What Could’ve Been: #et4Online68425 2015 Presentation Notes
When Graduate Students Become Online Instructors:
A First-Time Online Instructor’s Teaching Toolbox
The website for our presentation is at: http://rampages.us/gradtoonlineteach/
This presentation started when my colleague and I met a group of students from PSYC 795 Practicum in the Teaching of College Psychology (Fall 2014). The provocation to create a resource arose when I observed that graduate students who had not taught or had limited teaching experience were concerned about teaching in a different learning environment.
How does one teach online? Especially when one is just learning to teach in person? Also, when asked about specific questions they might have about teaching online, what might they be? I observed that they found it challenging to articulate their concerns. They expressed very broad concerns about challenges they might face and wanted to know more about teaching strategies.
I took their concerns and my observations of their behavior to heart and wrote the proposal. Stan and I both created the website as documentation. As a Visible Thinking/Visible Learning/Reggio-inspired learning proponent, I believe in documentation for retrospective but also prospective reasons. I hope this website will provoke different interpretations and sharing of ideas.
If you feel at times like the students we encountered, I hope that you would feel free to enter a question or more, into the web form at: http://rampages.us/gradtoonlineteach/chime-in/
I had intended to raise 3 questions with participants at the session and I hope readers will comment on this as they feel led:
- How do you conduct needs assessment about something learners know little about?
- What are novice instructors’ first thoughts about online teaching? How do you begin to extend their knowledge and practice?
- How do we integrate technology seamlessly into our teaching sessions?
