Linking Rheumatoid Arthritis to Gut Bacteria

There is a new article on Science Now published on November 4, 2013 about Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Gut Bacteria May Cause Rheumatoid Arthritis | Science/AAAS | News

Building Rapport with Students

This week, I learned about ways to build rapport with students online.
Frankly, I never realized how important it is to add a personal touch to the online course, until I read this week's articles and watched the webnars.  I tend to shy away from sharing personal information on line, and I would have never imagined to shoot an introduction video by my pool with my pet on my lap.  So, looks like I need to change my expectations slightly.  I liked the Prezi made by Heather Farmakis.  This presentation made me want to start using Prezi as a teaching tool.

So, here's the summary of what I learned about building rapport with students.

• Before the course begins, create and share a short presentation about your course and who you are
• During the 1st week, create activities to get to know each student, such as introductory survey and pretest.  
• I suppose this is similar to an index card I used to have my students fill out on the 1st day of class.  In face-to-face class, I have my students write their course expectations, what they already know about the subject, etc on an index card.  I used this information during my course to address any question they may have during specific topic or try to tailer my lecture to some of the students interest.  
• Blogging is a good tool for building global collaboration, and show case students' work.  Students will perform better for authentic audience.  Blogging can be used for introductory activity or classroom projects.
• 5 factors for building rapport
1. Respect for each other and to the institution.
• Perhaps at the beginning of the course, have an honor code/ code of conduct posted and clearly stated about what the expectations are on posting comments.
2. Approachability.
• Every students have their preferred method of communication and the instructor should be able to accommodate that.  
• Be flexible.
• Instructor should log into the class at least once a day and respond to the students request within 12 hours (24 hours at least!)
• Hold an office hour at least once a week for a few hours.  This is where the instructor is logged on and able to respond to the questions.
• These information should be clearly stated and informed to the students.
• Weekly (3 times a week) email updates from TOMOOC course has been great.
• Define parameters and let them know.  Students do not expect you to be available 24/7, unless you give them that impression.
3. Open communication. Honesty.
• Be true to your words
• Again, be true to your stated expectation
4. Caring
• If faculty cares about students, students will do better in class.
• Refer to students by their name in discussions.
• Make personal connections with students, especially those with extenuating circumstances, missing classes etc.
• Let the students know that you believe they are capable of doing the work and you are available for help. 
• Send encouraging or job well done emails, or just include a note at the beginning or end of an email.
• Give feedback, individually or as a group
• Have listening ears to student feedback and let them know you welcome them
5. Positive attitude
• Give positive enforcement to students
• Be open to student comments
• Make the course friendly- use of animation, emoticons, humor etc.

Classroom Critical Incident Questionnaire

I saw this post on the course website and I really liked the idea of using this questions as an assessment tool for student learning and teaching feedback.

Week 1 Sept 12 Here is the Critical…

It's basically a list of question to students asking for anonymous feedback on the class.
Questions ask students to identify most engaging, distanced, helpful, confusing, and surprising moments in the class for the week.
I liked that the answers are anonymous and that the collected answers will be shared to the group.

Just started the class

Today, I started taking the How to Teach Online course.  A bit of catching up to do since the actual course started on Monday.  I've done a little bit of Blackboard and blogging, but I can already tell that this class will hold a lot of new experience for me and I am very excited, as well as a bit nervous.

So, here's my Aloha Discussion.

I'm here because I would like to be an online teacher someday.  I currently teach part time in traditional classrooms and I love it.  But recently I have taken several MOOCs and it really opened up my eyes to what these courses can do.  I teach Biology, so I am especially interested in finding out how to get the hands-on component of science classes (such as lab experiments etc)  online.  I am hoping that I can use this class to build my online tools for my future classes, and that will motivate me to keep participating in the class.    For a beginner, it's so overwhelming to face all these new technology, but it was encouraging to hear Greg say "Pick and Choose".  Look forward to do my best to be a part of the online community and to see what others have to offer!

Testing for the Tomooc Class

Registering for the how to teach online class thru leeward!