I am excited. For once, everything is coming together, instead of apart, for a class. I was asked to provide on-line tutoring for a College Algebra course this Fall. I have tutored for years at the college but this will be the first time that I am performing this duty on-line.
So, the excitement is because I enrolled in the Virtual Learning class before I was asked to build the on-line tutoring course. How wonderful to actually be able to build something that I can use in the "real world."
I have lots of ideas. I don't which of the ideas are doable. Some of the ideas will probably die because of the lack of time to complete them. These ideas include providing Khan Academy links or You-Tube links for different concepts. Another idea is practice tests.
I would like the course to be built so that the students could work with each other. This set-up is based on the way that the tutoring center works at our college. We have tables that seat two to four students. Students naturally gather together according course. The students help each other and then come to the tutor when the need arises. This does not mean that the tutor has "downtime." Rather the students help each other because the tutor is busy. The tutor can work with between ten to twelve students at one time using this technique.
The class would be held at the same time each week. I also plan to provide help outside this time for students who require it.
What environment would you use to set up students together at the "tables"? Would you have them sit together synchronously, via something like Google Hangout / Skype, or asynchronously through something like a email list, or Moodle, etc.? The former seems more engaging and motivating to me, the latter has the advantage of much easier recording, archiving, parsing, etc.
ReplyDeleteI know nothing about environments. I know that I want the students to sit together synchronously. That way I am available to answer questions. I think that I will also set up a blog or email list so that students I contact each other outside the scheduled time.
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