David Lauterstein's message suggested being proficient at writing. That is a critical element in an online course due to the lack of face-to-face interaction. I find myself writing, re-reading, rephrasing, and proofreading even prior to my own submissions.
Charlotte:
Proficiency in the written word has not lost its importance over the ages; hence, we have a profession termed "Editors" as not all of us may be able to acquire the desired level of proficiency.
Satrohan
Satrohan,
The term "editor" does fit more percisely when defining how we write today. In an online environment, we do find ourselves "editing" our work to ensure the meaning is clear and concise. Clear information and explanations are a necessity in an online learning evironment.
Charlotte:
Fully agree. All th good elements of writing should be applied to the written word. We are not there on the spot to clarify if we sense confusion. Clarity, conciseness, continuity are all necessary qualities to adopt.
Satrohan
I believe that personality and humor are an essential part of the online learning community but I agree with others that humor can be tastefull to some and distastefull to others. In my case, I am a person who enjoys creating smiles and laughs and although we cannot see the faces of our students we can hope. Passion in the online environment may be created through integration of media, depth of knowledge and insight into the coursework and accumulation of the work into test or quizzes that can be defined as something else. The 'exam' and 'quiz' word has taken on such a negative stigma that we need to search for other synonyms such as assessments among others. If the students see that we are "not out to get them" which they feel many are, along with an added sense of comedy and a strong desire of commitement to aiding in learning we can show our e-passion as I like to call it.
Himesh:
yes; there are risks accociated with the sue of humor; especially when the wwritten word is used to express it.
To your point about exams having a bad stigma. do you think if we change exam to another term, that new term will eventually acquire the same stigma?
Call it what we will; we must have a measure that distinguishes who know from those who do not know. If hard work, preparation for the exam, and actually writing the exam is what generates the stigma, any new term will acquire the same stigma. That is my opinion.
Satrohan
I like to incorporate humor into my classes as well, but I think it can be difficult in the written form.
In short responses and text messaging, irony and sarcasm don't always work well in the textual form. I actually discuss this in one of my literature classes. Without tonal inflection, it can be difficult to "read" what a person is intending by their statements. This is part of the rise in popularity of emoticons. They help to convey emotion and inflection to the reader. Unfortunately, these are not always appropriate for use in forums and text messages in an educational environment.
Sadly, we have a tool at our disposal for demonstating our passion and emotion, but we can't use it because it is seen as unprofessional. :( (Used with irony)
By the way, sarcasm/irony can be denoted with this: (!). It is the symbol that closed captioning companies use to denote sarcasm on television programs.
I think there are a number of venues that would lend themselves forme to show my passion in an online classroom: 1) chats/seminars; 2)feedback to student comment and student work; 3) in responsesto postsin the discussion board; 4) e-mails and interactiveactivities inclusing instant messaging.
Samia
Charlotte, I agree totally with you in terms of sending the message that we truly care and that we are committed to the learning experience of every student. Passion for thecourse, substantive constructive feedback, a speedy turnaround responses to student questions go a long way in transcending the barriers you so aptly mention.
Samia
Samia,
These are great examples!
Jon
Denise, definitely the welcome message can proclaim your passion for the subject matter you are teaching. You are definitely quite right in stating that your profile and education/publications etc will announce your passion for a special topic/subject matter.
Good point.
Samia
I like your suggestion that in introducing new reading resources one is indeed sharing the passion. There is no doubt that venues and opportunities exist for sharing the passion in Online Learning; the Discussion Boards, the chats and the IMs are great ways to share the passion and to solicit responses/questions which help you instill that passion in the learner's mind.
Samia
I try to start off with a good ice breaker, which allows everyone to open up and get to know each other including me. I share personal hobbies which incorporates and shows my personality.
If it is possible to have online classes where the students can hear the instructor, enthusiasm in the instructor's voice can shine through.
Answering students questions in a timely fashion shows concern and interest in the class.
I can show MY passion by grading assignments before the 72 hour turn around time, by answering questions within 8 hours instead of 24 hours, by arriving early for chat sessions, and staying late in chat session.
Thanks
Fanny Hawkins
I think passion can easily come through in your chats and by the announcements that are posed in the classroom. Students can hear the passion in your voice even if they cannot see you and if you post engaging announcements with pictures and keep students on updated on current topics and research in the field your passion comes accross there as well.
I agree! In addition to my chats and announcements timely feedback on grading and emails can show your passion to students. I also like to seek out students through the campus instant messaging just to say hi and see if they have questions.
I have an online instructor that rings a bell when a question is answered correctly - it's a good motivator.
Fanny,
That's great, it is really important for the students to start to connect with the instructor - this also helps to start the building of your students' feeling of community.
Best,
Jon
Great examples! Thanks - Jon
