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  • mcar 3:24 pm on April 4, 2012 Permalink
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    Week 5: Summaries (Chronicle Forum) 

    The Forum is available in Careers –> Balancing Work and Life –> Caring for Elderly Parents

    barred_owl started the thread by asking others for their experiences, advice, or anticipated experiences regarding the situation of caring for elderly parents.

    collette_capricious, skinnymargarita, and neutralname spoke up to say that they do not live near their aging parents, and face some degree of stress because of this. collete_capricious expressed dismay at her father’s ailing health. skinnymargarita’s parents are divorced, but live close to each other. Both her parents are retired, but having issues with dementia. She laments that her hectic adjunct schedule and low pay don’t allow her the flexibility to be there for either of them. neutralname also feels strained by distance, but mentions that the bigger hurdle is getting her mother to clearly assess and report on her medical conditions and health.

    tamium, digger, and barred_owl all live near their parents, and seem to face a different set of problems. Although they all seem grateful for the opportunity to be near their aging parents, they all express some degree of difficulty with living with or near them. In line with the reports of collete_capricious, skinnymargarita and neutralname, they all share a feeling of a lack of control concerning their situations. digger finds that maintaining a sense of humor is how he best deals with his aging, dementia-inflicted parents, and barred_owl’s mother’s depression and dementia prove frustrating, but also provide moments of bonding for him and his sister.

    msparticularity and ms_turtle offer kind words of encouragement to those living near their aging parents, and they both wish everyone dealing with these situations the best of luck.

     

  • mcar 2:38 pm on April 4, 2012 Permalink
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    Week 5: SBL & Teamwork – from “boring” to engaged! 

    How does teamwork in an online class change the course dynamics?
    Not having taught online, I can only really guess at this. With what we’ve covered so far about constructing knowledge (or rather redefining knowledge interpretation through the lenses of technology) it’s easy to see how helpful teamwork would be in generating interest in certain topics students typically shy away from.

    As a writing teacher, I find that topics such as avoiding informal tone and standardized grammar often come across as oppressive tasks. Students know that language discrimination exists between socioeconomic classes, but resent being pigeonholed (pidgin-holed? HA!) by their nonstandard writing and speech. This is not something specific to Hawai’i – rural students of every race and class experience this frustration. Although we discuss language politics and fairness (or lack thereof) in professional writing, it’s not until students begin working with other students that they are able to see me, the teacher, as a guide rather than a figurehead. Students feel less alone and more a part of a community when they form small groups to achieve a common goal. I have students separate themselves out based on topics they choose for research, and they find common ground in the topics they choose. Each student writes his or her own paper, but their projects are linked. As a more concrete example, a year ago several students wrote papers on the unconstitutionality (or something like that) of removal of Hawaiian burial sites. This prompted 3 students to write letters to government officials – a useful skill that also makes students feel empowered. The task went out from being burdensome to empowering once teamwork (and a practical application) came into play.

    What are the benefits of using teamwork in an online course?

    In an online course, I’d imagine it’s particularly important to use teamwork and SBL so that students don’t feel like they’re working in an isolated online void. If students’ main complaints about online classes are that they don’t feel like they get as much interaction with others as in f2f classes, building in more teamwork activities would help with that.

     

  • mcar 1:51 pm on April 4, 2012 Permalink
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    I’m sold on SBL. I never really thought about using role-playing in an online class, but, when I reflect on my social constructivist approach to teaching, it seems obvious. I appreciate the NYT article on GroupThink especially. We do peer review for every paper, and I’ve found that “piggyback” idea sessions don’t really do much for most of my classes. I wondered if this was because I was missing something (still a possibility, granted), or if this sort of thing just wasn’t all that helpful. The GroupThink article gave a good argument for encouraging more critical analysis groupwork in my classes.

     

  • mcar 8:34 pm on March 18, 2012 Permalink
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    *Misty emerges from a giant pile of student papers*

    Holy moly that Virginia commonwealth link is a goldmine of information. I’ll go on to answer the posted questions below, but I just had to get that out.

    The characteristics of online discussion posts that I consider of exceptional high value align fairly well with the Virginia commonwealth standards: clear attempt at analysis, ideas beyond the obvious, excellent support, and (arguably qualitatively measured) clear progress in these areas from previous posts.

    I would create a discussion in ENG 100 to discuss the essays I now use as a basis for analysis essays. I know that’s a really specific answer, but pedagogically, I think it gives a clear objective. Currently in my f2f we have a discussion method, where we discuss a set of questions in class. If a student is absent or doesn’t feel well or whatever, students don’t get the benefit of interaction. Therefore the discussion board is a place where students can get that exchange of ideas that they might not get with time restraints. This, I feel, is the strongest point in online teaching/learning, especially from a social collaborative standpoint. How liberating the online discussion board is for “guiding hand” instructors! Glory be!

    I’m relatively new to online teaching, so I’ll be drawing heavily from the criteria I find here on this site – no pressure classmates! haha! I find that the hardest part (as in f2f classes) is getting students motivated. In f2f classes, I can convincingly do the work in front of the students, but in online classes, I know that some students will be tired coming home from their jobs, taking care of kids, etc., etc. I will lurk around for more ideas. I can’t wait to see what others have to say about this element of online teaching, as this is the aspect I’m most excited and unsure about.

     

  • mcar 1:31 pm on March 6, 2012 Permalink
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    1. What types of behavior and interaction with students are most memorable?

    My most memorable interactions with students are when “the heckler” student turns heckling into analysis. You know the student I’m talking about; she tries at every turn to thwart what he perceives to be your “authority” as an educator. Little does this (typically) freshman student know that you are not the giver of knowledge, as she has arguably been led to believe by our soldier-producing-based secondary educational system.

    2. Based upon your observations of their behavior and interaction with students, make a list of four DOs and four DON’Ts

    Do:
    1. Wait out the uncomfortable silence after you ask a question.
    2. Expect slightly more complex assignments of students than you think they can do – they will surprise you!
    3. Go into the classroom unafraid to have the best time out of everyone in the room.
    4. Use the Socratic method in response to student questions. It will frustrate some students, but they will learn more.

    Don’t:
    1. Answer your own question, ever. (See #1 & #4 above).
    2. Be afraid to say you don’t know the answer to question – humanize yourself.
    3. Lecture all the time; social collaboration is worth its weight in gold.
    4. Take anything personally if at all possible; whatever it is, assume it is never about you.

    3. How can you apply your list to help you facilitate online learning?

    I think most of these will be easy to apply to online learning. I think the most crucial points for my personality will be making sure I adhere to “Do #4,” as it’s crucial to get students thinking outside the construct of teacher as creator of knowledge.

     

    • Greg Walker 11:09 am on March 7, 2012 Permalink

      Aloha mcar,
      Here is and activity for Socratic Dialogue provided by the Illinois Online Network. how would you use this activity in an online course? If you would not use the activity, why not? What method would you prefer to use synchronous or asynchronous?
      Why?
      Thanks,
      Greg

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