I apologize for the shorter post, but I have been feeling under the weather for several days. I'm tired all the time and have zero energy. YUCK! I will say that is one big perk to an online course, you don't have to show up to class and infect everyone with your sickness.
Today I want to respond to a couple of things that Warnock said in chapters 13 and 14 that struck me. In chapter 13, Warnock once again stresses the importance of organization and consistency. I stated early on in this course that WRIT 510 is only my second online class. The first online class I took did not heed Warnock's statements about clarity and scheduling. For example, at the beginning of chapter 13, Warnock writes, "Teachers must create a sense of pacing and predictability in an online course. Students are creatures of habit." Amen, Warnock. Going with this week's focus, I believe catering to students and their habits is key to assuaging student anxiety (and teacher!) anxiety. This streamlines over into the regular classroom and matches with Jaggers article I posted two weeks ago. Students with learning disabilities thrive in a regimented environment, and this same thought could be valuable for students like mine who go on to higher ed. Also, the mix of mini and informal assignments discussed in chapter 13 are great, especially in preparation for larger assignments. I think completing a "baby" flipped lesson was a great intro to the large one we will do later on this semester. It forced us to get out of our comfort zone and really apply the thought of teaching online. I realize some of my classmates already teach online, and that's awesome! For someone like me, it was valuable in relation to using in my real classroom.
Chapter 14 discusses collaborative learning which I am NOT a huge fan of in the online environment. Obviously I assign group work in my ninth grade classroom, but it is always closely monitored and limited to small assignments. One of the big draws with online school is you get to work at your own pace...well, the pace set by your professor. I appreciate Warnock's idea in having a group create a specific website etc., but it's my personal opinion that we are all adults with our own lives and more than likely enrolled in an online course because it fit our schedule. I understand the professional world requires group collaboration, but setting up a time to all work simultaneously is tricky and frustrating.
If I were teaching an honest-to-God online writing course and decided to do a "team assignment" as Warnock calls them, I would have set parameters already in place. Meaning: I would already have roles for students to fill, and then they have to complete their portion of the assignment and create one final product. This may be micromanaging a tad, but I feel like it would be most fair. Thoughts?
Today I want to respond to a couple of things that Warnock said in chapters 13 and 14 that struck me. In chapter 13, Warnock once again stresses the importance of organization and consistency. I stated early on in this course that WRIT 510 is only my second online class. The first online class I took did not heed Warnock's statements about clarity and scheduling. For example, at the beginning of chapter 13, Warnock writes, "Teachers must create a sense of pacing and predictability in an online course. Students are creatures of habit." Amen, Warnock. Going with this week's focus, I believe catering to students and their habits is key to assuaging student anxiety (and teacher!) anxiety. This streamlines over into the regular classroom and matches with Jaggers article I posted two weeks ago. Students with learning disabilities thrive in a regimented environment, and this same thought could be valuable for students like mine who go on to higher ed. Also, the mix of mini and informal assignments discussed in chapter 13 are great, especially in preparation for larger assignments. I think completing a "baby" flipped lesson was a great intro to the large one we will do later on this semester. It forced us to get out of our comfort zone and really apply the thought of teaching online. I realize some of my classmates already teach online, and that's awesome! For someone like me, it was valuable in relation to using in my real classroom.
Chapter 14 discusses collaborative learning which I am NOT a huge fan of in the online environment. Obviously I assign group work in my ninth grade classroom, but it is always closely monitored and limited to small assignments. One of the big draws with online school is you get to work at your own pace...well, the pace set by your professor. I appreciate Warnock's idea in having a group create a specific website etc., but it's my personal opinion that we are all adults with our own lives and more than likely enrolled in an online course because it fit our schedule. I understand the professional world requires group collaboration, but setting up a time to all work simultaneously is tricky and frustrating.
If I were teaching an honest-to-God online writing course and decided to do a "team assignment" as Warnock calls them, I would have set parameters already in place. Meaning: I would already have roles for students to fill, and then they have to complete their portion of the assignment and create one final product. This may be micromanaging a tad, but I feel like it would be most fair. Thoughts?
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| This pretty much sums up my thoughts about chapter 14. |
I replied to this, but I am not sure if it went through or not. I had written out a pretty long thing, but in essence is said that younger students probably need the micromanaging but once they're a little older, hopefully they will be able to do it on their own. (Grad school for example!)
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