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Technology assistance

Ed had taught the course completely online twice before. Students sang his praises to the program director, who in turn invited Ed to make a presentation about his online teaching to his colleagues to encourage them to teach online. So by the time of this study, Ed was teaching the course for the third time. Having never used technology prior to using the Online Day resources, Ed had ready access to the on-campus expert, Tim, who was hired to help instructors learn to teach online. Tim did the communication with the publisher’s online support team, and basically put Ed’s course materials into the course template for him. Ed acknowledged the vital role Tim played in being able to teach online:

We were also fortunate, Tim Parsons, who talked to the publisher’s technical support really more than I did, really is a prince of a guy. He understands computers upside-down and backwards. So Tim was always there to help troubleshoot.

How he taught

Ed made use of a number of resources on the Day website in his teaching, including the discussion board, the profiles of the theorists, and the ready-made exams. He felt those components “took the sweat out of teaching.” Ed was thrilled with the student participation in the discussion boards.

Our discussion boards are just awesome. They’re off the wall, they’re down the middle, they’re controversial. The students agree and don’t agree with each other. It’s more like a free-wheeling discussion in the classroom in which anything is acceptable. Anything goes. So this opens them up and keeps [the online course] from being sterile.

When asked about his philosophy of teaching, Ed became very animated and passionate. He described how he worked with the students:

Face-to-face, hands on! It is not taking knowledge and pouring that knowledge down their throats and forcing them to regurgitate it in a way that’s pleasing to me, coming forth with all the knowledge that I possess or is in the textbook and throwing it out there and have the students respond to it. Based on their response, we begin an interaction. I develop them from where they are, and from what their theoretical interests are.

Ed’s use of the phrase “face-to-face” is an interesting description of his teaching methods in the midst of a discussion about teaching online with students he had never met in person.

Ed’s teaching style comes across as a combination of constructivism and evangelism. However, in the online environment, he can’t rely on his oratory powers, so his tendency is to be supportive and involved. He participated in the online discussions with his students, sometimes correcting mistakes, sometimes congratulating on a good comment, and at other times, redirecting the discussion.

The thing that really makes it a hot course is a lot of interaction. When they get on discussion board, I read everything they say. And then I don’t just say, “Way to go!” I interact. And I may agree, I may challenge, so they get to know each other personally, and they get to know me personally. That’s the most exciting thing, that’s there’s dialogue the entire semester, it just starts with the discussion board.

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Source:  OpenStax, Faculty use of courseware to teach counseling theories. OpenStax CNX. Oct 14, 2009 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11130/1.1
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