Online Certificate In Online Teaching

Q: Following the thread, but shifting it a bit... because it is quite an important subject (bringing newby teachers, students, admins, parents etc. to the Net)... and I have something to add regarding facilitating the transition. First, let me compliment those past postings, re: 85% teachers don't use, ideas for creating personal site megasites (that sometimes backfire), offering to handhold with little turnout (too busy), spending hours building your own WWW sites but not being able to get teachers to even sit down at a terminal. All of your comments are worthy and valuable. I would like to see your www pages (please post). I myself constantly bookmark and organize my folders (which are always behind and somewhat out of date). From the recent postings on search sites I have over 20 bookmarked. The work people are doing *is* valuable even if we are not seeing immediate (and short term) results. We need to see the work we are doing as having long range impact; more teachers will come online as time goes on... but many, indeed most, will not do so in the short run. Why? Because teachers are trained to be masters of their subject matter... and the Net is an overwhelming experience from start to finish. Even those most experienced are inundated (too many listservs to read, too many projects, trying to get WWW pages up, training, troubleshooting etc.). Those who are new often won't even try because as teachers they don't like to appear ignorant (of anything)... and virtually everyone is unsavvy re integrating the Net into curricula. Solutions?

A:For myself, I believe more hands on and real time communication needs to happen... I believe in the value of Educational MOOs. Get the people off the WWW for a minute, and get them to interact with each other. Right now classes are just getting online at the school where I am Computer Resource Teacher. I will hopefully get the teachers networking using MOOs as a real time medium. Before I introduce them to MOOs I get them email from edmail (www.edmail.com)... and I get the *students* edmail as well. By having them start communicating... regardless of the content (at first)... people are *having fun while developing important net skills*. Email, cut and paste, folders, address books, www sites, etc. are all important... but people won't do them unless they are motivated to do so. Which brings me to my final point regarding a shift in pedagogy away from teacher centered didacticism towards learner centered andragogy. Give people a dozen projects to choose from and they have the responsibility to learn. When I asked a classroom of students if I gave them one project, they all thought it was the teacher's responsibility for them to learn, second was the school's, third was the parent and fourthly themselves. To an extent this is true today, because we still look to (outdated) methodology and the blind belief that "direct instruction is the most effective, and by inference only type of instruction used." This is not the case with the Net... where we can develop different paths, learn through collaborative group efforts (across continents)... learn far beyond what our teachers know (how many of you can teach Java? Perl? Object Oriented programs? Are you aware that it's possible to do so online for free?). Many teachers may feel threatened by this type of shift, yet the possibilities for growth far exceed the (perceived) danger of losing control. I welcome others to engage in online collaboration, and will gladly mentor those in using Educational MOOs, edmail, or other Net tools in exchange for your knowledge. Currently I will be helping a local high school to determine how to spend $400K on tech over the next few years. Your input here would be helpful. The Division of Continuing and Extended Education at CSU Hayward is accepting registration for the Winter Quarter's Online Certificate in Online Teaching program. The certificate consists of four online courses which can be completed in two quarters. If you are interested in the program, you may review courses, the program, and registration materials at http://www.online.csuhayward.edu/ The first course in the series (EDUI 7700: Introduction to Online Teaching and Learning) begins on 28 December. Mr. Cooper made a lot of good comments about online courses. However in a way I do disagree with his statements on cost. Yes as an individual I feel the fees for the most part are high, but when looking closely at them and other fees incurred they are low. There is something on the net called The Distance Education Calculator. The url is extremely long but you can point at it from http://cww.cpcc.cc.nc.us. When you go to this site click on Things to Know and then look on the left hand side of the screen. Running the calculator brings cost into focus some. I do agree with his statement on synchronous requirements of onloine courses. However Mr. Cooper may not be fully aware of the problems that colleges and universities have resolving the seat time issue within their own organizations but also with state legislators for those who are state supported, and with accrediting agencies. There still needs to be a big paradigm shift for those who are not yet into technology and its possibilities. The bean counters as I refer to "them" as have to find and accept new approaches but as they say it is hard to teach old dogs new tricks.

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