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Educator's Voice

Volume 3, Issue 12
December 19, 2002

The Yin and Yang of Cyberspace

"I have to share this with you!" writes an online teacher I know well. She writes me occasionally to share an epiphany, a brilliant argument, or an inspiring passage that a student of hers has written in his or her Journal. It is always a wonderful email, as bright and hopeful as a pink sunrise, as I wade through the morning emails. I will see her name and click on it immediately. Sometimes I feel too time-pressed to take the time and read one of these lengthy emails, but when I go ahead, even though there may be seemingly more urgent emails insisting on attention, it is a gift that transports me to a rare place in the work-a-day world, a place where precious moments of learning take place, where sometimes, unintentionally, profound learning occurs, where connection between mentor and student blossoms.

These Journal entries exemplify some of the best of what can happen in online education - one-to-one, asynchronous communication, where there is time to reflect, learn and grow. I think the Journal is the hidden secret of teaching online. Why don't all teachers use this to ask students to reflect on what they are learning?

Of course, then I realize that she has selected the best out of 25 to 30 students who write in the Journal, weekly. I think to myself, "How can she possibly keep up with reading all of this, writing lengthy, individualized responses, in addition to facilitating extensive threaded discussions and the formal papers she requires?" It's a lot of work, and I admire her energy and enthusiasm. She is always cheery, though her emails are time-stamped in the wee hours of the morning. She will mention when we speak on the phone that, by the way, her forearms ache, even though her computer is set up ergonomically correct.

Then, I will drift back to regular time and return to the email queue, inevitably clicking on an email from another online instructor searching for some sort of solution to reduce her workload, how to further automate the learning situation, somehow, so she can free up time to respond authentically to her students when they need it. She is buried with a huge workload, trying to prepare her 50 students/per online course for a comprehensive state licensing board exam, in addition to her other face-to-face course and various departmental duties. Students must memorize many facts, but the facts are confusing to organize and students have a lot of questions. If I were to suggest that she ought to use the Journal tool to have students reflect on their learning, she might simply melt--even though she is a dedicated teacher who would love to connect with her students in that way.

Instead, we look at how to create practice exams with autoscoring, which will automatically reveal explanations of the answers so that students can drill and practice on their own, instead of requiring her students to fax her their assignments. We discuss how to make sure that the real, end-of-unit exam score is automatically entered into the Gradebook, which can shave off a few minutes of tedious data entry. We investigate Dropbox strategies to keep student work inside the course, instead of managing emails with the rules wizard in Outlook (which never completely works because students forget to type the exact subject line). We talk about how to create Threaded Discussion study groups and assigning student facilitators. I recommend that she create a Virtual Office threaded discussion area to help reduce her having to answer repetitive emails on procedural questions. We look at how Announcements can be used to deal with common questions. We work on the Calendar and how to set up automatic reminders. The list goes on…

I am comparing apples and oranges here, to some extent - smaller class size vs. larger class size; discourse vs. quantitative study - essentially different pedagogical purposes and learning objectives. In online education, teaching both ends of the spectrum is possible. You can tap into the human spirit of inquisitiveness, or drill on facts that must be memorized. I note, however, that most instructors are looking for ways of reducing work time, or rather; making work time more efficient because of the massive workloads they must manage.

As the new year approaches, there is the possibility of fresh starts, revision and re-seeing, tweaking and editing. Reduction of class size is a socio-political debate that will continue as long as there are budgets and taxes -something out of most instructors' control. Nevertheless, teaching and learning always boils down to the fact that the teacher matters. Even in the most automated of courses, students generally like to know that there is someone they can talk to if necessary. Instructors must find ways not to exhaust themselves so that they can be available for students. Yet, as humans doing our uniquely human thing of engaging in the adventure of learning, perhaps synthesis, a middle ground is the key.

Requiring regular reflection on learning as well as one-on-one student-teacher interaction, in the Journal, is something I would recommend all instructors to do, because there are so many wonderful things that can happen for both student and teacher. On the other hand, perhaps there are ways of automating opportunities (graded or ungraded) for individual learning, even in courses focusing on the most discursive and subjective subject matter. Using the Exam Builder and Gradebook can help reduce a bit of the workload of writing countless words. In this season of generosity, as we head toward the new year and new semester, maybe there will a moment, some time off-line, completely disconnected, to reflect creatively on how to authentically engage better with students, and how to take care of ourselves, looking for ways to lighten the load in this fast-paced world of online education.

       --Stephen Shugart, M.A., M.F.A.

TIP

Visual Editor - HTML View Tip

Here is a tip that I use every day when dealing with course design. You do not have to be an HTML wizard to use some simple HTML code! This tip will help you align your text with a picture within the Visual Editor.

After loading an image or picture onto your page with the "Add Image" button, you may notice that any text (new or old) will move to the bottom of the picture. If you would like the text to "wrap" around or stay right next to the picture, use the HTML view.

1. Click on the HTML / Design toggle button.
   
   
2. Find the code for the image (it will have .gif or .jpg, etc. next to it and will be surrounded by carrots <> such as this: <IMG alt="Image of a pasta dinner" src="/ec/Courses/CRS-OCW18-963606/meal.gif">).
   
   
3. After the quotation mark on the right side of the .gif (etc.) place the words: align=left such as this: <IMG alt="Image of a pasta dinner" src="/ec/Courses/CRS-OCW18-963606/meal.gif" align=left>.
   
   
4. Toggle back on the HTML / Design button and you will see what has happened with the text and the picture. If you like it, save changes. If not, toggle back and try something different or take it out all together.
   
   
5. Some basic uses are: align=left align=right align=center

Good luck!

       --Jeff D Borden, M.A.