My Class is in a classroom - I teach "face to face" - the old fashion way! Do I need a system for that?
First of all, let's address the traditional style of teaching. You come to the class, you teach, you assign HW and dismiss. The hardest part is the preparation part, that is, if you are a good teacher! What we do in the classroom is the easy and fun part! During the course of a class you may give dittos or handouts. You also may have spontaneous or planned discussions, interactive sessions of some sort and lastly you may have a time set aside for demonstration or pure lecture. What you do depends on teaching style, learning style and topic.
These online systems can be used to post HW assignments, powerpoints or word docs if you want to share them with your students and you can post them prior to class. You can allow students to view them prior, or you could set up blackboard to "release" them during your lecture, or after your lecture. These days, many students come to class with some sort of mobile device, phone, laptop, ipad/tablet they are all used in addition to the paper notebook. Students like to open up your files and follow the lecture this way. You can post discussion boards and have students discuss readings (to see if they are doing them) and have to students journal (using blogs or some journaling device) about what you did in the classroom. Students can submit assignments to you electronically, so no more walking around with bags of paper that you have to grade. And if the students can be mobile with their devices, so can you! You can grade and read on the run!
Benefits:
- By uploading your files to Blackboard (BB) you can teach your students to be prepared for class. If they review the notes ahead of time, then discussions can be more interactive.
- I found that it forced me to have my lectures done in advance. No more "winging" it, however it also allowed me to redesign my classes so that I could do more interaction with my students. Lastly, it kept me on schedule within my lecture.
- Having the HW posted electronically and even submitted electronically reduces the paper that I have to hand out...a big savings to the Universities I worked for. In addition, no excuses are tolerated for not having work done. "I missed class" or "I didn't hear that" doesn't work
- Easy to post rubrics, and to reuse the good ones! I have found this benefit is tremendous for both the teacher and the learner. Now they know what I expect so I have received much better products! Plus it reduced the number of questions.
- Discussion boards are useful because they helped me monitor who was reading and who was not. Many students who are not comfortable with discussions in class are more comfortable with virtual discussions
- Initially, I was concerned that students would not take notes or even attend class if I did this. However, one work around to that is not to post everything you are going to say. In fact poweroint should really just be an outline - not pages of information on slides.
- Investment of time - there is a learning curve to the programs. What can you do about that? Well all the universities and colleges now have courses or quick training classes that faculty can attend to learn their program. In addition, many schools have Instructional Designers or Educational Technologists...people who assist you in designing and using the space in these systems. Look around, you can find it! The initial investment of time can be costly, however, having the ability to copy stuff from semester to semester is invaluable and a HUGE savings of time.
- Some faculty, I found, were just copying the same stuff from semester to semester - not updating their course. I was embarrassed by this and frustrated. Here is a news flash, those people would do that in the traditional classroom environment too! Same handouts and same course materials would get used. I mind my own business and choose what I know is good to reuse and what I need to update. For me, having the ability to update while in the lecture has been a great success.
- I am great at typos, and sometimes I don't see them...until I am in the middle of my lecture! What's the work around! Find the student who will test things for you prior to the lecture, some are great at editing! I have a student name Jody who is an English Teacher changing careers. She is always helping me find my mistakes! I tell the classes to look for them and to raise their hands when they see them. Sometimes in my boring lectures (due to topics not me!!) I will purposely insert the mistakes, just to keep the class awake and paying attention. The only way to make sure you have no typos or grammatical errors is to complete your lecture within plenty of time prior to class, and to review and edit....review and edit and then, to do it again!
My class is hybrid or online
Well, than why are you asking this question? Your students will not see you at times or at all! You need to use these systems to communicate content, to monitor progress and to create interactivity in the virtual world. You can use it to not only upload lectures, but to give access to videos, recordings, interactive using social media tools and more.
I use these systems to make my online classes more than the students reading my notes. I give them a voice - using blogs, wikis, discussions. I assess them using online quizzes and assignments. These assignments and quizzes enable me to post explicit directions and instructions as well as to grade and record the grades easily. I use all types of media, images, videos and audio files are integrated so that I can appeal to all senses.
Conclusion
I think I have discussed enough reason for you to check out these systems. Look for the people that your university has put into place to assist you. Find a friend who is a strong user already and look at how they use it!! Next I will specifically write about Blackboard. I will give you some design tips for your class and some tips in the efficient use of BB.
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