Fall Quarter 2008

[Eric Waterkotte]

As an instructional designer at Peninsula College I would like to share my thoughts about Fall Quarter 2008 as a part of the BTC NING Challange. First, let me explain myself. I didn't actually teach a class this quarter although I did assist with an Economics course by running the online side of the class for an instructor who didn't have time or the experience to build a Blackboard course in the ridiculously short amount of time he had between being hired and the start of the quarter. I did allot of instruction in terms of training and presenting to facutly, admin and staff as a part of my job so perhaps this lends to a unique perspective of the quarter. I will break my thoughts down into the three major areas of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly as suggested by the awesome movie graphic on this site.

The Good

All of the new tools which became available either in pilot form or better during the fall quarter. Here at Peninsula College those tools are ANGEL, Elluminate and our internal use of Microsoft Office SharePoint 2007. So these are some new tools but what has been good about it all is that saw lots of folks asking good questions before diving in and when they did dive in they had a goal, a purpose and a plan for how they would evaluate the tool and its support of the goal.

Second, I found that through the Elluminate tool people have started connecting and sharing some great ideas, tools, and techniques across the state. This is largely due to BTCs efforts via the Show and Tell sessions. I have learned so many things from the sessions and have met some great people.

Finally, saw some instructors who weren't very energized by creative uses of technology to enhance instruction start to open up and dip their feet in the pool of Web 2.0 tools with the specific goal of improving their effectiveness as instructors.

The Bad

Instruction which uses all available technology as more of a smoke screen to hide the fact that the curriculum is not engaging, needs to be reworked and that no amount of technology can magically make things more interesting. When are we going to learn that until we look in the mirror, put on our "student" hats and empathize with the people filling the seats in our classes (online, hybrid, enhanced or F2F) the technology will simply distract from the task which should always be the first priority, improving, evolving and being excited about what we teach.

The Ugly

The economy... plain and simple. While the economic downturn drives more students to our institutions, slow economic times also mean we have less resources to go around to serve the surge in enrollment.

In Conclusion

As a lifelong learner I have learned a great deal this quarter and have seem so many great things despite the hectic pace and monumental workload that I am truly inspired for winter quarter. What will we learn next? What new creative ideas will be shared at the next Show and Tell or better yet, what new venues will emerge for sharing even more best practices and ideas. Stay tuned and hang on!