The Bitter(sweet) end

As the class draws to a close and the students make their final reflections, it's only fitting for me to make mine. With a new course, at some point I always take my best preparations, jump in and wait to see what happens. This was especially true this time when after jumping in (week 1), I never actually saw anyone again.

This was not my first time teaching an online coures, but the first time it was quite so open-ended. The final wiki was truly an experiment and I was pleased with how robust the content and style were.

I was also pleased at how well the class remained a virtual team. In previous online courses, there have been students who sneak away for a variety of reasons. This time people remained supportive of each other through to the end. The final reflections include not only their own growth, but mentions of how they learned from each other and were able to observe growth that can be used in their on-the-job lives.

Still lots of room for improvement, but overall I enjoyed the class...and maybe I'm even a little sorry to see it come to an end!

Final Week of the Course

We've all come a long way and it's all been captured in wikis and blogs. I've told everyone that this has been a bit of an experiment, but from my vantage point it seems to be working out. The "wikipedia" we've created has come together in both form and content.

The remaining observations in the blogs will be extremely interesting to see how everybody sees this course. I'm glad to see everyone is also reading each other's blogs.

Home Stretch

With the long weekend ahead, I've just taken a look at the wiki and the blogs. Everything seems to be falling into place and no one is screaming (virtually). It's interesting to see the wiki grow as people fill in their parts of the whole.

After my tour of the blogs, I've seen a number of indicators of the kinds of side experimentation and growth that was my real hope for the class -- Amy has added a picture to her blog entry, Natasha has a new tech triumph each time and Kevin, Clif and George are all thinking about the wiki assignment compared to the rest of the assignments in their academic careers.

All this oversight of the class from my porch at the beach!

Tuesdays are gratifying!

Well, I just got back from a whirlwind tour of the wiki and all the blogs. The entries are outstanding on all counts. The technical answers are really well-formed and the new memos are coming along just fine.

Now comes the hard part for everyone -- really creating something collaborative in the wiki! I have great faith however.

Summer is good and Blogging is hard!

Right now, I'm at the half-way point in 2 courses. This class had 1 f2f meeting and 4 weeks of online work. I'm noticing that in this class, while the work is progressing, the communication is falling off - especially the blog entries. The wiki grows and the listserv has some action, however.

In the other class, we've just finished a week of daily f2f meetings, supplemented by work in the wiki and on the listserv and on a blog. Now, we've got a week break while I go off to NECC. I'll be very interested in how the online communication continues there.

And, we'll see how George does after 4 days in the wildnerness with no Internet access (I assume). Although I do hear that more and more campsites are offering wi-fi access!

Just when I was about to give up hope...

Today, the blogs came alive again. Amy, Clif and Natasha all had great information and insights to report. Happily, these are a combination of applying skills to their own life as well as reflections on the course.

One theme that recurred was "who can you trust." While we have lots of rules of thumb, really I think the answer is the same one we always had -- train yourself to be a better judge and hone those skills everyday as the world changes around you.

Just a little test...And a way to brighten up the day! 

A New Week

Okay, now I start to get nervous.

Everything was rolling along just great in week 1 -- everybody tried the tools, everybody got a blog, lots of activity in the wiki, and lots of notes on the listserv.

Then came week 2. No face to face meeting so things cooled a bit. Still, there was a lot of activity in the wiki as people answered the various technical questions. We established a cycle for drafts, comments and revisions. Then the activity started to trickle off.........

Now we're entering week 3. This time everyone has to stake their territory electronically only. It will be interesting to see how that works out. I also gave everyone to keep an active blog instead of the final essay. These were pretty full in week 1, but have now tapered off again.

Maybe I should try an electronic kick!

Working Wiki

The wiki is moving along just fine and everyone is posting their questions, answers and comments. An interesting development took place yesterday when one student asked if they should sign their wiki edits.

So, here's the dilemma. If each student is building the answer to a question and since this is a course there is a grade attached, how should we use the wiki-ness and collaboration but still provide for individual achievement.

In this class, it's not much of a problem since clearly everyone is pitching in but in a larger class or one that was more uneven this calls for more thought.

What's working?

One of the things I hoped to explore in this class is how students can make use of multiple communication tools to work collaboratively.

So far, everyone has an IM name, but I haven't been IMed by anyone. In other classes, merely letting students know my IM name was sufficient to get some people contacting me.

The wiki is working well, I think. I have yet to get a single question about how to add something or problems losing anything. The true test will be as the answers start to come in. Kevin seems to be most comfortable, adding comments and pages. However, he used a wiki last time he took a class from me.

Several people have blogs but we are all just getting used to some regular reflection.

Finally, the listserv is quiet!

Very interesting!

After a week

Well, I had great misgivings on starting this class since the class didn't make the enrollment quota until the day before we started. However, this is turning out to be really fun.

One of the big changes I've made since the class began is to drop the final essay requirement if students create a blog along the way. In the spirit of fair play, I'm starting mine today!

Meanwhile, we are using the wiki to record and submit answers. Hopefully, as the class goes on we'll see more interaction in the wiki. Right now, people are still being careful of stepping on each other's toes (digitally speaking -- pun intended).