Session 3
I work on campus and I really enjoy learning about all the technology that is available to me. In using Talk shoe to listen to Dr. Jim Monaghan and hear Dr Newberry talk and see all the questions that were being asked, I was almost at sensor overload. I did settle in and learned quite a bit about campus and the support that the campus offers.
Blackboard is one of the main tools that the campus supports. Dr. Monaghan talked about a lot of features that Blackboard has available to professors. I have not use even half of the tools available to campus while using blackboard. I wish as a student that professors would use blackboard more. It really helps a student to use one particular tool and maybe the professors would use different tools than another one, so growth will still happen. I find it difficult when each professor have different web page they use for us to post our work, more passwords for us to learn and keep straight. This is even more challenging when I am learning a difficult topic and on top of that a different on-line system.
There was some talk about on-line learning and the drop out rate of classes with on-line vs. physically attending classes. On-line learning appears to be easier to drop out of than attending a class. Dr Newberry talked about the fact that if you are old school you want to go on line at the schedule time to finish your work. They were also talking about the flexibility of e learning. I am off work right now and doing homework, I prefer the flexibility of being able to do my homework whenever I can fit it in my busy schedule. Dr Monaghan brought up the cost of e learning, I thought it would be very cheap but he stated it is more expensive and not the moneymaker that Universities thought it would be.
In retrospect as an 18-year-old freshman, attending school may be the way for success. In the same tone a mother that is staying at home with daycare issues maybe more successful with on line classes, I would also assume any adult that wants to come back to school would benefit with on line.
One of the items that surprised me was the job opportunity…Dr. Monaghan stated there were a lot of opportunities for technology-based majors. I was under the impression that with staff being better skilled there was less need for tech personal. I was please that jobs are out there in this field.
I agree that most people don't understand the full capabilities of Blackboard, but using it is helpful for students faced with new content and little time to practice a new technology. As for "staff being better skilled" I don't know. At the community college I work at, there was recently an email sent out telling the English department that everyone needs to know how to make an email attachment. My jaw dropped. People don't know how to do this stuff? And they have work? Apparently yes, so technical support is still a big deal. Also, students aren't always as savvy as some would make them out to be. Many of my 18-22 year-olds still have difficulty with email and Blackboard, whereas more mature students don't have these problems. It amazes me.
ReplyDeleteHi Alice, I totally konw what you mean about being on sensory overload - I had that for a while too. And you're right - it is encouraging to know that there are a lot of opportunities for tech-based majors. Makes me feel better about taking all these classes. :)
ReplyDeleteI was interested in your comments about the struggle to learn difficult content and at the same time use a new technology interface to get to the content. You make a good argument for the consistent use of an LMS and the use of more features in the LMS over time. College is full of unintended learning and the effective use of technology should be part of that but it does require university support to make it work. I have also had younger students who struggle with basic tasks. We don't want to forget that not everyone owns a computer or has an Internet connection at home. Even with an on-line course some students will have to come to campus and sit in a computer lab to take the on-line course.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your perspectives on this topic. The job opportunities are there in the field, even in these economic times.
ReplyDeleteHi Alice,
ReplyDeleteOf course there are job opportunities in the field! True, faculty and staff are more savvy nowadays when it comes to technology, but it is for a reason. Most professors don't learn these CMS systems on their own. Thanks to campus support teams, they keep us current with the features and capabilities of these applications as they evolve.