Hi everyone in the faculty lounge -

I just wanted to share my first experience last night for teaching on webex. It was fun! I had 3 students. At first, it's a little awkward, i fumbled a minute or two. I was pretty organized, but it's different when people aren't phsycially right in front of you. Then i realized, they were in the same boat, and they were proabably thinking the same thing! Everyone in my class was wonderful. It was a pleasure to meet people from all over. I was the only one from east of the Mississippi! Which brings to light, the fact that there is a pretty big weaving population that really can't make my 10 am classes! So I will try to splatter the hours.

To prepare for the class, I had written instructions for the proceess and created a PDF which i emailed the day of the class, asking them to print it out prior to class. That was pretty helpful for me. I think it would have been harder not to have the document. We refered to it and followed it. It also gave them something to do, while we waited for everyone to catch up.

I was teaching warping with a paddle and it was at times hard to demonstrate and move my computer to have the viewer best see my activity, but they were patient.

What was a little unsettling at first, was that one student was a tad slower than the other 2. It's easy to get tangled in this subject matter! I wasn't sure how long to sit in the quiet while we waited for her to catch up... After a point, I told her to concentrate on her matter and that I would go over it with her at the end of the class, need be. She finally caught up and I didn't need to. I guess that's the nature of any class situation, but somehow, online a minute of waiting felt like twenty!

We had one minor tech glitch, and that was everyone started to echo. It was about 1 hour into the class. I had them turn off their microphones for about 3 minutes, while I kept mine on, and I simply lectured. Then I had them turn their microphones back on and we ran the rest of the class with no echos.

Other than a few things like that, it was a wonderful experience. It was a first for all of us and I think everyone was pleased. At least I can hope!

Looking forward to hearing from others that have any insightful information to help us along this Big Brother experience!

Mary

Comments

Fri, 10/22/2010 - 16:18

Joanne Hall

Thanks Mary for your comments.  It will be helpful to the rest of us who are planning to do this. I may contact you before I do it.

Joanne

Sun, 01/16/2011 - 02:39

Lillian Whipple (not verified)

This morning I taught or lead my second Webex class. I'm more comfortable with the format. I have two students, and I don't believe they knew each other before, though I'd met both of them. We've done a lot of sharing, as I have tried not to overload the content with each class. The idea is that my students will weave the samples between classes. However, one student has been almost bed ridden. She was able to do virtual weaving and understood the structure. I was also able to turn over the desk top control to each student when she wanted to share something on her lap top or in front of her computer. This format seems to be working for us.