When I was in high school, a teacher gave me Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as a novel to read for enrichment. In it, the author, Robert M. Persig, explains his philosophy of the Metaphysics of Quality, which I understood to be a kind of filter with which to interpret existence. An idea that has stuck with me is the idea that we all wish to be editors of our own reality.
"The language we've inherited confuses this. We say "my" body and "your" body and "his" body and "her" body, but it isn't that way. ... This Cartesian "Me," this autonomous little homunculus who sits behind our eyeballs looking out through them in order to pass judgment on the affairs of the world, is just completely ridiculous. This self-appointed little editor of reality is just an impossible fiction that collapses the moment one examines it."-ZMM, Ch.15 Of course, when I was in high school (20+ years after the novel first came out), being editor of your own reality was not the literal experience that people today have using Web 2.0 and Social Media. Now we can curate our Instagram accounts, presenting just the right "self" to the world. For me, technology is a tool, and so far I have managed to keep its use balanced and not problematic. My life is rich with other endeavors and actual experiences (which I may or may not chronicle for all my followers). I use tech to enhance, not replace, my communications. I read books in addition to online materials, text my friends to organize face to face meetings. I use it to celebrate my successes, and to keep in touch with my friends and family who live far away from me. In my world, the key to balanced technology use is to keep it real. I don't "befriend" people I don't actually know. I'm aware of privacy issues, and stay smart about them. And yes, I use instagram filters to make my selfies look better, but I also post pictures of my kids losing it and don't pretend that my life is something it isn't. All in all, it keeps me happy and expands my opportunities instead of limiting them, and I'm satisfied with the results.
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This is my 5th year teaching DL, though to be fair, my school in the remote Bulkley Valley isn't a "pure" DL in the proper sense of the word. We have the wonderful opportunity to meet with 90% of our students face to face on a fairly regular basis. Students access our courses online, but they also have the freedom to choose a program that suits their needs differently. For example, some of our rural students do not have access to internet, so we have to create a homeschool or more paper-based course for them. We try to match the program to the students, while also helping them build confidence in their ability to make educationally sound decisions and advocate for themselves. I rely heavily on relationships in my teaching - in fact, my love of people and the enjoyment I get being in groups is a huge part of why I became a teacher in the first place. I wanted to build a classroom culture where everyone, from the most outgoing to the most introverted, could have a place and feel comfortable. But how do you build classroom culture when your students aren't actually required to spend any time in your classroom? If you're me, you embark on a multi-year campaign, using parties, social media, and group events to get kids through the door and building relationships with you and their classmates, even though their classmates are in different grades, taking different courses, and working asynchronously. A few years ago I attended a BCERAC workshop about using social media and technology in your classroom. Although the workshop was aimed at bricks and mortar teachers, I came away with the notion that I should be connecting more socially with my students using digital means, rather than keeping our interactions purely educational. I still use facebook and twitter to advertise classroom events and results, particularly when a student has success or does something really cool that the community should know about.
Our parties are kind of quaint - tea parties, potluck lunches, Pi Day competitions (how many digits of Pi can you recite on March 14th?), etc. We show movies, we wear costumes, we give out prizes. We also share food - a lot. Especially chocolate. Last year we held a logo competition for the school, and sold hooded sweatshirts featuring the logo. If one of the students has an idea, we try to run with it. For example, for several years we have had a Hot Chocolate Club, which is run by the students and keeps a supply of hot chocolate ready at all times for someone who needs a pick me up. From this developed #marshmallowmonday, which gets some of our students through the door, and always gets our Superintendant showing up to see what kind of snacks he can find. The result of these interactions is that we have great completion rates. When we get to know our students, give them a voice and a presence in our room, and let them know that we care, we believe they do better in their courses and experience more satisfaction as well. As a DL teacher, one of the biggest challenges I face is how to develop meaningful online learning communities. I think I can confidently say that we all believe in the value of student-student interaction in the classroom, and we all want to build the best online classrooms we can - after all, that's why we're taking part in the OLTD program.
Butler and Evans (2014) predict that as more and more students who have grown up with Web 2.0 start accessing online courses, "they will be less content in the click-through, non-participatory online environment of reading, testing, and discussion board assignments that are prevalent in course management systems today." To me, this indicates that our major challenge as online educators is to not only design courses that engage students intellectually, but to design communities that engage students socially. I teach teenagers, and if there's anything teenagers are good at, it's identifying when something is forced or inauthentic. They're experts in the genuine, and will be quick to let you know when an assignment is bogus. And the number one way they will let you know is by not engaging. To get them actually participating, authentically, and independently, would be the icing on the cake -- or the salt, if we're talking #saltbae. Image created using www.photojoiner.net Butler, J., & Evans, M. (2014). Rules of engagement: Setting the stage for online learning communities. In J. C. Richardson, C. S. York & P. R. Lowenthal (Eds.), Online learning : Common misconceptions and benefits and challenges (pp. 73-89). Hauppauge, N.Y.: Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.viu.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.viu.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cookie&db=nlebk&AN=714817&site=ehost-live Some people assume that online teaching is easy. I suppose for some people it is, but my experience, though rewarding, has challenged me in ways very different than the demands on a face-to-face classroom. The material I have to know in order to facilitate 30 different classes onilne is various and plentiful, like a bustling market. At times, the workload is labourous and drowns me under a deluge of email, submitted assignments, texts, and phone calls. Other times, I feel like the only person in the universe, sending my messages out to the stars and not knowing whether I will receive a reply.
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Leslie McCurrachEnthusiastic Learner. Avid Gardener. DL Teacher. Archives
March 2018
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