Ann Beer wrote:
> I'd be interested to know how others of you who have on-line or partially
> on-line teaching are coping with this. Do you sometimes feel swamped or
> have you found good ways to build checks and balances into the
> course-planning?
Ann, given the number of our students (125 per instructor has been a
regular load so far),
we would be totally swamped without on-line communications. We are
trying to use different ways that allow us to communicate with students
electronically and encourage peer interaction. I support a web site
for the course, we have quite well organized newsgroups for each
section, and we do hold
office hours on-line through e-mail/course newsgroups. I think that even
though electronic communication with
students requires a lot of time and effort from instructors, it is
beneficial for everybody.
Students are able to ask questions relevant to what they are doing at
the moment and
to receive response within hours; instructors can provide on-line
feedback on students early drafts and have a general sense of how
students are doing in the course; students are able to exchange feedback
on their drafts and to respond to each other's questions on the
newsgroups, and TAs can stay in touch with all students "at once" using
the course newsgroups/e-mail. Through these interactions, students also
learn how to communicate with different audiences (peers, TAs and
instructors) through the electronic medium -- I see this as an important
part of our course.
To Rob -- with Engineering, you never know when you win and when you
lose. Last year we won, but we may very well lose next year. It's an
ongoing battle.
--
_____________________________________
Natasha Artemeva
School of Linguistics and
Applied Language Studies
Carleton University
1125 Colonel By Drive
Ottawa, ON
K1S 5B6
Canada
Tel. +1 (613) 520 - 2600 ext. 7452
Fax +1 (613) 520 - 6641
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
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