Welcome to the Wyenblog!
This first post will comprise my initial thoughts about the BOLT-101 course and specifically the first module. If I had to summarize my first impressions so far, I would broadly make 3 observations:
1. Joe did an excellent job laying out the sequence of tasks for this first module. It was very clear even for this newbie. Nice job, Joe.
2. Online learning is a whole different animal and my mind is starting to be blown about the possibilities and challenges that lie ahead with online teaching.
3. Dave Mulder has some sick sound effects in that TPACK video! Hats off to you, Dave.
To flesh out the bullet point that is not just an obligatory instructor salute, my mind was really opened to the possibilities and challenges of this new medium while working through this module. I hadn't thought deeply about even simple technical challenges of teaching online (such as being available, but not too available, for students; or that students may work at a different pace; or that the work of the instructor is shifted forward, such that much more time is spent on preparing prior to the class starting; etc.), nor the true benefits of online learning. Take for example the peer-to-peer communication of students. I noticed several ways that the discussion boards method is qualitatively different from the traditional in class discussion:
1. You can force everyone to participate - this is great!
2. The quality of the discussion is likely improved because initial comments and replies can be well thought out by the students, as opposed to a classroom setting where answers are off-the-cuff.
3. The students are not afraid to open their mouths for fear of being wrong
4. The back-and-forth of face-to-face discussion is probably more suited to solving problems with constant rework (eg "design" type problems)... maybe there is a good way to have "active discussion" on an online course, where you require everyone to be online at the same time? I haven't seen this yet.
That's all I had to share today. I think I went way over the 200+/-50 word count.
Hi Jason,
ReplyDeleteI have seen synchronous discussions where everyone is online.
I like to do them with Google docs where I post a question or topic and ask everyone to respond. Then there is a flurry of typing. The thing I like about that strategy is that you get an even cross section of opinions in a short about of time. I've done it in a setting with everyone in the same room too.
I have also seen them done on twitter with everyone using the same hastag.
You can do it using online meeting software too where individuals can speak up and talk or chat in the chat box.
Jason,
ReplyDeleteAmusing and insightful post. I agree with your list of the benefits of online discussion boards when compared to face-to-face classroom conversations. I typically enjoy this aspect of online learning and teaching. I think it's also important to note the time-consuming nature of discussion boards. Carefully organizing ideas in thoughtful written posts takes far more time than a face-to-face conversation. As instructors, we should acknowledge this time requirement and be careful to not overdue it with discussion board assignments. For example, I found Joe's requirement of 1 initial post and 1 follow-up comment on another's post to be quite reasonable. I have been in courses where weekly discussion board contributions seem to be far more time intensive than both the instructor realizes and the weight of assessment reflects. Large class sizes can also make discussion boards more cumbersome than helpful.
Hi Jason,
ReplyDeleteTo your point #4 about having a time when everyone can be online together, I've had a couple experiences teaching online prior to Dordt, and we have done this a couple different ways. One, we could have a required seminar (kind of like a lecture) once a week for an hour where everyone is supposed to be online together listening and interacting, or you can just have like online "office hours" where you can be available online for an hour or something to to answer questions and work through problems. Sometimes with online teaching is kind of nice to get everyone together so you get a little more personal interaction. It's even better if everyone has video. . .
Thanks!
Kyle