Hans,
Interesting coincidence, I'm currently completing my master's online
this semester, and developing an online environment/learning management
system tool to coincide with a classroom curriculum (hybrid, as you
say). I'm using Moodle for mine. It isn't as sexy as Second Life, or as
packaged as Blackboard (ALL course management systems have bugs and
let-downs), but it is open-source and I can do almost anything
I like with it. My Moodle is definitely not a distance ed piece, but I
do have a few points to make.
- Different students will take differently to an online
environment, if not for anything else, because some people thrive on
face-to-face interaction while others would prefer not to sit in a room
and listen to the same middle aged - returning to school and getting
their money's worth - student who has something to say about everything
(like I would probably be!).
- Accessibility and usability are of the utmost importance. Not
some much the ability to access the Internet, or the school's intranet,
but the ability to participate in the environment. As a school IT
Integration Specialist (I'm also teaching Elementary School Computers
as well), I try to follow a construct that any learning or
instructional technology should be organic, or a fluid extension of
your skills base, like a pencil/eraser. The bottom line is, regardless
of how engaging the content is, it is often challenging to produce a
tool or environment where the content is the only effort. I think
including a number of optional warm-up exercises that highlight the
utilities used in the environment might be appropriate for students new
to online classes.
- Communication will make or break the class. I recently
participated in a dreadful class where there was almost zero
communication/collaboration among the students. The end result was the
class had to ride on content. Much of this content was in the texts I
had to purchase for the class. If it weren't for the required online
quizzes, I never would have used the environment. Your activities must
be engaging, and the tools you choose to use must encourage and
facilitate your objectives in as simple a manner as possible.
- As an instructor, you may be limited to your choice of tools, and
you'll have to consider your own learning curve as well. As I'm
developing my Moodle site, I'm discovering a variety of pitfalls that
would rear their ugly heads if I were coordinating a campus-build. I
remember being very unimpressed by the professor who set up a class
where it was like playing craps with the hyperlinks.
- If you are going to go the hybrid route, find a nice balance
between online and in-person specific activities. If you let the two
bleed into each other, you risk losing participation in one.
Unfortunately, I don't have an online photo class experience to share,
but when I did teach manual photography, the discussion component I had
built into my class was well received. The students need to discuss and
share their ideas. Any tool that offers forum, blog, or wiki
capabilities will suffice in this regard. You can also create links to
tools your platform doesn't support. If the 3-D element of SL is
attractive, you might consider a link to www.gogofrog.com, where your
students can set up blogs and display their work in a 3-D environment
which the visitor travels through (maybe a little immature for college
material, but I think SL is too).
As for progression, from a teaching perspective, completing your
curriculum as you intended isn't always the best outcome. Something
that rigid could seem a little cold, IMO. Not sure if you've read up on
Connectivism, or not. There's a
coupld guys in Manitoba pissing off the Constructivists with their new
learning theory. The, very digested, basic point they make is that
knowledge is simply a collection of connections to sources of
knowledge, and that learning is the ability to continuously make new
connections. It is very much a "tear down the school" type of
philosophy, but when taken with a grain of salt, speaks volumes about
how we use our curriculum and tools, and allow our students to
interact. This is a distinct challenge of CMS, particularly when you
program it to grade short-answer quizzes for you. The end result is
this: When you create an online learning environment, you are
definitely creating more work for yourself if it is going to be
successful. If you love to tinker like I do, go for it. If you're a dip
your toe in the water kind of guy, brevity will go a long way in this
regard...keep it simple.
Hope this helps in some way...Trevor
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