Presentation about Online teaching

The presentation Dr. Nan gave last week was really comforting. It was good to know that online teaching is being practiced in several US universities for a decade. Knowing that number actually made me feel out of shape because I just experienced online learning last summer. Nevertheless it was great to actually see a professor say "I've been there and done that", rather than just read or hyphothesize about it. And as she said, it is very probable teachers will be required to conduct online classes, so why not getting a good idea of how they work?

I agreed with her about the feeling of throwing the computer through the windows in the first couple of online classes. That was exactly what I wanted to do when I was teaching in summer, I felt my world was my computer and the only people I knew my students. Everything went wrong and of course I didn't have the answers. On top of it, I began with 34 students and ended up with 24, still too many. Dr. Nan also mentioned her classes are successfull because there is a consistent routine or structure in them. That was a great piece of advise I think, but I wonder how to keep it in a language class. I personally like variety, besides learning a language means to work on its four skills, therefore variety is a must.

Finally, I have a comment about the software "Elluminate", I found its purpose valid but its application way difficult and somehow archaic. I'm comparing it to Adobe connect and though I have used the latter software only as a guest, I believe it is a perfect fit to people working with this kind of technology first time ever. I will store "Ellumiate" in the pile of 'things to use only if you are desparate', it's a new list I developed through the experiences I have had in this class, and personal ones as well.