Views: Lessons of a Summer Teaching Online - Inside Higher Ed - 0 views
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As I faithfully attended the monthly training meetings for Just in Time Technology (ex: how to use Skype) and for Course Design (ex: what is the conversion of 14 weeks pacing into a 30 day class), it began to dawn on me that I had underestimated the time and preparation required for my online course.
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Reducing the amount of content does not mean reducing rigor for students or work for me. Like many others who have never taught online, I had entered this experience thinking that online courses were a little bit “fluffy.” I have a newfound respect for my fellow online professors.
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Although I am a relative novice in the teaching arena, I appreciated the chance to revive my teaching mojo. I was forced to be creative about how to present course material and ensure that my students had a solid understanding of the information. I also realized I needed to revise my opinion of online teaching and those who participate in it. I now know that online courses are not a pale and lifeless version of traditional courses or worse, a “pay for an A” scam in which everyone teaches him/herself and everyone gets a good grade. Online courses can be distinctive and worthwhile ways of teaching in their own right. Amy Overman is assistant professor of psychology at Elon University.
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Reviewed by Nancy Chapko: n her article, Lessons of a Summer Teaching Online, Dr. Amy Overman describes how she revived her "teaching mojo" as a novice online instructor. An assistant professor of psychology at Elon University in North Carolina, Dr. Overman describes her personal experience as a first-time online instructor. Written for instructors who may have doubts about online teaching and learning as she did, her account is both thoughtful and humorous. Dr. Overman describes her decision to teach an online class and her preparation for the experience. She relates her somewhat unexpected positive experience facilitating the class. She offers comparisons between her face-to-face and online teaching experiences and draws some insightful conclusions. Among them is the realization that reducing the amount of content does not reduce the rigor of the course and online classes take a lot of time, but they're worth it. Whether you're a committed veteran of online teaching, or you are at the initial stage of considering its merits, you will find Dr. Overman's article perceptive and thought-provoking. As she states, "… online courses are not a pale and lifeless version of traditional courses."
