I completed both questionnaires. There was some redundancy in the questions.
It seems that only one of the two questionnaires allowed me to "submit" and obtain feedback.
I created a separate Google document for my responses to each questionnaire.
Aside: According to one website Google Drive has replaced Google Docs. This continual renaming and revising of applications is frustrating. I see a real problem in terms of creating resource documents for students because the terms that we use in these documents (Ex: Google Docs) will rapidly become obsolete as they are replaced by other terms (Ex: Google Drive). This will undoubtedly cause frustration for students unless we are constantly editing our documents to reflect the changes.
I was surprised that my feedback was generally only in the "beginner to intermediate" range.
I'm wondering if this just isn't a ploy to encourage people to take more courses.
As I think more about this it does seem that I am still hanging onto the face-to-face mode. Perhaps my age (66) is showing. However, I resist the complete online approach because -thus far - I have encountered enough technical problems to cause frustrations for me ... and my students. In addition to the technical problems there are also compatibility problems. For example: I cannot assume that next fall all my students will have Windows 8. I have encountered some definite Windows 8 versus Windows 7 compatibility issues. Also, I cannot assume that all students are PC users. Last semester it seemed that there was a growing number of Apple users. Excel runs very differently on a PC compared to a Mac. Nevertheless...
I am impressed with the plethora of online resources available.
In the short run I will continue integrating online resources into my bricks-and-mortar classes. Carthage is not ready to jump into the online game at this point anyway. It seems that for now blending the online with the face-to-face is the most appropriate avenue for me to take
I have learned a great deal from CEdO501, not the least of which are the several new ideas of have encountered merely by observing Louis Loeffler's practices as an online instructor. I have found him to be an excellent model for creating rubrics and linking us - via the syllabus and session documents - to valuable resources. He also has a very congenial interpersonal style; ... always very positive and helpful. He kept our online class meetings on-schedule, and yet allowed plenty of time for questions and discussion.
Thank you Louis ! I look forward to 502
Bob, I think your approach to incorporating technology into your normal lessons is great. Try to use techonology in at least one new way each semester, see if it works, how your students respond, etc. and evaluate for the next semester. You could even give your students a mini eval to get their reaction of the use of technology throughout the course. You said Carthage isn't jumping on the online course bandwagon yet, but after this course and your next one, you'll have the one-up on your colleagues and can teach them a thing or two about technology. It's a good position to be in.
ReplyDeleteAs I read through your Blog posts, I wonder what you are thinking you are willing to tackle first? What is something that you are comfortable with that you can take back to your classroom teaching? I can completely understand the comfort of face-to-face teaching. I think all classroom teachers feel that way. But in reality, styles of teaching are changing, and changing quite rapidly. I am just curious what you are going to take back to your teaching. I wish you the best of luck!
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