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last.updated 5.15.10

 

The Promises & Perils of Distance Learning


Purpose

Today we will begin the class with a discussion about writing at the graduate level to help you understand the expectations for the writing that you will do for this class (and maybe beyond). Then we will address the question, "Should colleges offer courses to students at a distance?" as well as "If so, why?" and more importantly "If so, how do we do teach the courses well?"


Lecture–Graduate Writing as the Burkean Parlor

The instructor will present Graduate Writing as the Burkean Parlor to explain the expectations for your writing throughout the course (and your graduate career).

Discussion I–Who are the stakeholders

As a class we will list and discuss who the different stakeholders in distance education are.

Activity

Everybody should already be logged into Adobe Connect; the instructor will create break-out groups. In the groups below use the textual chat function to complete the following tasks based upon the readings and your experiences.

Group Members Tasks
1 Cynthia, Susan, Danielle, O'Neika,
  • Why teach courses at a distance?
  • What concerns should administrators and instructors have teaching at a distance?
  • What strategies should administrators and instructors adopt to design effective courses (and programs)?
2 Christie, Tesha, Diane, Kevin
3 Nathan, Nancy, Chevonne, Zsuzsanna

Each group will have 45 minutes to address the questions.

Discussion II–Exploring Best Practices

We will discuss the following:

  • What questions did you have about the readings?
  • According to the readings, why would we want to teach at a distance?
  • Also according to the readings, what are the issues that administrators and instructors must consider when offering courses at a distance?
  • In what ways do these readings resonate with your experiences teaching at a distance or teaching with technology?
  • What strategies should be adopted when teaching courses through computer technologies? How do we make these arguments to the appropriate stakeholders?