by Joanne Carrubba, MiraCosta College (Art History)
If I think waaaayyyy back (5 years, but it seems so long) to when I started teaching online, I remember being completely intimidated with the idea of teaching Art History to students through a computer rather than in a classroom. I could not conceive of how I would show images, encourage discussion of those images, give feedback, and do assessments. I suppose it didn’t help that I was given a canned, pre-done Moodle classroom, and no training or assistance.
I wish I had known what was out there for online instructors. I didn’t think about doing video lectures, or being sure that my syllabi, classroom, and feedback were not too text heavy. It was by far the most intimidating, confusing, and scary start of a semester in the 10+ years I have been teaching. Also, it was the LEAST successful, for me and the students.
I wish I had known about the numerous pedagogy and online teaching blogs that exist on this wonderful internet. I also wish I had known about teachers who post examples of interesting, clickable syllabi. Knowing about cool tools for myself and my students, and the idea of video lectures, intros, and voice thread for feedback would also have been amazing for all involved in that first, disastrous online class. I also wish I had gotten involved in the POT community right then, as this is a wonderful place to share ideas and tools, as well as give feedback.
Ah, but now….how far I’ve come! (I hope)