Evaluating your own class
One of the challenges I consistently have is when evaluating my class I see the need to change many things that are the "core" of the class. I am in the Internet marketing industry and it is always evolving at a quick rate. because of this, materials are often outdated every 3 months. When i look at my classes, I always want the best information for the students and having an industry that does this makes it difficult to keep up. Anyone else have these issues?
Suzanne and Doug,
Thanks for continuing the conversation. I think it's great that you're trying new things so as not to become stale in your teaching. We all want to do this. Thanks!
Doug:
I have found that every course that I teach provides an opportunity to bring in new material or perspectives or applications. I primarily teach quantitative statistics and I find that I am able to provide examples of probability in new ways and in new applications each session. This also helps me not to become too stale with the materials and approach. I also teach marketing and project management. Needless to say, these courses are also game for new applications from the real world.
Suzanne
Christin,
Curriculum must change to keep up with the ever-changing technology world. Thanks for your input.
Yes, I too have these same issues. I work for a Digital Media Arts college and we are constantly updating our curriculum. It is a constant process that never ends. It does get pretty frustrating at times.
Marshall,
Absolutely. We, as human online instructors, will always be challenged by new technology and updating our skills. Good point.
Good point about the evolving aspects of the Internet, I suspect that what we will see in 20 years is a very different delivery system that is going to require a more in-real-time delivery of classes and or lectures among universities that are trying to pierce the market of higher education as something different than we see now among for profit schools.
Leah,
Yes. It's a combination between the teacher, students, content, technology, etc. that make an online course. Thanks for your input.
I think it does depend on your class. I teach statistics and while many things change such as technology to evaluate data it does not change as fast as you are mentioning. I feel the need to revise my course about every 6-9 months depending on changing technology and it is always a challenge!
Elizabeth,
Changing it up a bit is good. Thanks!
My subject, which is Math, does not change much; however, I try to incorporate more and more technology tools in my online classes. I used an online web site for homework and they have weekly quizzes as well!!
Concetta,
When you get feedback from students, peers, instructional designers, or whoever, it should be viewed as a learning process. Such feedback is essential in keeping the course current and a positive learning environment for the students. Thanks for your input.
Douglas and Ron,
Thanks for continuing the conversation. Staying current and connecting with students is excellent.
You have to be open minded to the suggestions that have been made to the overall course. Making changes will allow the course to develop and grow into a better learning product.
This will allow you to expand on your creativity.
Ron,
I would thnk that almost everyone has these issues to deal with in today's world with the technology at hand ever-changing. I try to interact with the students to bring in the latest experiences and information from their lives. This seems to help with keeping the discussions centered on relevant and practical learner-centered issues.
I hope that helps!
Doug
Waqar,
That's a huge benefit to your teaching. When you teach something for so long and you know what students are going to have problems with you can make sure you spend time explaining those concepts. Thanks for your input.
I suppose it depends on your class. My subject (accounting) has many core concepts that don't change, and so even though textbooks change, I will try to retain problems/exercises, even if they are from older editions, and share with the class because I know I understand those problems inside-out.
Ron,
Yes, I think many people have these issues of staying up to date with the content. What I do is challenge the students to take one resource from the course and find additional information about the same topic that is more up to date. Then, I use that resource next time and ask students to do the same thing. It's constantly changing and they can see that through their work. Thanks!
