TAing to Thousands, February 24th
What is it like to serve as a teaching assistant in a course with thousands of students? A panel of graduate students will share their experiences serving as teaching staff in Vanderbilt’s massive open online courses (MOOCs) hosted on Coursera. Panelists include Ruth Herrin (Student Thinking at the Core), Don Rodriquez and Blaine Smith (Online Games: Literature, New Media, and Narrative), and Ben Shapiro (Leading Strategic Innovation in Organizations).
- Panelists will describe their activities in several of Vanderbilt’s MOOCs, including course prep (both technical and instructional design), on-camera experiences, moderating discussion forums, and participating in live virtual office hours.
- Panelists will share their assessments of the quality of the learning and teaching experience, and very particularly, what they learned from the experience about teaching, culture, communication, and technology.
- Panelists may also discuss research on MOOCs (educational data mining, cultural accommodation, etc.) and the potential for MOOCs to enhance on-campus educational experiences.
The purpose of the panel is to introduce Vanderbilt community members, particularly graduate students, to MOOCs (whether they are a short-lived fad or part of a long-lived paradigm shift) through the eyes of those in the next generation of teaching, research, social activism, and entrepreneurship. There will be plenty of time for Q&A and other open discussion after initial presentations by the panelists.
TAing to Thousands
Monday, February 24th
12:00 to 1:30 p.m.
Central Library Community Room
This panel is co-sponsored by Vanderbilt’s Center for Teaching, Graduate School, Jean and Alexander Heard Library, and the Vanderbilt Institute for Digital Learning.
Follow the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #Teachto1000s.