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wd13 11/30/2009 14:42:06

General Session - Conference Presentation Only (no formal paper)

// Vincent Linares, Maui Community College, Kahului, HI, USA, linares@hawaii.edu // I have been involved with distance education since 1977 when I would fly weekly from Maui to Molokai and Lanai to teach an English class.That harrowing flying experience in a 6-8 passenger plane gradually brought me to where I am today--32 years later--still flying by the seat of my pants--teaching 2-3 online classes per term to students in Hawaii and on the mainland. I have also taught on cable and interactive TV, through hybrid classes, and via packaged video courses. During the past ten years, I have successfully taught Internet classes to Maui students, and to students from other islands, the US mainland, Scotland, and Italy. For years, I was supported by a large cadre of expensive IT technicians, camera people, and producers, while today, I am almost completely self-sufficient, armed only with my laptop, digital camera, iPhone, and video camera. Today, I regularly use audio and video streams and Podcasts for all of my classes, and for the past two years, I have used Skype for live lectures and student conferences. Students in my classes interact individually and in groups with Skype, and use Mp3 files to provide lessons with poetry and essay readings. We interact 24/7 ! My online classes have become far more active, lively, and interactive than any of my traditional campus courses, which all use the Internet for assignment posting and peer-teacher interaction.
 * The Thrill Continues **

My presentation is an overview of where my students and I have been and where I believe I would be going if not for my retirement next year. Therefore, the presentation is both a profile of both me---the long-time distance educator, the hands-on witness to the technological marvels of the past 35 years--and of the technology. It is a confession of a DE teacher, the rantings of a man about to retire, and a totally subjective overview of how I believe the journey I have taken with my institution and students has significantly altered education and the educator. My journey mirrors both the advances and retreats in current post-secondary American education and suggests what amazing technical marvels will continue to unfold for the open-minded educator. I believe the pedagogical, ethical, social-cultural mores underlying the educational reasons for my journey, and the outcomes for students and myself, will not shift radically over time, irrespective of the delivery because "best practices” for teaching-leaning are timeless. This presentation is a way to look at current trends/practices and then question their effectiveness through a dialog with the participants.

Novice, Intermediate, All Audiences Expertise, history, pedagogy, Best practices