The Human Element

I’ve written a lot about “teaching with technology” and harnessing the power of the internet / computing into education. Lately I have been thinking back to when we didn’t have the internet, e-mail, cell phones or computers.

We taught our students in classrooms “face to face” without anything more complicated than overhead projections and slides. There’s no doubt in my mind that we as college teachers in 2008 are working harder and longer trying to keep up with the various software, hardware and course management systems that constantly are getting upgraded with new and more sophisticated versions. Sure, I’m a strong proponent of distance learning and incorporating technology into my photography and art courses, however I think it’s important for educators to step back every once in awhile and remember that our primary focus should always be on teaching students.  We’re dealing with human beings and it’s very easy to lose sight of the human element when we are all caught up (and stressed out) by the various dynamics and challenges of incorporating technology into our teaching.

I for one am a little nostalgic for the days when I spent hours in the darkroom and studio with my students - now I teach digital imaging, graphic design and commercial illustration (for the most part) via the internet and blackboard. So the questions is….HOW do we as instructors keep and nurture the HUMAN ELEMENT in our courses? That I believe is our challenge as we forge ahead in this new millennium.

On Teaching….

   I’ve been teaching at Carteret Community College for 22 years. In fact, I have taught Photography in some capacity for over 25 years. Education has changed dramatically since the first day I walked into a classroom/lab. To think that I’m sitting in a coffee shop on the coast of North Carolina (this very cold Sunday morning) checking in to my Art and Photography classes with my laptop computer. I’m picking up a wireless signal and just finished having a discussion about art with a group of student 8 hours away at a college (SWCC) in the mountains of western North Carolina. If you would have told me I’d be able to engage my students, teach my students, connect with my students and help them learn a variety of college level subjects without actually seeing them 10 years ago I would have thought you were absolutely crazy. Now it’s an integral part of what I do as an educator. Online education (distance learning) has been accepted and embraced by high schools and colleges around the world. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s good online teachers and bad just like in the classroom. It takes a completely different approach to be an effective teacher in the online environment. It’s almost as if you become a moderator / facilitator instead of a didactic talking head standing in front of a group of students (sage on the stage) imparting your knowledge to them. Good teaching is still good teaching whether its in the traditional classroom or in the online environment. Good teaching is proactive, dynamic, engaging and takes a certain amount of empathy and compassion. Good teaching online also takes innovation, creativity and a willingness to think (and communicate) in completely new ways.

Distance learning empowers teachers and students in a variety of ways and offers so many more options and alternatives to the traditional instructional model. Teaching online has reinvigorated me to literally reinvent myself as a teacher in addition to making me think about (and teach) my subject matter in a whole new way. In other words it forces me to be a better instructor because I MUST rethink and retool every aspect of my teaching strategy and methodology to be effective in the online environment. The other part of this equation is our students. Especially the ones coming out of high school. Most of them are very comfortable working, communicating and socializing online and they expect their educational experience to be every bit as dynamic, interactive and sophisticated as their other online worlds such as My Space and Face Book.

Its like anything else in this world. People evolve, cultures evolve, society evolves and nothing truly stays the same. That certainly goes for the learning process. I think its great that I can get up in the morning, drive to my local coffee shop and start my day off teaching while sipping a cup coffee. Now I have to get back to a discussion about Prehistoric art with my students in Fayetteville. You gotta love technology. Like I mentioned in an earlier post - it can be a curse or a blessing depending on your point of view, attitude and mindset.

Teaching with Technology 2006 - ECU

Think-In Web Cast

I am presenting at the Think-In being held at East Carolina University on Thursday, November 9th. Larolyn S. Zylicz, Ed.D. Chair of the Department of Distance Learning at Cape Fear Community College will be co-presenting with me on Best Practices in Distance Learning.

The Think-In will highlight the following three tracks:

• Social use of Technology – Developing learning communities in online classes.
• Effective/Efficient use of Technology – Achieving successful learning objectives and/or
increasing efficiency.
• Innovative use of Technology – Using new technologies to achieve learning objectives.

I plan on sharing my instructional methodology and strategies for teaching Hands-On courses in an online environment in addition to talking about our latest Distance learning Initiatives at Carteret Community College - Extreme Blackboard Course MakeOvers.

We also plan to document the event as it unfolds here on the Blog and produce (and upload) some Podcasts as well.

Carteret Community College is now moving forward into Phase 2 of it’s Distance Learning Initiative - Our goal is to get every online faculty member to create an introductory audio Podcast that can be attached to the welcome announcement of their classes in addition to creating / designing a gateway to I Apple ITunes. CCC is the second Community College in NC to be accepted and approved as an ITunes U College.

Both CCC and Cape Fear are implementing college wide professional development initiatives in all aspects of online instructional delivery methods to include both technical and pedagogical approaches to online learning.

The Think-in has been going on for over two hours and lots of folks have stopped by our booth to learn more about teaching Photography and Art Courses online in addition to some creative teaching techniques for teaching “hands-on” courses as hybrids in Blackboard. The following are some photos we have taken of this event.

 

 

The time flew by because so many folks visited our presentation booth and asked questions and were able to view a few of my courses in action. Seems like I blinked and the Think-In was over and we were packing up. Lisa Lee, Dr. Emory and I came away from the event with lots of new and useful ideas for incorporating innovative techniques and technologies into our distance learning courses. It also made me feel good that I was doing some things in my online courses that many educators wanted to try to incorporate into their classes, so the feedback for the most part was very positive.