Teaching Adults Online

The best way to get students personally involved in learning is to integrate what they are being taught with their worldview.   I often give my technical writing students an assignment to research “dihydrogen monoxide” and “hydrogen hydroxide” on the web, with an eye to discovering if those chemicals were used in their respective careers and what precautions they might need to take. My students in this class range from medical assistants to graphic artists to welders to machinists; most of them are not proficient in research techniques in the library or on the web.  We spent one class period learning how to search on the web.   I knew that “scare tactic” pages existed warning of the dangers of these chemicals.

Some of my students figured out that the chemical was water, and that the web pages they discovered were satirical.  Then we discussed the importance of checking out the source materials found in research.  Students were surprised to learn that information can be technically true (breathing ‘DHMO’ does cause death, usually called ‘drowning’ and it IS the major component of acid rain) but presented in a misleading way.  We discussed the ethics of presenting the web pages. Some of them found references to “computer humor” or noticed that one page was sponsored by the Scorched Earth Party. Others mentioned the tone of the writing. Still others felt that I had tricked them, which was unbecoming behavior from a teacher. We discussed how and why they should read critically and assess information even from a relatively trusted authority such as a college instructor.

I call this “Teaching as a Subversive Activity;” it forces students to think and defend their perceptions.  Each assignment in this particular class leads up to writing a proposal, and I explain not only the writing part of the assignment, but the thinking part, and how it relates to on-the-job thinking. For example, I require them to summarize a journal article from their respective fields because they 1) need to be aware of the journals in their fields, 2) it will give them information for the proposal they are writing as a final project and 3) while they will likely never summarize an article for a boss, they will always have to gather information, glean the significance of it and present it or use it to solve problems.

Even in a literature class, a structured writing assignment can call forth divergent thinking.  My English 102 students must discuss whether Oedipus is a hero by defining what a hero is in these terrorist times, and then measuring the protagonist’s actions in the play by their defined standards. My introduction to this assignment was a class discussion/brainstorming session of what makes a person a hero.  Each student makes a contribution, and each is allowed to disagree with the group.  In this way, the focus is on the student’s argument and presentation of evidence, not some "hidden meaning".  They are not limited to "yes" or "no" but can state at what point in the continuum between "Hero" and 'Villain" they would place Oedipus.  They are also allowed to choose what the opposite of a hero is, a “Victim” or a "Coward." This class is comprised of underachieving 18-year-olds who have never been asked to do this kind of writing. I encourage them to do the best they can—even if not successful, and then to rewrite, to try again with coaching to achieve both good writing and confidence in their ability to think and critique. I even tell them that what is important is not their answer, but how they defend it.  That is a new concept for them.

Anything can be taught to adults if it can be related to their life experiences. Just today a friend described a SCSI terminator to me as a roach motel and compared the data packets to roaches that can go into the terminator, but cannot go past it. The analogy breaks down very quickly, but it is a very graphic visual, auditory and kinesthetic representation. The pun on SCSI and "skuzzy" makes it all the more memorable. In fact, I can hear their little claws scurrying right now.