The way he handled all of the different elements of teaching a synchronous online session was fascinating to watch. It was clear that he knew what he was doing and had great command of the method. I especially liked how he integrated various documents, such as the Google Doc that we as a class interacted with.
I would love to have such command in the online space in the future. The other day, when I finally recorded my intro video for the class, I realized that I felt strange at times looking straight at the camera. It was a little bit intimidating looking right in the camera and talking with full confidence, so I had to record at least 3 do-overs. I'm wondering if, in the transition to teaching online, there's a period where you just have to get used to the strange feeling of talking to a computer screen while being seen and heard by a number of people at the same time.
What I realized from watching Justin's lecture is that it would probably be a good idea for me to see more examples of online instructors in action. Not necessarily take their courses, but observe some sessions to see different styles and methods. Before seeing Justin's approach, I hadn't even imagined doing such things in online teaching. So seeing different styles would help me see even more of the good things that are possible in this mode of teaching.
I agree that Justin's lecture was informational. It was good to see someone who is teaching on-line as a full time endeavor. It is true that he seemed very comfortable with the technology. It was a natural way for him to teach.
ReplyDeleteI also took 3 or 4 tries to complete the introduction video on flipgrid. I am not sure that it was a simple matter of comfort, but I did want it to be, if not good, then not awful. I think, however, that if you are going to be involved in synchronous sessions, you cannot worry too much about little mistakes. They are probably the same mistakes that you would make in a face-to-face class. I think that you would just need to make sure that you are reasonable centered in the frame and go from there.
Perhaps that is the comfort we picked up on with Justin. When something went a bit awry, like when he thought we were looking at one page when we were actually looking at another, he just rolled with it and did not let it phase him.
You're completely right, Bryan. Justin just ran through the mistakes and tech hiccups and kept it moving. I would imagine that in the beginning of teaching online, we are more tripped up by these mistakes, but over time we keep it rolling (just like with F2F teaching, I would say). The one absolute from the very beginning is like you said, being centered in the video and then I think making sure the audio is good. Style and such can come with time.
DeleteI completely agree with you Marcus. It's clear that Justin has been an exclusively online teacher for quite a while. It was impressive to see how smoothly he moves between tools. Even with one or two slip-ups, he was totally in command of the workspace. And who am I to judge? I drop my Smartboard pen all the time, and that doesn't mean that I don't have complete control of the Smartboard technology.
ReplyDeleteI too think I will benefit from more exposure to online learning, which I see as a major benefit of this course! See it, do it, teach it. Right?
Definitely Jesse. If you think about it, we watched people teach F2F for a looooong time...as students! So subconsciously we were observing ways to have command of an in-person classroom, even if at the time we weren't necessarily thinking of becoming teachers. So I'm sure observing more online teaching will be helpful as we see different styles and such.
DeleteI definitely need to give Donna a shout out here too, because the way she's done video, podcasts, and structured the course with all sorts of tools has definitely opened my eyes to the possibilities of online teaching.
I also re-did my introduction video 4 or 5 times because I was very nervous and maybe hypercritical of myself early on. I imagine, however, that as an online professor or teacher that nervousness fades with time. I like to think of it like speaking in front of crowds (or classrooms), doing so made me uncomfortable too, at first but with time it became easily doable and under certain circumstances, it was second nature.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I also agree that the way Justin handled the technology also helps. I think we expect (more) perfection from ourselves online then in person, why is that?
It is nice to hear other people re-did their videos, too! We're all going through that same period where things feel "familiar but strange" at the same time.
DeletePerhaps we expect too much on ourselves because we can instantly see the results, and that makes it almost like a mirror. We usually look in the mirror (or at least I do) to make sure everything is cool:
"Nothing's there that shouldn't be? All good to go? Alright, let's go."
So when we see that video it's like looking into the mirror, and we want to get it right.
Marcus-I am a big fan of people experiencing the environment first hand. You make an excellent point that I need to make sure we find more ways to create the experience of seeing an online teacher in action. We have started to do that with some sharing of blended activities, but we can always do more.
ReplyDeleteYes Lee this was definitely an aspect of online teaching that I never really thought about. I used to think that since I'm passionate about learning+technology, by default I would be able to adapt to online teaching. But only after seeing Donna putting together this course and then Justin present his lecture do I realize that exposure is a great way to get started in this space.
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