Week 3 Reflections and Observations
This week has been one of comparisons. Since I teach a class online using Blackboard, and have since June, 2005, I am beginning to feel more comfortable in that environment. I feel limited in that my job is not that of an instructor, but support staff for the Department. Any analysis or improvement that I might do with the course is third in priority (at least!) behind job, coursework, and family. In Chapter 2 of Ko and Rossen, I found that I was in quite a privileged position: having some of the best resources and support available for online coursework. In all cases, I found that Boise State University has committed wholeheartedly to supporting online courses, instructors and students. This is not to say that other universities not have matched or surpassed BSU, but only that I am very impressed with the level of commitment of BSU. In every element of the material discussed in Ko and Rossen, BSU rated in the high-resource, high-solution categories. BSU has committed significant resources in quality IT support staff and Blackboard support staff, infrastructure in the form of redundant servers, high-speed networks, and some of the best equipment in order to serve the educational community.
As for other comparisons this week, our assignment to use a rubric of objective criteria to evaluate a sample of online courses was somewhat revelatory. The range of quality in the sample courses was significant, particularly in presentation, content, course management, assessment and communication. It was quite apparent to me that a course management system, such as Blackboard, made all the difference in providing a viable alternative to students who were used to the more traditional classroom. I came away feeling pretty good about the course I teach, even knowing that it can be improved significantly. I'm thinking that perhaps one part of it could be a pretty good project for this course...a win/win situation.
posted by Paul Castelin @ 9:23 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I'm interested in knowing what percentage of BSU professors teach online courses? When BSU hires a professor is proficiency in distance ed something that is a big part of the evaluation process. I only ask this because you are actually there (the closest I've ever come to Idaho is the bag of potatoes in the pantry.) Is the teaching staff split into two camps: online and onground? I realize that I have just asked you a ton of questions but I'm interested in the culture of a high-tech institution....Dallas
Paul, I was glad to see that you were able to appreciate what you do with that e-learning course. Sometimes we are so focused on improvement, we forget to take the time to acknowledge what we are doing right. I think that reflective ability helps keep us centered in our work, and appreciative of the strides we've taken so far. Your comment was a good reminder to me, as well.
Dallas, we are moving to the point where ALL professors are being encouraged to integrate Blackboard or other type of online support into their classes. This is part of the real shift we're seeing in LMS tool usage. It isn't going to whether or not a teacher integrates, it's going to be to what level and in what ways.
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