Teaching online vs teaching in person

I am in the middle of teaching my second online course. I am teaching the same class again, which is nice because I can start to think about what works and what doesn't and tweak things. I am also working on some syllabi for classes I will be teaching at WIlliam & Mary. So I have been thinking a lot about teaching and the differences between online classes and the more traditional classroom setting.

I am really grateful to have the online teaching experience- for better or worse it is going to play a part in the future of teaching in universities as more and more schools offer online classes. Frankly, I have mixed feelings about this. I have very little control over the assignments and readings for the online classes I am teaching- so I feel more like a facilitator than a teacher. I've felt a little more confident the second time around, so I'm sharing more of my knowledge of history instead of just sticking to the textbook. But sometimes I still feel like a glorified grader and I don't think I can have the same kind of impact on my students. When I think about the kind of professor I'd like to become, I think about teachers and professors who've had an impact on me- and I'm really not sure an online instructor can reach students in the same way. But I'm trying to anyway.

Unlike my classes at William & Mary, the majority of my online students are older than me- many of them have children older than me. And many of them are women. I've had a couple (female) students who have told me they had doubts about their ability to succeed in college and who have been told that they would fail by family and friends. This saddens me more than I can say. And I am incredibly impressed with their determination to try even though they lack a lot of confidence and support. This also makes me want to be a better teacher- to not only facilitate but to actually have an impact on my students' lives. To not only teach them history, but also to help them become better writers and to hopefully make them feel more confident about their abilities. So, in this way I am glad that online courses are available to students who would otherwise not be able to attend college or who might be more intimidated by the typical college classroom.

At the same time I worry about the impersonality of the online classroom. I have had several students plagiarize- to varying degrees (and have taken responsibility for their actions to varying degrees). I think this has something to do with the availability of information (or a multitude of places to plagiarize from) on the internet. However, I wonder if it is easier for students to break the rules when they don't ever have to see the instructor. But maybe I am just being naive- maybe someone who intentionally and repeatedly plagiarizes would have no problem looking their instructor in the eye after being called out for it. Fortunately these students seem to be in the minority.

At the end of the day, I'm just grateful to have the opportunity to work with students- whether it be online or in person.

Nothing exciting to report

I've been somewhat busy but also not doing anything exciting. The online class I am teaching is mostly grading (and least it feels that way). I do think it's a good teaching experience for me even though I have mixed feelings about it. I am a little grateful that the first time I have to deal with some of the unpleasant aspects of teaching have been done online instead of in person. For example, I am glad that the first time a student swore at me it wasn't face-to-face and that I had time to think about my response before I sent it. I've also been dealing with some plagiarism, which has been eye-opening. I read a recent New York Times article that referred to the students now entering college as 'generation plagiarism.' It was disheartening, apparently students don't feel like they have to cite sources that have more than one author or a anonymous author- such as articles on wikipedia. This seems ridiculous to me. The papers you write are supposed to be your work- if it isn't your words you have to cite it- why is this so hard to understand? I don't care who wrote something if it isn't you- you shouldn't put your name on it. Period.

I feel like I should print a huge disclaimer on all of my syllabi, something like- I HATE CHEATERS, IF YOU CHEAT I WILL NAIL YOU TO THE WALL. Sadly I doubt this will discourage everyone. I think students delude themselves into thinking they can get away with it.

On the bright side- Rusty is awesome and cheers me up when the cheaters in the world get me down.

the light at the end of the tunnel

I am getting closer- I should be done with the reading in about 2, or 2 and a half weeks. I am finding that it is more and more difficult to stay motivated and I am not getting as much out of my reading as I did at the beginning- I've become a machine, just processing books trying to hit my goals each week and caring more about the number than the contents.

It's hard. I feel like I am doing violence to the books. I am gutting them not reading them. It makes me think about the day I publish a book and it's future in the hands of graduate students who will gut it too- do I strive to make it easily guttable? Sounds painful. Of course, that assumes that I WILL write a book and that someone, anyone, will read it or "read" it.

I do still think I am getting something out of this process, even if it makes me long for my undergraduate days when I could read a whole book, word for word, page by page, and care about the stories told, not just about the arguments made.

I do think this will help me teach- I have been able to identify which books I want to go back to- and maybe assign and read with my undergrads- I long for the day when I get to sit in a room and discuss the stories of history not just the arguments of historians (or to chat online with my students).

I am glad that at this point in the process I am still looking forward to being an educator and to share my love of history with students- I hope they appreciate and get as much from me as I have from my professors (well, most of them).

First full day of Keio

I wrote this post the first night of Keio thinking I would sit down and write something every night- ha! That never happened- I got home super late every night and was exhausted- so this is my one journal-type entry. I'll write more about it soon.

BTW- the Keio program was my summer job. I was hired as a Classroom Instructor (CI) to run discussion sessions with Japanese students from Keio University in Japan- and, more importantly, to drive them around. They came here for two and a half weeks to take part in a cross-cultural collaboration- and to improve their English language skills. So they attended lectures (and then our discussion sessions). They had to research and write a group presentation. They also got to do stuff like go to baseball games, museums, and Colonial Williamsburg. We ended their stay with a trip to DC. They left this morning. I'm very sad.

July 30, 2009

Today was the first full day of Keio. It went really well.

We started out with a lecture on why culture matters and then broke into our discussion groups- my students are awesome- they are so much fun. Afterwards we went to lunch- the food was not so good, but again the students were fun. Next the students went on a campus tour and we headed off to get the vans. Each of the classroom instructors drives a van with her group of students- Wendy decided we should name the vans after the golden girls nd that mine should be Blanche. Blanche doesn't really fit me so I wasn't too excited but because of it I got the best van! I figured Blanche should have a red van- so my group gets to rock it in the happening red 12 passenger van (with a big dent on the passenger side).

We went out to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays-my class decided to eat together and two of the PAs joined us (they are the undergrad students working with us). We were a party of 13 who all wanted individual checks- the waiters couldn't have been too excited to see us. It was not easy trying to help them decipher the menus- how do you describe what ribs are? Paying the bills were fun too- they are just learning american money and they also don't know how to tip- they don't tip food servers in Japan- it made the evening more of an adventure.

I got to talk to a different PA on the way back to campus- they are all really fun.

New Years Blues

There's nothing like the start of a new year to make you take assessment of your life. Normally I try to avoid falling prey to my tendancy to overanalyse things- it's a horrible habit and usually leads no place good. Unfortunatly I haven't been successful this year, I think it is because I have too much time on my hands. I'm incredibly grateful for such a long break- I really needed it- but having such an open schedule for so long seems strange and frankly I'm a little bored. Reading brain-free books and watching TV has been nice and all but I need to get out more.

As far as the assessing thing goes- I didn't do so well my first semester. I'm only beating myself up about it a little. I know I could have done better- you can always work harder. But I don't think I should be too hard on myself- it was a rough semester for me personally, there was a lot going on back home and it was hard being away from family. Plus- well... I hate to say this but I didn't really like my classes (didn't hate them or anything- just not completely my thing) none of them were particularly exciting. The one bright spot (there were two really- I also made a few good friends) was teaching. I really liked the class, working with my advisor was amazing, the other TA was also great. Most of all I really liked my students. Of course I always think I could have done better but overall I think it went well and my students seemed to enjoy the discussion sections.

I'm feeling very optimistic about next semester. I am much more excited about the classes I'm taking and it should be less stressful since I won't be teaching - I will miss teaching but it'll be nice to have less work. I have to retake the French exam but I should actually have time to practice this semester so my chances of passing will be better. I'm thinking about discussing France in my dissertation so I may try to find funding to go to France to do research - which would amazing! Plus I plan on making time to see more of my new home and maybe taking a trip up to DC. Who knows if I'll actualy do any of it- but it sounds like a good plan now.

the first week of school, well half a week

School started Wednesday. So far I'm enjoying it. I think it's going to be a very busy and likely very stressful first semester. I already have lot's of reading to do (I'm taking a break from Foucault to write this- Foucault- Yikes!) 

I especially like the class I'm a TA for, I taught my first sections on Friday and I think it went really well and I really like my students. I do worry a little that one of them could stumble across this blog so I probably won't be saying much about the class here. But I will say I'm really excited about getting some teaching experience and even if it's going to be stressful. I am also getting excited about this semester, my classes seem like they are going to be very interesting (this reveals how big a nerd I am- but I think they are going to be fun too). I just need to get back into school mode and get used to reading an obscene amount again.