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July 19, 2006
On-Line Course -- Student Generated Content
Categories: Classes
I have reached some decisions about the on-line course. The largest one is that I want all the course content to be student generated. That means I am not going to tell them what they need to know; instead, they are going to determine what is relevant, useful, and important for themselves and each other given the large topical framework of the course.
The typical course, on-line or otherwise, is very teacher centered. The teacher assigns and distributes content (the "stuff" students ought to know) and students read, absorb, and otherwise engage content. Students then (hopefully) share their new content knowledge with other students as they discuss material. Content is assessed by the teacher in a variety of formal and informal ways.
Basicly, I want to radically alter that linear process. Students will be given the parameters of the course. Given the subject matter I am dealing with and the catalog description of 670, those parameters can be very broad. Then, they will be given some guiding questions that will help them search for, generate, and present content. They will then engage the content presented by each other. One of the key questions to each student should be "Why did you think this was important enough to research and bring to our attention?" The teacher will ask questions about the material researched and presented, but will not have any sort of privledged position. Everyone will assess each other.
There are four key things I will provide as the instructor: 1) A list of resources, print and electronic, that can be used by students. The list wil hopefully be extensive, but certainly not exhaustive. Students will understand that they can and should range beyond the resources given. 2) Helpful questions to frame the research and presentation (more on this later) 3) Constant feedback on the material presented (this feedback should come frome other students as well) and 4) An electronic space where presentation and communication can take place.
Given those four key things, I now have a "to-do list". Prior to the course, I need to:
1. Develop that list of resources.
2. Develop those helpful questions.
3. Develop that electronic space.
More on these later, as I need to think more about them, particularly #1.
Posted by Nakia at July 19, 2006 09:29 AM