The Little Red School House of the 21st Century Is A…
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Computer! My university has started again this week, and for the third semester, I am teaching one of my courses online. It is an interesting technology, one which I think works quite well and would work well for certain types of training as well.
I will briefly overview what the technology can do, and some of the major pros and cons of the technology I use.
Our platform is
centra, and the students can be anywhere in the world when they log on.
Lectures are in the form of powerpoint slides, and my voice is transmitted via VOIP (voice over internet protocol). The students and I “chat” easily using text chat, and we can go on safaris (web sites). The lectures are also automatically recorded. I can poll them about various things (e.g., how many of you have ever been fired?).
The biggest pro is convenience; students don’t have to travel to campus, which saves gas, time, and energy. If they miss a lecture, they can review the recording.
Biggest con? in face to face classes, students say they would miss the interaction. But, the platform does allow participation, just not face to face. Frankly, my biggest worry is that students will be less motivated in this technology, its too easy to miss class and not concentrate on lecture.
Tests are still administered in a proctored environment.
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