Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24that somebody on the other end knows how to use technology be- cause I don’t know how to do that. I can do it on a somewhat [novice] level … Google docs and things like that.” But that’s where her technical expertise ends, she said. “When I first started I was such a pest to Melissa [Johnson, eLearn- ing instructional design lead at SMP], who helped me make sense of some of the methodol- ogy, and to Janet Zafft [custom- er care] for the technology.” RIDING THE LEARNING CURVE “We are working with digital natives and that’s their mode of, their way of relating to the world—so they always have a phone, they always have a lap- top, they always are doing. Both for good and for bad,” notes Claussen. “[One student] was saying [about the digital course], ‘I like the fact that we don’t have a textbook because sometimes we just read and it’s just words.’” Claussen continued: “I think anything that engages them and allows them to converse with each other, when I can just let them go and find a partner or be in a group or have an assessment that they can just take off and run with, they seem to like those the best.” Claussen again emphasizes that the teacher’s role remains criti- cal. “I always find courses like the Sacraments course I used to teach a bit more challenging. How do you discuss the effects of Confirmation? But that’s what the e-course has helped us to do, to help us be more conversational. In the same module they learned about grace and sacramental principle and again [there were] lots of words. And I wasn’t con- vinced they were making connec- tions so I came up with my own activity where they had a group quiz and they had to mind-map the whole thing and then every- body in the group had to be able to speak to that. So again, it calls on creativity on my part when I feel like eeeee, they’re not quite getting it. Anything they can do in groups and without me, they like. “So teaching is still a challenge. And so much depends on the chemistry of the class. But as far as textbooks vs. the e-course I [prefer] the e-course because of the activities that everybody can see at the same time, they all see it on the projector or they can have it right there in front of them. It’s easier to join in conversation if you have a particular thing you’re going to talk about.” // DISCOVER converse. deepen. enliven. EXPLORE OUR ELEARNING COURSES WITH A FREE TRIAL. · Understanding Catholicism · · Creating Justice · Understanding Racism · · Called to Mercy · SMP.ORG/ELEARNING 12 // SMP.ORG/ELEARNING // SPARK