My students will be blogging as their journaling tool.

I too included this story in my course. For those of you that might not know, Alice Walker is the author of "The Color Purple."

Again, I also included this particular story in my course. Flannery O'Connor has written many short stories, but this one is probably a "classic" within the genre.

Point of view is the first thing a writer has to think about when preparing to write. Depending on the point of view, what is written and how it is written will be very different.

This is an exaggerated account of the actual post pardom depression that the author suffered from after the birth of her daughter. Again, a classic short story that I have included in my course also under "point of view."

I love that they too included this story. As you read it, you can't help but wonder how Jack London manages to keep describing his surroundings, which really don't change. He's a master.

I like that there is a workshop component to this course, where it appears that students will go through the process of writing a short story. It also looks as if they might publish as well, or at least go through the process of publishing so that students can attempt to publish in the future.

Excellent resource for those students who are seriously looking at writing for a living.

Took me a while as well, but now I feel more comfortable with my posts. I wasn't doing enough research. Once I started doing that, I felt like I was contributing something to the whole class.

I, like the others in this course, understand. It's a lot of work, but the finished product will be worth it, I'm sure.

Two thumbs up!

I too had made this mistake with some short writing assignments that I was going to have my students write. It was Alex's suggestion to have them blog it that really made sense. This way they could read each others blog entries and leave comments as well.

So glad I'm not alone. I keep logging in as well, looking to change something. Over the past 3-4 days I've definitely made changes, but I'm getting to the point now that I'm wondering if I should just leave it alone. I'm the same way about large writing project...always looking to edit. Thinking it might be time for me to step back from the computer.

CONGRATULATIONS! I'll finish in December as well. It's been a long journey, and as much as I've enjoyed it, I'm ready to have my weekends back :-)

I'm glad you said this, because I've been thinking it for several weeks now. I really want a chance to teach it, but I'm afraid of getting a chance to teach it. I'm not a teacher by profession, so I think I have more fear than most that I won't be able to facilitate my course properly. For instance, how do I open modules, are grades recorded automatically or do I manually put them in, how do I get them to show for each individual student, etc. I've put so much time and effort into building this course, I want a chance to teach it, but having never taught at the college level, I don't know that I'll get the opportunity. I will still give it my best shot as soon as I graduate in December. If SUNY isn't interested, I'll try other avenues.

I don't know if I should have done this, but I actually have 2 evaluation/feedback areas. One is the generic resource right in Moodle. I tried to write my own questions, but when I "viewed" the forum, my questions were replaced with the generic questions. So, I created a document with my own questions and I am having students download the document into a word processor, add their answers and then post to a forum.

Can you teach it elsewhere? As we have learned in this class, online learning is up and coming. It might be worth looking into.

I'll be taking the course in September...how was it? I had hoped that it was just a very long research paper...any such luck? It's my last course for my degree.

I think you're probably right, but I think it's turning a corner. At a time when institutions are scrambling for money, online learning costs them very little. They pay an instructor and that's about it. We don't need a classroom or any campus resources other than student access to the library for research if they need it.

Do you mean the background or theme of the course, because I'd love to know how to change that.

Great idea, and as a former supervisor of both a before-school and after-school program, you can observe a lot at one of these programs. Kids play, study, socialize, etc. Lots to learn through observation and probably with permission, your students might be able to interact with the kids as well.

In the wake of new technology, the role of the student is changing very quickly to one of self-directed learning.

That's an interesting idea, especially when there are too many discussions going on.

I was going to have my students do the same, however, I just noticed that the course shell has an option for a Wiki...did anybody else see that? Anybody know how it works? I have since decided to give my students a choice other than to "write" a short story in small groups within a Wikispace. I'm going to allow them to recreate or interpret a short story in a multi-media fashion. Howard Gardner influenced. :-)

I think they will surprise you!

Very good idea, because you're right...it seems like a very large amount of information that you're trying to cover. Case studies might work better.

Perhaps you can assign one particular article, and then actually provide them with the links to 1-3 other article they might find of interest.

Have you gone through the learning activities for each module and guesstimated how long it would take them to do? That might give you a better idea of whether it's too much. Just a suggestion.

It's taken a while for me to realize this as well. I've since gone back and added consistency throughout my modules.

Dewey was a great believer in the connection between the educational system and the social community. "It was forgotten that to become integral parts of the child's conduct and chracter they must be assimilated; not as mere items of information, but as organic parts of his present needs and aims -- which in turn are social" (Dewey). In his book, The School and Society, he talks about the deep connection between home and school, between home and work, and the importance of the school as the connector.

I need to create a rubric for my "Book Club" forum. Any suggestions for where to start? Do I reinvent the wheel, or are there sites that have pre-fabricated rubrics that can be tweaked to fit my needs?

Can we do this, just borrow a rubric from somebody else? That would be awesome, but I don't want to plagarize anything.

I don't understand this comment.

This is the second time you've brought up this issue. The way I see, Alex is the instructor, and she has designed a course with rubrics. I really don't see that the rubrics are that difficult to understand. I understand you wanting to get an "A" but if you want the "A" you have to work hard for it. If your life circumstances prevent you from doing what she considers the fair amount of work, that's not her problem. I don't feel an instructor should change the syllabus or rubrics for every student that complains about the work load, unless the instructor has received numerous complaints. I think that perhaps you have a lot on your plate right now, atleast that's the feeling I get from reading some of your posts. I can understand that, I've been through a lot myself this semester. However, it's unfair to expect Alex to change the point system just for you. May I suggest something: Clearly you are a hard working student, but circumstances are obviously preventing you from putting in the amount of work needed to earn an "A." Just accept that and work toward a "B" which is a perfectly acceptable grade. Take the pressure off of yourself. It's just a grade. A year or two from now it won't matter. All that will matter is that you learned about online teaching and came away with a robust course that you can teach. I think that's a good deal.

Good idea!