On Tue Mar 30, at TuesdayMar 30 9:30 PM, John Howell wrote:
And just this afternoon I learned from the prof. who's been
teaching Apprec for many years that he's using a totally on-line
course. It's from a company that handles everything on line,
there's no textbook, and the students just buy two (expensive!)
CDs, register on line, and everything including tests is there, not
on my computer at all. As it happens he's meeting with people from
that company tomorrow, and I'm going to talk with them.
I may not agree with the educational approach, the kinds of
assignments and tests they have, and so on (although I'm not pre-
judging them), but if it'll let me kick-start a new class instead
of forcing me to re-invent the wheel, I'll probably sign on. I can
always pull out at a later time.
My college is pushing the on-line thing very heavily, and I (and
other colleagues) are resisting.
On the plus side, you can put listening lists online (yay!) and
assignments, so the students have NO excuse for not knowing what to
do. Presently, we have to assign library listening, or we have one
teacher who (illegally) loads the students' iPods from his office
computer with the listening lists. Having all the listening from one
source, with the licenses paid, is a real advantage.
On the con side, students are trying to take advantage of online
materials being available to skip classes entirely. Some students
have insisted that our class notes be made available online, or given
to them electronically by email or in hard copy, as if it is their
right (yes, we had a student try to assert that) to read our own
personal class notes and thus make up for not coming to class. The
times that teachers are being asked to be online for chat discussions
is prohibitively time-intensive, and of course it is WAY slower to
type than to speak. I think music may be one of the last subjects
that is taught more effectively in person. This assertion makes me
fairly unpopular among the college administration.
Christopher
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