25-Year College Professor of Philosophy Describes 1st Year Teaching Online
Posted on June 16, 2009 by Barbara Macaulay
I wanted to bring this story to the blog for several reasons. First, I think it is a tribute to what excellent teachers care about, whether teaching online or in the classroom or both. Secondly, online students everywhere ought to know how much work on the part of the professor goes into building and delivering a great online course. And thirdly, a lot of online education naysayers may see much of this article as being in support for their position that online education just isn’t on a par with face-to-face education. But if they read to the end, they may have a different impression.
Professor Joe Deegan, writing for the San Diego Weekly Reader, in a story entitled ‘The Voices Online,’ says that by the end of the first year of what he calls his first online gig, he’d mastered the technology, overcome his concern that online interaction wouldn’t match classroom interaction, and experienced firsthand that learning can happen online…
Now, as completion of this, my first online class, approaches, I’m so used to manipulating the Blackboard software that, even though there is still clumsiness, it doesn’t bother me anymore. There has been so much electronic interaction with the students that each one seems to appear in pictures before me. There have been moments of personal disclosure. The students’ work has been good.
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Interesting post.
I have to say that philosophy is one of those subjects that easily lends itself to an online format. All of my undergraduate philosophy courses suffered from one important constraint - time. There was never enough time for both a lecture and for a lively discussion. I am glad that some of the “old guard” are looking to take their teaching online as well. I know that it’s much more work compared to face-to-face teaching, but it’s worth it.
Thanks so much for your comments. As you aptly point out, the biggest constraint for courese in philosophy (and many other disciplines) is that of time. Online venues can provide both students and the professor a means to be “heard” in rich and meaningful ways. When I took philosophy courses (way back when), I often had my best thoughts come to me well after the class session was over. Online discussions would have given me the the chance to express and test my ideas.
Thanks again for your response!
I heartily agree, joe. When I took your critical thinking course and your ethics sequence years ago, we seemed to have too little time for discussion, or had too little time for you to meet your daily lesson plan.
Perhaps in the face-to-face classroom, philosophy courses and others that inspire lively discussions could have a weekly “lab” component?