Dr. Groulx - "Being able
to stay in touch with class members, help answer immediate questions
rather than waiting for class, promoting a sense of 'community' outside
of class, having more sensitivity to what people are concerned about
and being able to weave those concerns into the next class, promoting
thinking about ideas in a more connected, continuous fashion rather
than just during class hours, allowing some students to express themselves,
who don't normally speak up in class."
Dr. Hanna - "Allowing students
to ask questions after hours, especially the night before the exam."
Dr. Hughes - "Because of
what I do (for ADB prep), I in fact have better, more engaged class
discussions. We can get to the heart of the matter rather than having
to devote precious class time to background information."
Dr. Williams - "Students
improve their writing and thinking by virtue of seeing the quality
of work that others produce."
Dr. Hadaway - "Allows for
the interaction that is missing from face-to-face instruction. Some
students may contribute more online than with class discussion in
on-campus classes. Allows students who are non-native English speakers
or hearing impaired to participate at a different level."
Dr. Hale - "Allows for
collaborative learning. It's one way that I know they're thinking
:-) "
Dr. Lackey - "From a learning
standpoint, student thinking is very visible to the students, to other
students, and to me. Unlike the case of a three-hour class meeting,
the record of student thinking on a lesson is accumulated over the
course of a week and is visible for review through out the semester.
Student input is more likely to be of better quality too because the
student has a wider timeframe to make their contribution to the discussion."
Dr. Page - "It takes the
place of all the classroom to and fro. I ask lots of questions in
class and the discussion often brings out critical problems that the
students are having in understanding the material. I need the feedback
and they must be encouraged to do a lot more that just read the online
materials - they must think if they are to be able to reason about
the subject matter. They need it to make them think, I need the feedback
and the record of the discussions helps everyone share ideas and decide
where they are in comparison with what I expect and with the other
students."
Challenges
