An academic colleague and good friend, Ms. Kiran Budhrani, has always been a topnotch as far excellent presentations will be topic. Her recent slides 21st Century Perspectives of e-Learning - http://www.slideshare.net/kiranb/elearning-21st-century-perspectives-on-teaching-learning-and-technology is now about to hit 60,000 views. Very good work Kiran!
But I think Kiran is not just making exceptionally wonderful presentations. She is trying to get reactions on her ideas. Please allow me to retell the very same comments I gave to Kiran, shared together with her other academic friends last Sep. 2, 2010, 12.39am --
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Congratulations Kiran! Nice work. I like the shift of the TV, the smiling guy looking on the screen & the catchy title.
Here are my thoughts--
If we are talking about informal, social learning as the present direction, why insist of having teachers, anyway, particularly at the HE. No teacher will be able to cope if you talk of media, technology, comm. & web literacy. So let's DECONSTRUCT education! Move away from having a traditional teacher. Better, NO TEACHER, NO CLASSROOM!
Imagine open structures as you described it, not just on the content that the students collect or manipulate. Students in peer groups coaching other peer groups. Peers making a thumbs up (or down) to say 'this is correct for me', 'this is what I need', or 'this is the best answer so far'!
late good night.. early good morning..
tweet..tweet..tweet.. :-)
Sunday, September 05, 2010
The Metaphor of the Course Card Day in the DLSU System
In the De La Salle University in Taft Avenue, Manila, it has been a practice at the end of the term that students meet their class adviser for the course card distribution. While it is an optional attendance for the students, it is necessary for the teacher or professor to be present at that time.
It is an opportunity for the students to get an understanding why she (or he) got a passing or failing grade, why she obtained better markings than her group mates or what were her shortcomings that prevented her to be in the dean's list.
Hence, there are many different kinds of reactions that can be observed during the course card day. Sometimes you hear crying and whining in the toilet. Sometimes you will just hear an outburst of giggle or sudden expression of relief like "Yes! I survived not only Math but Prof.__" The sound of satisfaction is there. I remember a student about to fail, his boyfriend who was also her classmate was trying to save her. He was giving a portion of his grade to save her girlfriend. In another instance, there was also this student asking for extra points. He was a graduating student and it was going to be the first time he will be included in the dean's list (a late bloomer I guess). If I give him the extra points he needed, he will make it to the dean's list, for the first time, on the last term of his stay in the university.
For the teacher or professor, in my opinion, the course card day is more than just making it clear to the students that she was fair and objective in giving the grades. It is also more than being responsible in the assigned schedule of distribution so the attendance checker will not mark her as absent.
The course card day carries a strong metaphor of what it is to be a teacher. It is a metaphor of HOPE. It allows the teacher to tell her students that good grades entail sacrifices, diligence and exerting efforts more than what is expected. It is a metaphor of COMPASSION. Students have different reasons for not being able to exhibit their best or perform well. Some of these reasons are true and some are evidently artificial. A teacher, with close communication with the students permit her to know if a student is being honest or not. And the teacher on this course card day, has also this opportunity to grant compassion to deserving students in various ways. The course card is also a metaphor of WISDOM. Students sometimes see only the list of requirements she has complied to. But the rationale of the teacher why she gave a low score or average score or an excellent score is part of the expertise and judgment of the teacher. The students oftentimes, cannot espouse this. So the teacher has to provide the objective explanation of all of these things. I also call it the wisdom of the guru. It is this wisdom that can appease the heart of a student in fire.
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For the past one and a half year, the tradition of the course card day was removed by the Registrar's office. Thanks to technology, the faculty inputs their grades and the students view them online. The students have a chance to ask about their grade breakdown on a consultation day, the day after they viewed their grades online.
While it is a convenient way perhaps for the university administration to take away a very busy course card day, it meant removing a university tradition.
The course card day is a very exciting day for the students and the faculty. It is the last meeting at the end of the term. It is the 'thank you', the 'good luck', the 'keep it up', 'have a pleasant vacation', or 'see you next term' events. It is a closure of the formal teacher-student encounter but may also be the beginning of a good friendship or acquaintance between the student and the teacher.
Many progressive changes are taking place in the university right now. But for me, it is sad to see we are losing some of the better traditions we have. The course card day is a tradition we lost. If Saint John Baptist de La Salle, patron saint of the teachers, is alive today, what will he say about this?
It is an opportunity for the students to get an understanding why she (or he) got a passing or failing grade, why she obtained better markings than her group mates or what were her shortcomings that prevented her to be in the dean's list.
Hence, there are many different kinds of reactions that can be observed during the course card day. Sometimes you hear crying and whining in the toilet. Sometimes you will just hear an outburst of giggle or sudden expression of relief like "Yes! I survived not only Math but Prof.__" The sound of satisfaction is there. I remember a student about to fail, his boyfriend who was also her classmate was trying to save her. He was giving a portion of his grade to save her girlfriend. In another instance, there was also this student asking for extra points. He was a graduating student and it was going to be the first time he will be included in the dean's list (a late bloomer I guess). If I give him the extra points he needed, he will make it to the dean's list, for the first time, on the last term of his stay in the university.
For the teacher or professor, in my opinion, the course card day is more than just making it clear to the students that she was fair and objective in giving the grades. It is also more than being responsible in the assigned schedule of distribution so the attendance checker will not mark her as absent.
The course card day carries a strong metaphor of what it is to be a teacher. It is a metaphor of HOPE. It allows the teacher to tell her students that good grades entail sacrifices, diligence and exerting efforts more than what is expected. It is a metaphor of COMPASSION. Students have different reasons for not being able to exhibit their best or perform well. Some of these reasons are true and some are evidently artificial. A teacher, with close communication with the students permit her to know if a student is being honest or not. And the teacher on this course card day, has also this opportunity to grant compassion to deserving students in various ways. The course card is also a metaphor of WISDOM. Students sometimes see only the list of requirements she has complied to. But the rationale of the teacher why she gave a low score or average score or an excellent score is part of the expertise and judgment of the teacher. The students oftentimes, cannot espouse this. So the teacher has to provide the objective explanation of all of these things. I also call it the wisdom of the guru. It is this wisdom that can appease the heart of a student in fire.
----------------
For the past one and a half year, the tradition of the course card day was removed by the Registrar's office. Thanks to technology, the faculty inputs their grades and the students view them online. The students have a chance to ask about their grade breakdown on a consultation day, the day after they viewed their grades online.
While it is a convenient way perhaps for the university administration to take away a very busy course card day, it meant removing a university tradition.
The course card day is a very exciting day for the students and the faculty. It is the last meeting at the end of the term. It is the 'thank you', the 'good luck', the 'keep it up', 'have a pleasant vacation', or 'see you next term' events. It is a closure of the formal teacher-student encounter but may also be the beginning of a good friendship or acquaintance between the student and the teacher.
Many progressive changes are taking place in the university right now. But for me, it is sad to see we are losing some of the better traditions we have. The course card day is a tradition we lost. If Saint John Baptist de La Salle, patron saint of the teachers, is alive today, what will he say about this?
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