Carnegie Grant, Fall 2005

Weeks One and Two

I spent several hours fine-tuning some features of Denise’s and Angela’s English 189 websites. I edited their syllabus, grammar page, quiz page, and student essays page. The emendations were to update content from my original website to make it compatible with their materials. As much as possible, I included the instructors in this process, especially when a particular (technological) task was useful for them to learn immediately; with less useful tasks, I spared them an “overload” of data and did the work myself. Denise and Angela are both exceptionally quick learners of this technology, so I usually ask them which tasks they would like to learn and which they would like to defer. I offer suggestions and rationale for learning certain tasks at a particular time. During these first two weeks of the semester, I encouraged them both to master a tripartite sequence as quickly as possible: calendar, quizzes, and gradebook. With these three features, the instructors can post daily, detailed homework assignments, open or close the corresponding quizzes, and reveal these quiz scores in the gradebook so that students can view them in My Progress.

I also made corrections to quizzes or PPT presentations that contained errors. When a student or an instructor notified me of such an error, I made corrections to all the websites which contained the material. I also updated and loaded onto the college server any revised PPT presentations sent to me by Angela and Denise. I also assisted with facilities issues, helping the instructors with classroom and computer access, etc.

I met with each instructor one hour before her class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. (This will be standard procedure for the entire semester.) During these sessions, I reviewed the content of PPT presentations with the instructors and helped them modify individual slides. We reviewed the corresponding quizzes that are available on the class website. Finally, I assisted the instructors with practical tasks at the class website, including the calendar, quizzes, and gradebook.

Each instructor has particular goals and challenges for the semester, and each is approaching this opportunity in unique ways. Denise Ezell has been “dabbling” in WebCT for several semesters without committing to a comprehensive revision of her course content. She recognized the significant potential of this material and pedagogy, but did not have sufficient support to realize the transition. She had not been a user of PowerPoint, though she was especially eager to learn this application. In brief, Denise was a prime candidate for this grant opportunity, and in the first two weeks of the semester has demonstrated a profound and indefatigable determination to revise not only her English 189 course but her English 191 course (next level of developmental composition) as well. In addition to her new 189 website, she used the 189 template to fashion a website for her 191 classes. She spent hours uploading, updating, and revising material to prepare these websites for her classes. Before the semester began, she posted homework assignments in the website calendar for the entire semester, made detailed lists of all the electronic quizzes to be given during the entire semester, and began to review and modify the PPT presentations. Her initial ambition and accomplishments are impressive. Since she has decided to implement the technology so immediately and extensively, this is definitely a “full immersion” experience for her in the classroom and in managing course materials and records. She appears buoyant with enthusiasm and reports that she has only felt as if she was “going under” on a few occasions.

Angela Morales comes to this experience with less background in developmental composition and website creation and management. She does have a rudimentary proficiency in PowerPoint, but will be incorporating more dynamic elements in her slideshows for the first time. Like Denise, she demonstrated an immediate conviction about the powerful potential of the electronic pedagogy and created websites for her two English 120 courses in addition to her website for English 189. Because she has not taught English 189 before, she spent a good deal of time perusing the textbook, the PPT presentations, and the materials on the class website. With equanimity and intelligence, she has taken on the (unenviable) challenge of teaching a new class from a new textbook while integrating a plethora of new electronic materials. She will also encounter for the first time the particular recalcitrance of many English 189 students who resist or refuse homework responsibilities. Given the scope of these challenges, Angela has decided to stick as close as possible to the original PPT presentations, making only modest alterations for the moment. (This intention may change, of course, as she becomes more comfortable with the pedagogical terrain.) I have encouraged her to proceed at a comfortable, exploratory pace. As far as her technology use is concerned, Angela seems very comfortable with the class website and the PPT presentations. I “assisted” her with her class’ WebCT orientation in the computer lab during the first week of class, although she handled the business very competently; there really wasn’t much for me to do.