Week 6: The Benefits of Bolt for a Nut Like Me

Bolt 101 has been good for me.  On the one hand it has confirmed what I thought I already knew - I don't think I would enjoy teaching a fully online course.  But on the other hand I have learned a great deal about good teaching practice (classroom or online) and have been forced to explore some technologies/methods that I will use to enhance my classroom based courses.  There never seems to be enough time for everything I would like to do in my engineering courses and making use of a few screencasts or videos might be a great way to give students additional exposure to challenging topics without taking valuable class time to do it.  The challenge is somewhat different in my CORE 222 class where  I often have a broad range of age (freshman to senior) and science/math ability to engage.  I see lots of potential Bolt 101 application here both in terms of giving those that struggle an opportunity to review tough concepts multiple times but also in engaging students in the material by turning them loose to generate topic based screencasts or whatever.

So, Bolt 101 didn't turn me into an online teacher but I am confident that it has made me a better classroom teacher. 

Thanks Mr. Mulder! (That is his name in our household.  We still hear Mr. Mulder grade school stories from time-to-time. :-)  No worries there all good!)