Online Classes, Good or Bad?

Recently, a student in the class posted an article about people in the world being able to take online classes from prestigious universities in the United States. The article can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/opinion/sunday/friedman-revolution-hits-the-universities.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&smid=tw-share

I thought the article brought up many pros of teaching with technology. People from different social backgrounds are able to take classes that they never thought they could. Individuals from other countries can learn about intriguing topics in classes that may not be available to them. It sounds amazing, fun, and innovative. But, I cannot help thinking critically if this really is a great thing for society.

Yes its great because education is available to those who might not have access to it (ex. people in other countries), but as the article stated, class sizes are greatly increased. In the article, it states that 155,000 students from around the world have taken edX's first course at MIT. They then go on to explain this is greater than MIT alumni in the 150-year history of the university. I wonder what this is doing to the quality of the assignments and tests that are being distributed. The only logical form of tests would be multiple choice, because how on earth could a professor grade all those short answer questions (or perhaps there are no tests, which may be beneficial, in that case I retract my statement). Also, how could there be useful assignments? Someone has to be evaluating these students, but how?

Secondly, the article focuses greatly on other countries and what they are learning from our "prestigious schools" like MIT and Stanford. But I would challenge us as a country to see what we could learn culturally from them, so that this is not just a one way street. We are not the only country that has intellect.

I know that these classes will bring more good than bad, but I am just curious of how to manage that amount of students in an online course. I could only imagine it would be extremely difficult.

When I think about teaching with technology...

...I think about enhancing the learning of others instead of hindering it with useless "show off" types of technology. I think that technology can be very useful in my field of microbiology, since most everything I study and teach cannot be seen with the naked eye. Bacteria are small, and the use of a microscope as a piece of technology can be a useful teaching tool for understanding different shapes and types of bacteria. Enyzmes, DNA, and proteins are EVEN smaller than bacteria, and the use of videos or computer/whiteboard drawn images can be particularly useful for many people. There is a big difference between telling a student what a protein looks like versus showing it to them and letting them explore the structure on their own.

Although it can be useful, I think about how it can be bad in a class as well. Some professors I have use powerpoint where powerpoint is unnecessary and hindering. Yes, a powerpoint speed up the time the lecturer can lecture, but perhaps the students cannot take in that information mentally or on paper in the time that the slide is talked about. It is hard when you are talking to grasp how long it takes to write down what you are saying. For this reason, some of the best science classes I have taken involve the professor writing on the whiteboard. That way I can move at the same pace the lecturer is moving and I can really gather my thoughts and think in depth about what I am learning.

I hope to take my past experiences about teaching with technology to form myself as an efficient teacher. I need to learn from what works for me, but also realize that what works for me may not work for everyone. For example, someone in the class may actually prefer the powerpoint method or the whiteboard. Before beginning a class with my students I will have to make sure that I understand the needs of everyone to have an equal balance of learning. I can achieve this by surveying the students on their preferred method of being taught, creating a better learning environment.

My first blog post

Blogging is a concept that I am familiar with, although the reflection part of the blogging is more up my alley. During my undergraduate years I minored in leadership, which involved a ridiculous amount of critical reflection and inner searching. Reflection is messy, doesn't make sense a lot of the time, and is a great way to really understand what you are feeling (not just thinking). Due to the chaotic nature of reflection, my blog will have grammatical errors and may not have a "flow" like an essay would, but I think we can all get over that.

The "What":

1. I am taking EDHI9040, which is a course about technology in the classroom. It is taught by Sherry Clouser and so far this is my first assignment.
2. I also took the teaching inventory and I found out my dominant  teaching perspective was nurturing. I read the article associated with this inventory and found out it may not be a good thing to have a "dominant" perspective but a little from each category.

The "So What":

1. I want to take this class to improve myself as a teacher. I can barely make a powerpoint in an efficient time span, so certainly this class will be beneficial to me. There are too many instances in my career as a student that I remember professors being total failures with their technology attempts. It was to the point where it was almost hindering instead of enhancing. I want to avoid these failures (but not fear them) by taking this class so I can use technology in a beneficial matter, especially since I will be teaching to a new generation of students who's lives are run by technological products. 
2. After reading about nurturing, I am not the least bit surprised this was my dominant perspective. As a student myself, I can think of many times where I did not answer a question in fear of answering the question wrong. As a teacher I try to create an environment where failure is not feared, but fostered. Failure is an everyday occurrence and fearing it will make your life a living hell. I want students to know that there is no way you can know everything and that's okay. I also want them to know that if their neighbor knows the answer and they dont, that's okay too! Who cares if your neighbor thinks you are stupid for not knowing the answer, your learning should come first, not your social acceptance. I also (as stated in class on my name card) enjoy building relationships and a nurturing perspective encompasses this as a strategy to build trust to understand emotional and intellectual needs. To me a student is a person, not just an ID number. 

The "Now What":

1. I will continue to grow and learn in this class and will try to understand the different technologies available to me. I will approach each form of technology with a critical eye to determine if it is the correct technology to teach the subject material.
2. I will continue my nurturing perspective, but perhaps I should also work on my other perspectives to be good well-rounded teacher. Hopefully this will be good for me and my students by creating a challenging but intriguing teaching strategy.