So, after a fairly successful week of reading, posting, learning about HTML, and Wimbaing (a new verb in my lingo), I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Last semester whenever I started feeling the slightest bit of confidence in the online teaching technology something would go wrong and I'd be back at square one. So far, I haven't had that occur in ONTL 651. But I still can't shake the feeling that I'm doomed to frustration and fear that something will go wrong.
But perhaps I should enjoy this tiny bit of confidence and accept that I am learning and getting comfortable with the programs. After attending another student's Wimba lecture and listening to the archive of the professor's Wimba lesson Saturday, I had the feeling that I could actually teach a course online. I'm still a very, very long way off from many of the necessary competencies, but I now believe that in time I could develop an online journalism or political science course.
But before I get ahead of myself, we'll see how the my facilitation week with a fellow student goes. Much to my surprise, I'm enjoying working on the development of a lecture on building communities in online courses. I developed my first Power Point slides (a program I fear could be addictive) and was surprised at how simple it was to design some basic pages. I've never done Power Point in my journalism classes because my students need to develop the skill of writing detailed accurate notes while listening. Without that skill, a reporter cannot function very well. I'm also a firm believer (and studies have shown) that those who take written notes learn more and retain more information. I was horrified to find out recently that one of my step-sons took a psychology course (his major) at UIC in which he never opened the book and never took a single note because the professor merely handed out copies of his Power Point presentations to the students.He earned a B, but now he can't remember a thing from the course. I hope my students - whether face to face or online - don't feel that their time was wasted taking one of my classes.
As obvious as this sounds, having time to spend learning has made all the difference this week. The amount of reading and work this semester seems much more manageable and having stable rather than rolling deadlines for projects is a big help. As a freelance journalist I have no set schedule for my full-time career and never know when I'll be working, so a little stability in the coursework is a plus. Onward and upward!
