KEY ADVICE AND SERVICES
Join me socially
  • Welcome
  • Services
  • Training
  • Key Blog
  • About
  • Get in Touch
    • Media Centre

Three things I learned teaching a course online

1/13/2014

0 Comments

 
This past autumn I taught three online courses - Basic Copy Editing - for Simon Fraser University's Writing and Communications Program. It was my first time teaching copy editing; my first time teaching online; and my first time working with SFU's Canvas platform. MOOS - Massive Online Offerings - have been criticized for taking students out of classroom, de-humanizing the learning process, and negatively affecting the future of learning institutions. There are two sides to this coin. Here are the three key things I learned during these courses.

TIME

Two of the courses I led were for a government  department - offered to employees across Canada. One person participated from the US on holidays - why not! The third one was a public online offering, and, it also had students from different time zones. But, time didn't matter. We (all of us) took whatever time we needed, whenever it was convenient to do our course tasks. As the instructor, I was able to go in and out of the 'online classroom' throughout the day and evening, and keep in touch with everyone. Also, if a student misses an onsite class, the valuable information sharing that happens during class discussions is lost. Online, these discussions are there as learning tools for the duration of the course. The flexibility of time appeals to many and brings many benefits. 

MAKING CONNECTIONS

One of the criticisms of online learning is the lack of 'face-to-face'. But, I found this to be quite the opposite. Students were able to communicate with me - and other students - in the forum, via email and through the group discussions (which were worth points towards their grade). The quality of inter-student discussions, sharing of knowledge, exchange of ideas, and feedback were far greater than in many face-to-face workshops I've done. One factor for this was the time they have, and the other was the technology. This platform gives both students and instructors time to conceive of strong questions, create valuable answers and share information that is of a higher quality than may happen in class. My volume of direct questions, feedback and compliments was also higher than in a face-to-face environment. I may not have made the interpersonal connections I would have in a classroom - but this is about the students' experience.

People make the difference

Teachers, instructors, trainers all know it is the people in the 'classroom' who make the difference. Although I did not see these participants face-to-face, their personalities shone through regardless. There were the leaders, the sharers, those who only 'spoke' when they had something really important to say - exactly like in-class learners. There were people who were shy - but at least the technology allowed us to explore the reasons privately, and seamlessly, to come up with a solution. 

The forums allowed me to feedback to each individual student's discussion point - for all to see. This spread the learning and 'feel good' factor far and wide. Also, if there was an issue - it could be solved once - for everyone - without the question having to be answered numerous times. 

Due to their confidence - most likely because it was online (and not face-to-face) - changes and improvements to the course were made based on student feedback. Some of these were done as the course progressed. The value of this live input cannot be over looked. The standard, at the end of the course evaluation just doesn't have the same impact. 

I may have missed the warm feeling one gets in a classroom setting, but it was more than made up for in the participants'  positive feedback, pro-active learning and personal interactions. Because interaction is built into the process, and the grading system, everyone shares. No one gets lost in the shuffle, or over-shadowed by the more active learners. Everyone had a chance, and most took advantage of the time and the technology to join in.

If you haven't tried online learning, I highly recommend it - as a learner and as a teacher.

 



0 Comments

    Author

    Kate Harrison Whiteside has over 25 years experience in plain language, writing and editing, training and consulting.

    Archives

    February 2023
    July 2021
    June 2020
    February 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    February 2015
    June 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    March 2012

    Categories

    All
    Blog Tips
    Consulting
    Essential Skills
    Iplday
    Iplday2015
    Keyq3
    Literacy
    Online Content
    Plain2013
    Plain Language
    Plain Language Academy
    Podcast
    Readability
    Readabilityguidelines
    SME And Social Media
    Social Media
    Story Telling
    Training
    Trends
    Usability
    Web Content
    Web Development

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.