Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference
Teaching, Learning, & Technology
The Connected Classroom
April 7-9, 2002
Developing an Automotive Math Course for Blackboard 5: My Experiences
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By: Michael Longrich |
Abstract
Want to develop an online course? Find out what one person experienced while going through the process at a community college. Pedagogical issues arising from the conversion of this traditional course to the web will be discussed. The good, bad and ugly topics of developer remuneration, developer time, and bureaucratic foibles involved in getting a project like this initiated may help you decide if you want to take the plunge.
Description
Beginning in the fall of 2001, a new course, AUTO 1050 - Numerical Applications in Automotive Service, was offered in our automotive technology curriculum here at Cuyahoga Community College in Parma, Ohio. After teaching this course for about half of one semester in a traditional classroom setting, I came to realize this is a course that could be offered on-line to auto students. Although I had not examined exactly how to do this, or looked at the methods that could be employed to do this online, I felt that it could be a service to students who would like to work from home or at a distant site.
Being in an Instructional Technology certificate program at Kent State University, (developed in collaboration with Cuyahoga Community College), I was aware of our college's use of Blackboard 5 for some of our courses. I began to investigate how I could put this course together, and after going through a little bit of legwork, I received an administrative okay to develop this course.
The process and work involved in putting this together is all new to me. I am definitely venturing into new ground. I knew I was going to learn much from this experience! Being a believer in social learning principles, I thought a presentation at a conference about my experiences with developing this web course could be valuable for others. Being I had attended this conference for the last two years, I thought this could be a place where I could contribute.
My focus is going to be on the teaching challenges found moving from a traditional classroom to online learning. Considerations made in the selection of materials and assessment devices will provide information to faculty. I also am working within a community college bureaucracy. My experiences could provide information to administrators in making things easier for instructors interested in developing web courses. Workload issues of time and money will also be examined. I hope to explore the good, the bad, and ugly of this entire process. It is important to note I will not be discussing the mechanics or usability of Blackboard. This will not be a technical session.
This web course on Blackboard 5 is planned for the fall of 2002, with a possible section being offered in the summer of 2001.