OL 101_Kushner

I work with many veterans teachers who cringe at the sight of new technology and media, especially when they feel “forced” to adopt these tools in their classrooms. To be honest, I completely understand their fear and appreciation – it takes time to learn these tools (e.g. podcast, audacity, mastery manager), they are difficult to master, and most importantly, change can be scary. But technology is not our adversary – technology (used correctly) can support our instruction and help students learn the material in non-traditional ways. I would argue, as teachers, we should not wait for administration of ed policy to tell us what to do or how to use technology; rather, we should be in the forefront of change and seek out different multimedia tools. The assignments for this week – creating a google site, podcast, screencast, avatar, etc. – got me/us out of our comfort zones. This is vital to being, or becoming, an effective teacher because our students face similar challenge...

The importance of face-to-face interactions in a classroom between student-and-student and teacher-and-student cannot be overstated. Creating a positive learning environment often depends on the use of nonverbal expressions – simple eye-contact, tapping on a student’s desk to signal inappropriate behavior, use of hand gestures to emphasize a point, etc. As a high school teacher and university adjunct instructor, I rely on these communicative tools to see/understand how my students are feeling, who is comprehending the material and who is lost, who is having a bad day and who is elated, and even to assess my own instructional effectiveness. Accordingly, shifting from a physical classroom setting to an online setting will have its challenges. The readings from this week, however, reduced some of my anxieties about teaching in this format. More specifically, I understand my role as an online instructor. I like the premise of thinking of an online instructor as a “tour guide”, guidin...