Before I start my official blog, I would like to comment on an “aha” moment that occurred for me last week. When Dr. Dawley slacked up on the homework because she read between the lines or sensed that we were maxed out, it made me realize that if I become an online teacher, I will need to develop that “sense” or skill as well. It seems like it could be a difficult task.
There was lots of material to comment on this week from the textbooks. The question posed by the authors “How comfortable do I feel letting go of control and allowing learners to take charge of the process?” (Palloff & Pratt, 2005, p.20) was an interesting thought to me. There has to be better terminology instead of “letting go of control”. I say that because I think that one fear is a huge stopper for teachers. Maybe if they could think of it as restructuring or changing the format, the use of group activities and collaboration would not be so frightening. One point that stood out for me was the statement, “You need not participate in group activities, but your supervision will encourage participation by all group members and ensure that an individual’s contributions to the group are recognized.” (Ko & Rossen, 2004, p.113) In one of my other classes, a group was obviously getting aggravated with each other. It was a learning experience for me to see how the instructor stepped in and gently, but professionally handled the situation. It turned out fine. Something else that I have noticed in all of my classes is that students respond more if the instructor is involved in the discussion in some way. It is interesting to read in the text the situations that occur actually occur in class. I have more than once looked back to make sure my instructors were not the authors of the textbooks.
I am very interested in the role playing and simulation aspects of online teaching. I am hesitant to delve into those approaches right now, but I intend to attack them vigorously as soon as I complete my studies.
After reading the next two chapters, I found myself with more questions than answers. If you know the answers, please share it with me. Briefly, the statement “it’s a good idea to send the webmaster an email explaining what you are doing” in reference to linking a multimedia element from your web page. (p.160) I had to look in the glossary to make sure I knew what a webmaster was and I still did not understand why it is a good idea. How do you find the webmaster?
It doesn’t seem to matter how many times I read and reread copyright law. It is always somewhat confusing to me. The expression “legal ownership of material you create is a very gray area at most institutions” (p.172) makes me think gray could be synonymous with confusing. I did not read this, but I have heard that if you write something at the institution on their time, then that gives them the rights to the work. After reading this chapter, I am led to believe that an agreement on ownership should be established before the work is done.
The Web site that caught my interest this week was http://www.metamath.com/multiple/multiple_choice_questions.html
which offers a survey to determine your preferred learning style.
2 comments:
Pam,
I love trying to figure out what kind of mood my fellow classmates are in. It sounds like you are as tired as I am. I think the whole idea of 'letting go' is a much larger issue than most. I'm not sure whether it has to do with an instructor feeling that the students know more than them or just the traditional model of pedagogy. I'm the opposite. I love when my students take over the class. At that point I realize that I have taught them something.
On the webmaster question I might have some insight. The internet is run by a small group in California (amazing, but true.) One of the requirements for posting a website is that you have an 'authoritative' contact to deal with problems on the site. This was originally done when the internet was in it's infancy and research was beign posted anonymously. In todays world the 'authoritative' contact is the webmaster who should theoretically have an email address: webmaster@whateverdomain.com. This is where you send issues with the site. If they don't solve the problem then theoretically you can submit a 'complaint' to the folks at the global internet agency. If they deem the complaint valid the website can be placed in the 'real time black hole' or RTBF which basically means that it vanishes from the internet. This have been used very sparingly. I have no idea why contacting the webmaster was the solution offered by the text. I just passed over it.
On a side note you shouldn't short change yourself. From what I have seen and heard you are more than capable of managing a self directed online class. Don't wait until tomorrow what you can accomplish today..........Dallas
Wow, Dallas. You did share some insight on that webmaster question and the most amazing thing was you did it all in layman's terms. I understood what you said. Thanks. Although I think the last couple of blogs were too long, I am going to miss blogging with this class. It does show a different side of our personalities.
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