technology meets snow
I'm going to keep this short, but Blackboard (a learning management software we use which basically creates an online classroom "shell") was a lifesaver for communicating with students following Monday's snowstorm. It allowed me to:
*Teach my online class without interruption
*E-mail my face-to-face class groups with an update that the college was closed
*Administer a final exam online which had been scheduled to be given face-to-face on Wednesday. 13 of 15 students completed the exam during the scheduled class time, which I thought was phenomenal, given that not everyone had power and/or internet access.
*Issue surveys to two classes asking if they wanted to present final projects as scheduled or extend class by one day to make up for the missing lab hours. (Unsurprisingly, they voted overwhelmingly for the extra time.)
You know, I do my share of complaining about technology, but computer-mediated education has its merits!
posted by digitaldish @ 4:38 PM
1 Comments:
A school without snow days? While its great you were able to finish giving the class without much interuption, and didnt have to resort to having your students give 5 minute presenations I wonder what was lost? What kind of society will we have where there is no down time. You can work from home when you are sick, you can raz in when you have to stay home with your baby, you can complete your exam even in horrible weather. What kind of context is this setting? It's great that people can respond, but the demands are so great now that we have to respond. There is no more relaxing time, and healing time, and I had to go chop wood cause my furnace was broken and I was cold excuses. I just think that will lead us to our high paced high stress society, and while it can be good... it isnt always.
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