About me
David Cooper
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Discussion
Every hear poeple talk from both sides of their mouth? I know of a group of people who say on the one hand that the classroom needs to be an active, fun experience, and then say on the other hand that instructor teaching loads should increase because, after all, what's a few more classes when all the instructor does is provide a platform for students to recieve information. Why do I bring this up? Becasue if I had a wish list, it would contain allocation of time and resources that empower instructors by providing hands on lab time with reflection… >>>
Discussion
Without the "fringe" benefit of being able to learn from students teaching would be a very intensive, cumberson, boring way for me to earn a living.
What is life without the ability to learn from others? For example, a student holds two jobs, has three kids, and is caring for her sick parent.
How does she manage? I'd like to know.
Also, a topic envoks strong emotion. Why?
Finally, a problem presented for class dicussion results in students sharing their unique points of view.
How fortunate am I to be in involved?!!
And then too there is the obvious in… >>>
I'm all for multiple delivery methods when it comes to engaging students and helping them along.
However, every time I pick up the phone and actually talk to a student I get a much better sense of the issue at hand and am able to further solidify a positive relationship with that person. My experience is also true when it comes to communication at work. Lately, the trend at my college is to discuss complex issues via email. A person will announce that they are soliciting feedback on a given question or issue and then we are supposed to "weigh… >>>
Sounds like pretty cliche, right? Communication is key. Bla bla bla.
However, it really is!
I have students (online and on ground) who need to hear, read, and be guided through assignments more than once.
I have teachers who need to hear messages more than once.
I have so many examples of problems that have been solved with a simple phone call or email.
I too just completed EL105. I found it a helpful reminder. I found my first experience teaching online to be much more satisfying and engaging than I had expected it would be. I attribute this in a very un-modest way to my ability to engage with people. I'm a good typist and I am able to balance clear, direct communication with a casual tone. I have found that my presence enables students to feel at ease and try their best. I am not very well versed in many of the more advanced technological tools, but I have found that course… >>>
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Does'nt the frequency of reminders depend upon the level of student / course? A first year student may need to be reminded. Also reminders foster community. They also may foster dependance, which is why perhaps rerminders should be attached to major asisgnments only. Another way to do this is to put dates in the course outline and then remind students to check that document. This way the rerminder prompts ownership.