Some Reflections on Teaching and
Learning Online
by Dr. W. Wayne Weston
Teaching and learning online is a new experience for teachers and students alike in the new format of the Graduate Studies Program. We have been challenged to develop new skills in the use of technology and, more important, in communicating our thoughts and feelings with each other on the Internet in a scholarly manner befitting a graduate level course. Students have independently estimated their time commitment to be approximately 12 hours a week for the first two courses, in addition to the solid 10 day onsite block at the start of the courses. Also not included is the time involved in completing projects. Each week, one of the students was responsible to facilitate the discussion of the topic and focussing on a set of assigned readings. They were responsible for writing a precis of the readings, developing key topics and questions to focus the discussion for each week and, finally writing a summary of the discussion. All of the students were responsible for logging onto the Caucus site at least twice a week and posting their reactions to the readings, their responses to the key questions and their responses to each other as in any small group discussion. Several students commented on how much like a small group discussion it was, as expressed by one of them:
"It's amazing, but the online discussions really do feel like "being there'."
Often, students logged on more often than required and obviously enjoyed the intellectual and personal interaction. This is captured by the comments of one student:
"As soon as I come into work in the morning I'm finding I want to log on and see what people have said since last time. I even thought I'd put your photos on the computer to remember who I'm talking to."
The teachers spent at least ten hours a week each in reviewing the readings and interacting with the students online. Although the students were responsible, in rotation, for facilitating the discussions, the teachers were responsible for assuring that the comments were accurate and that the students were delving deeply into the subject matter. This required the teachers to use traditional small group teaching strategies such as:
In addition the teachers spent at least 80 - 100 hours each, revising their courses and six half-days each teaching the first six sessions in a traditional small group seminar format during the onsite block. Thus, the total time commitment for each teacher was between 396 - 416 hours.
Some Statistics (for the Teaching and Learning Course as of April 22, 1998):
Total number of responses for the Teaching and Learning Course: 745
Total number of responses by the teacher: 279
Total number of responses by the students: 466
Average number of responses per student: 117
Average number of responses per session: 24
Average number of responses per student per session: 4
Total length of responses (pages): 297
Average length of responses per session (pages): 12
