The End of Week 1!

Well, I just finished the first week of classes.  It has been exciting, exhilarating and exhausting! I am working with teachers from 18 different countries, and I always love how we can come from so many different backgrounds and teaching contexts and still find so much in common to bind us together.

Besides getting to know everyone in my classes, I have been playing around with a lot of new tech tools, and it's pretty amazing to consider all the different ways these tools can be used in classes, whether face-to-face or online.  One of the things I love about teaching is that I am always learning something new, so life never gets dull!

December 13, 2011

After 20 years of classroom teaching, it has been an interesting transition to teaching online.  For years I was skeptical that real teaching and learning could take place in an online forum, but I have completely changed my opinion on that.  I have been part of wonderful, challenging discussions and seen amazing work come out of the online classes that I teach.  Online classes provide a way for people in many different places to come together and share ideas and experiences.  They also provide a huge amount of flexbility - very important for those with jobs, school and families to be able to take courses when they otherwise might not be able to.
The technology can be challenging at times, but like anything else, it's just a matter of getting the hang of it.  I was terrified of the technology aspect the first time I taught online, but now I could handle it in my sleep.  I have seen my students go through the same process.  For us digital immigrants, this is actually a pretty empowering and confidence-building experience.