Last fall, I launched the first series of all-online seminars at Brock University. While many courses offer their seminars though a blended format (alternating online and face-to-face sessions), this was the first course to offer them completely online. I learned quite a bit from that experience, much of which I plan to incorporate in the next offering of the course.
In addition to working and
taking courses, much of my learning has come from places I least expected
it to, such as informal discussions with friends and colleagues. Many of
these discussions occurred as a result of my travels to places like India,
South America, and South-East Asia. I have always enjoyed traveling for
extended periods of time, and the changes of perspective that it seems
to bring. Although my wanderlust has somewhat diminished, I still enjoy
the challenge of working and learning with new people in all types of contexts.
I must say I’m honored to be here, and I look forward to chatting with
you online.
1. Promoting Personal
and Psychological Development
http://spartan.ac.brocku.ca/~vpeters/EmotionalMaturity.pdf
In March of last year, I
attended the Teaching Academic Survival Skills (TASS) conference in Florida.
The keynote speaker, Sharon Ferrett, spoke about teaching emotional maturity
in education. I found this quite interesting as I had never considered
the idea of emotional maturity as part of the curriculum.
The above article reflects
some of the ideas that were discussed during the lecture. It discusses
our responsibilities as educators in promoting personal and psychological
development. As you read the material consider the following: As an educator,
to what degree should personal and psychological development be included
in the curriculum? What objections, if any, would parents or administrators
have against teaching emotional development? Given my lack of classroom
teaching experience, I’d be very interested to hear what the current climate
is regarding the promotion of personal and psychological development in
school settings.
2. Holistic Approaches
to Second Language Education
http://leo.oise.utoronto.ca/~vanessa/Earth/
For our collaborative group-project, my team decided to create a Website that discussed Holistic approaches to second language education. The purpose of the site was to provide a resource for second language educators wishing to apply a more holistic approach to their teaching. The audience we identified when creating this site were not educators of a specific language, but rather those from diverse educational backgrounds.
The process of putting together this Website proved to be a very valuable experience. Each of us brought our own unique perspectives to the site, resulting in a project that reflected each of us in some way. From this experience, I learned that genuine collaboration requires flexibility in all stages of the planning process. More often than not, I had to discard previous notions of how I thought things should be done. As you start to prepare your own group project, what ideas do you bring regarding cooperative processes, particularly in online environments? For example, what challenges are there that might potentially make online collaboration difficult to engage in?
3. A Taxonomy of Online
Learning
http://leo.oise.utoronto.ca/~vpeters/holistic/
- link no longer active
As a former student of this class, I too have created an individual Web-based resource. My project was called ‘A Taxonomy of Online Learning’. For some reason, I decided to include a Flash-based introduction. Although I was pleased with the results, I have to admit the technological know-how was a little (okay, a lot) over my head! At the time, I experienced immense frustration trying to complete the project. But like many other things, it’s often the process that ends up being most valuable, not the end-product itself.
As you take a look around the site, think of what other features would be useful for a Website promoting a holistic approach to online learning. Think of your own online experiences - what aspects of holistic education are applicable to your experiences of technology? In particular, how do the principals relate to your experiences as a computer conferencing student?
4. Introduction to International
Studies
https://webct.brocku.ca
- link no longer active
Please type in the following
(if cutting-and-pasting doesn’t work):
WebCT ID: 102jdemo20
Password: 102password
Last year, it was my job to moderate 220 students who were enrolled in a first-year undergraduate humanities course at Brock University. Each week there was a 2-hour face-to-face lecture in addition to weekly discussions in one of ten online seminars (approximately 18 students in each seminar). I was responsible for implementing the online portion and maintaining it throughout the 26-week course. Most of the students were in their first-year of university study. For them, getting accustomed to the autonomous nature of online learning was a real challenge.
From last year’s experience,
I have found that many students are reluctant to engage in online interaction
when they could simply “show up” for a face-to-face seminar. In their course
evaluations, several students revealed that online learning was almost
too convenient, which resulted in a tendency to put off contributing altogether.
I invite you to peruse the
site with a critical eye. What changes could be made to ease the transition
into the online environment? In many ways, you can reflect on your own
online experiences as you consider the perspectives of students new to
online learning. How can we structure online courses for first-year students
so that their experience is a positive one?
5. An Analysis of Student
Practices in Asynchronous Computer Conferencing Environments
http://spartan.ac.brocku.ca/~vpeters/P&Hpaper.pdf
When I first started taking
online courses, I became increasingly interested in the dynamics associated
with online environments. Here at OISE, we’re all familiar with the concept
of constructivism and the pedagogical advantages of computer mediated conferencing.
We read about it, we write about it, but what are we actually doing?
Like the traditional classroom,
students in online courses employ strategies and practices while participating
in online forums. Unlike the traditional classroom however, the norms of
online behavior are much less familiar to us. Thus began my research, which
ultimately looks at why we do the things we do online. After perusing this
paper, I invite comments and questions about the study. Don’t be afraid
of being critical - I’m really interested in getting your feedback on my
work, be it good or bad :)