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Selwyn / Adventures in Experiential Education 1019

Advent;qr�s in,EJiperiential Education: Online Teaching and Learning

Jennifer D. Selwyn CSU-Sacramento & Portland State University·

. INTRODUCTION

I am approaching the question of experiential education a bit differently, so I hope that you will indulge my departure. While I am very interested in and com­mitted to ensuring that students' experiences in distance educational settings are positive, engaging, and even transformative-as with my face-to-face classes- . my focus will be on the experiential education of a educator who made the rather abrupt transition to online teaching about seven and a half years ago. So, before outlining what I have found to be some effective teaching strategies to create a positive online learning experience for students, and how technology can be used meaningfully in college-level history courses, particularly online or hybrid courses, I want to address briefly the adjustments that I have had to make in this brave new environment of digital education. I hope that my experiences, and the small bits of insight that I have gleaned from them, will be useful to some of you.

THE IDENTITY OF A LIFELONG EDUCATOR

Like most of us, I was drawn to teaching at the college level by my love of his­tory, as well as a deep sense of calling as an educator. I love the classroom setting, appreciate the opportunity to engage with students who may or may not also love history, to mentor and advise students at a challenging but exciting time in their lives, and help them grapple with new ways of thinking about the past and what lessons it holds for us right now. There has always been a certain "buzz" for me in the classroom, and I find myself drawn to solving the many puzzles that it poses on a daily basis, even with the many stresses and frustrations that one can face-from students' lack of preparation, increasingly poor attention in class, and/or downright apathy.

MY TRANSITION

After teaching college full-time for almost ten years, I found myself making a transition about eight years ago, after I had left my tenured position at the Uni­versity of New Hampshire to become the parent of an adopted child. At that time, in eady 2008, I found myself re-entering higher education with an opportunity to teach Qnlhw <.:ourses at Portland State University. Initially teaching a single hybrid rnur111·, I hud simply no idea of what teaching online would entail.

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