Apr 23 2012
Customizing as you go
A number of folks have touched upon this issue, but I think one of the challenges of the online class environment compared to a F2F class is that it is more difficult to gauge your students’ understanding and abilities as you deliver the course. Because the content is put together before the start of the term, there is less flexibility to customize the course in real time compared to the F2F environment. When I’ve taught brick and mortar classes, I can expand on a topic that students are having trouble with, or can add in some content if there is a topic that they are really excited about. Although I understand the rationale for full course delivery before the start of the term (and I think it will be a relief to have everything ready to go ahead of time!), I have a harder time conceptualizing how I can customize the class in response to the abilities and interests of the students.
In the course I am currently developing, the major project and assessment tool will be a independent research paper that will go through an peer review process and lead to a final paper and presentation. Because each student can choose a topic of interest, I think this will be a good way to get students engaged in an area they are really excited about. Asking detailed questions at the final course evaluation should provide insight into topics that students found challenging, so that I can modify or add course materials before the next offering. Incidentally, will be learn about the process for course revision (adding materials that need copyright clearance, etc) in this development workshop?
I would like to get more discussion during my traditional lectures and I am thinking that I will just have to be persistent and insist that students talk. At first, a students response may be minimal, but maybe if I persist and prod the student to go further with their response, students will learn how to give complete responses, and be comfortable. Maybe students just have not experienced classroom discussion in their previous education (K-12), but once shown how to and encouraged to, then students will develop that skill.
Yes – we have some information about how to obtain copyright clearance under the Course Information tab in the course site. It is always helpful to begin this process early. Anything that you include in a presentation, lecture, or as embedded content in your course that is not your original work will need to be assessed for copyright. The one exception is if you are simply ‘linking’ to the material on an external website. In this case, you do not need to pursue copyright clearance.
In my GIS programming class, I was able to gauge the level of students’ understanding through a mandatory weekly discussion. Each week, I asked an open-ended question that really sparked discussion in my class. Because class participation was mandatory, rather than optional, the students were quite engaged and assisted one another quite a bit. The students with more programming experience tutored the beginners, which I think helped the level of understanding for both groups of students. And I was able to jump in if they were going off track.
Flexibility to customize content … An interesting topic, indeed.
I see this flexibility coming into play through the facilitation of the class — announcements, discussion facilitation, feedback on student work, and on-demand brief “lectures” that might take the form of a posted text document, a webcam video, or a Jing screencast for example.
We do need to have flexibility to meet student needs. I was first struck by how different individual classes could be one semester when I was teaching four sections of a first year composition class on MWF at 9, 10, 11, and 1. I prepared one lesson each day, and was routinely baffled by how differently it went over in all four sections. I soon learned to adapt on my feet to the groups’ individual needs. That said, I did cover the same outcomes in all four classes.
We can have this kind of flexibility online, but it does require active facilitation to achieve.
Other thoughts?