While it will probably seem quite amusing by the time you read this, it is currently about 16 degrees outside with the wind blowing snow in a perfectly horizontal fashion. I'm sitting in the library's instruction lab working on the design of the course you are now enrolled in. While I have taught this class five times, this is my first attempt at doing it as a hybrid course. In an effort to make the experience as useful and pleasant as possible for all of us, I enrolled in a class on how to build hybrid/online courses that was being taught by the college's instructional designer. At the moment faculty members in other departments and I are all trying to figure out how we want to use technology in our online classes.
There are a lot of interesting considerations that go into this. One of the biggest is how to foster a sense of "identity" with the class if half of the course is done online. The other big issue is interactivity; what is a good strategy for motivating everyone (myself included) to participate in a thoughtful, prepared, and interesting way. While I haven't sorted all of these issues out just yet, this blog is one idea for how we can create an online experience that is as valuable as that which we do "offline".
So more updates to come as things progress. I'm looking forward to knowing what the weather is like when you are reading this!
Prof M.
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