Comments on: More weathuh, less class time

By: Debbie Brown

Debbie Brown — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 02:35:30 +0000

I just shift it all online. I haven’t had to change my syllabus a bit – thanks to the folks in IT!

By: Liz D'Amico

Liz D'Amico — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:14:28 +0000

As much as possible, I have tried to update students after cancellations and make additional reading/writing assignments via email. I know this sounds a bit “old fashioned,” but the only way I have used Blackboard so far is for reserved reading assignments (particularly for FYS). The other classes that I teach are studio classes; pretty unrealistic to do hands on projects via the web!

By: Bryon Middlekauff

Bryon Middlekauff — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:46:47 +0000

I have asked a few colleagues about this and they don’t really know what to make of the situation either. I thought that a discussion at a Faculty meeting might be in order.
Cheers,
Bryon Middlekauff

By: Angie Ricciardi

Angie Ricciardi — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:29:56 +0000

Since I started at PSU in 2001 (then PSC), Blackboard and WebCT have saved my curriculum time and time again. Snow days, migraines, funerals, flat tires, and having a baby no longer pose such a threat to my courses. I can post my lecture notes, upload a quiz, facilitate a discussion, moderate a chat, or transfer an assignment to my online course component.

Barring a blackout or a hostile take-over, I can think of no circumstance under which we can’t offer our students a valuable learning experience when classes are canceled. The key is to being familiar with what Blackboard has to offer before the snow falls.

By: Holly Oliver

Holly Oliver — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:41:39 +0000

I have supplemented the course content with additional readings and a great deal more required threaded discussions on BlackBoard! These additional electronic discussions have resulted in more thoughtful submissions and included those students who are reluctant to contribute in a live classroom discussion. The lost seat time has also forced me to be more creative and efficient with the time we do have together.

Thanks for the chance to share!
Holly O.

By: Bob Egbert

Bob Egbert — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:35:06 +0000

Hello,
I write to provoke. I’m irritated that every time we get a little weather that we cheat our students out of what they are entitled to. If not everyone can get here because of weather, it hardly follows that the vast majority should be locked out of class. Today, I cannot understand the cancellation. I drove around all morning and then came forty minutes to Plymouth with no problem at all. We work very hard to teach responsibility to students, to encourage them to attend class, to complete assignments, to meet deadlines, and then the institution makes it as difficult as possible.
Bob Egbert

By: Karolyn

Karolyn — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:06:25 +0000

Thanks for posting this important topic. I do tell students at the start of the semester to check their email and Blackboard if class is cancelled due to weather. However, I am often disappointed with the outcome of such a “plan.” At our next class meeting, many students tell me that either Blackboard or Myplymouth “were down,” or that they didn’t get the email from me in time to do the assignment, etc., which is frustrating for me to hear. (There is also a decent number of students who actually *do* the assignment). I have even started posting messages to students on Facebook because I want to eliminate legit and illegit excuses for not getting work done when class doesn’t meet. So, I do have a plan in place, but I need to find a way to feel empowered to enforce completion of the assignments that I develop in lieu of class meeting. I have found that relying on technology simply produces more excuses rather than more productivity.

By: Sabrena Lary

Sabrena Lary — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:05:44 +0000

I have been fortunate to only teach a one credit lab, which meets at 11am on Thursdays. I have missed all of the weather related delays and cancellations (knock on wood!). It seems as though most of the delays have happened on a Tuesday or Wednesday… strange.

Unfortunately, my class being a lab is almost completely hands-on. The students must be in class in order to take the class. There is a lecture part to my section. That can be on-line or blended. I wouldn’t know what to do if my class was suspended for an extended amount of time.

Cheers,
Sabrena

By: Rebecca Noel

Rebecca Noel — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:05:32 +0000

After Spring of 2005, when we missed several class days, I started putting a line on my syllabus saying that if classes were cancelled for any reason, students should check Blackboard (then WebCT) for an assignment. I talk this up when I review the syllabus and remind them of it when a storm is coming. This semester I’ve used it to good effect on several occasions. I send an email on plymouth.edu, put a pop-up announcement on Blackboard, and post an assignment. I’ve had about 2/3 compliance, I’d say. I don’t post an assignment in every case, but I always write. Although I’m hardly a techie, I really appreciate the ability to contact and direct my classes remotely. –Becky Noel

By: Art Fried

Art Fried — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:02:07 +0000

I’ve been wondering the same thing, Dwight. My classes (both literature) are in the afternoon, so I haven’t lost as much class time as some of my colleagues. When my classes were canceled, I sent an email to all students notifying them that I had posted a discussion question in Blackboard with a deadline a couple of hours prior to next class. I try to come up with a question that will test their knowledge and understanding of the day’s assignment. When appropriate, I might also use the Learning Module section of Blackboard to post some additional content.

In the case of an avian flu epidemic or some other disaster, I would transfer as much course content as I possibly could to Blackboard. If it happened once the semester got underway it would be a difficult task, but that is the best alternative I can see for my classes.