Using VoiceThread was an eye opener for me and I immediately knew exactly how I wanted to use it in my course. I had been searching (half-heartedly) for this exact tool. Excited to put it to good use, and steer clear of drawn out class lectures.
A topic that grabbed my attention was "building relevance in your course", which I believe was part of the Building Community blog post. That's always been a big area of emphasis for me when I set out to teach a course. I don't think I've always hit the mark on it. The reiteration of making the course relevant outside the classroom, increases the odds that the material will be remembered. The bullet points for success were helpful in brainstorming through the setup of my fall courses weekly schedule.
I wrestle a bit with the idea of the "engagement of the student" and how to do that well. Personally I want to connect with them and communicate the material effectively and in the most efficient manner and I make that a conscious focus. My struggle is often with the idea of catering too much to the student to try and get them interested in the material (or pass the course). At what point is it their responsibility to get on board with what you are doing? I haven't run into this at Dordt so much but have had students at other institutions that were flat out not interested in the subject but were there to fulfill a credit. It's more difficult to reach a student with motives like that, at what point do you move on? Not sure there is a clear cut answer, just musing. I welcome any thoughts on the matter.
Adam,
ReplyDeleteThere were a few elements in your blog that hit home with me. VoiceThread is indeed a cool tool to include in class materials, although I must confess that I haven't tried out every single use of it yet. That's on my list of things to do after BOLT 101 "graduation".
Student relevance is also an issue I struggle with. In my case, students often ask me why Dordt has a graduation requirement for foreign language (2 years in high school or two semesters at Dordt). They don't see the immediate relevance of learning French or Spanish if all the people they (want to) interact with speak English. And that's a struggle for many whose high schools did not really push them to take in some foreign language learning. However, I always give them examples of people I know who came into my classes with the same attitude but who now, because of the Lord's leading in their lives, serve communities whose first language is not English, sometimes even overseas.
Thanks Leendert I appreciate the feedback and real life application!
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