In-Person to On-Line

So my spring course (I only teach one, because I spend OODLES of time supervising student teachers) looked like it wasn't going to make, with only 7 students enrolled. I queried options for teaching the course, because I knew that most of the students who had registered desperately needed to take it to complete an endorsement. I discovered that I could still teach the course online with a small number of students.

So I've been spending some time over the break translating my in-person class into an on-line class. It's actually kind of fun, since I've taught the class before, figuring out ways to take my discussion-heavy style of teaching into an online setting.

I really like routines in my classes. When I teach undergraduates, I always start class with a poem that we spend a few minutes talking about (not analyzing, just responding and talking). I begin and end class in predictable ways; I find that this helps me and helps my students know what to expect. SO now that I'm trying to recreate this in an online venue, I've developed a few things that will be taking place in each week of the semester.

I'm definitely going to be making a "welcome" video of myself and uploading it for students to watch prior to the beginning of the course. I'll be using Camtasia to record mini-lectures for them to watch before the threaded discussions. Each student from the class will take responsibility for moderating one week of discussion.

Anyway, I think it should be fun!