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| Photo:Rosie Miles |
Here she explains how.
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| Photo: The Guardian |
I am senior lecturer in English at the University of Wolverhampton and have been an advocate for the past few years of teaching using blended learning - integrating online learning activities alongside face-to-face teaching.
Two of my courses on Victorian literature feature a number of assessed online discussion forum activities. They get 100% participation - much of it enthusiastic.
Online learning spaces are neutral - just like a 'real' classroom is. It's what you do in them that matters. I use face-to-face classes as a spur to take our study of any given topic further online, thus extending it into areas of reflection and research not possible within the constraints of a seminar discussion.
I've only recently joined Twitter, but before I had a Twitter account I tried teaching with the spirit of Twitter. Students on my Fin de Siècle (late nineteenth century) course all had to choose a Twitter name for one of the characters in the texts we'd studied thus far and then 'tweet' in character. So Dr Jekyll (@Doubleface), Dracula (@likeabatoutofhell), Dorian Gray (@PrettyBoy), Basil Hallward (@ClosetCase), Mina Harker (@SecretarialVamp), numerous liberated New Women (@MsDisillusion @RichBitch @ModernMuse or @TravellingTotty) and, my particular favourite, Lady Narborough (@PartyStarter) all logged on to my Fin de Siècle Twitter session. I should emphasise that we did this within a Virtual Leaning Environment (VLE) discussion forum and not on Twitter, but just like on Twitter they could only 'tweet' up to 140 characters in any message.
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About Rosie Miles
Rosie Miles is a senior lecturer in English at the University of Wolverhampton and was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2011. She blogs at www.msementor.co.uk and tweets as @MsEmentor
Source: The Guardian (blog)
