Revised Teaching Philosophy.

You know what, I'm not sure yet! I think the impact on my teaching will be much larger than I can even imagine at this moment, mostly because I have been shown a path that I need to take, but one without a destination. Here is one thing I am certain of, and that is I have become a bit more sympathetic to the plight of my online students. During this class I made input errors, misunderstood directions, missed deadlines, just like my own students! I don't like double standards and I will be more understanding of the challenges that an online class presents.
In a larger sense, my educational philosophy is all about writing and critical thinking. I despise rote learning. I believe we do a great disservice to our students when we don't prepare them not only to think with the material, but also to expand their thinking capacity and awareness in general, regardless of the subject. Bells and whistles don't seem to fit well with this philosophy, but this course showed me just how big a mistake that is. It isn't only about flash, but enhanced connection and community. I know this would increase learning. I have already incorporated audio/visual feedback in my classes. A Blog would seem to be a no-brainer for next semester. I will be integrating one of the tools for direct communication, like Skype. I will be moving toward online office hours. This is just the beginning, because before the roadblocks were about complexity, but now I realize it was about philosophy. And mine has been changed.

Final Reflections

This course has been simply fantastic. The commitment and passion of all the instructors was inspiring. The intensity was challenging and I would not have made it without the personal assistance of Todd (and the fact I was pass/fail!) I almost wonder if I should take it again as I know there is much that I was unable to appreciate. This course has shown me a set of tools that I simply would not have found on my own. That is the most exciting part. But there is something more going on here. My whole vision of how to educate has been impacted and I will speak to that more in my Revised Teaching Philosophy post. These tools aren't just bells and whistles but really strike to the heart of enhanced learning and connection. This will require a coomitment from me and a change in thinking that I think I will be able to achieve in light of having struggled with online education now for three years. Old dogs can learn new tricks!