College Courses in Cyberspace
By Thomas E. Cyrs, Professor Emeritus, New
Mexico State University
College courses cannot simply be transported from a
traditional setting into cyberspace. Teaching at a distance, in real or delayed
time, requires instructors to develop communication and organization skills not
generally practiced in the traditional classroom.
Distance learning has become a permanent fixture on the educational
landscape. But this technology has been adopted at many institutions for the
wrong reasons. Buy the technology, our colleges and universities are warned, to
stay competitive! Keep up or lose out!
This rush to technology has resulted in multi-million-dollar expenditures
for the latest computer hardware.
But, in the process, effective communication and learning practices have
too often been left behind.
In many cases, the technology may be new, but the pedagogy remains the same.
The uninspiring "talking head" in the lecture hall simply becomes the
uninspiring "talking head" digitized.
Teaching effectively with video, audio, and computer, in real or delayed
time, at a distance, clearly requires new communication and planning skills.
Unfortunately, the Achilles' Heel of distance learning today is the lack of
training, planning time, and support for instructors.
Courses transported to a distance learning environment without
reconfiguration will not survive in a student-driven consumer market. To
succeed, we need to rethink our teaching.
Meet Thomas E. Cyrs
Tom Cyrs is professor emeritus at New Mexico State University.
He is also the president of his own consulting firm, Educational Development
Associates, specializing in training instructors on how to convert existing
courses and design new courses with all of the delivery technologies for
distance learning. Cyrs conducts intensive two-day workshops in teaching and
training at a distance, using emerging technologies, for academic, corporate,
and government groups.
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