I came to NZ from England with the challenge of taking up a teaching position 20 years ago (sounds such a long time) ....I now have an 18yr old son and 15 yr old daughter - life has not been dull.
As Beauty Therapy is such a practical subject interactive/ group activities have worked well over the years for incorporating the underpinning theory for our students.
A couple of years ago I was part of a digital literacy group which gave me a much greater understanding of the use and application of online tools available.
As a department here at MIT we had been using Blackboard and interacting on eMIT, but mainly for assessments.
The confidence I've gained has lead me to develop online videos for the students to access online outside the classroom environment, as well as give me an extra voice/pair of hands. We recently had monitors installed in our practical room which is fantastic - greater opportunities for interaction and support for the students.
The students have generally responded well to the online activities, although have needed encouragement to access the resources on eMIT and external links.
Quizlet has been an effective resource with the students, as well as the formative assessments/activities where they can have multiple attempts to ensure/check their level of understanding.
Vocabulary is always a challenge particularly with anatomy and physiology terminology, and so I have been developing a glossary - which I would like the students to add to.
This semester I have given more structure to the information on eMIT to include class notes - particularly for students who may have been absent. I have been making posting on the announcement page to help keep in touch and post reminders etc.
I introduced the concept of a class Wiki, with the students working collaboratively with new information they had to research and share.
This was fine in class, but they're not as actively involved as I would like. Hopefully with another reminder from today it should look more promising... checking together in an online class session on thursday :)
1 comment:
Oonagh it is interesting to hear how your online teaching has evolved. I love the sound of using a wiki for class activities. I guess if they get used to the idea of using a wiki in class that will scaffold them into doing some sort of project in groups. Have you thought about how this might connect to an assessment?
Have you some ideas for gathering feedback about the different online approaches you are using. It doesn't necessarily have to be a 'full-blown' evaluation project. Do you get informal feedback from the students as you go? Sometimes, that is a good way into doing something more formal.
Post a Comment