I was talking with Alec a couple of nights ago about the upcoming grad class we are working on. One part of the discussion concerned my role in the course. I’m listed as a teaching assistant but we agreed that my role wouldn’t be one that usually falls in that category. Alec said that he wanted me to be a sort of community builder in the course. This is going to be a much needed role in this first iteration of the course. We have 30 students enlisted in a fully online graduate level course that would normally be limited to 15. Usually there is a certain degree of community building in a class that enhances the learning process. In a class of 30 where students won’t get to meet in person, that’s a little harder to do. As a … Continue reading »

The topic of hunger, specifically alleviating hunger, has been much on my mind the past 2 days. A colleague told me a story yesterday that got me thinking. Today, my thoughts were further stimulated by a twit-versation involving Heather, D’Arcy, Brian and Alec. I’ll need to leave that particular discussion for another post, after I’ve had time to think about it some more. Right now, I want to write about my colleague’s story and the impression it made on me. Every year, the school has a food drive at Christmas time to collect food for the local food bank. Students work in groups from different clubs, teams and any others that want to participate. Each group of students gets assigned to a particular part of the city, then goes door to door asking for donations. My colleague’s group was assigned … Continue reading »