One of the concepts that I push for distance educators is personal disclosure so students get to know instructors at a different level. So here goes...
First, I love to teach. I have a lot of experience with F2F instruction and I really enjoy it. I love the smell of chalk dust and still relish a chalk mark on my pants. I still know how to splice a 16mm film with tape and thread the projector in less than 5 minutes. I still know how to take attendance while starting a class with some sponge activity to maximize time.
I am discovering, however, that distance education allows me additional opportunities to connect and make connection with and for students. I am not restricted by posted office hours or brief bits of time after class. I have time to formulate my response to the student and to emphasize points for consideration. It gives me another way to help students think differently about a topic.
I am discovering that I spend more and more time thinking about how to make a topic meaningful and then how to deliver that via distance. I still have much to learn but I will always be a teacher at heart. Distance education allows me to think about different ways to teach and communicate.
Teaching, to me, is about making meaning. As online tools emerge, I want to use them to help students make meaning.
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