I come from the traditional classroom. All of my experience prior to about 6 years ago includes experience in the traditional classroom on both the student and instructor sides. Some years back I started changing the format of my face-to-face classes to move from solely instructor centered toward more student centered. I encouraged students to do more group work in the guided design format, inquiry or open ended labs, and discussion for current events in biology. I emphasized activities that would help students to become better at using study skills. Students were given the opportunity for optional review sessions, field trips, and weekend activities in our campus prairies. The constant factor in this new direction was that I was concerned that they were successful and that I was acting more like a coach instead of the professor imparting information. As I got more into this role I saw how important the engagement with the students was for their interest and success.
My first contact with online teaching came in 2008. I did not choose it, it chose me! I was scheduled to teach Prairie Ecology that summer and the class was cancelled because of low enrollment. My only way to make teaching load was to teach an online version of Survey of Biology 1100 for nonmajors not in 16 weeks but 8 weeks. I had about five days to get ready to teach! I did not know what online teaching was and I was not sure why I was doing this. Quite frankly before teaching online for the first time I had mostly discounted the importance of this course format as easier and less rigorous. Thankfully I had an excellent mentor who "showed me the ropes" for teaching online. I added a few things to the shell written by another one of our instructors to personalize the course. I started an activity on the Discussion Board called "Did You Know?" I would post a current event in biology with links to readings and offer discussion and a game to see who could come up first with the answers to my questions. I enjoyed teaching online. After my first experience my perspective was changing. I began to feel that this was an important format for many types of students and that it could really allow students flexibility and to become really independent learners. I continue to evolve as an online instructor. I want to make my class more engaging as it lacks enough group and discussion work. This will help keep students more engaged in a safe learning environment.
I have many expectations for ONTL 6101. This is my first online class as a student. It is really humbling to sit on the other side of the desk and understand problems and frustrations that students have. I hope to gain more skill in the technology and tools needed in online teaching. Gaining experience with discussion threads, group work, and blogs will be valuable techniques that I can incorporate into my class to make it more student centered and personal. It is also valuable to continue through a series of classes in a cohort group. This builds a strong community from which to learn, communicate, and support each other. I am looking forward to all of the new knowledge and experience that I will learn in this class.
