A couple of key points stuck in my mind this week after reading one of the five articles written in regards to a study done by the University of Wisconsin. It did not surprise me to read “Redesigning a traditional course into a hybrid takes time.” It did surprise me that six months was the recommended time to complete a project. I do not doubt that it takes that much time-- I think that more than explains a lot of the resistance to the conversion, especially at the K-12 level. Wow. Especially for the perfectionist who has to have it all done right and has a hard time putting it together in bits and pieces, which I think most K-12 teachers will have to do. I don't see high school teachers having that kind of time--I don't feel like I do. I think college professors are given a lot more leeway with this, but I cannot speak from experience on that.
Another point that I found interesting was advice to keep it simple by doing things like making multiple short video clips as opposed to one long lecture.
http://www.uwsa.edu/ttt/articles/garnham2.htm
Even though they do not go into detail on answering the question, Ko & Rossen point out that instructors question this issue of working more. They answered with their belief that using the Web effectively does not require working “twice as long for the same pay.” (pp. 240-241) Notice they did not say it would not take more hours. Since time is a precious commodity to me, I may not be too open minded on this one issue and I am struggling to find solutions.
Aycock,A., Garnham, C., & Kaleta, R. (2002, March 20). Lessons Learned from the Hybrid Course Project. Teaching with Technology Today, 8, Number 6. Retrieved February 21, 2006, from http://www.uwsa.edu/ttt/articles/garnham2.htm
1 comment:
Pam, you're scaring me since my debut as an online instructor is just three months away - and I'm teaching two courses. I agree with Caryn's suggestion that hybrid courses offer the best of both worlds, but they aren't practical for serving the needs of students that live in locations that are remote from where the course is taught.
I do use the web as a supplement to my current history courses, and portions of it can be modified to fit the online course.
I think converting a high school course to a hybrid course may be more challenging then converting many college courses. The reality is that the typical high school student spends a lot more time in class than the typical college student. Thus, there is more material to convert.
I often find it frustrating that my students spent way more time studying early American history in the ninth grade than they will in my course. In the ninth grade, they met five days a week for almost an hour for a full school term. We meet for three hours once a week for just a semester, yet we're covering essentially the same material. One advantage of a hybrid course is that it may lend itself to closing that time gap.
Post a Comment