Sitting in the Trust Tree

I know this week was all about Fair Use and Copyright, but I want to focus on one of the articles that we read. I found it interesting that one of the articles focused largely on the importance of trust when it comes to having classes being taught online. The article stressed how important it is for the college to establish a certain level of trust with respect to online learning and online teaching. I think it is wonderful that the college is having all instructors who are teaching an online class take this course (as opposed to the scenario highlighted in the article in which the faculty at the college did not have to take it). I think it is important because teaching online is different than teaching in the regular classroom. I know that in any college there will never be an agreement between faculty about the effectiveness of online learning, but I hope that as Trinity moves forward with online classes in the future, that we can start to feel a level of trust from the college faculty as a whole that online learning is supported here. As I've mentioned before, I would love it if all faculty could take this course even if they don't teach a course online because I feel the tools that we have learned in this class are helpful for face to face classes as well. I'm planning on incorporating much of what I've learned into my classes next fall! Sometimes I think people don't truly understand the online classroom because they don't understand the tools available that can enhance learning to simulate the face to face classroom. I start to wonder if we would have more trust moving forward if there was more of an awareness of what really is involved with an online course. Could this course be a professional development opportunity or interim option for faculty even if they aren't planning to teach online? I'm just wondering if this class would help forge the way to increase awareness and understanding of what online teaching and learning can look like. I feel that if the faculty at Trinity had a better understanding of how the instructors at TCC were going to be teaching online, there would be an increased level of support and trust in the effectiveness of online learning. But I suppose it is just like anything new; those that do something for the first time have to be the ones to "prove" that it can work and work well!