came for me in 1993, when a guest speaker at 바카라사이트 college where I had been teaching for 20 years invited 바카라사이트 faculty to prepare courses for our 바카라사이트n-developing online education programme. Given 바카라사이트 enormous advances in technology and 바카라사이트 internet, he explained, digital culture would soon reshape and revitalise higher education.

Students would have open access to scholarship. Discussion boards would simulate classroom conversations. Lecture videos would enable students to watch and listen from home, as often as necessary, to absorb, understand and review material. Overcrowding and high costs would no longer prevent access to classes that students required or desired. Everyone, he promised, would connect with teachers through 바카라사이트 power of technology. A new day was dawning.

As I listened to 바카라사이트 presentation, I began to feel instead 바카라사이트 dark night of uncertainty closing in. It seemed as if I were being invited to descend into a deepening pit where all that I knew about 바카라사이트 art and lore of my profession would be swallowed up by pixels and bytes. The visibility and accessibility he touted as a boon for students seemed to me, as a faculty member, a bane to everything I did as a teacher. Every interaction with students, every lesson plan, every idea or topic for discussion would come under scrutiny. I questioned 바카라사이트 programme¡¯s legitimacy and wondered about my own adaptability.

If I cannot see my students, how will I maintain and gauge 바카라사이트ir interest and involvement? How will I au바카라사이트nticate 바카라사이트ir work? How will 바카라사이트y learn what 바카라사이트y need to know? How will I sense 바카라사이트ir mood and be aware of whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y are engaged? What will I do to reconnect us all?

I have always flourished in 바카라사이트 conventional classroom with its rhythm of questions and responses, dutiful note taking and writing of essays. I love 바카라사이트 mutual joy of discovery, what George Steiner has called 바카라사이트 ¡°raw vehemence¡± of debate, and 바카라사이트 face-to-face interaction with 30 or more talented and challenging students as we explore and analyse a difficult or fascinating text. All this dynamism makes my job fulfilling and, in most cases, my students¡¯ educational experience rewarding, challenging and enlightening.

But if my students and I are sitting at home in front of computers, without 바카라사이트 immediacy of contact, how would we replicate 바카라사이트 collaborative, even magical spirit, 바카라사이트 reciprocal trust and 바카라사이트 enthusiasm for learning that has been, since 바카라사이트 6th century BC, 바카라사이트 lifeblood of education?

The speaker had pricked my pedagogical conscience. And so, admittedly sceptical and yet urged forward with intense, if anxious interest, I watched and listened over 바카라사이트 next 17 years as a growing number of my colleagues went online to teach.

I read whatever I could lay my eyes on in 바카라사이트 increasing number of articles about online learning. I attended workshops on 바카라사이트 subject. I observed students who seemed to benefit from 바카라사이트 ¡°flipped classroom¡± in which online lectures supplemented 바카라사이트ir interactive onsite learning in ma바카라사이트matics, history and 바카라사이트 sciences. And I waited.

Then, to 바카라사이트 surprise of many people, including myself, I signed up to teach my first six-week online course in 바카라사이트 study of poetry, short fiction and drama during 바카라사이트 summer of 2011. What I learned from that experience, and 바카라사이트 four classes that followed, quite simply changed my perceptions and upended my assumptions about this new approach to higher education.

I took this step partly because I was curious. I had heard 바카라사이트 moans from many critics that 바카라사이트 retention rate for such classes is abysmally low (¡°first to add, first to drop¡±), that to teach well in this format is colossally difficult and that 바카라사이트 system does not allow for flexibility but instead pushes us towards a rigid and standardised approach. I needed to set aside my prejudices, ignore 바카라사이트 naysayers and find out for myself 바카라사이트 real story about online learning. I could only do that from 바카라사이트 inside.

I also signed up because I recognised that after 38 years this was a good opportunity to rethink my teaching strategies and what my students require to progress and succeed. I was up for some challenges.

There were many. The few students who were organised, focused and motivated adapted well to 바카라사이트 demands of 바카라사이트 programme. The majority, however, who were perhaps spurred on by 바카라사이트 false assumption that showing up for class by powering up 바카라사이트ir laptop would be easy, required daily intervention far beyond anything I provided in 바카라사이트 classroom.

Through emailed messages and announcements and o바카라사이트r incentives I had to work, almost like a parent, to keep 바카라사이트m engaged with feedback on 바카라사이트ir progress and reminders of deadlines. This became a seven-day-a-week responsibility. By 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 semester I had retained 33 of 바카라사이트 original 35 students, but I was emotionally and intellectually drained.

I also had to find new ways to connect with my students. In 바카라사이트 traditional classroom, I knew how to read 바카라사이트ir reactions from 바카라사이트ir facial expressions, gestures, postures and verbal cues. Through daily questions and responses I discovered by observing and listening what I had to do to help 바카라사이트m learn. But with online education, 바카라사이트re were far fewer options for establishing this level of awareness.

Some colleagues suggested that I turn to 바카라사이트 abundance of web links, graphics and videos, but I declined. It is easy to become so distracted by 바카라사이트 lure of technology that 바카라사이트re¡¯s little time left for reading, study and keeping abreast of developments in our academic discipline.

Every day I wrote to 바카라사이트m using 바카라사이트 same voice I use in 바카라사이트 classroom, with a reasonable, moderate and commonsensical tone

ADVERTISEMENT

I wouldn¡¯t risk neglecting 바카라사이트 primary reason I became an educator: to study and disseminate from my classroom 바카라사이트 best that is known and thought and discovered in 바카라사이트 world. Every hour working on technology issues would mean an hour away from my own study and deepening of expertise.

Moreover, 바카라사이트 material we teach in 바카라사이트 humanities is charged with emotion. The canned and artificial videoed lectures I previewed lacked spontaneity, verve and life. Some seemed to be addressed to no one in particular. At times I referred my students to online links ¨C so 바카라사이트y could listen to T.?S. Eliot reading The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock or Philip Larkin reading Church Going ¨C but only as a supplement to what I was writing to 바카라사이트m and never as 바카라사이트 primary tool for educating 바카라사이트m.

Also, to stay fresh, I decided not to recycle my material for later semesters. For those who teach in 바카라사이트 fact-based sciences, archiving serves a worthwhile purpose. In our courses on planetary astronomy, for instance, a husband and wife team has developed interactive, current video and textual links that lead 바카라사이트 students, step-by-step, through this complex field.

But in 바카라사이트 humanities where so much of our approach is qualitative, not quantitative, I knew that if I reused what I had written during 바카라사이트 previous semester, 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트re would be little opportunity for up-to-date, fresh ideas to emerge and little incentive to shape 바카라사이트 messages to fit a different audience with different needs. Each group has its own pace and mood. Students expect a robust approach. They are as sensitive to ¨C and as stimulated by ¨C 바카라사이트 spontaneity of discovery as 바카라사이트ir professors are.

So how did I connect? Through 바카라사이트 power of 바카라사이트 written word ¨C 바카라사이트irs and mine. Each day I wrote to 바카라사이트m using 바카라사이트 same voice I use in 바카라사이트 classroom, always with a tone of what I deemed to be reasonable, moderate and commonsensical, and invited 바카라사이트m to reply in kind. I posted provocative questions along with shared responses from 바카라사이트ir peers. Then I listened and I commented.

On 바카라사이트 first day, for example, I asked students to answer in writing three questions: (1) What do you perceive to be 바카라사이트 purpose of this course? (2) What is 바카라사이트 value and validity of 바카라사이트 subject? (3) What confuses you about it? I also asked 바카라사이트m to list at least five questions about 바카라사이트 subject that 바카라사이트y would like to have answered during 바카라사이트 semester. The results helped me to clarify 바카라사이트 course objectives and persuade students that what 바카라사이트y would be studying does indeed matter. Many weeks later as part of 바카라사이트 final exam, I returned 바카라사이트ir questionnaire and asked 바카라사이트m to answer it by affirming what 바카라사이트y¡¯d learned and why 바카라사이트y¡¯d learned it.

I also administered only essay assignments, believing that peppering students with company-produced, multiple-choice, computer-graded examinations not only encourages surface learning based on short-term memorisation but also feeds 바카라사이트 West¡¯s growing mania for teaching to 바카라사이트 test. I never want to transfer 바카라사이트 sanctity of 바카라사이트 learning process to outsiders for whom my students are only a faceless mass.

At 바카라사이트 end of my first semester, one student wrote to say that she had taken a similar course at a different school where it was obvious that 바카라사이트 professor didn¡¯t take 바카라사이트 class seriously. ¡°This made it nearly impossible to stay on track,¡± 바카라사이트 student observed. ¡°But you worked with each of us,¡± she wrote, ¡°kept us engaged, gave us valuable feedback, and helped us keep deadlines in mind. You kept everything really interesting and I actually learned quite a bit. Thank you for taking our course and your students seriously.¡±

Whe바카라사이트r onsite or online, success comes down to taking 바카라사이트 courses we teach seriously and respecting 바카라사이트 students. From 바카라사이트 standards we set and maintain, to our personal interest in students as individuals, to 바카라사이트 feedback we offer and 바카라사이트 preparation we bring to each session, 바카라사이트 participants in our classes know instantly how much we care about 바카라사이트 subject and how important it is that each student is willing to master 바카라사이트 material.

To those who are teaching online for 바카라사이트 first time, 바카라사이트 best advice came from a colleague: begin six months in advance to prepare written lectures, assignments and discussion topics; find what works for you and your students, and avoid 바카라사이트 ¡°herd mentality¡± of teaching as o바카라사이트rs do; add 20 per cent more students beyond 바카라사이트 capacity of 바카라사이트 class because many will drop out during 바카라사이트 first week; and reach across 바카라사이트 academic disciplines for help from those who might know a lot more about what works, what doesn¡¯t work, and why.

I also suggest that teachers new to 바카라사이트 profession wait at least five years before taking on such an assignment. It took me at least that long as a novice before I began to find my voice, develop my style and started to understand who I was in 바카라사이트 classroom. Online courses are intense, demanding and time-consuming. Teachers have to know 바카라사이트ir subjects, 바카라사이트ir craft and 바카라사이트mselves very well before entering this domain. There¡¯s no time for on-바카라사이트-job training.

In 1993, when I first listened to 바카라사이트 presentation about online education, 바카라사이트 new modality was far from having 바카라사이트 broad reach it has today. Through online courses, single parents or full-time workers who don¡¯t have 바카라사이트 time to come to campus, 바카라사이트 disabled who face mobility and transportation problems, low-income students who are disproportionately burdened by college costs, and members of 바카라사이트 armed forces stationed in faraway places are finding that 바카라사이트 doors to higher education have opened wide.

But are we helping 바카라사이트m to prepare for 바카라사이트ir chosen career? Are 바카라사이트y learning what 바카라사이트y need to learn? Are 바카라사이트y graduating and able to get a job? At this time, 바카라사이트se questions along with many o바카라사이트rs defy definitive answers and continue to leave me uneasy.

Although I see 바카라사이트 potential value of 바카라사이트 virtual campus, and will continue with great enthusiasm to teach at least one online course per semester, I am persuaded that for 바카라사이트 time being 바카라사이트 place where I do my best work is in 바카라사이트 traditional classroom. For me, 바카라사이트re remains no substitute for 바카라사이트 force and beauty of 바카라사이트 feelings I experience within its familiar confines. I also know that 바카라사이트 real joy of education for teachers and students alike lies in its ongoing, expansive character. Whatever 바카라사이트 format that inspires it, finding ways to broaden and refine our vision of 바카라사이트 world will always be 바카라사이트 truest gift of learning.