 |
 |
 |
 |
2004 RecipientSharmistha Self, Economics Department I used WebCT as a pedagogical tool in my development course, ECON 362 in fall of ‘03. It arose as an experiment in connection with my co-authorship of a textbook in this subject. My co-authors are faculty members at Southern Illinois University and Central Michigan University. Each of us was scheduled to teach a course in economic development in fall of 2003 and we had decided to teach from our common manuscript. As an experiment we decided to connect our three different campuses and see how IT would facilitate student learning through web-based student discussions. Students were informed that their WebCT discussions would be related to (though not limited to) the material covered in class, but the discussions would be conducted in the evenings. These WebCT discussions were intended to serve as an avenue for students to express their opinions freely and not feel constrained by faces, time or walls. For the CSB/SJU students, the WebCT discussions with students from much more diverse and international campuses allowed them to hear first-hand the opinion/s of students who belonged to some of the countries they were learning about. This, in my opinion, was a better lesson than what could be learned from any textbook/classroom. I suspect the “absence” of teachers gave students a sense of freedom, a lack of being bound to any particular structure, but responsibility to achieve the intended purpose of the discussion. In my opinion this was a unique learning experience for the students as well as for me. The students took this opportunity to expand their global perspective of economic development while providing me with an effective and exciting teaching tool.
|
|||
|
CSB|SJU Computing Subcommittee of APSAC |
|||