Overcoming the Distance...
Even though distance education is gaining popularity, many instructors shun teaching these courses because they fear losing the relationships they can establish with students by just walking in the same door.
That concern is real not only for the instructor but also for the student. My greatest concern about taking a distance education class was losing the opportunity to build rapport with my peers and professor. Using technology to build a relationship with someone is difficult and time-consuming. I have tried using WebCt and email to communicate with my students, but have found that contact via technology cannot replace knowing how a person looks and sounds.
As a student, I am relieved to find that the methodologies used in this course address those concerns. As a teacher, I am absorbing all these new ways (at least, to me) of making contact.
posted by Prof Santoy | 3:02 PM
1 Comments:
I agree--many teachers shun DE environments because they believe that they can't establish relationships. First, I don't think that's true. There is more "distance" between a lecturer and student, oftentimes, then there are in DE environments. Second, these relationships are not always healthy. They're based on power structures and brown-nosing, oftentimes, rather than content areas. Yet still, there's something about knowing to whom you are speaking, and picture and sound helps toward that end. Thanks.
Let's talk more about the tools your teachers use or ways in which the tools we use are helpful or problematic. Thanks, Janie.
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